Welcome to the Platform to Protect Environmental Defenders

This site serves as the home page for the Platform to Protect Environmental Defenders. The Platform serves as a repository for a wide range of information on protecting environmental defenders and related topics. Around the world, environmental and land defenders risk their lives to protect vital ecosystems and natural resources, yet thousands have been killed and few of their attackers held accountable.

Environmental defenders stand on the frontlines of protecting our planet, at times doing so at great personal risk.

Since 2012, at least 2,100 environmental defenders have been killed. In 2022 alone, 177 defenders were murdered, with nearly nine out of ten attacks taking place in the Americas, primarily in Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil.

Despite the magnitude of these attacks, justice remains rare. Few cases are investigated or prosecuted, and impunity perpetuates a cycle of violence.

As part of our commitment to protect environmental defenders and seeking accountability for attacks on them, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), in collaboration with in-country partners in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, is developing a database that tracks investigations and prosecutions of lethal attacks on environmental defenders. This initiative is supported by the Swedish Postcode Foundation and engages regional experts, UN bodies, and human rights organizations. By highlighting accountability efforts, this initiative is documenting and analyzing the investigation and prosecutions of lethal attacks on environmental defenders. The evidence base developed by this initiative provides by quantitative and qualitative basis for understanding impunity and for improving accountability efforts. ELI and our partners anticipate scaling up this initiative as part of a broader global effort to protect those who defend our planet.

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