Criminalising Climate Activism: Recent Trends

The document reports a global trend of governments criminalizing environmental protests to protect corporate interests and maintain public order. It details specific crackdowns in Latin America, Asia, Europe, and North America, noting that activists face charges ranging from trespassing to terrorism. The text highlights that this trend extends to international COP conferences and is criticized by the United Nations, which argues that activists perform a vital function in advocating for environmental reforms.

• In Latin America, specifically Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico, socio-environmental activism is often criminalized to protect corporate interests in extractive industries, with activists facing charges such as trespassing and terrorism.
• Authoritarian regimes in China and Russia employ severe penalties, including torture and long-term imprisonment, while India uses charges of sedition or public disorder against climate activists.
• European governments are increasingly categorizing environmental activism as severe public order offenses; France has arrested 175 activists in May 2024 and labeled protests as "eco-terrorism," while Germany has charged members of the "Last Generation" group with forming a criminal organization.
• In North America, the United States sees police brutality and increased penalties in Republican-governed states to prioritize economic interests, while Canada uses hefty fines and jail time to resist activism against oil sands projects.
• Civil society organizations have faced increasing restrictions and limited access at recent COP climate conferences, which the United Nations has criticized as a widespread suppression of activists who fulfill a vital function in advocating for reform.

APA

Contributor, C. (2024). Criminalising Climate Activism: Recent Trends. ClimaTalk. https://climatalk.org/2024/09/09/criminalising-climate-activism-recent-trends/

Chicago

Contributor, ClimaTalk. Criminalising Climate Activism: Recent Trends. ClimaTalk, 2024. https://climatalk.org/2024/09/09/criminalising-climate-activism-recent-trends/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Contributor |first1=ClimaTalk |title=Criminalising Climate Activism: Recent Trends |publisher=ClimaTalk |date=9 September 2024 |url=https://climatalk.org/2024/09/09/criminalising-climate-activism-recent-trends/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{contributor2024criminalising, author = {Contributor, ClimaTalk}, title = {{Criminalising Climate Activism: Recent Trends}}, institution = {ClimaTalk}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://climatalk.org/2024/09/09/criminalising-climate-activism-recent-trends/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }