An ELI Public Webinar
Human rights defenders are “people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights in a peaceful manner” per the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, including the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Human rights defenders often face severe threats and attacks—including harassment, physical violence, and even disappearances and killings. A newly launched report from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), Defending Rights & Realizing Just Economies: Human Rights Defenders & Business (2015 – 2024), found that nearly three quarters of attacks on human rights defenders over the past ten years targeted climate, land, and environmental defenders. In 2024 alone, 89% of the human rights defenders who were attacked were climate, land, and environmental defenders.
Join the Environmental Law Institute, Christen Dobson, Co-Head of the Civic Freedoms & Human Rights Defenders Programme at BHRRC, and human rights defender and Team Leader at Witness Radio, Jeff Wokulira Ssebaggala for a webinar exploring the intersection of human rights defenders and environmental protection across the world. BHRRC will share key insights from their report, and we will discuss the vital role of defenders, the types of environmental issues they act on, the global scale of attacks on human rights defenders, the gaps in legal enforcement against attackers, and more.
Panelists:
Kristine Perry, Staff Attorney, Environmental Law Institute, Moderator
Christen Dobson, Co-Head, Civic Freedoms & Human Rights Defenders Programme, Business & Human Rights Resource Center (BHRRC)
Jeff Wokulira Ssebaggala, Team Leader, Witness Radio, Uganda
Materials:
ELI Members will have exclusive access to a recording of this session (usually posted within 3-5 business days) as well as any speaker materials.