Joint NGO Briefing for UNFCCC COP27: Recommendations for advancing climate justice through increased recognition and protection of land and environmental defenders

The briefing argues that climate justice cannot be achieved without protecting environmental defenders, who face increasing violence, harassment, and criminalization, often linked to land conflicts and climate-damaging industries. It proposes specific enhancements to the Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) Action Plan and the Global Stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement to integrate human rights protections. Additionally, it calls for a protocol to ensure that countries hosting COPs guarantee freedom of association and assembly for civil society and Indigenous representatives.

• Environmental defenders face severe violence and legal harassment globally, with Global Witness reporting that one land and environmental defender has been killed every two days on average since 2012.
• The fossil fuel industry specifically uses strategic litigation against public participation lawsuits (SLAPPs) to silence critics; EarthRights International identified 134 such cases in the United States over the last ten years.
• The briefing recommends that the ACE Action Plan adopted at COP-27 include an ACE Dialogue on Environmental Human Rights Defenders and consultations with Indigenous peoples and local communities to identify gaps in their ability to access information and participate in climate action.
• The Global Stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement should explicitly assess how National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and climate actions respect human rights, specifically addressing the link between fossil fuel projects and the repression of environmental defenders.
• To prevent human rights violations during the energy transition, the GST outcomes should provide guidance on developing mitigation measures that respect the rights of vulnerable groups, such as local and Indigenous communities.
• The authors propose a protocol requiring host countries of UNFCCC COPs to guarantee freedom of association and peaceful assembly as a prerequisite for their nomination, noting that COP27 is particularly challenging due to the closed civic space in Egypt.

APA

Natural Justice (n.d.). Joint NGO Briefing for UNFCCC COP27: Recommendations for advancing climate justice through increased recognition and protection of land and environmental defenders. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/COP-27-and-Defenders_2-November-2022.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. Joint NGO Briefing for UNFCCC COP27: Recommendations for advancing climate justice through increased recognition and protection of land and environmental defenders. n.d. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/COP-27-and-Defenders_2-November-2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=Joint NGO Briefing for UNFCCC COP27: Recommendations for advancing climate justice through increased recognition and protection of land and environmental defenders |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/COP-27-and-Defenders_2-November-2022.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljusticendjoint, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{Joint NGO Briefing for UNFCCC COP27: Recommendations for advancing climate justice through increased recognition and protection of land and environmental defenders}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/COP-27-and-Defenders_2-November-2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }