Environmental and land defenders play a critical role in mitigating the effects of climate change, yet they’re often subjected to violence, harassment, intimidation and criminalisation for speaking out against land dispossession and climate abuses.
On Wednesday, climate justice and human rights organisations EarthRights International, Global Witness, Natural Justice, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA), CIVICUS, and the International Land Coalition released a set of recommendations for policymakers attending the upcoming COP27 climate conference in Egypt, calling on them to take meaningful steps to protect those on the front lines of the climate crisis and to enable diverse, safe, and effective participation of civil society observers during COPs.
According to a Natural Justice press release, hundreds of indigenous and front line communities bear the brunt of impacts brought on by climate change and are increasingly threatened for speaking out against environmental abuses.
Most of these threats relate to land conflicts involving climate-damaging industries, from deforestation by agribusinesses to mining, yet corporate accountability for such harms is lacking.
Civil society and Indigenous peoples have also been raising concerns for years about access, participation, and freedom of assembly at UNFCCC meetings. COP27 in Egypt raises additional challenges because of the context of closed civic space in Egypt.
“States have been unable to offer environmental and land defenders the adequate level of protection and guarantees they need to safely exercise their role. Either it is apathy or incapacity, or the intervention of large power schemes, corruption, or organised crime, but States do not advance as needed in the defence of defenders’ rights,” said Silvana Baldovino, SPDA’s biodiversity and indigenous peoples programme director.
According to Global Witness, on average, one land and environmental defender has been killed every two days since 2012 with civil society experts reporting an uptick in efforts to criminalise defenders, enact legislation to prevent freedom of assembly, and deter activists with punitive lawsuits such as strategic litigation against public participation (Slapps).
“All over the world, indigenous peoples, environmental activists, and other land and environmental defenders are working to address climate change and biodiversity loss,” said Shruti Suresh, Strategy Lead – Land and Environmental Defenders Campaign for Global Witness.
“Yet they are under attack themselves, facing violence, criminalisation and harassment perpetuated by repressive governments and companies prioritising profit over human and environmental rights. We urgently need to promote corporate and government accountability in defending the defenders and enable their participation in climate decision-making.”
Katherine Robinson, head of campaigns at Natural Justice said that “reprisals faced by land and environmental defenders in the global south, coupled with the increasing threats of climate-induced loss and damage is an egregious violation of their fundamental human rights and untimely their right to self-determination.”
“It is paramount that defenders, indigenous peoples and front line communities are protected, and their rights expanded and safeguarded from the preparators of reprisals and climate criminals who persistently put profit before people and the environment,” concluded Robinson.
The organisations will present the following recommendations for governments at COP27:
● Parties must recognise the link between the climate crisis and the growing violence and repression against land and environmental defenders and take meaningful steps to protect the role of defenders in promoting ambition and enhancing climate action.
● Ensure a strong and effective Action for Climate Empowerment (Ace) action plan by including the following activities:
● Hold an Ace dialogue on environmental human rights defenders, including indigenous peoples and front line communities, to identify the obstacles that defenders face when trying to exercise their rights to access information, public participation, and education.
● Identify gaps preventing environmental defenders to exercise access to information and participation in climate action through consultation with indigenous peoples and front line communities, relevant UN offices, relevant civil society groups, and other key stakeholders.
● Provide targeted recommendations for parties, inter-government bodies, and other relevant key stakeholders to take action to increase protection for defenders and enable them to exercise their rights to participate and contribute to decision-making related to climate and environmental matters.
● Ensure that human rights experts, indigenous peoples, environmental and human rights defenders, and representatives of front line communities can participate in the technical dialogue and round tables of the Global stock take and facilitate and lead some of the discussions.
● Address the situation of environmental and land defenders during the Global stock take technical dialogue and round tables. The outcomes of the Global stock take should offer specific guidance on how parties should increase their ambition to fulfil their human rights obligations. This should include guidelines to protect the rights of land and environmental defenders and guarantee their access to information, public participation, and consultation.
● Governments wishing to host COPs should enable the exercise of rights of freedom of association and peaceful assembly and guarantee safe participation by civil society and Indigenous representatives during COPs.