Stay informed: News and articles on our environment.

BERLIN, Feb 28 – Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released today.  “This...

Get involved! Our fellowship program for defenders from the Global South is now open! If you belong to an organization that defends human rights in a country in the Global South that is in emergency or at high risk, we invite you to participate in our fellowship program so that, with our support, you can develop your projects. By: Dejusticia | February 23, 2022 The closure of civic...

The Guapinol river on the outskirts of Tocoa in the Colon department. Amnesty International described the verdict and said the Guapinol activists were prisoners of conscience. Photograph: Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images The Honduran supreme court has ordered the release of six anti-mining protesters, ruling that they should never have been put on trial. The environmentalists, who...

Peter Bille Larsen recently took part in an interview with the Swiss Network for International Studies to discuss the issue of environmental human rights defenders.  The content of the discussion is based on a collaborative paper entitled “Understanding and responding to the environmental human rights defenders crisis: The case for conservation action”  which was...

Thousands of Indigenous people living along a tributary of Papua New Guinea’s Frieda River have filed a complaint to halt plans for Australian company PanAust’s proposed Frieda River Mine. If built, the gold and copper mine would be the largest mine in PNG, threatening the Sepik River and the entire Frieda River basin. The construction phase involves discharging toxic material into the...

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT United States Department of StateBureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL)Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): DRL Protecting the Rights of Environmental Defenders in Africa This is the announcement of funding opportunity number SFOP0008531 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number:  19.345 Type of Solicitation: Open...

by Dimitri Selibas on 24 January 2022 Young people like Felipe “Pipe” Henao in Guaviare, Colombia, are using tree planting and social media to raise awareness and spread the message of protecting and valuing the environment.Colombia’s Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) recorded a nationwide deforestation rate of 171,685 hectares (424,242 acres) in...

A decision establishing a rapid response mechanism for the protection of environmental defenders was adopted by the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) at its seventh session in Geneva, on 21 October 2021. This is the first such mechanism...

Human rights advocates urge companies to divest responsibly January 21, 2022, Washington, D.C.—Fossil fuel companies Total Energies and Chevron announced today they would cease gas operations in Myanmar. EarthRights Executive Director Ka Hsaw Wa issued the following statement:  “Today’s announcements by Total and Chevron are a major victory for the people of Myanmar and the...

A 14-year old indigenous activist has been murdered in Colombia, prompting horror and shock at the latest in a spate of killings of environmentalists and social leaders in the South American country. Breiner David Cucuñame was shot dead on Friday while on patrol with the Indigenous Guard, an unarmed group which seeks to protect indigenous lands from incursions by the country’s...