Record number of activist murdered in 2020

By: Ryan Oswald, Staff reporter, The Pawprint

The number of activists murdered working to protect environmental and land rights  last year reached a record number. 

Around 227 people  were killed in 2020, the second highest number recorded for a second year. 

A senior campaigner for Global Witness, Chris Madden, called on governments to take this global issue seriously. He says that companies should put the planet before the people.

Reports called the victims “environmental defenders”, and say the individuals were killed for protecting natural resources that need to be preserved. 

Since the Paris Agreement plan signed in 2015, 4 activists have been killed each week. Indigenous people accounted for at least a third of those affected. 

Families of victims are still being affected, as no action has been taken or arrests made to investigate these attacks.