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Decade of defiance
Global Witness reports that 200 land and environmental defenders were murdered in 2021, contributing to a ten-year total of 1,733 killings. The report identifies land inequality, corruption, and shrinking civic space as primary drivers of this violence, with Indigenous peoples disproportionately targeted. Analysis focuses on high-risk regions including Latin America, where over three-quarters of 2021 attacks occurred, and specific countries like Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and the Philippines. The document advocates for the implementation of the Escazú Agreement and the strengthening of the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to end corporate impunity.
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Document type: Report
One year after four men's abduction, Honduras's Garífuna still await justice
The document highlights the ongoing state-led intimidation and violence against the Garífuna people in Honduras, specifically citing the July 2020 abduction of four men from the community of Triunfo de la Cruz. It describes a pattern of harassment and criminalization used to displace Indigenous people for commercial interests, such as luxury tourist developments. The text emphasizes that Honduras was the most dangerous country per capita for land and environmental defenders in 2019 and asserts that protecting Indigenous territorial rights is essential for global biodiversity and climate crisis mitigation.
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Document type: Statement
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.
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Document type: Report
Honduras: New faces, old challenges
Global Witness reports a continuing pattern of violence, surveillance, and harassment against land and environmental defenders in Honduras, despite the 2022 transition to the presidency of Xiomara Castro. The document highlights the specific targeting of ACI Participa and its director Hedme Castro, noting that while some political signs of progress exist, systemic issues like corruption and a failing protection mechanism persist.
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Document type: Statement
Les dividendes de la déforestation
Global Witness estimates that financial institutions in the EU, UK, US, and China generated $1.74 billion in weighted revenues from $157 billion in deals with 20 major agro-industrial companies linked to deforestation between 2016 and 2020. The report highlights a systemic failure of voluntary commitments, noting that major banks like JPMorgan, HSBC, and BNP Paribas continue to fund companies involved in illegal land conversion and human rights abuses in the Amazon, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It argues that these profits should be viewed as a 'forest debt' owed to affected communities and calls for mandatory government regulation to replace ineffective voluntary policies.
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Document type: Report
iai-cop-14-directorate-report-annex5-ff7dc20ee7bf6842.pdf
The document details the implementation of twelve CRN II projects focused on environmental change, biodiversity, and climate risks across the Americas. Key activities include the establishment of research sites in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, the development of geospatial databases for Caribbean coastal scenarios, and the analysis of tropical cyclones and paleotempestology. The IAI Directorate emphasizes interdisciplinary cooperation, such as linking biodiversity projects and integrating fishery information systems to improve policy relevance.
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Document type: Report
INTER-AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH - IAI FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2010 AND 2009 AND INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT
The IAI financial statements for 2009 and 2010 report a total asset value of 3,179,158 USD as of June 30, 2010. The organization's activities are funded by member nations and international agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), to support global change research in the Americas. The independent audit by BDO Trevisan Auditores Independentes concluded that the financial statements present the Institute's position fairly in accordance with US accounting principles.
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Document type: Report
Aranceles de EE.UU. Golpean Con Fuerza a América Latina —la Respuesta política de China puede ser aún más importante
The analysis examines how US universal and sectoral tariffs affect Latin American countries, noting that while Mexico and Central American nations face higher effective tariff rates, South American nations are more vulnerable to indirect shocks from China. It highlights that China's ability to implement counter-cyclical fiscal and monetary policies to mitigate US tariff impacts will determine the stability of commodity prices and growth in South America.
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Document type: Research paper
Coffee-Growing Regions of the World
The document provides a data visualization of the top 15 coffee-producing countries in 2016, comparing their harvest areas and the prevalence of VSS-compliant production areas.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Oil palm-growing regions of the world
The document lists the top 15 oil palm-producing countries as of 2016, including major producers such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, while categorizing them based on harvest area and VSS compliance.
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Document type: Fact sheet
ESTADO DE LA REGIÓN
This report provides a spatial analysis of disaster incidence in Central America and the Dominican Republic between 1950 and 2020. It identifies that hydrometeorological events, specifically floods and landslides, are the most recurrent threats, often coinciding with high-density urban areas and coastal zones. The study highlights a significant increase in recorded disasters since 1990, peaking in 2010. It further correlates disaster risk with physical variables, noting that 70.7% of records occur below 1,000 meters above sea level and that a high percentage of critical territories are located in areas with medium to high population density. The analysis also observes a decline in forest cover and an increase in pasture land from 1990 to 2018, linking these land-use changes to increased disaster vulnerability.
