1. Defending the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment: a human rights framework

They threatened us, they called us terrorists, but we are not terrorists. We are defenders of the rivers, the forests, the mountains — of life itself.
Berta Cáceres, from Honduras

If a group of people took a minute to think about who who environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) are, they would likely come up with very different examples. And you would be right – the defence of the environment can take many shapes and forms, as you can see in the following carousel.

And you? Which strategy resonates most with your current situation? Do you use legal frameworks? Or do you mobilise your community around safety issues? Reading those stories, would you identify as an environmental human rights defender?

Maybe you are a journalist uncovering abuses in a coastal area? Or you are an Indigenous leader working for your community? Perhaps you work as the advocacy contact point for an NGO focused on access to information and scientific evidence? In all of these cases, you take part in a much larger movement: Standing up for the environment and people's future on the planet.

The term 'EHRD' encompasses individuals, groups, and organisations working in various capacities, across diverse functions, and at different levels of action. In this course, we will use the term EHRDs to refer to individuals or groups who act to promote, protect, or strive for the realisation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

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FOCUS | The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and its supplement

The landmark UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (1998) laid the foundations for the recognition of the work of human rights defenders and of the right to defend rights, outlining States' obligations to enable the former and uphold the latter.

It defined human rights defenders, which has crucial features for environmental defenders:

• They are individuals or groups: The act of defending the environment can be undertaken in various ways, and none of these should define this identity on their own. The scope of who can be called an EHRD extends beyond the people working in civil society organisations and encompasses people from across society.
• Personal or professional capacity: Environmental defence is not a job title or a position. People from different sectors, local, national, or international, can contribute to the fulfilment of rights.
• In a peaceful manner: The UN declaration establishes that defenders should conduct activities through peaceful means. In some circumstances, civil disobedience has been recognised as a legitimate use of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in environmental matters.
• Protect and promote human rights relating to the environment: Either standing up to preserve a territory or to prevent an environmentally damaging project, the act of defending environmental rights takes different forms that should be protected.

In 2024, a coalition of 18 international and regional human rights organisations released the Declaration +25, a landmark document that complements the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. It was the result of a coordinated effort led by civil society and experts to take into account regional and international jurisprudential developments, including relevant contexts, and how they have evolved in the 25 years since the UN Declaration was first proposed. The Declaration +25 articulates international norms and standards as they apply to defenders at its date of adoption (2024), including the role of businesses and extraterritorial obligations, as well as other developments pertinent to EHRDs.

To learn more about the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, check out our short online course and browse through the Declaration +25.

Why is it important to recognise our vital role as EHRDs?

_{Source: Global Witness}

In 2019, the UN Human Rights Council recognised the vital work of EHRDs through resolution 40/11, which acknowledges the essential role you play in protecting the environment and highlights the threats, attacks, and reprisals many defenders experience. The message is simple yet powerful: When you are prevented from doing your work, environmental protection itself is weakened.

This resolution explicitly references not only individual protection but also States' obligation to ensure that you can work in a safe and enabling environment. The instrument considers taking steps to prevent attacks, protect you when risks arise, investigate and punish abuses, and provide access to justice and remedies when harm occurs.

Note: This resolution complements those of the Human Rights Council in 2021 and of the UN General Assembly in 2022, which recognised the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (see previous section). In the latter, defenders are mentioned in one paragraph, but the focus remains on substantial and procedural elements.

Activity - Are they defending the environment? (Embedded through typeform) Salomé to ADD

Go to the following sections to learn more about the risks faced by EHRDs.