Tag: #DefendEnviDefenders

As communities around the world commemorate World Environment Day, the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) raises the alarm on a growing threat to environments, climate justice, and environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) across Asia and the Pacific: the escalating militarism and warmongering of the United States of America in pursuit of geopolitical and economic dominance.

We strongly condemn the killings last April 19 in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, Philippines, perpetrated by the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Reports from the ground point to yet another series of violations of international humanitarian law by state forces in communities already persisting through waves of various land and environmental issues.

As we enter the first quarter of 2026, the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) builds on the momentum of the past year with renewed energy and purpose. Grounded in our commitment to protect and uplift environmental defenders across the region, we continue to strengthen solidarity among our members, allies, and partners. Their steadfast […]

Across the Asia-Pacific region, rivers that sustain ecosystems, cultures, and livelihoods are increasingly under threat from large-scale infrastructure projects. As we commemorate today’s International Day of Action for Rivers, the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders also celebrates the important work of our fellow defenders defending their rivers, lives, and rights.

The Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) expresses its dismay over the Cambodian Supreme Court’s ruling, which denied the release of five Mother Nature Cambodia activists on March 2, 2026. 

On International Working Women’s Day, March 8, the Asia Pacific Network for Environmental Defenders (APNED) honors the courage, leadership, and resilience of Women Environmental Human Rights Defenders (WEHRDs) across the Asia-Pacific region. Women have long been at the forefront of environmental protection–they have defended forests, waters, and ancestral lands while safeguarding their communities’ rights and livelihoods. 

PHILIPPINES — The Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders, alongside the People’s Rising for Climate Justice, International Commission for Human Rights in the Philippines, and MANINDIGAN, held an International Press Conference on February 9, 2026, to condemn continuing rights violations in Mindoro Island, Philippines, one of the hotspots for militarization in the country.

As we look back throughout the year 2025, the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) has continued to build solidarity amongst the region, in the name of establishing a strong movement that recognizes and protects environmental defenders throughout the region. We have our members, allies, and donors to thank for our ability to carry […]

As we commemorate this year’s International Human Rights Day, the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders calls on everyone to take notice and act against militarism as one of the grave threats we environmental defenders continue to face. All too often, when environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) face reprisals, it comes from the state’s own forces protecting the interests of extractive business groups like mining, agribusiness, logging, and many similar ventures. EHRDs not only face intimidation, harassment, and surveillance but also face killings and abductions.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holds an annual Conference of the Parties (COP), where governments negotiate global responses to the climate crisis. The 30th COP or COP30, held this year in Belém, Brazil, was expected to be a historic moment, taking place at the doorstep of the Amazon and amid escalating climate impacts, shrinking civic space, and rising attacks on environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs). For the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED), the outcome of COP30 reinforces a truth we have long carried: there is no climate justice without the full participation and protection of EHRDs.