Presentation short abstract

Environmental defenders face attacks, criminalisation, and violence. Even "sustainable development" and climate action projects generate injustice, often reframing defenders: from nature's guardians to terrorists and state enemies—protectors yet 'green transition' opponents simultaneously.

Presentation long abstract

Environmental defenders face continued physical attacks, criminalisation, and atmospheres of violence, often by state and non-state actors who seek to silence them. These violences and human rights violations surround not only expansion of extractive frontiers but also so-called ‘sustainable development’ and ‘climate-action’ initiatives linked to ‘green transitions’ arising from a climate coloniality that often depends on critical minerals harvested from Indigenous territories, land-grabbing or other forms of forced displacement of local peoples. This presentation draws on a review of case studies and event ethnography of COP30 and the Peoples Tribunal Against Eco-Genocide (Belém, Brazil, November 2025) to focus on the climate injustices and violences arising from climate action globally, with an emphasis on case studies from Southeast Asia. In particular, it focuses on the shifting sands of how environmental defenders are framed: from being lauded as guardians and protectors of nature to being labelled as terrorists and enemies of the state, framed as criminals. In cases of climate action projects, where the project is framed as ‘green’ from a global perspective yet leads to local injustices, environmental defenders who protest their expansion can be simultaneously framed as both protectors and enemies of the environment. These contradictory framings lead to increasingly complex atmospheres of violence wherein previous alliances with environmental agencies and NGOs are eroded and collective protection strategies become increasingly crucial for survival.