2019, deadliest year for environmental activists

212 activists were killed in 2019 for trying to protect their land and the environment, according to the NGO Global Witness. A record number...

Transcript

00:30They're on the front line of defence against the causes and impacts of climate breakdown.

00:35They're also the ones that are facing the greatest risks and the greatest threats.

00:52More than four land environmental defenders were killed on average every week in 2019

00:59with 112 deaths worldwide.

01:03Not only is this a drastic increase in the total number of murders from 2018

01:10but we've also recorded unsettling trends globally and on a country level.

01:15We've seen a rise in the number of defenders killed opposing extractive industries across the board

01:32like mining, agribusiness, logging.

01:36Whilst year on year these geographical locations for where killings are worse can differ

01:42what is clear is that together these industries have consistently been the biggest drivers of conflict and attacks on activists.

01:59Colombia was the country with the highest number of killings with 64 victims in total.

02:04This is over double the number killed since 2018 and the highest that Global Witness has ever recorded in the country.

02:11Similarly in the Philippines the situation has also worsened.

02:15The country has been named consistently in our reporting as a hotspot for attacks against land environmental activists in Asia.

02:22Both have prioritised business opportunities for the extractive sector and the agricultural sector

02:28over protecting the environmental and human rights of defenders.

02:41The sad reality is that those with the least responsibility for causing climate change will be the hardest hit.

02:56But not only that, these are often the same communities worldwide who have been standing up to carbon intensive industries

03:04and exposing unsustainable business practices for decades.

03:09It's often the communities here who are voicing opposition to a project

03:13or criticising the governments and investors who are supporting those projects to go forward.

03:21These are the communities who find themselves on the sharp end of violence.