Collective power: The struggle for protection for land and environmental defenders

In 2025, Global Witness verified the killings of 124 land and environmental defenders, continuing a trend of lethal violence primarily concentrated in Latin America. The report identifies land disputes and extractive projects as primary drivers, with a significant increase in the role of organized crime and hitmen. It highlights the vulnerability of Indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers, who comprise 75% of the victims. The document argues against individual-focused security models, instead promoting 'collective protection'—community-led systems like Indigenous Guards—and calls for the ratification of the Escazú Agreement and the repeal of laws used to criminalize activism.

• Global Witness verified 124 killings of land and environmental defenders in 2025, bringing the total number of documented killings and disappearances since 2012 to 2,375.
• Latin America remains the most dangerous region for defenders, accounting for 85% of the global total of documented cases in 2025.
• Indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers are the primary targets of lethal violence, representing 75% of the killings verified in 2025.
• Land disputes were the leading cause of violence, triggering more than half of the documented killings in 2025.
• Organized crime and hitmen are the most frequent perpetrators, linked to more than one-third of the 2025 killings.
• Mining is the deadliest industrial sector for defenders, linked to 11 cases in 2025 across the Philippines, Peru, India, and the DRC.
• Colombia continues to be one of the deadliest countries, with 39 verified killings in 2025, many concentrated in the Cauca department due to the cocaine trade and illegal mining.
• In the Philippines, state actors are central to the violence, with five killings in 2025 linked to the military amid expanded counter-insurgency campaigns.
• Defenders face a 'hidden iceberg' of non-lethal reprisals, including criminalization, smear campaigns, and the weaponization of social media to isolate them from communities.
• The report advocates for 'collective protection'—shifting from individual security to community-led systems like Indigenous Guards—to reduce structural conditions that enable violence.

APA

Carling, J. (2022). Collective power: The struggle for protection for land and environmental defenders. Global Witness. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/collective-power/

Chicago

Carling, Joan. Collective power: The struggle for protection for land and environmental defenders. Global Witness, 2022. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/collective-power/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Carling |first1=Joan |title=Collective power: The struggle for protection for land and environmental defenders |publisher=Global Witness |date=29 September 2022 |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/collective-power/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carling2022collective, author = {Carling, Joan}, title = {{Collective power: The struggle for protection for land and environmental defenders}}, institution = {Global Witness}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/collective-power/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }