Enemies of the State?

That the Parliament welcomes the publication of the report, Enemies of the State?, by Global Witness, which documents how governments and vested interests silence land and environmental defenders around the world; notes with concern the report's finding that, on average, more than three activists were killed every week in 2018 for defending their land and protecting their natural habitats from governments, companies and criminal gangs in pursuit of profits from products such as timber, palm oil and minerals; understands that not all cases are documented and very rarely investigated but that violence, aggression and legal intimidation is used to threaten defenders and their communities by private companies or governments seeking to profit from their land; considers that the rise of populism has catalysed an increase in land grabs, particularly in Brazil, the Philippines and the United States, where it understands activists have been targeted by violent and oppressive forces for protecting indigenous lands and ecosystems, and believes that this is not only a human rights crisis but that protecting land and preventing environmental damage is imperative to mitigating a climate crisis.