Since 2012, at least 1,910 environmental and land defenders have been killed around the world. In 2022 alone, Global Witness documented the murders of 177 land and environmental defenders. Of the total number of attacks on environmental defenders in 2022, an alarming 88% occurred in the Americas, primarily in Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. Impunity continues to reign as the access to justice for these killings remains scarce. Furthermore, the criminalization and stigmatization of defenders remains a prominent form of attack that often precedes killings.
International efforts are growing to protect environmental defenders. Global Witness has published a series of annual reports, tracking lethal attacks on environmental defenders around the world. On April 22, 2021, the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Escazú Agreement) entered into force; the Escazú Agreement is the leading international agreement seeking to protect environmental defenders.
While much attention has been paid to the lethal attacks on defenders, there is much less attention on the investigation and prosecution of such attacks. The Environmental Law Institute, together with its partners, aim to shed light on the impunity that often is closely associated with the perpetuation of these attacks, by building a platform that documents investigations and prosecutions of lethal attacks on environmental defenders.
This project will design, build, and pilot test a platform that tracks prosecutions and investigations in three priority countries, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. This platform will provide a unique means for documenting investigations and prosecutions of these attacks. This platform will also provide an evidence base of effective prosecutions to inform future actions in the countries and more globally. Information will be available in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Funded by the Swedish Postcode Foundation, this 24-month project will engage experts and stakeholders from the Americas, as well as UN experts and international bodies. This is the first step of a larger project, which will extend to other countries.
