The battle to protect the environment from systemic destruction by predatory industries and organized crime has raged for generations. And there are those for who protecting biodiversity or ancestral lands has been a life’s work – they are called environmental defenders. 

But this fight can lead to accusations of acting on behalf of hostile foreign interests, social stigma, prison, physical violence and even murder. According to Global Witness, 212 environmental defenders were murdered in 2019 – that’s an average of FOUR a week.

In this podcast, we’re discussing the role of environmental defenders, why they are being targeted, what is being done right now to combat it; and what can be done to make further change going forward.

Presenter: Siria Gastelum Felix, the Emmy Award-winning Journalist and Director of the Resilience Fund at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Speakers:

Rachel Cox, Campaigner, Land and Environmental Defenders, Global Witness

Liliana Jauregui, Senior Expert Environmental Justice from IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands

Billy Kyte, former Global Witness Campaigner, Land and Environmental Defenders, Independent Consultant on Conflict Mitigation and Peace Building and member of GI network of experts

Maiara Folly, Co-founder Plataforma CIPÓ, Brazil expert

Judy Pasimio, Coordinator LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights)

Featured Profile: Berta Cáceres

Help keep their stories alive – by going to our website – assassination.globalinitiative.net, subscribe to our newsletter and this podcast series. Help us remember the death anniversaries, using our hashtag #AssassinationWitness.

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