Who we are.
Environment-rights.org is a collaborative resource portal for Indigenous, Land and Environmental Defenders (ILEDs) containing important information designed to support and strengthen their work. It is designed as a ‘living’ platform and, as such, it is constantly updated and expanded to encompass ILEDs needs as they evolve.
Welcome
John H. Knox and David R. Boyd, former UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights and the environment, have been collaborating actively with different civil society organisations to set up a useful resource portal for Environmental Human Rights Defenders. Read their welcome letter.
Our history
The situation for Indigenous, Land and Environmental Defenders (ILEDs) globally is nothing short of dire. Multiple reports show that more countries are gradually becoming dangerous places for ILEDs; a range of their human rights including their rights to life, physical integrity, safety, political participation, and freedom of expression and association – among others basic civil liberties – are continually and increasingly violated.
Between 2014 and 2015, the Universal Rights Group (URG), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Prof. John Knox, organised two regional consultations – in Geneva and Bangkok – during which environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) from the African, Asian and European regions came together to provide testimonies and to explain the nature of EHRDs’ work and the challenges they face.
Later, in 2018 the URG and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) convened and participated in a series of regional meetings in Latin America. During these consultations, EHRDs shared their protection and prevention needs and offered a number of ideas on how the UN and the international community could support their work in protecting the natural world.
To capture all of these ideas, it was suggested that international civil society, together with relevant parts of the UN, including the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, and the UNEP, should come together to develop a single one-stop-shop web portal that would provide relevant information, resources, contacts and advice to ILEDs.
Pursuant to that suggestion, URG, EIA, Global Witness, N1M and other NGOs, in collaboration with former UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights and environment (John H Knox and David R. Boyd), the UNEP and Wake Forest University Law School, came together to design, build and launch such a portal: environment-rights.org.
The URG and the Alliance for Land, Indigenous and Environmental Defenders (ALLIED) which is a global network of civil society actors that drives multi-stakeholder action and systemic change in the recognition, support, and protection of Indigenous, Land, and Environmental Defenders (ILEDs) manage and regularly update this portal as per evolving situations and needs.
Our objectives
1
Help ILEDs to protect themselves, their rights, land, culture and the environment, by providing easy access to relevant information and resources, including contact information of support organisations that support their work.
2
Showcase the vital work carried out by ILEDs and its importance for sustainable development, to raise the visibility of their struggles, and to counter claims that ILEDs are ‘anti-development.’
3
Contribute to building the capacities of ILEDs to engage with, and seek assistance from, international civil society organisations and human rights mechanisms–for example, by facilitating access to the UN communications/petition systems and other relevant spaces.
4
Help create safe and collaborative platforms where ILEDs from different regions and their support organisations can meet, share their stories and experiences, information and strategies, and work together to jointly build capacity.
Contact us
Prof. David Boyd
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment
http://srenvironment.org/
https://twitter.com/SREnvironment