According to international public organization Global Witness estimates that at least 1,733 land and environmental defenders were killed between 2012 and 2021.
They were killed by killers, commissioned by organized crime groups and their governments, reports The Guardian.
More than two-thirds of these crimes occurred in Latin America. Thus, 342 eco-activists were killed in Brazil, 322 in Colombia, 270 in the Philippines, 154 in Mexico and 117 in Honduras.
However, researchers believe that these numbers are significantly underestimated and do not reflect the full extent of the problem.
"Mining, logging, and agribusiness were the most common causes of homicide when the cause was known," the article emphasized.
The authors of the report noted that 39% of the victims belonged to indigenous communities, and that the killings disproportionately affected low-income countries.
"We're not just living through a climate emergency. We're on the precipice of the sixth mass extinction, and these conservationists are among the few people standing in the way. They deserve protection for more than basic moral reasons. The future of our species and our planet depends on it," Indian environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva said in the foreword to the Global Witness report.
The report noted that during this time there were several significant victories of ecoactivists. Thus, in 2021, in South Africa, the indigenous communities of the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa won a legal victory over Shell, forcing the company to stop oil exploration in whale breeding grounds. Also in May 2022, communities on Sangihe Island, Indonesia, won a lawsuit against a Canadian company that planned to mine gold on their island.
Environmental activists in the report called on governments to create a safe civic space for environmentalists and promote legal accountability of companies, helping to ensure zero tolerance for violence against environmental activists.
As EcoPolitic before, thousands of eco-activists of the Fridays For Future movement organized a coordinated global climate strike, with a call for compensation for the victims of the climate disaster.
