The Indigenous World 2026: UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention

Written on 22 April 2026. Posted in UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders is established under the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention).^[1] The Aarhus Convention is an international instrument on environmental democracy, open for accession to any UN Member State. There are currently 48 Parties, including 47 States and the European Union.^[2]

In October 2021, the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention adopted, by consensus, decision VII/9^[3] establishing a rapid response mechanism in the form of a Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders to deal with cases related to article 3(8) of the Convention. Article 3(8) imposes a legally binding obligation on Aarhus Parties to ensure that environmental defenders are not penalized, persecuted or harassed for exercising their rights under the Convention.

The role of the Special Rapporteur is to take measures to protect environmental defenders experiencing (or at imminent threat of experiencing) such penalization, persecution or harassment. It is the first mechanism specifically safeguarding environmental defenders to be established within a legally binding framework either under the UN system or other intergovernmental structure.

The definition of environmental defenders is broad and inclusive. It covers anyone who seeks to protect the right to live in an environment adequate to their health and well-being. This includes Indigenous environmental defenders, who are particularly exposed to threats and attacks.

Within the territory of Aarhus Parties, the Special Rapporteur can deal with cases of penalization, persecution or harassment by any public or private actor. Outside this territory (for instance, in Africa, Asia-Pacific, or Latin America), the Special Rapporteur can deal with cases of penalization, persecution or harassment by a State entity or a State-owned company of an Aarhus Party; or by private companies headquartered in an Aarhus Party.

Anyone can submit a complaint to the Special Rapporteur, either on their own behalf or on behalf of a victim. There is a complaint form available on the Special Rapporteur’s webpage, which must be submitted, together with any supporting evidence, to bring it to the attention of the mandate.^[4]

The Special Rapporteur is elected for a term of four years, spanning the inter-sessional period between two sessions of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention, and is eligible for one re-election.

This article is part of the 40^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here

On 24 June 2022, Michel Forst was elected, by consensus, as the first Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders (hereinafter, Special Rapporteur) at the third extraordinary session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention. On 21 November 2025, he was re-elected for a further four-year term by the Meeting of the Parties at its eighth session. His current mandate runs until the next Meeting of the Parties, scheduled to take place in fall 2029.

In 2025, the Special Rapporteur conducted various activities aimed at strengthening the protection of environmental defenders, with particular attention paid to those most at risk, including Indigenous Peoples. He engaged in numerous protection and prevention activities, including: dealing with complaints; conducting thematic work on peaceful environmental protests and civil disobedience; organizing consultations with environmental defenders; undertaking visits to several Aarhus Parties; participating in international events; and issuing public statements and contributions to relevant policy frameworks.

Complaints

The Special Rapporteur can receive complaints on alleged violations of article 3(8) of the Aarhus Convention. Any member of the public can submit a complaint to the Special Rapporteur, either on their own behalf, or on behalf of a victim with their consent. The submission of a complaint is confidential, and complainants are not required to have exhausted domestic remedies before submitting a complaint. Dealing with these complaints constitutes the core work of the rapid response mechanism and therefore of the Special Rapporteur's mandate.

Between 1 January and 31 December 2025, the Special Rapporteur received 28 complaints. As of 31 December 2025, 24 of the 103 complaints that the Special Rapporteur had received since his first election in June 2022 were publicly accessible on his webpage.^[5]

The Special Rapporteur has identified the following key trends and threats^[6] in this regard:

• Profiles of perpetrators: State bodies and public officials (72% of complaints); private companies (28%); private individuals (4%); the media (2%); and professional regulators (2%).
• Main form of threats: criminal investigations and prosecutions (55% of complaints); verbal and physical threats and attacks (27%); Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) (20%); police brutality or abuse (15%); sanctions in professional life (6%); measures affecting immigration status (4%); administrative harassment of environmental organizations (3%). 60% of the complaints involved multiple forms of harassment.

The Special Rapporteur has various diplomatic, legal, and media tools at his disposal to deal with the complaints he receives. Each complaint is considered on a case-by-case basis. However, as a general rule, the first step in dealing with a complaint is for the Special Rapporteur to send a letter of allegation to the government and/or company concerned by the allegations.

