A resolution highlighting the risks that environmental defenders face around the world and commending their role in defending human rights, combating climate chaos, and supporting a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 138 Highlighting the risks that environmental defenders face around the world and commending their role in defending human rights, combating climate chaos, and supporting a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 29, 2023 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. PADILLA, and Mr. CARDIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Highlighting the risks that environmental defenders face around the world and commending their role in defending human rights, combating climate chaos, and supporting a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Whereas, around the world, environmental defenders—indi- viduals exercising their human rights to try to peacefully protect an area or the natural resources of such area from negative environmental impact by an ongoing or proposed activity—face persecution from government, private sector, and criminal actors, including restrictions on free speech and assembly, criminalization, civil law- suits, surveillance, harassment, verbal, cyber, and phys- ical intimidation, sexual assault, and targeted murder; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR138.IS SR138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •SRES 138 IS Whereas at least 1,733 environmental defenders have been reported killed since 2012, with at least 200 killed in 2021; Whereas at least 1,179 environmental defenders have been reported killed in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2012, making it the region with the highest number of environmental defender deaths and persecution overall, exemplified by the cases of— (1) Homero Go´mez Gonza´lez, who was forcibly dis- appeared and found dead in Mexico with reported signs of torture after fighting to protect the wintering grounds of the monarch butterfly from illegal logging; (2) Bruno Pereira, an advocate for the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil’s Amazon, who received threats and was murdered for standing up to illegal logging, mining, and drug trafficking; (3) Berta Ca´ceres, a Lenca Indigenous woman, whose murder was ordered by the Honduran company, Desarrollos Energe´ticos SA, for organizing protests that led to the cancellation of the proposed Agua Zarca Dam; and (4) the Q’eqchi Mayan Indigenous community, which faces defamation, violent evictions, harassment, and as- sault by the Guatemalan National Civil Police Force for peacefully protesting the operations of the Fe´nix mine and growth of palm plantations on their territory; Whereas at least 427 environmental defenders have been re- ported killed in Asia since 2012, and governments in the region have also targeted environmental defenders in other manners, including— VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR138.IS SR138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •SRES 138 IS (1) the Government of Vietnam, which has sought to silence environmental activist Dang Dinh Bach through imprisonment; (2) the Government of the Philippines, which has enacted red-tagging campaigns to turn public sentiment against organizations like the Kalikasan People’s Net- work for the Environment; and (3) the Government of the People’s Republic of China, which has falsely charged environmental activists Li Genshan, Zhang Baoqi, and Niu Haibo for illegally hunting or killing wildlife; Whereas the Government of Egypt hosted the 27th Con- ference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Frame- work Convention on Climate Change, while government security forces held environmental activists Ahmed Amasha and Seif Fateen in extended, arbitrary pretrial detention for joining a terrorist group after forcibly dis- appearing and torturing them for exercising their rights to free expression; Whereas Ali Ulvi Bu¨yu¨knohutc¸u and Aysin Bu¨yu¨knohutc¸u of Turkı¨ye won lawsuits against mining companies who ille- gally operated pollution-creating quarries, but were shot and killed by gunmen with alleged ties to those compa- nies; Whereas fossil fuel companies, mining operations, agri- business plantations, and mega dams are major causes of environmental destruction and are also being used to drive communities from their homes and their lands; Whereas rampant corruption and weak rule of law enables those targeting environmental defenders to operate with impunity; and VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR138.IS SR138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •SRES 138 IS Whereas civil society is, and should be, a powerful voice for individuals experiencing and at risk from the effects of worsening climate chaos, including Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral rights, lives, traditional lands, and cul- tural practices are disproportionately threatened by cli- mate chaos: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) commends and expresses solidarity with en- 2 vironmental defenders as crucial members of civil so- 3 ciety who defend both human rights and the environ- 4 ment and play a crucial role in tackling climate 5 chaos; 6 (2) strongly condemns the targeting, harass- 7 ment, and unlawful detention of any individual or 8 group for exercising their rights of free association 9 and expression, including advocacy on environmental 10 matters, reporting and seeking information on envi- 11 ronmental violations and abuses, or cooperation with 12 local, regional, national, or international mecha- 13 nisms; 14 (3) welcomes the relevant principles of the Rio 15 Declaration on Environment and Development, done 16 at Rio de Janeiro 1992, and