[STATEMENT] Environmental Human Rights Defenders Dismayed Over ASEAN’s Exclusion of Defenders Recognition and Protection in New Environmental Declaration

[Statement of the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) on the adoption of the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment]

On October 28, 2025, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment. The four-page document cites existing ASEAN instruments on the environment and reiterates the region’s commitment to uphold environmental rights.

While the declaration marks a step forward, it fails to include key civil society demands. Most notably, ASEAN removed any reference to environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) from the final text. Since 2012, at least 354 land and environmental defenders in Southeast Asia have been killed or forcibly disappeared, according to Global Witness. Excluding their recognition and protection from the declaration disregards their sacrifices and undermines justice for those who risk or lose their lives defending human rights related to the environment.

The draft released on March 7, 2024, did not explicitly mention “environmental human rights defenders,” but it included provisions for “the recognition and protection of those who promote and defend human rights.” These provisions were also removed in the final version.

The United Nations (UN), of which all ASEAN member states are part, has long recognized EHRDs. UN Human Rights Council Resolution 40/11 (2019) acknowledged their role in advancing human rights, environmental protection, and sustainable development. Resolution 52/53 (2023) further emphasized the contributions of individuals and civil society organizations, including EHRDs, in promoting the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. The UN General Assembly’s Resolution A/RES/78/216 (2023) also recognized EHRDs as among the human rights defenders most at risk.

During the drafting process, six UN Special Rapporteurs urged ASEAN to address the situation of EHRDs in line with these international commitments. Civil society organizations echoed this call through a petition signed by 94 organizations worldwide, urging ASEAN to explicitly use the term “environmental human rights defenders” and ensure their recognition as well as protection from both lethal and non-lethal attacks.

The omission of EHRDs from the final declaration reflects a continued lack of recognition of their worsening situation. We call on ASEAN to follow the example of other regions that have established binding agreements recognizing and protecting environmental defenders, such as the Escazú Agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Aarhus Convention in Europe. The ASEAN must take urgent action to protect environmental human rights defenders, who remain at the frontlines of safeguarding the environment and our collective future.