The number of environmental activists killed in Brazil doubled in 2025, making the country the second most dangerous in the world for environmental defenders, after Colombia, according to a report released today by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Global Witness.
Colombia and Brazil accounted for 52% of environmental defenders’ murders recorded worldwide in the last year, with 39 and 26 victims, respectively. A large part of the killings in Brazil is linked to land disputes, a historic source of tension between Indigenous communities and large rural landowners.
“People can be killed because there is a certainty they will go unpunished; it is almost a license to kill,” Carlos Lima of the Pastoral Land Commission told AFP, the organization that defends the rights of peasants and Indigenous peoples. “In general, those who order a murder do not serve a sentence, nor are they detained,” he added.
For the fourth consecutive year, Colombia emerges as the world’s most violent country for environmental activists, also the target of pressure and threats from armed groups dedicated to illegal mining.
In Latin America, the region most deadly for environmental defenders, the majority of victims are Indigenous (36%) and farmers (40%). The risk is particularly high in remote areas, where the state’s presence is limited, the report notes.
In total, 124 environmental activist killings were recorded worldwide in the last year. Honduras and the Philippines occupy third place on the list, with 12 deaths each, followed by Mexico, with 10 victims.
Since 2012, when Global Witness began the survey, the number of environmental defenders killed or disappeared worldwide has risen to 2,375 people.
