At least 196 people were killed last year for defending the environment, with more than a third of killings taking place in Colombia, new figures show.
From campaigners who spoke out against mining projects to Indigenous communities targeted by organised crime groups, an environmental defender was killed every other day in 2023, according to a new report by the NGO Global Witness.
Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and Honduras were the most deadly countries for people trying to protect their lands and ecosystems, making up more than 70% of all recorded killings globally.
Global Witness said that it was often difficult to establish a direct driver of the killings, with many going unpunished, but it found that mining was the biggest factor last year with 25 killings related to the industry.
“As the climate crisis accelerates, those who use their voice to courageously defend our planet are met with violence, intimidation and murder. Our data shows that the number of killings remains alarmingly high, a situation that is simply unacceptable,” said Laura Furones, lead author of the report for Global Witness.
Of those killed in 2023, 43% were from Indigenous communities. Nearly 90% of those killed were men. Numbers from last year bring the total recorded killings to 2,106 since 2012, when Global Witness first started reporting on the data.
While the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, has pledged to crack down on violence again environmental defenders, the figures suggest that he has so far been ineffective at stopping the violence. Dozens of killings took places in the south-west of the country, where communities are often caught in the crossfire of violence related to drug trafficking and coca cultivation, according to the report. The Colombian government did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Global Witness urged Colombia to have a special focus on protecting environmental defenders at the Cop16 Biodiversity summit, which will be held in Cali in western Colombia in October.
Killings fell to 25 in Brazil last year from 34 the previous year. More than half of those murdered were from Indigenous communities, with killings having peaked under the far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.
In Asia, the most deadly countries were the Philippines, India and Indonesia, with 17, five and three killings respectively last year.
Along with murders, the report said that disappearances and abductions of environmental defenders were common, as well as the wider criminalisation of activists around the world.
Nonhle Mbuthuma, a Goldman Environmental prize winner from South Africa who wrote the report’s foreword, said: “Across every corner of the globe, those who dare to expose the devastating impact of extractive industries – deforestation, pollution and land grabbing – are met with violence and intimidation. This is especially true for Indigenous peoples, who are essential in the fight against climate change, yet are disproportionately targeted year after year.”
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features.
