Global Warning: the threat to climate defenders in Australia

REPORT | Read the report

 

Major new research has identified a clear and alarming trend that sees climate defenders increasingly being targeted and suppressed by Australian governments.

Global Warning: the threat to climate defenders in Australia maps the systematic repression of communities and organisations advocating for climate justice in the wake of government inaction.

The report, by the Human Rights Law Centre, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, and the Environmental Defenders Office, reveals how the unregulated political influence of the fossil fuel industry -- a murky web of connections between governments and industry -- is driving political inaction on climate change and the repression of those calling for action. Forms of repression include:

  • The introduction of harsh and at times unconstitutional, anti-protest laws targeting climate defenders

  • The enforcement of punitive bail conditions and excessive penalties for minor protest related offences

  • Stifling civil society by defunding climate education and threatening to deregister charities that engage in climate activism

  • Targeting activists with litigation, and surveilling and infiltrating climate defender groups

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This report was written by Yusur Al-Azzawi who works in the Democratic Freedoms team at the Human Rights Law Centre. You can learn more about the team's work here.

 
ReportsRachel RichmondDemocratic Freedoms, Climate & Environmental Justice