Latin America accounted for 85% of environmental defender killings in 2025, report says
The toll remains undercounted as land disputes, mining and organized crime drove most deaths, researchers said.
- A report released Wednesday by Global Witness found at least 124 environmental defenders were killed worldwide last year, with Latin America accounting for 85% of these deaths as conflicts over land and natural resources intensified.
- Land disputes were linked to 84 killings, more than half the global total, while organized crime and hitmen were suspected of involvement in over a third of cases, reflecting an increasing overlap between criminal activity and resource exploitation.
- Colombia was the deadliest country for the fourth consecutive year with 39 killings, followed by Brazil with 26 and The Philippines with 12, where five killings involved suspected military participation.
- More than three-quarters of victims were Indigenous people, small-scale farmers, or Afro-descendants; in Peru, the Kakataibo Indigenous Guard patrols Amazonian territory, with commander Segundo Ispán stating, "for this next generation coming up, the work is more dangerous than ever."
- While the global toll fell for a second consecutive year, Global Witness cautioned that the decline does not necessarily mean defenders are safer, as killings remain significantly underreported due to armed conflict and insecurity.
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According to Global Witness's annual report, 105 homicides were recorded in 2025; Colombia was the deadliest country for the fourth consecutive year.
39 environmental leaders were killed in Colombia in 2025, 31% of the cases in the report.The country tops the list since 2022.The post For the fourth year, Colombia is the most lethal country for environmental leadership appeared first on La Silla Empty.
Colombia and Brazil concentrated 52% of the murders of environmental defenders in the world last year, with 39 and 26 deaths respectively. The main reason behind the deaths in Brazil were land disputes, a focus of historical conflict between indigenous and landowners in the country. The attacks were concentrated in the Amazon states of Rondonia and Pará. "People can be killed because there is security that will go unpunished; it is almost a lice…
There are 124 climate activists killed in 2025 around the world. Global Witness reports it, ong that every year publishes a report of the environmentalists who died in carrying out their battles; since 2012 the victims are 2375. In the report of 2025 the number of activists murdered in Brazil: 26 deaths, [...] L'articolo There are 124 climate activists killed in 2025, of which 39 in Colombia and 26 in Brazil: the numbers of the report of the Glo…
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