PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
Protection and support for environmental human rights defenders (15 November 2021)

That this House recognises the important contribution enivronmental human rights defenders around the world make in tackling climate change and protecting natural environments for future generations; notes that many such defenders are from indigenous or minority communities and have been killed or imprisoned by oppressive governments; welcomes campaigns to draw attention to this issue and specific cases such as that of Bernardo Caal Xol, who was imprisoned after speaking out against the destruction of the river Cahabón in north central Guatemala; supports calls by Amnesty International and others for the Government to take steps to improve minimum standards of support for environmental human rights defenders across its network of embassies and diplomatic posts, strengthen protection arrangements for environmental human rights defenders through measures such as protection grants, amnesties and funding for rapid response emergency mechanisms, increase access to flexible and core funding for environmental human rights defenders, facilitate and support access to justice and resilience building, through UK pro bono partnerships and legal clinics, establish and facilitate access to effective judicial and non-judicial grievance mechanisms to address business-related human rights and environmental abuses committed by UK companies domestically and extraterritorially, integrate a human rights-based approach in policies, and condition its climate finance on such an approach, in consultation with human rights defenders and civil society, and to ensure UK business enterprises, including financial institutions, apply and publish human rights due diligence measures to identify, prevent, and mitigate against potential and actual human rights abuse, including the criminalisation of defenders.

Sponsored by:
Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party)