Environmental Journalists Facing Rising Violence: UNESCO Report

• 03 May 2024

On 2nd May 2024, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) revealed alarming statistics on violence against environmental journalists, with 44 murders and 305 attacks reported in the last five years alone.

Key Points

• Global Scope: More than 70% of 905 journalists surveyed across 129 countries reported being attacked, threatened, or pressured, indicating a global issue.
• Nature of Attacks: Attacks range from physical violence, arrests, and harassment to legal actions such as defamation lawsuits and criminal proceedings.
• Responsible Parties: State actors, including police, military, and government officials, are responsible for the majority of attacks, with private actors also implicated.
• Topics Covered: Environmental journalists face violence while reporting on diverse topics including protests, mining conflicts, deforestation, pollution, and the fossil fuel industry.
• Gender Disparities: Men are more frequently attacked physically, while women face digital threats more often, highlighting gender disparities in violence.
• Justice and Accountability: Only five out of 44 murder cases resulted in convictions, with perpetrators remaining unidentified in 19 cases, indicating a lack of justice and accountability.