United Nations Human 17 Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/40/11 18 (2019) as global advancements in recognizing the 19 crucial role that environmental defenders play as 20 human rights defenders; 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR138.IS SR138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •SRES 138 IS (4) welcomes the relevant principles of United 1 Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/76/300 2 (2022) as advancing the global conversation towards 3 the importance of a clean, healthy, and sustainable 4 environment as an international human right; 5 (5) welcomes the United States Government’s 6 assertion during its time as Summit Chair of the 7 Ninth Summit of the Americas that environmental 8 defenders should not be denied access to basic envi- 9 ronmental information, public participation in pro- 10 posed projects that would affect their communities, 11 or justice as they seek legal redress from govern- 12 ment authorities; 13 (6) urges the United States Government to con- 14 sult and cooperate in good faith with Indigenous 15 Peoples who are concerned with the environment in 16 order to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent 17 of such Indigenous Peoples, without coercion, prior 18 to the approval of any project affecting the lands, 19 territories, religious practices, or other natural and 20 cultural resources of such Indigenous Peoples; 21 (7) welcomes the work of the Department of 22 State-led Interagency Working Group, which invites 23 more than 1000 officials across more than 20 Fed- 24 eral agencies, to reduce violence against environ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR138.IS SR138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •SRES 138 IS mental defenders and to properly monitor and ad- 1 dress the expanding nature and cases of persecution 2 against environmental defenders; 3 (8) calls for the President to prioritize the glob- 4 al leadership of the United States in tackling repris- 5 als against environmental defenders through a 6 whole-of-government approach in collaboration with 7 foreign governments, multilateral organizations, and 8 civil society organizations; 9 (9) urges the Department of State to integrate 10 concerns about environmental defenders in all appro- 11 priate engagements to exert diplomatic pressure and 12 speak out publicly in countries where environmental 13 defenders are at risk; 14 (10) requests that the Department of State es- 15 tablish a position focused on environmental defend- 16 ers within the Bureau of Democracy, Human 17 Rights, and Labor; 18 (11) requests that the United States Agency for 19 International Development prioritize the finalization 20 of an independent accountability mechanism and the 21 establishment of a position to integrate protection of 22 environmental defenders across broader environ- 23 mental, economic growth, and human rights and de- 24 mocracy programming in order to better achieve its 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR138.IS SR138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •SRES 138 IS 2022–2030 Climate Strategy, which seeks to pro- 1 mote a safe and secure political environment at all 2 levels of governance for Indigenous Peoples, human 3 rights and environmental defenders, and local com- 4 munities to participate in climate actions and the 5 protection of civil society and environmental defend- 6 ers, including land and resource rights for effective 7 climate outcomes; 8 (12) encourages the United States International 9 Development Finance Corporation to improve trans- 10 parency through its independent accountability 11 mechanism, conduct due diligence with partners, and 12 engage in local consultation processes based on free, 13 prior, and informed consent; 14 (13) encourages the United States Government 15 to use its voice and vote within international finan- 16 cial institutions to ensure that United States tax- 17 payer dollars do not support individuals, foreign gov- 18 ernments, or private sector entities that adversely 19 affect the environment or target or expose to harm 20 persons who speak out against such individuals and 21 entities; 22 (14) encourages the United States to use its 23 leadership in the United Nations Human Rights 24 Council to ensure that the intergovernmental work- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR138.IS SR138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •SRES 138 IS ing group on transnational corporations and other 1 business enterprises with respect to human rights 2 that was adopted by United Nations Human Rights 3 Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/26/9 (2014), cre- 4 ates an internationally legally binding instrument 5 that supports and protects human rights defenders, 6 including environmental defenders; 7 (15) calls for responsible conduct of United 8 States companies, financial institutions, and inves- 9 tors in relation to the freedoms and rights of Indige- 10 nous communities and other environmental defend- 11 ers, particularly in the agribusiness, fossil fuel, min- 12 ing, and hydroelectricity sectors; and 13 (16) calls for the United States to use its influ- 14 ence as a member of the Parties to the United Na- 15 tions Framework Convention on Climate Change to 16 push for the Conference of Parties to only take place 17 in countries that have and actively encourage a 18 thriving civil society and have taken concrete actions 19 to tackle climate chaos, which stands in contrast to 20 the selection of Egypt and the United Arab Emir- 21 ates who were selected as hosts in 2022 and 2023, 22 respectively. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR138.IS SR138 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB