"Protecting environmental defenders should be a central issue at climate talks", 31 Oct 2017

…Delegates from around the world will gather [for the UN Climate Change Conference], to continue their discussions on how the Paris Agreement... should be carried out in... international and domestic policy... Human rights advocates, indigenous peoples, environmental groups, and women’s rights advocates are asking their governments to take leadership on... incorporating human rights in climate action… The frequent attacks and threats against environmental rights defenders throughout the world are an example of why governments need to include protecting rights in their climate policies... In addition to ignoring direct attacks..., some governments use laws to criminalize the actions of environmental defenders or limit the space for activism…

Unless governments stop the criminalization of defenders, protect those who defend the environment, and respect due process show a larger commitment to human rights, any efforts to protect the climate will easily be blocked... But so far, governments have been reluctant to integrate rights protections in key sections of the “Paris Rulebook.”… If [represented countries] avoid addressing human rights in their climate policy, they will invariably be shirking their international human rights obligations... [and] ultimately, emphasizing rights protections in climate policies will help protect the lives and health of those working to protect the climate.