In the lead-up to COP30, nature defenders put their liberty on the line
In the heart of the Amazon, the COP30 climate summit will be held, highlighting the critical role the region plays in regulating the global climate. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Kenia Ines Hernández, an Indigenous woman, feminist, and human rights lawyer from Guerrero, Mexico, is serving nearly 22 years in prison for her environmental human rights activism.
Hernández's case is part of a broader global trend where governments, particularly in the Americas, criminalize environmental defenders by misusing legal systems to delegitimize activism that protects Indigenous territories, climate, land, and water. In Mexico alone, at least 77 incidents of criminalization targeting environmental defenders were recorded in 2024, mainly affecting rural and Indigenous activists.
The story of Hernández is relevant to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Gender Equality (5), Inequality (10), Cities (11), Climate Action (13), Life Below Water (14), Life on Land (15), Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (16), and Partnerships for the Goals (17).
Hernández's prosecution, including an “aggravated battery” charge in a trial marked by significant irregularities noted by the American Bar Association, exemplifies how authorities use criminal charges to silence environmental activism. Such trends undermine the crucial role of environmental defenders during a time when the global climate crisis is intensifying and energy transitions are accelerating.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a landmark advisory opinion affirming that states and corporations have binding human rights obligations to prevent, reduce, and remedy harms caused by the climate emergency. The opinion also reinforced protections for environmental defenders.
The Leaders Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders (LEAD) initiative seeks high level commitments for protection of environmental human rights defenders and their communities. Freeing Kenia Ines Hernández would send a powerful message that defending environmental and land rights is not a crime, but essential and deserves protection, not punishment.
The Americas is the world's deadliest for people protecting land and the environment. Most fatal attacks occur in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. Only 24 countries have signed the Escazú Agreement, and just 18, including Mexico, have ratified it. The 2018 Escazú Agreement is the first legally binding treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean aimed specifically at protecting environmental human rights defenders.
COP30 organisers must ensure that frontline voices are heard when climate decisions are made in Belém. The summit provides an opportunity to address the criminalization of environmental defenders and to commit to the protection of those who are essential in the fight against climate change.
[1] References omitted for brevity.
- The carbon footprint of the COP30 climate summit in the Amazon is overshadowed by the imprisonment of Kenia Ines Hernández, an environmental activist serving 22 years in a Mexican prison.
- The energy transition faces obstacles as governments continue to criminalize environmental defenders, a trend exemplified by Hernandez's case in Mexico.
- In relation to climate change, biodiversity, and land rights, Hernández's detention violates several Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 5, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
- Science and environmental-science advocates worldwide have raised concerns about the prosecution of activists like Hernández, pointing out the need for policy-and-legislation reform in the region.
- In the context of general-news, the story of Hernández highlights the critical role of environmental defenders during the global climate crisis, when their protection is essential for mitigating climate change and promoting a sustainable future.
- The protection of environmental defenders like Hernández is crucial during the current climate-change crisis, as emphasized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the 2018 Escazú Agreement, which specifically aims to protect these defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean.
