Co-Violations of Rights

Around the world, governments and corporations harass, threaten, attack, imprison, and kill defenders of environmental and human rights. Meanwhile, the natural world suffers from escalating threats including extinctions, toxic pollution, deforestation, mining, and a rapidly changing climate. Many of these harms rise to the level of “co-violations,” which occur when governments, industries, or both violate both Nature’s rights and human rights with the same action.

Recognizing this alarming trend, in 2016 Earth Law Center (ELC) released a report called “Fighting for Our Shared Future: Protecting Both Human Rights and Nature’s Rights.” This report examined and analyzed 200 such cases of co-violations of human and environmental rights and made recommendations on how to establish a better future for people and planet.

We no longer update the body of our 2016 report, but you can read the Executive Summary here. We are currently updating many of the 200 case studies we documented in 2015-2016 and will post them to this page as they are ready.

In the years since the report was published, organizations such as those linked below have done a commendable job establishing ongoing tracking of environmental justice crimes.