After a record number of killings, Colombia has ranked as the most dangerous country for environmentalists, Global Witness said. The government responded, describing the report as “dishonorable.”
A recorded total of 196 environmental activists and land defenders from around the world were killed in 2023, watchdog Global Witness said Tuesday, with Colombia ranking as the deadliest place.
Latin America remained the most dangerous region of the world for environmental activists, with 85% of the killings occurring there.
Colombia saw 79 such murders in 2023 — the highest recorded for an individual country since the organization began its annual review in 2012. Brazil, Honduras and Mexico were next in line.
The report also alerted readers of a “crackdown on environmentalists across the UK, Europe and the US,” warning that “laws are increasingly being weaponized against defenders.”
Colombia and climate activists
This is Colombia’s second straight year of highest killings worldwide. Yet, it will host this year’s COP16 meeting to discuss the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Most of the murders of activists in the South American country occurred in the southwestern regions.
Late on Monday, the Colombian government released a statement, saying it was “dishonorable” to top the Global Witness list.
“The national government recognizes the serious situation that is derived from socio-ecological conflicts associated with drug trafficking, extractivist practices connected to illicit economies and the reconfiguration of the armed conflict,” it said.
“The figure is very embarrassing for us in the country,” said Astrid Torres, coordinator for Somos Defensores, a Colombian human rights group. She said protecting the environment and its defenders was also the responsibility of state institutions like prosecutors.
