IWD23 Protecting Women Environmental Defenders in Conflict

Mar 8, 2023 | Peixuan Xie
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Environmental defenders, or environmental human rights defenders, are individuals and groups who strive to protect and promote human rights relating to the environment, by protecting the environment itself. They are the frontline in the non-violent defence of nature for community and indigenous living. Confronting invasive, extractive and polluting practices, they employ varied ways of engagement, including resistance, lobbying, litigation, documentation and journalism. In areas affected by insecurity or armed conflict, where the environment and its resources are under heightened pressure, and where governance structures may be absent, their work is all the more important.