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Land and Environmental Defenders

Many indigenous and traditional farming (or campesino) communities are struggling to protect the land on which their livelihoods depend. Often living in conditions of extreme poverty, they rely on their land for food, shelter, and cultural identity.
 In some cases, pollution from mining threatens to seep into the land and water. In others, communities have been forced from their land for development projects or monoculture plantations, condemning them to internal displacement and landlessness. Others campaign for sustainable land use, seeking to halt patterns of destruction for the benefit of future generations.

Defenders of land rights, culture, and natural resources can find themselves facing powerful interests and brutal opposition. Some have approached PBI for protection after they have been attacked or their colleagues assassinated. Many others have been subjected to criminal prosecutions based on spurious charges.

PBI-Mexico accompanies Peoples’ Front in Defense of Land and Water at highway blockade at Cholula garbage dump

On March 21st, PBI-Mexico tweeted: “Today PBI accompanies the @fpdtampt [Peoples’ Front in Defence of Land and Water] at a protest against the landfill in San Pedro Cholula. We urge state and federal agencies, such as @Segob_Puebla [the Secretary of the Interior of the State of Puebla] and @AmbientePuebla [Environment Secretary of Puebla], to sit down with the affected towns to resolve this conflict.”

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What language should be included in the COP28 statement to better protect environmental human rights defenders?

The United Nations COP28 climate change conference will take place from November 30 to December 12, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It is expected that a “global stocktake” will take place at COP28. This will be the first assessment since the promises made at COP21 in Paris in 2015.

Last month, Global Witness highlighted: