COP 29: Environmental Defenders must be protected

Paris, 29 October 2024 - COP 29 will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22, 2024. As an authoritarian country, Azerbaijan must provide guarantees to international activists as well as to Azerbaijanis. In a joint statement, experts from the United Nations and regional institutions call on States to promote the participation of environmental and climate defenders at all COPs and to ensure their protection.

At least 193 environmental defenders were killed in 2023. Dictatorships are not the only ones responsible. Countries considered as democratic also repress or do not adequately protect environmental defenders, particularly against the activities of certain companies.

Because they shine a light on their shortcoming, climate and environment activists are upsetting to government and corporate interests. Activists often become targets by refusing to let them exploit natural resources and destroy the environment unchecked.

“Climate and biodiversity activists are fighting for our future,” says Eléonore Morel, Director General of FIDH. “The right to a healthy environment is a human right. Protecting those who are committed to the environmental cause and are persecuted for it is at the heart of our organisations’ mission.”

“Azerbaijan must ensure a space of freedom and security for environmental defenders, beginning with immediately releasing all defenders currently in detention. We must ensure that the voices of these activists are heard,” said Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of OMCT.

The Azerbaijani government has a long record of repressing civil society, both within and outside the country. Dozens of defenders are currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan on political grounds. The country is conducting a violent land-grabbing campaign against neighboring Armenian communities. It also has a climate-destructive economy: fossil fuels account for 90% of its export revenues and between 30 and 50% of its GDP.

In light of this extremely negative record, human rights and environmental protection organisations urge the Azerbaijani government to implement guarantees for the protection of activists who will attend COP 29.

Excerpt from the call by UN rapporteurs and regional institutions:

"The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders guarantees the right to defend rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and all the rights that rely on its fulfillment. The Declaration also places an obligation on States to ensure people can exercise the right free from violence, threats, hindrance and insecurity, wherever they operate. Environmental defenders who wish to participate in the COPs must have a proper seat at the negotiating table, without facing reprisals for doing so."