Sempre em pé

In 2022, Global Witness documented at least 177 killings of land and environmental defenders, bringing the total since 2012 to 1,910. Latin America remains the most dangerous region, accounting for 88% of 2022 deaths, with Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico as the most lethal countries. The report highlights a critical pattern of violence in the Amazon, where 22% of global killings occurred, often linked to illegal mining and agribusiness. Indigenous peoples are disproportionately targeted, representing over one-third of the victims. Beyond lethal attacks, the report details the increasing use of criminalization and harassment to silence activists, particularly in Asia and Africa. It calls for stronger corporate accountability, specifically urging the European Union to implement the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) to hold companies responsible for human rights abuses in their global supply chains.

• In 2022, at least 177 land and environmental defenders were killed, contributing to a total of 1,910 deaths since 2012. Of these, at least 1,390 occurred between the adoption of the Paris Agreement on December 12, 2015, and December 31, 2022.
• Latin America is the most critical region for defender safety, representing 88% of the world's killings in 2022. Colombia recorded the highest number of deaths globally with 60, followed by Brazil with 34 and Mexico with 31.
• The Amazon biome is a primary hotspot for violence, accounting for 22% of all documented global killings in 2022, totaling 39 deaths. Since 2014, 296 deaths have been recorded in the Amazon.
• Indigenous peoples are disproportionately targeted; they represented over one-third (36%) of the defenders killed in 2022, despite making up only 6% of the global population.
• Agribusiness was linked to the highest number of killings in 2022 with 10 cases, followed by mining (8 cases) and logging (4 cases).
• Non-lethal strategies are increasingly used to silence defenders, with criminalization—including imprisonment and legal proceedings—representing over one-third (34%) of recorded violations in 2022.
• In Asia, the Philippines remains the most dangerous country, with 11 of the 16 documented killings in 2022 occurring there. Many attacks are linked to mining interests, which the government views as essential for green technology transitions.
• In Africa, forest rangers are frequent targets, with four recorded deaths in 2022. The Virunga National Park has seen over 200 rangers killed in the line of duty.
• The report identifies a lack of corporate transparency and due diligence, citing cases where EU-based companies like Veolia and various tech giants (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon) are linked to supply chains involving illegal mining or environmental damage in the Amazon.
• The proposed EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is viewed as a potential turning point if it mandates that large companies identify and mitigate human rights and environmental risks and allows victims to seek legal remedy in European courts.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). Sempre em pé. https://globalwitness.org/pt/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/standing-firm-pt/

Chicago

Global Witness. Sempre em pé. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/pt/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/standing-firm-pt/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=Sempre em pé |url=https://globalwitness.org/pt/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/standing-firm-pt/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitnessndsempre, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Sempre em pé}}, institution = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/pt/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/standing-firm-pt/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }