Latin America faces a deep paradox: it is the most dangerous region in the world for environmental defenders, but it is also the territory where the first international treaty aimed at protecting them was born: the Escazú Agreement.
With the COP-30 to be held in Belém do Pará, in the heart of the Amazon, a historic opportunity arises for regional governments to move from speeches to concrete action. Will this be the moment when Escazú becomes a reality?
Structural violence and environmental resistance
In 2023, at least 196 environmental activists were murdered worldwide. 85% of these crimes occurred in Latin America, with Colombia (79), Brazil (25), Honduras, and Mexico (18) topping the list, according to data from Global Witness. The real figure could be even higher, as many cases go unreported and remain unpunished.
The murders are not isolated events: they are accompanied by judicial harassment, threats, stigmatization, and sexual violence, especially against women defenders. Despite this, many have become international symbols of resistance, such as Berta Cáceres, Francia Márquez, Nemonte Nenquimo, and Máxima Acuña.
Pará: host of COP-30 and epicenter of territorial conflicts
Brazil is an emblematic case. In the state of Pará, where COP-30 will take place in 2025, violence against environmental defenders reaches alarming levels. Between 1985 and 2023, at least 612 people were murdered in land disputes, according to the Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT).
A report by Justiça Global and Terra de Direitos documented 486 victims in 318 episodes, with particular impact on indigenous leaders, quilombolas, and peasants. In just two years, 55 homicides and 96 attempted murders were recorded. In more than 80% of cases, the conflict is linked to the defense of territories and natural resources.
Escazú: a treaty to protect those who care for the land
The Escazú Agreement, signed in 2018 and in force since 2021, is the first environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the only one in the world that explicitly protects human rights defenders in environmental matters. It has already been ratified by 17 countries, and establishes three fundamental pillars:
- Access to environmental information
- Public participation in environmental decisions
- Access to justice in environmental matters
Its article 9 requires States to ensure a safe and conducive environment for individuals and organizations to act without threats or restrictions.
Brazil: called to lead by example
The ratification of Escazú by Brazil would have a decisive symbolic and practical impact. As one of the countries with the highest violence against activists and host of the next COP, it is called to lead with coherence.
“We have already discussed budgets, we have already postponed. Now is the time to implement,” stated Minister Marina Silva during the Ibero-American Universities Congress in Rio de Janeiro.
Additionally, Global Witness reminds us that companies must also be held accountable. For example, the Norwegian sovereign fund recommended excluding Prosegur from its investments, whose subsidiary in Brazil has been linked to violence against indigenous peoples.
Environmental democracy: an urgency, not a utopia
The COP30 in the Amazon will not be just another summit. It will be the first held in the Amazon biome, home to hundreds of indigenous peoples and a global climate regulator. This edition can mark a paradigm shift: it is not enough to commit to emission reductions, it is necessary to transform climate governance.
This implies including historically excluded voices: local communities, women defenders, rural youth, indigenous peoples, and quilombolas. The environmental democracy proposed by Escazú is a tool to achieve this.
Escazú: an open door to climate justice
Ratifying the agreement, assigning it a budget, ensuring its effective implementation, and building citizen monitoring mechanisms are fundamental steps.
Escazú is not just a treaty: it is an open door to a new era of environmental protection with social justice, where living in harmony with nature is a right, not a privilege.
In the Amazon, where everything begins, a new pact for life can also begin.
Source: María Villareal/Latinoamérica21
