Environmental defenders: Indigenous people pay the highest price

Globally, at least 196 people were killed last year for defending the environment according to the latest data released by Global Witness in September 2024.

The document of the NGO founded in London in 1993 leaves no doubt about which region of the world is the most dangerous for those who defend nature, the territory and the resources of our common home: once again, it is Latin America.

In fact, the largest number of documented murders is concentrated in this area, 85% of the cases in 2023, with Colombia leading this terrible ranking, with more than a third of the murders recorded worldwide. Precisely the country, Colombia, which will host COP 16, between October 21 and November 1 in Cali.

From activists fighting against mega-mining projects to indigenous communities targeted by organized criminal groups, dozens of men and women have been killed for using their voice and their capacity for social and political influence, in opposition to the predatory exploitation of their territory: even in 2023, an environmental defender was killed every two days.

Environmental defenders: in Colombia they are under attack

It is written Colombia but it is read as “tomb of the righteous”, a strong expression that manifests a drama that from year to year shows an upward trend in the number of murders of environmental defenders.

Even in 2022, in fact, when the murders worldwide recorded by Global Witness were 177 (200 in 2021), Colombia was found to be the most dangerous country for those who defend the environment. For two consecutive years, more than a third of the total cases globally were recorded in this Latin American country.

In 2022, Global Witness recorded 60 murders of environmental defenders in Colombia, and in this 2023 report there were at least 79 cases: of these murders, 31 involved indigenous people and 6 people belonging to Afro-descendant communities.

In the report we read that this is the highest annual total for any country documented by Global Witness since the NGO began recording cases in 2012…