Global Witness has drawn up a global report on crimes committed against environmental activists. In Africa, the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is worrying. The Central African country ranks 8th in the world for the number of murders of environmental activists. Between 2012 and 2022, at least 72 environmental activists were killed in the DRC.
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
Global Witness has drawn up a global report on crimes committed against environmental activists. In Africa, the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is worrying. The Central African country ranks 8th in the world for the number of murders of environmental activists. Between 2012 and 2022, at least 72 environmental activists were killed in the DRC.
Between 28 and 31 May 2023, three Congolese eco-guards died from gunshot wounds. Their convoy had been violently attacked a few days earlier by Mayi-Mayi, armed groups active in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The attack on 18 May 2023 took place in Nyamusengera, near the village of Rwindi in Rutshuru territory. This attack is the latest in a long series.
Last year, the Virunga National Park Authority reported that more than 200 rangers had been killed since 1996. And in a recent report published on the night of 12-13 September 2023, Global Witness reports that between 2012 and 2022, at least 72 rangers were killed in the DRC, most of them in connection with land disputes or poaching, and often in nature reserves.
According to the study by these human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO), the DRC is the 8th country in the world with the most murders of environmental defenders. The Central African country is ranked alongside other African countries, namely Madagascar, Malawi and South Africa.
In Africa, the figures given in the report are likely to be underestimated. « In Latin America, we have a strong civil society that provides information. We also have media that document things in a way that Africa doesn’t, » Laura Furones, the report’s main author, told AFP, before adding that it is « entirely possible that there are more cases that we never hear about ».
The report calls on governments and companies to provide better protection for people who are committed to environmental conservation. In the rest of the world, the situation is hardly glowing. At least 177 environmentalists were killed worldwide in 2022. Latin America remains the most affected region in the world, led by Colombia where, according to the report, an environmental activist is killed every two days.
Fanta Mabo
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has adopted a resolution on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The text, sponsored by five countries including Morocco, aims to commit states to adopt an effective legal framework and policies at the national and local levels to ensure the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The Kingdom of Morocco deploys its green diplomacy in international forums. This is the case of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), where the North African country has given its sponsorship to a text on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Morocco’s sponsorship is in addition to those granted by four other countries, namely Costa Rica, the Maldives, Slovenia and Switzerland. This green and convergent diplomacy has finally paid off. On April 4, 2023, during its 52nd session, the UNHRC adopted a resolution on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The resolution, although not legally binding, commits States to take various measures to ensure the respect of the right to a healthy environment. These include, among others, strengthening environmental protection capacities and cooperating more with other States, the United Nations system, sectoral organizations and agencies; integrating information on human rights and the environment into the school system; promoting and intensifying environmental action based on human rights; making the judicial sector better able to understand the relationship between man and the environment; and fostering the emergence of a nature-friendly private sector.
Recognized as a human right
A clean, healthy and sustainable environment is considered a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights, including the right to life, food, health and an adequate standard of living. This is partly reflected in the statement on the right to health in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which states that all states must ensure the realization of the right to health by, inter alia, improving all aspects of environmental health.
Furthermore, this prerequisite was recognized as a human right by the UNCHR on October 8, 2021 and by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on July 28, 2022.
Fanta Mabo
MOROCCO: Kingdom promotes the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has adopted a resolution on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The text, sponsored by five countries including Morocco, aims to commit states to adopt an effective legal framework and policies at the national and local levels to ensure the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
En prélude à la quinzième Conférence des parties (COP 15) sur la désertification, prévue du 9 au 20 mai 2022 à Abidjan en Côte d’Ivoire, l’ONU publie un nouveau rapport sur la situation de la terre. Plus de 70% des terres émergées ont déjà été transformées par les activités humaines, et jusqu’à 40% sont dégradées à travers le monde. Le rapport évoque doublement l’Afrique, avec un milliard d’hectares de terres arides.
L’Organisation des Nations unies (ONU) a publié le 27 avril 2022, un rapport sur les terres, le deuxième du genre depuis 2017. Il est intitulé « Perspectives mondiales des terres ». Le document présenté comme le plus complet à ce jour sur la désertification fait des prévisions inquiétantes.
Des phénomènes tels que l’urbanisation, la déforestation, ainsi que les pratiques agricoles et alimentaires actuelles, entraîneront d’ici à 2050 la dégradation de 16 millions de km2 de terres, soit près de la moitié du continent africain. Et pour l’heure, le rapport indique que plus de 70% des terres émergées ont déjà été transformées par les activités humaines, et jusqu’à 40% sont dégradées. Cette perte potentielle de biodiversité sera essentiellement ressentie en Afrique, notamment au Sahel et au Maghreb, mais aussi en Amérique latine, et au Moyen-Orient, où la fertilité des sols devrait le plus reculer en raison, notamment, du manque d’eau et des risques de sécheresse.
Dans une étude antérieure publiée le 29 septembre 2021 sur la lenteur de la restauration des terres dégradées en Afrique, l’ONU indiquait déjà que le continent compte un milliard d’hectares de terres arides.
Restaurer 50 millions de km2 d’ici à 2050
Pour inverser la courbe de la désertification en Afrique et dans le reste du monde, le rapport de l’ONU propose trois solutions. La première porte sur la restauration. Il s’agit notamment de restaurer 50 millions de km2 (35 % de la superficie terrestre mondiale, Ndlr) d’ici à 2050, en développant l’agroforesterie, en adaptant la gestion des pâturages et en accompagnant la régénération naturelle des sols.
La deuxième proposition consiste à respecter le 17e objectif de développement durable (ODD) défini par l’ONU, à partir duquel en 2021, plus de 155 pays se sont déjà engagés à restaurer 10 millions de km2 d’ici à 2030. Selon ses experts de l’ONU, honorer cet engagement permettrait d’accroître les rendements agricoles entre 5% et 10% dans la plupart des pays en développement d’ici à 2050 et de maintenir dans les sols 17 gigatonnes de carbone.
L’ONU préconise également la mise en œuvre de mesures de protection des sols sur la moitié de la surface terrestre. Ses promoteurs tablent également sur le déploiement d’aires naturelles protégées sur 4 millions de km2.
Boris Ngounou
AFRIQUE : un nouveau rapport de l’ONU alerte sur 40% des terres dégradées
En prélude à la quinzième Conférence des parties (COP 15) sur la désertification, prévue du 9 au 20 mai 2022 à Abidjan en Côte d’Ivoire, l’ONU publie un nouveau rapport