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Report
2019, deadliest year for environmental activists
Brut America
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3/25/2025
212 activists were killed in 2019 for trying to protect their land and the environment, according to the NGO Global Witness. A record number...
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00:30
They're on the front line of defence against the causes and impacts of climate breakdown.
00:35
They're also the ones that are facing the greatest risks and the greatest threats.
00:52
More than four land environmental defenders were killed on average every week in 2019
00:59
with 112 deaths worldwide.
01:03
Not only is this a drastic increase in the total number of murders from 2018
01:10
but we've also recorded unsettling trends globally and on a country level.
01:15
We've seen a rise in the number of defenders killed opposing extractive industries across the board
01:32
like mining, agribusiness, logging.
01:36
Whilst year on year these geographical locations for where killings are worse can differ
01:42
what is clear is that together these industries have consistently been the biggest drivers of conflict and attacks on activists.
01:59
Colombia was the country with the highest number of killings with 64 victims in total.
02:04
This is over double the number killed since 2018 and the highest that Global Witness has ever recorded in the country.
02:11
Similarly in the Philippines the situation has also worsened.
02:15
The country has been named consistently in our reporting as a hotspot for attacks against land environmental activists in Asia.
02:22
Both have prioritised business opportunities for the extractive sector and the agricultural sector
02:28
over protecting the environmental and human rights of defenders.
02:41
The sad reality is that those with the least responsibility for causing climate change will be the hardest hit.
02:56
But not only that, these are often the same communities worldwide who have been standing up to carbon intensive industries
03:04
and exposing unsustainable business practices for decades.
03:09
It's often the communities here who are voicing opposition to a project
03:13
or criticising the governments and investors who are supporting those projects to go forward.
03:21
These are the communities who find themselves on the sharp end of violence.
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