227 Land and environmental activists murdered in 2020
In the face of a global climate crisis with severe floods, droughts and wildfires, a record number of land and environmental activists were murdered in 2020.
CAPE TOWN, September 13 (ANA) – In the face of a global climate crisis with severe floods, droughts and wildfires, a record number of land and environmental activists were murdered in 2020.
According to a Global Witness report, 227 people were murdered for defending their land and the planet, marking the highest number ever recorded for a second consecutive year.
The report documented 18 killings across Africa in 2020 compared with seven the previous year, with 15 murders happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo, two in South Africa and one in Uganda.
Colombia recorded the highest number of attacks at 65, with a third of the victims being indigenous or Afro-descendants.
“On average, our data shows that four defenders have been killed every week since the signing of the Paris Climate agreement,” the Global Witness said.
It added that 30% of the recorded attacks were linked to resource exploitation across logging, hydroelectric dams, mining and large-scale agribusiness.
While some died protecting rivers, coastal areas and the oceans, 70% of the others were working to defend the world’s forests from deforestation and industrial development, which are pivotal in curbing the climate crisis.
In the DRC, 12 park rangers and a driver were killed by militia groups in the Virunga National Park, while in South Africa, Fikile Ntshangase, an activist who opposed a coal mine near her home in Kwazulu-Natal province, was shot dead in her living room.
The Guardian reported that Ntshangase was involved in a legal dispute over the extension of the opencast mine close to the oldest nature reserve in Africa, the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.
“One day, we hope to report an end to the violence against those defending our planet and their land,” said Chris Madden, a senior campaigner with the Global Witness.
“This dataset is another stark reminder that fighting the climate crisis carries an unbearably heavy burden for some, who risk their lives to save the forests, rivers and biospheres that are essential to counteract unsustainable global warming,” he said.
Madden added that the killings will continue until governments get serious about protecting defenders and companies start putting people and the planet before profit.
Last week, a report released by the UN revealed that the severe weather events and human-made catastrophes and epidemics should no longer be viewed in isolation.
The report took into consideration 10 disasters from 2020 and includes the Amazon wildfires, Great Barrier Reef bleaching, the Covid-19 pandemic as well as Cyclone Amphan.
“The world witnessed a number of record-breaking disasters that showed us more clearly than ever before how interconnected we are, for better or worse,” read the report.
“As we become ever-more interconnected, so do the risks we share,” it said.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
