Standing Together for Environmental Defenders

The STAND Initiative addresses the security risks faced by grassroots environmental defenders (GEDs), such as criminalization and physical attacks, which are often driven by poor enforcement of human rights and environmental laws. The initiative provides capacity building, a small grant fund, and collaborative partnerships to enhance advocacy skills and protection measures in Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Liberia.

• Grassroots Environmental Defenders (GEDs) face severe security risks, including physical attacks, killings, criminalization, and smear campaigns, particularly in regions dependent on large-scale infrastructure and natural resource extraction.
• The root causes of attacks on GEDs include inadequate recognition of their rights by the private sector and States, as well as the poor enforcement of environmental protection and human rights laws.
• The STAND Initiative employs a three-part strategy to support GEDs: cocreated training programs for advocacy and security, the Defender Small Grant Fund (DSGF) for evidence-based advocacy and protection, and collaborative partnerships to strengthen local and international solidarity networks.

APA

World Resources Institute (2024). Standing Together for Environmental Defenders. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-03/environmental-defenders-en.pdf?VersionId=30kvhYoPP0Njpl75.Ry..2qBbx9UIeUQ

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Standing Together for Environmental Defenders. 2024. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-03/environmental-defenders-en.pdf?VersionId=30kvhYoPP0Njpl75.Ry..2qBbx9UIeUQ.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Standing Together for Environmental Defenders |date=2024 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-03/environmental-defenders-en.pdf?VersionId=30kvhYoPP0Njpl75.Ry..2qBbx9UIeUQ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2024standing, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Standing Together for Environmental Defenders}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2024}, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-03/environmental-defenders-en.pdf?VersionId=30kvhYoPP0Njpl75.Ry..2qBbx9UIeUQ}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }