Bold climate actors are helping us all to reach our climate goals.
As more people rise up to demand climate action worldwide, governments and corporations are lashing out and using the law against climate defenders to protect their entrenched interests.
There is no one-size fits all definition for a climate defender.
Climate defenders are students and parents, those who live close to the land and city dwellers; journalists, scientists, and lawyers; and more. They may not consider themselves to be climate defenders but they are acting to protect our climate and environment.
Climate defenders are facing increasingly dangerous environments.
The more success climate defenders have in fighting fossil fuel companies and their government enablers, the more both weaponize the law to clamp down on dissent.
An industry that knows it’s time is up
An increasingly desperate fossil fuel industry knows that climate science dictates its eventual obsolescence. Public opinion is rapidly shifting to supporting a clean energy transition.
An urgent moment
Climate activists are taking bold actions because they understand that time is of the essence.
Unchecked corporate power
Entrenched influence over government processes and lawmaking has led to weaponization of the law against climate activists
Lack of access to justice
Many fossil fuel projects take place in rural or remote areas, far away from robust legal infrastructure that can help defend activists.
Governments and fossil fuel corporations alike know how powerful the law can be as a tool to silence and intimidate opponents.
Climate defenders face many dangers, but the threat of legal reprisals–criminal investigation and prosecution, civil suits, arrests– can only be eliminated if they have lawyers on their side.
Arrests
Governments seeking to maintain the status quo label climate defenders as criminals and terrorists, and weaponize the law to try to shut down dissent.
Lawsuits
Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation – SLAPP suits – use the law as a tool to intimidate and punish climate defenders for standing up to corporate interests.
Our Grantees
We provide support to legal non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The following are some of our grantees:
Alerte Congolaise pour l'Environnement et les Droits de l'Homme (ACEDH) (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Arayara (Brazil)
Climate Litigation Accelerator (CLX) (Global)
Green Advocates (West Africa)
Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (Egypt)
Natural Justice (Uganda)
Justica Ambiental (Ja!) (Mozambique)
Red Cedar Advocacy Centre (RCAC) (Canada)
Join us
Given the complex threats they face, legal defense for climate defenders is a fundamental component of any strategy to address the climate crisis. Please contact us to learn how to support and get involved in our work.