Tag: #DefendTheDefenders

Here’s why and how to advocate for a genuine regional instrument on environmental rights that protects all of us. #ASEANEnvironmentalRights

This video is the second out of three in our #ASEANEnvironmentalRights explainer series.

Today, on International Human Rights Day 2024, we environmental human rights defenders and concerned civil society have come together to firmly call: STAND WITH ENVIRONMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS! FIGHT JUDICIAL HARASSMENT AND MILITARIZATION!

As we move past the mid-year mark, 2024 has proven to be a tough year for environmental human rights defenders across the Asia-Pacific. Despite these challenges, our collection action and commitment remain strong. In this edition, you’ll find the latest news, campaign achievements, engagements, and resources.

The Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) stands in solidarity with the Talaingod 13, a group of activists, indigenous teachers, and advocates, and the Lumad people of Mindanao, who remain at the forefront of the fight for indigenous rights in the Philippines.

APNED condemns the unjust arrest and detention of six Cambodian environmental defenders from November 23 to 25. The six environmental human rights defenders were investigating illegal logging in the pristine Veun Sai-Sem Pang National Park, in Stung Treng, northeastern Cambodia, when they were arrested by military.

The Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders denounces the results of the climate conference for both its outcomes, which fall short of the needs of developing countries most affected by the climate crisis, and its processes, which have limited space for civil society engagement. Environmental human rights defenders, along with civil society from developing countries, deserve a seat at the table to ensure that world leaders deliver justice to the historical polluters responsible for the climate crisis. It is high time that the climate conference becomes a space for the people and not for fossil fuel lobbyists and corporations that peddle false solutions.

Learn more about the ongoing process of the first-ever regional instrument on environmental rights in Southeast Asia through the first video of the #ASEANEnvironmentalRights series.

Sign on to support the adoption and development of the ASEAN People’s Declaration on Environmental Rights, as well as call on the AICHR to improve transparency and accountability in the process.

The Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) successfully held three trainings on participatory action research and security in Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in 2024. The trainings increased the capacity of Cambodian, Filipino, and Indonesian environmental defenders in conducting research on environmental and human rights issues as well as in ensuring their safety against physical and/or digital attacks while they conduct their work. 

Civil society groups are concerned about the pressing environmental degradation and destruction in the ASEAN region that infringes on both human and environmental rights. It is imperative that ASEAN member states (AMS) take strong, coordinated action to address these impacts effectively. Central to this effort is the need to protect and support environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) and indigenous peoples, who are on the front lines of defending our environment but face substantial risks and threats in their efforts.