Frontline environmental defenders (or EHRDs) risk their lives to address environmental challenges and protect the vital ecosystems that sustain their communities – and our world. They include Indigenous Peoples protecting ancestral territories from extractive industries, women leading food sovereignty and community resilience efforts, youth advancing climate action through strikes and litigation, and local communities implementing sustainable land management. 

Defenders stand on the front lines of the global climate fight while facing corruption, intimidation, threats and even murder (Global Witness reports that at least 2,253 defenders were killed or disappeared between 2012 and 2024). Yet recent WRI research shows they remain largely shut out of decision-making and formal climate governance - while often facing criminalization in their home countries. As a result, governments and multilateral institutions lose out on crucial local knowledge and decades-old ecosystem expertise that can improve climate outcomes, while defenders are left to brave risks alone.

Join this webinar – co-convened by World Resources Institute and the Leaders Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders (LEAD) initiative – to hear from real-world defenders and explore ways to catalyze their meaningful participation in climate decision-making while ensuring their protection around the world. 

Speakers 

  • Olivier Ndoole Bahemuke, environmental Rights Defender and lawyer, Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Juan David Amaya, youth climate activist and founder, Life of Pachamama NGO, Colombia
  • Isatis Cintron Rodriguez, Director, ACE Observatory
  • Igo Martini, Coordinator, Protection Programme for Human Rights Defenders, Environmental Activists and Communicators, Ministry of Human Rights of Brazil
  • Rafael Benitez, Director of Social Rights, Health and Environment, Council of Europe
  • Orsolya Toth, Human Rights Officer, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva
  • Anamaría Martinez, Research, Data and Impact Manager, WRI México & WRI Colombia
  • Elizabeth Moses, Senior Environmental Rights and Justice Associate, Environmental Democracy Practice, World Resources Institute (moderator) 

Image by Eric Isselee/ Shutterstock

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