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Whereas at least 1,733 environmental defenders have been 
reported killed since 2012, with at least 200 killed in 
2021; 
Whereas at least 1,179 environmental defenders have been 
reported killed in Latin America and the Caribbean since 
2012, making it the region with the highest number of 
environmental defender deaths and persecution overall, 
exemplified by the cases of— 
(1) Homero Go´mez Gonza´lez, who was forcibly dis-
appeared and found dead in Mexico with reported signs 
of torture after fighting to protect the wintering grounds 
of the monarch butterfly from illegal logging; 
(2) Bruno Pereira, an advocate for the Indigenous 
Peoples of Brazil’s Amazon, who received threats and 
was murdered for standing up to illegal logging, mining, 
and drug trafficking; 
(3) Berta Ca´ceres, a Lenca Indigenous woman, 
whose murder was ordered by the Honduran company, 
Desarrollos Energe´ticos SA, for organizing protests that 
led to the cancellation of the proposed Agua Zarca Dam; 
and 
(4) the Q’eqchi Mayan Indigenous community, which 
faces defamation, violent evictions, harassment, and as-
sault by the Guatemalan National Civil Police Force for 
peacefully protesting the operations of the Fe´nix mine 
and growth of palm plantations on their territory; 
Whereas at least 427 environmental defenders have been re-
ported killed in Asia since 2012, and governments in the 
region have also targeted environmental defenders in 
other manners, including— 
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(1) the Government of Vietnam, which has sought to 
silence environmental activist Dang Dinh Bach through 
imprisonment; 
(2) the Government of the Philippines, which has 
enacted red-tagging campaigns to turn public sentiment 
against organizations like the Kalikasan People’s Net-
work for the Environment; and 
(3) the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China, which has falsely charged environmental activists 
Li Genshan, Zhang Baoqi, and Niu Haibo for illegally 
hunting or killing wildlife; 
Whereas the Government of Egypt hosted the 27th Con-
ference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Frame-
work Convention on Climate Change, while government 
security forces held environmental activists Ahmed 
Amasha and Seif Fateen in extended, arbitrary pretrial 
detention for joining a terrorist group after forcibly dis-
appearing and torturing them for exercising their rights 
to free expression; 
Whereas Ali Ulvi Bu¨yu¨knohutc¸u and Aysin Bu¨yu¨knohutc¸u of 
Tu¨rkiye won lawsuits against mining companies who ille-
gally operated pollution-creating quarries, but were shot 
and killed by gunmen with alleged ties to those compa-
nies; 
Whereas fossil fuel companies, mining operations, agri-
business plantations, and mega dams are major causes of 
environmental destruction and are also being used to 
drive communities from their homes and their lands; 
Whereas rampant corruption and weak rule of law enables 
those targeting environmental defenders to operate with 
impunity; and 
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Whereas civil society is, and should be, a powerful voice for 
individuals experiencing and at risk from the effects of 
worsening climate chaos, including Indigenous Peoples 
whose ancestral rights, lives, traditional lands, and cul-
tural practices are disproportionately threatened by cli-
mate chaos: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) commends and expresses solidarity with en-
vironmental defenders as crucial members of civil so-
ciety who defend both human rights and the environ-
ment and play a crucial role in tackling climate 
chaos; 
(2) strongly condemns the targeting, harass-
ment, and unlawful detention of any individual or 
group for exercising their rights of free association 
and expression, including advocacy on environmental 
matters, reporting and seeking information on envi-
ronmental violations and abuses, or cooperation with 
local, regional, national, or international mecha-
nisms; 
(3) welcomes the relevant principles of the Rio 
Declaration on Environment and Development, done 
at Rio de Janeiro 1992, and United Nations Human 
Rights 
Council 
Resolution 
A/HRC/RES/40/11 
(2019) as global advancements in recognizing the 
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crucial role that environmental defenders play as 
human rights defenders; 
(4) welcomes the relevant principles of United 
Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/76/300 
(2022) as advancing the global conversation towards 
the importance of a clean, healthy, and sustainable 
environment as an international human right; 
(5) welcomes the United States Government’s 
assertion during its time as Summit Chair of the 
Ninth Summit of the Americas that environmental 
defenders should not be denied access to basic envi-
ronmental information, public participation in pro-
posed projects that would affect their communities, 
or justice as they seek legal redress from govern-
ment authorities; 
(6) urges the United States Government to con-
sult and cooperate in good faith with Indigenous 
Peoples who are concerned with the environment in 
order to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent 
of such Indigenous Peoples, without coercion, prior 
to the approval of any project affecting the lands, 
territories, religious practices, or other natural and 
cultural resources of such Indigenous Peoples; 
(7) welcomes the work of the Department of 
State-led Interagency Working Group, which invites 
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more than 1000 officials across more than 20 Fed-
eral agencies, to reduce violence against environ-
mental defenders and to properly monitor and ad-
dress the expanding nature and cases of persecution 
against environmental defenders; 
(8) calls for the President to prioritize the glob-
al leadership of the United States in tackling repris-
als against environmental defenders through a 
whole-of-government approach in collaboration with 
foreign governments, multilateral organizations, and 
civil society organizations; 
(9) urges the Department of State to integrate 
concerns about environmental defenders in all appro-
priate engagements to exert diplomatic pressure and 
speak out publicly in countries where environmental 
defenders are at risk; 
(10) requests that the Department of State es-
tablish a position focused on environmental defend-
ers within the Bureau of Democracy, Human 
Rights, and Labor; 
(11) requests that the United States Agency for 
International Development prioritize the finalization 
of an independent accountability mechanism and the 
establishment of a position to integrate protection of 
environmental defenders across broader environ-
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mental, economic growth, and human rights and de-
mocracy programming in order to better achieve its 
2022–2030 Climate Strategy, which seeks to pro-
mote a safe and secure political environment at all 
levels of governance for Indigenous Peoples, human 
rights and environmental defenders, and local com-
munities to participate in climate actions and the 
protection of civil society and environmental defend-
ers, including land and resource rights for effective 
climate outcomes; 
(12) encourages the United States International 
Development Finance Corporation to improve trans-
parency through its independent accountability 
mechanism, conduct due diligence with partners, and 
engage in local consultation processes based on free, 
prior, and informed consent; 
(13) encourages the United States Government 
to use its voice and vote within international finan-
cial institutions to ensure that United States tax-
payer dollars do not support individuals, foreign gov-
ernments, or private sector entities that adversely 
affect the environment or target or expose to harm 
persons who speak out against such individuals and 
entities; 
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(14) encourages the United States to use its 
leadership in the United Nations Human Rights 
Council to ensure that the intergovernmental work-
ing group on transnational corporations and other 
business enterprises with respect to human rights 
that was adopted by United Nations Human Rights 
Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/26/9 (2014), cre-
ates an internationally legally binding instrument 
that supports and protects human rights defenders, 
including environmental defenders; 
(15) calls for responsible conduct of United 
States companies, financial institutions, and inves-
tors in relation to the freedoms and rights of Indige-
nous communities and other environmental defend-
ers, particularly in the agribusiness, fossil fuel, min-
ing, and hydroelectricity sectors; and 
(16) calls for the United States to use its influ-
ence as a member of the Parties to the United Na-
tions Framework Convention on Climate Change to 
push for the Conference of Parties to only take place 
in countries that have and actively encourage a 
thriving civil society and have taken concrete actions 
to tackle climate chaos, which stands in contrast to 
the selection of Egypt and the United Arab Emir-
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ates who were selected as hosts in 2022 and 2023, 
respectively. 
Æ 
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