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Document type: Report
Protocolos Comunitarios Bioculturales
The fact sheet describes Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) as endogenous, inclusive tools used by indigenous and local communities to define their rights and responsibilities under customary, state, and international law. It details how BCPs facilitate proactive responses to threats like illegal mining and infrastructure projects, and how they support the protection of traditional knowledge and biodiversity. The document provides several case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and promotes a toolkit and website for community facilitators to develop and implement these protocols.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Biocultural community protocols (BCPs)
The document describes Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) as community-determined frameworks that define values, procedures, and priorities to guide engagement with governments, companies, and NGOs. It outlines how BCPs help communities secure customary rights and respond to threats like illegal mining or infrastructure projects. The briefing provides case studies from Ghana, Malaysia, Kenya, India, and South Africa, illustrating the use of BCPs for resource mapping, legal empowerment, and the protection of traditional knowledge and biodiversity. It also promotes a four-part Toolkit for Community Facilitators to support the endogenous development of these protocols.
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Document type: Briefing
A HANDBOOK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND LAND RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN KENYA
The document serves as a legal empowerment guide for environmental and land rights defenders (ELRDs) in Kenya, detailing the constitutional and statutory protections available to them. It identifies key threats faced by defenders—such as harassment, illegal arrests, and forced evictions—and attributes these to drivers like competition over scarce natural resources and power inequality. The guide outlines how to lodge complaints with national bodies including the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ), the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR). It also lists various international and regional civil society organisations that provide emergency funding and legal support to defenders.
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Document type: Guide
Gendering Violent Pluralism: Women’s Political Organising in Latin America
The author argues that the existing theory of 'violent pluralism' ignores the gendered nature of political violence in Latin America. By analyzing internally displaced women's organizations in Colombia and high-profile murders of activists in Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico, the paper identifies a three-pronged relationship: gendered violence as an obstacle to organizing, organizing as a response to violence, and organizing as a cause of further violence. The author highlights how states often 'privatize' the deaths of women activists by framing them as domestic or criminal rather than political.
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Document type: Research paper
Toward Climate Finance Reporting Systems in Latin America
The document highlights the difficulty of tracking climate finance in Latin America due to fragmented funding channels and inconsistent definitions of key terms. It presents data from the Climate Finance Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (GFLAC) showing that international public climate finance for eight countries between 2010 and 2015 primarily consists of loans and is skewed toward mitigation over adaptation. The authors call for mutually agreed definitions, clear reporting guidelines, and capacity building within national governments to improve the collection and use of climate finance data for decision-making.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Improved Cookstoves in Central America: Health Impacts and Uptake
The report examines the impact of improved cookstoves in Central America, noting that while many stoves reduce emissions, they often fail to meet WHO air quality guidelines for personal exposure. It identifies user-centered design, training, and financing as critical for adoption, while highlighting a lack of longitudinal data on sustained use.
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Document type: Report
The Healthy Farmland Diet: How Growing Less Corn Would Improve Our Health and Help America Heartland
The technical appendices describe the use of a Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) general equilibrium model to simulate the effects of adopting the MyPlate and Harvard Healthy Eating Plate dietary guidelines. The analysis focuses on the resulting shifts in U.S. crop acreage, specifically the reduction of cereal grain production in favor of fruits, vegetables, and other crops. Key findings include a projected 8% decline in U.S. cereal grain acreage under the Harvard scenario and significant changes in land rental rates and production levels for various food sectors.
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Document type: Report
The No-Nonsense guide to Communication Rights
The guide argues that freedom of expression alone is insufficient because it often privileges those with the most power and resources. It proposes a broader concept of 'communication rights' based on four pillars: public communication spaces, the free exchange of knowledge, the protection of dignity and security, and the preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity. The text highlights how global trends—such as media concentration by corporations, restrictive copyright laws, and state surveillance—undermine these rights, particularly for marginalized groups in the Global South.
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Document type: Guide
Guide pratique sur les droits à la communication
The document outlines the concept of communication rights, distinguishing them from the narrower 'freedom of expression' by emphasizing the need for structural conditions that allow all individuals to be heard. It identifies four pillars of communication rights: the need for public spaces and resources, the free exchange of knowledge, the protection of dignity and security, and the promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity. The guide warns that global neoliberal capitalism and the concentration of media ownership threaten these rights, leading to cultural homogenization and the marginalization of poor or minority populations.
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Document type: Guide