We look back at 2021 and how environmental defenders around the globe are showing that we can still win a better world despite the multiple crises of climate, COVID-19 pandemic and rising authoritarianism.
Court victories support activism and not terrorism. Recent court decisions have highlighted the need for land and environmental defenders to be respected and recognized, not Red-tagged or abused. At least 16 defenders, including Manila Bay activists Cora Agovida (and Michael Bartolome), the Lumad School 7 at Cebu and four indigenous Tumandok leaders, were freed after the dismissal or quashing of trumpedup charges. 17 Northern Mindanao region defenders were cleared by courts but have yet to be released.
The Supreme Court’s decision declaring unconstitutional the anti-terrorism law’s killer provision (ATL), which allowed the government to vaguely define human right defense as terrorism, was the latest and most significant development. Yes, the military and public officials will continue to pursue their harassment and Red-tagging charges. They have done this even without the ATL. However, the SC decision can make it more difficult for the best and brightest human rights attorneys to use the SC decision.
UN declares healthy environment as human right. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights on the Environment, David Boyd, raised his fist to celebrate the UN Human Rights Councils’ adoption of Resolution 48/13, which officially recognizes the rights of all people to a healthy, sustainable, and clean environment.
This landmark decision, which makes environmental rights inalienable and therefore un-negotiable for all, was based on the ongoing struggles of land and environmental activists to challenge governments and businesses that are undermining these rights. The actions of Filipino environmental activists contributed to this historic moment. Numerous reports have helped to highlight the need to recognize and respect their efforts in defending the rights of the people to a clean environment.
The world’s first Peoples Green New Deal has been filed. The filing of House Resolution No. 2362 was made by Filipino environmental defenders and the Makabayan coalition’s progressive legislators in a moment when climate change is increasingly being seen as a human rights attack on the most vulnerable people of the world. 2362 or a declaration a Peoples Green New Deal, (PGND).
This is the first GND proposal in Southeast Asia, and the first version for peoples in the world, by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a United States legislator. Its central feature is its loss-and-damage mechanisms, which aim to demand compensation from polluter countries and corporations to fund climate adaptation and green recovery.
As the nation struggles to recover from Supertyphoon Orette, the PGND must act urgently. More than 2,000,000 Filipinos were affected in severe winds, floods and storm surges. It is high-time for the Philippine government not only to provide aid, but also to invest in climate resilience as well as ecological sustainability in its recovery efforts.
The year was extremely difficult, and the challenges were often overwhelming. Let us celebrate all victories, big and small, as they were well-earned and hard-fought. Let us draw inspiration and lessons from them, and get ready for the challenges that lie ahead in 2022.
Leon Dulce, the national coordinator for the Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment is the Kalikasan PNE, a national grassroots-led environmental center that was founded in 1997.
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