Why are people defending the environment being attacked? And how can they be protected?

Over the past few years we have seen a spike in attacks against people defending their land and specifically the environment against the economic interests of multinational companies. The work of environmental defenders centres around lawful activity shedding light on environmental damage and human rights abuse caused by large scale economic projects, usually in the mining sector but also against hydroelectric damns, construction and development projects and agro-business. Nearly half of the 281 Latin American human rights activists who lost their lives in 2016 were murdered for protecting land, indigenous and environmental rights. Another 185 environmental defenders were killed in 2015, a death toll more than double that of journalists.[1] This trend is particularly alarming in the Latin American context, the most dangerous country currently in which to be an environmental defender being Honduras.[2]

marcha indígena 2010 — Nearly half of the 281 Latin American human rights activists who lost their lives in 2016 were murdered for protecting land, indigenous and environmental rights.

So why in an age of climate accords and increased public awareness of the huge damage the extraction of fossil fuels and large agro-business has, are the people who seek to protect the environment for future generations being systematically attacked?

Nearly half of the 281 Latin American human rights activists who lost their lives in 2016 were murdered for protecting land, indigenous and environmental rights. Another 185 environmental defenders were killed in 2015, a death toll more than double that of journalists

PBI seeks to understand where risk comes from in order to mitigate it and design effective protection mechanisms. For example, when a lawyer is taking a case against the Colombian military for their involvement in human rights violations, clearly there is an interest from certain State actors for this process to be curtailed so the truth of their involvement is not revealed. In a context of political violence, the risk the lawyer is subject to will therefore come from people and institutions who have an interest in halting the judicial process. In a similar vein, communities defending their territory will be at risk from legal and illegal actors who wish to take control of the land, usually for economic motives in order to control trafficking routes or resource-rich areas.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Michel Forst, indicated in his annual report of 2016 that the root causes of attacks on environmental defenders are exclusion and power imbalance, commodification and financialization of the environment, corruption and impunity.[3] Economic and political interests are behind the violence directed at both human rights defenders and environmental defenders, meaning similar strategies can be designed to protect them.

Land of corn is a documentary film about four environmental and land rights defenders from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Honduras who work in an extremely dangerous environment and risk their lives, their freedom and the safety of their families because of the work they do.

A strategy that several NGOs have adopted in recent years is encouraging companies to address the issue of attacks against environmental defenders by “making the business case” for their protection, targeting companies as well as States highlighting the role both actors play in the protection of environmental defenders.[4] It is clear that attacks on the communities resisting an economic project could have serious reputational risks for a company and if they are seen to be linked to repressive measures to inhibit this peaceful protest, this could be hugely damaging to their profit-making capacity in the region.

naya — The work of environmental defenders centres around lawful activity shedding light on environmental damage and human rights abuse caused by large scale economic projects, usually in the mining sector but also against hydroelectric damns, construction and development projects and agro-business.

It is no secret that part of the post-conflict strategy of the Colombian government is to open Colombia up for business more than it already is, inviting international investment and pushing forward the extractives model focused on short-term economic gains and benefits for wealthy land owners and large multinationals over the rights of communities to their land and to a clean environment. Many of the territories that have been under FARC control for decades are now freeing up for multinationals to consider investing. These are fertile and hugely resource rich areas, most of which have been at the centre of the Colombian armed conflict for their strategic positions and presence of armed actors wishing to exert territorial control.

Colombia´s economy, as with most Latin America countries, is focused heavily on resource extraction industries, with coal production almost doubling between 2000 and 2010 and mining concessions being granted at an extremely fast pace.[5] With the issue of land distribution and use being central to the decades if not centuries of Colombia conflict, this increased pressure in the post-conflict setting is guaranteed to cause further unrest in territories that are already conflict-ridden.[6]

PBI accompanies several organisations that engage in environmental protection activities and we will continue to advocate for their important protection on a national but also regional and global level. With the overwhelming evidence already collected demonstrating these trends, it is important that the issue of the protection of environmental defenders remains central in international policy making.