The annual report by Global Witness into the killings of land and environmental activists confirmed that the global record of environmental defenders murdered reached its peak in 2019. According to the report, 212 people were killed because of their activism—defending the environment, protected lands, and human rights. Most of the killings went unpunished, and watchdogs estimate that killings of this nature are widely underreported. 

THE RISE IN MURDERED ACTIVISTS

The rise in global temperatures, melting ice caps, and freak weather incidents provide sufficient evidence of the battle we face to get a handle on the escalating climate crisis. We are rapidly running out of time to find remedies for the consequences of harmful carbon emission rates. Particularly in the developing world, the disproportionate distribution of wealth means that those least responsible for climate damage will be most likely to bear the brunt of the impacts, experiencing the devastation of extreme flooding, fires, and toxic air pollution. As a result, pockets of activist groups located around the world make it their mission to expose unsustainable business practices within their communities. They work to expose carbon-intensive industries, uncovering the detrimental effects of these businesses on ecosystems and pushing for the termination of the climate breakdown. In response to attempts to protect the environment, climate defenders face increasing risks to their wellbeing by way of threatened detainment, physical attacks, and murder. Acting on behalf of illegal organisations, major industrial companies, and governments, criminal gangs and individuals are tasked with silencing activists. Despite difficulties in identifying perpetrators, Global Witness found links to state forces with 37 murders in their report.

2019 saw an insurgence of climate activism covered by the media—partly owing to Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion’s captivating large-scale demonstrations. While activists across the world took to the streets protesting in the name of their futures, members of Indigenous communities defended their homes and land that faced more immediate damage. Local activist groups confronted extractive companies, protesting against capitalist demands to take over their sacred lands and invasive industrial techniques that cause long-lasting damage both for their community and the planet as a whole. The report found that land defenders belonging to Indigenous communities were disproportionately at risk of being targeted, as 40 percent of all victims of attacks were Indigenous. With activism on the rise, so are lethal attacks on activists. Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, four defenders have been killed every week according to the Global Witness report. Significantly, over half of all reported killings in 2019 took place in just two countries: Colombia and the Philippines.

Mining and agribusiness were the two sectors most associated with environmental killings throughout 2019. There were fifty reported murders of environmental defenders protesting the mining sector, and more than half of them were individuals from communities that had been affected by mining and extraction in Latin America. However, the country with the highest amount of mining-related activist deaths was the Philippines. The logging industry saw the sharpest increase in environmental killings, with 85 percent more attacks recorded against activists since 2018. “Agribusiness and oil, gas and mining have been consistently the biggest drivers of attacks against land and environmental defenders” confirmed Rachel Cox, a campaigner at Global Witness. “They are the industries pushing us further into runaway climate change through deforestation and increasing carbon emissions.”

A COLOMBIAN CASE STUDY 

Colombia’s death rate for environmental activists surged to 64 in 2019, which is more than double of the previous year and is the most ever recorded in one country by Global Witness. Indigenous groups are particularly at risk in Colombia despite constituting only 4.4 percent of the population. The murders of land and environmental activists are part of a general ambiance in the country of fear-mongering and threats, which aims to silence those who speak out against exploitative industries. In March 2020, two prominent Indigenous leaders and land activists, Omar and Ernesto Guasiruma, were killed while isolating at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. There is concern for the safety of climate activists during the current lockdown context, as the lack of movement means defenders are more vulnerable to attacks.

The UN reports that Colombia faces intensifying floods and droughts due to climate change, while many communities are already at increased risk of flooding and landslides. The many years of conflict within the country has caused one of the highest proportions of internally displaced people in the world, and the resulting uncertain land rights have further contributed to the vulnerable position of many rural communities. Colombia’s Peace Agreement of 2016 outlined steps to achieve considerable social and environmental progress, as does the Paris Agreement to which Colombia is a signatory. However, the government is still keenly pursuing land and carbon-intensive industries. It is fifth in the world for coal exportation and has expansive oil, gas, and palm oil sectors. Reports show that as peace prevails, areas rich in natural resources that were formerly occupied by armed forces are now being taken over for extraction. While warfare inevitably damaged the environment, military presence did to some extent prevent major ecological destruction. 

TACKLING THE ABUSE

Global Witness, the international NGO that published the report detailing these dire statistics, identifies and works to break the links between natural resource exploitation and the consequent poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses that occur worldwide. The organisation’s vision is a world where accountability prevails in the face of corruption, governments act in their citizens’ best interests, and everyone is able to thrive in the natural elements of the world, which are free from damage and exploitation. The NGO itself is involved in activist participation, taking a stand against corporations and state actors who benefit from projects that cause devastating environmental damage and human rights abuses. Global Witness has conducted inventive investigations, seeking to uncover evidence in cases such as illegal logging in Papua New Guinea through satellite imagery and drone footage as well as by using artificial intelligence to analyse the real owners hiding behind false UK companies.

The NGO suggests that governments need to ensure that corporate projects, foreign aid, and investment from businesses is conditional upon official consent from any potentially affected Indigenous community, including security measures for environmental defenders. Additionally, Global Witness campaigns for better assessments of the environmental and social impacts of proposed business plans, and, importantly, greater legal safeguarding of activists.

This article was published by Earth Refuge as part of our January 2021 collaboration with E&U for the Climate and Human Rights Pulse on Environmental Justice and Human Rights.

Rosie is currently studying Human Rights MA at UCL, following time spent volunteering in Colombia and working in Canada. She holds a BA in French and Spanish from the University of Nottingham and is passionate about feminism, migrant and refugee issues, and the intersectionality of the climate crisis and its effect on human rights.

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