Making good on promises: how Mexico can transform the lives of environmental defenders by implementing the Escazú Agreement

The document highlights a critical gap between Mexico's ratification of the Escazú Agreement and the reality of escalating violence against environmental defenders and journalists. It notes that Mexico had the highest number of defender killings globally in 2021 and criticizes the government for undermining civic space, failing to provide specialized environmental courts, and bypassing consultation standards for megaprojects like the Mayan Train. The author calls for a comprehensive state strategy to ensure a safe environment for defenders and the adherence to international standards for environmental justice.

• Mexico experienced a surge in lethal attacks on environmentalists, recording 54 missing or murdered defenders in 2021, which placed the country at the top of the global list for the first time since 2012.
• Despite ratifying the Escazú Agreement, Mexico lacks the political will and capacity to implement it, as evidenced by the continued murder of journalists—with 11 deaths in 2022—and the portrayal of activists as "foreign agents" or part of conspiracies by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
• The Mexican government has undermined transparency and public participation through the implementation of megaprojects, such as the Mayan Train, which has proceeded without following International Labour Organisation (ILO) consultation standards and utilized a November 2021 decree to operate without reporting project impacts.
• Mexico's environmental justice system is insufficient, with only one specialized chamber of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice in Mexico City to handle over 560 recognized socio-environmental conflicts, failing the legal requirement for courts to be distributed nationwide.
• The Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists has been weakened by fiscal austerity, leading to a lack of funds that increases risks for those on the frontline.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). Making good on promises: how Mexico can transform the lives of environmental defenders by implementing the Escazú Agreement. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/making-good-on-promises-how-mexico-can-transform-the-lives-of-environmental-defenders-by-implementing-the-escazu-agreement/

Chicago

Global Witness. Making good on promises: how Mexico can transform the lives of environmental defenders by implementing the Escazú Agreement. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/making-good-on-promises-how-mexico-can-transform-the-lives-of-environmental-defenders-by-implementing-the-escazu-agreement/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Global Witness |title=Making good on promises: how Mexico can transform the lives of environmental defenders by implementing the Escazú Agreement |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/making-good-on-promises-how-mexico-can-transform-the-lives-of-environmental-defenders-by-implementing-the-escazu-agreement/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{globalwitnessndmaking, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Making good on promises: how Mexico can transform the lives of environmental defenders by implementing the Escazú Agreement}}, publisher = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/making-good-on-promises-how-mexico-can-transform-the-lives-of-environmental-defenders-by-implementing-the-escazu-agreement/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }