PBI-Spanish State and PBI-Switzerland call on their governments to support environmental defenders at COP30 in Brazil
Photo: PBI at the grave of Lenca defender Berta Caceres in La Esperanza, Honduras. She was murdered on March 2, 2016, just months after COP21. More than 1,729 land and environmental defenders have been killed since her death.
Peace Brigades International teams in the Spanish State and Switzerland are calling on their governments to support environmental defenders at the United Nations COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil.
Global Witness has documented that more than 2,253 land and environmental defenders have been killed globally between 2012 and 2024.
COP30 is scheduled to take place from November 10 to 21.
Spanish State
PBI-Spanish State and International Development Cooperation Initiatives (ICID) have launched this website and have an online form to that allows individuals to send a message to the Government of Spain, specifically Sara Aagesen Muñoz, the Minister for Ecological Transition, with these four requests:
1- Public recognition of environmental defenders.
2- Explicit mention in COP30 outcome documents.
3- Promotion of the International Alliance for the Investigation and Denunciation of Violations against Human Rights Defenders.
4- Measures to promote the protection of women environmental defenders at the national and international levels.
Olaia Duarte López, a member of the Senate of Spain, has provided this response to a written question to the Senate.
Switzerland
Photo of the Chamber of the Swiss National Council. Photo by Peter Mosimann.
PBI-Switzerland formulated the following questions that Fabian Molina, a member of the 200-member National Council (federal assembly), has put forward to the Federal Council (the seven-member executive authority in Switzerland):
1- How does it assess the global situation of environmental and human rights defenders in light of increasing repression?
2- What responsibility does it see for states of the Global North, and Switzerland in particular, to protect these individuals?
3- How does it intend to strengthen the link between human rights and climate protection in multilateral bodies?
4- Does it plan to anchor the protection of environmental defenders more firmly in foreign policy and development cooperation?
5- How will it ensure that Swiss climate policy complies with international human rights obligations?
6- Will it advocate at COP30 for the recognition of the work of individuals and communities that protect the environment and habitats?
7- What steps is Switzerland taking to ensure that environmental defenders are mentioned and protected in the final declarations?
8- What measures will it announce at COP30 to join or support an international alliance for the protection of these actors?
COP30 webinar, November 18
Join us on Tuesday November 18 at 3 pm in Brazil (1 pm in Ottawa, 7 in Brussels) for a discussion with participants at COP30.
To register, click here.
Further reading:
The COP30 climate conference starts in two weeks; will land and environmental defenders be on the agenda? (October 27, 2025).
PBI-Canada attentive to Mesoamerican Caravan for Climate and Life as it travels to the UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil (November 3, 2025).
