Sign our petition and tell governments at COP27 to protect earth rights defenders! Climate policy must center frontline defenders and recognize their contributions to climate action.

At international climate change negotiations, governments have failed to adequately address the dangers that those who demand climate action face every day. Worldwide, earth rights defenders (also referred to as environmental human rights defenders and environmental defenders) are increasingly targeted with violence, harassment, and criminalization. 

Violence and repression are a reality for Indigenous defenders, many of whom are women. Most climate-damaging projects are located on or cross through Indigenous lands–often without the consent of frontline communities. Lack of consultation, increased repression, and silencing of opposition movements endangers the lives and livelihoods of already vulnerable populations. As the climate crisis worsens, so does the violence against those protecting our environment. 

Some international environmental agreements have already recognized the role of environmental defenders in the context of access to information and participation in decisions that affect their lands and resources. These include: 

• The 2018 Escazú Agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean committed governments to guarantee a “safe and enabling environment” for earth rights defenders. It also requires governments to recognize and protect the rights of defenders. 
• In Europe, governments that have signed to the Aarhus Convention adopted a decision recognizing the rights and protection of earth rights defenders. 

At COP 27, governments should follow the precedent set by these agreements and recognize the role of earth rights defenders and the importance of their work in the context of the climate crisis. 

Governments should guarantee a welcoming environment for earth rights defenders demanding climate action and protect their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, access to information, and participation as essential to enabling the participation and mobilization of all stakeholders under the Paris Agreement.

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