2019 was a dark year for activists, with 212 confirmed killings. And the NGO Global Witness warns: this tragic toll is only partial.
Never before in recent months have the environment and the climate crisis commanded so many front pages, partly thanks to the emergencies that have unfolded from one end of the planet to the other, from Australia to Siberia, from the Philippines to Japan. If we have all come to learn about the state of ecosystems thousands of kilometres away, it is also thanks to those people who, far from the spotlight, put their own safety at risk in order to protect the land where they live. They are activists, indigenous people, forest rangers. Over the course of 2019, no fewer than 212 of them were killed, often with their attackers enjoying total impunity. This is the highest figure ever recorded in the annual report by the NGO Global Witness, which warns: this is only a partial estimate.
Since December 2015, when the Paris Agreement on climate was signed, an average of four environmentalists a week have been killed. To this tragic toll must be added the cases that have never been officially recognised. As well as all those who have been silenced through assaults, arrests, sexual violence, legal action and death threats.
Among the 212 confirmed victims last year, fifty were fighting against the expansionist ambitions of the mining industry. Another 34, almost all in Asia, had taken a stand against the giants of agribusiness, and 24 against the timber trade. In this last sector there was a sharp surge in attacks, up 85 per cent compared to 2018. In at least 37 cases, the NGO was able to establish a — more or less direct — involvement of state forces. One in ten victims is a woman.
Among the most precious guardians of the climate are indigenous peoples. The forested areas they manage store an amount of greenhouse gases equal to 33 times global emissions; and, compared to the average, they are better protected and less subject to deforestation. But it is clear that their work obstructs the ambitions of those driven by criminal and speculative interests. More than a third of the confirmed victims between 2015 and 2019 belong to indigenous communities, who nonetheless represent just 5 per cent of the global population.
The situation is particularly alarming in Colombia and the Philippines, where 64 and 43 killings respectively have been confirmed. Francia Márquez, awarded the prestigious Global environmental prize in 2018, is also Colombian; she survived an attack by an armed individual in May of last year.
In an attempt to explain this escalation of violence in the South American country, Global Witness steps back to 2016, when the agreement between the government and the Farc (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) was signed. The areas once controlled by the guerrillas rapidly passed into the hands of organised crime and paramilitary groups. One in three attacks is thought to be attributable to them, also owing to a climate of general impunity. The NGO argues that 89 per cent of killings of human rights defenders do not result in a conviction.
The peace agreement also included provisions to discourage the cultivation of coca leaves, by funding those willing to convert their land to cacao, coffee or other crops. So far, however, the programme has not delivered satisfactory results. Thousands of participants have yet to receive the payments they were entitled to, many have been threatened by organisations involved in drug trafficking, and fourteen have been killed.
According to Global Witness, it is now essential to fully implement the measures set out in the peace agreement, which have largely gone unfulfilled. This also means disarming criminal groups, investigating violent incidents and adopting a broad agrarian reform that includes the poorest rural communities.