In 2025, in addition to dealing with new complaints received, the Special Rapporteur paid particular attention to following up on complaints, including through country visits. These visits included:

• Sweden, 3 – 5 March 2025: travel to Stockholm to follow up on two complaints.^[7]
• Norway, 5 – 7 March 2025: travel to Oslo to follow up on two complaints.^[8]
• United Kingdom, 1 – 4 April 2025: travel to London to follow up on three complaints.^[9] The Special Rapporteur also visited an environmental defender,^[10] Patrick Hart, in prison where he was serving a 12-month prison sentence for participating in a peaceful environmental protest.^[11]

During these visits, the Special Rapporteur met with the authorities, complainants and victims. He also participated in various meetings with other institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and environmental defenders, specifically to discuss the general situation of environmental defenders in the countries.

Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience

In October 2025, the Special Rapporteur published his Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience.^[12] These Guidelines draw on the Aarhus Convention as well as on international human rights treaties and standards. They set out Guiding Principles and Operational Principles to support the implementation of the Special Rapporteur’s calls to action in relation to States’ responses to peaceful environmental protest and civil disobedience.^[13] Their purpose is to assist Aarhus Parties, as well as other UN Member States, to ensure the effective protection of environmental defenders who engage in peaceful environmental protest, including civil disobedience.

Consultations

In 2025, the Special Rapporteur held five consultations with environmental defenders as part of a series of consultations he has conducted in various regions since November 2023. The objectives of these consultations were to raise awareness of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and ensure that the mandate is known by those who may need its protection; to inform the work of the Special Rapporteur by identifying and discussing key threats, challenges and priority protection concerns for environmental defenders; and to enhance the dialogue between the Special Rapporteur and environmental defenders. In 2025, these consultations took place in:

• Nairobi, with environmental defenders from Eastern and Southern Africa (April 2025);
• Online, with environmental defenders from Croatia and Slovenia (April 2025);
• Bangkok, with environmental defenders from Asia-Pacific (May 2025);
• Budapest, with environmental defenders from Hungary (May 2025); and
• Prague, with environmental defenders from Czech Republic (May 2025).

The consultations in Nairobi and Bangkok included significant representation of Indigenous environmental defenders. They reported serious concerns regarding the harmful impacts of large-scale projects in their territories, especially in the context of the so-called “green transition”. Many projects related to the “green transition” (e.g. mining, renewable energy, carbon markets and conservation) are located on Indigenous lands in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Indigenous environmental defenders emphasized that this has resulted in an increase in environmental and human rights violations, including land grabbing and forceful evictions, insecurity resulting from the militarization of companies’ operation sites as well as threats to their lives and cultures due to restricted access to their ancestral lands and resources.

In September 2025, the Special Rapporteur released his report on regional consultations with environmental defenders,^[14] which further details the main challenges, threats and attacks faced by Indigenous Peoples for protecting the environment. The report also reflects testimonies shared by Indigenous environmental defenders from the Arctic (i.e. Sami and Inuit peoples) during the first consultation organized by the Special Rapporteur in November 2023 in Oslo.

Visits to Aarhus Parties and participation in online events

In 2025, the Special Rapporteur travelled to several countries that are party to the Aarhus Convention, at the invitation of institutions, NGOs, universities and other civil society actors, to meet with environmental defenders. This included Denmark, France, Guinea Bissau, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. On these occasions, and whenever possible, he also met with government representatives of these countries to raise awareness of his mandate and to discuss the challenges faced by environmental defenders.

In order to reach out to the maximum number of environmental defenders, the Special Rapporteur participated in several dozen online events whenever travel was not possible, thereby maintaining dialogue with defenders who may not have had the opportunity to engage with him in person. This included, for instance, online events organized by, for and/or with environmental defenders in Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, and Spain.

International events

In addition to his visits, the Special Rapporteur participated in several international forums in 2025, including online for RightsCon, in February; in Espoo for the Conference on Climate and Security, in June; in New York for the New York Climate Week, in September; in Vienna for the 2025 Aarhus Centres Annual Meeting, in October; online for the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) in November; in Belém (Brazil) for the 30^th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 30), in November; and in Brussels for the 12^th Inter-Mechanisms Meeting on Arbitrary Detention of Human Rights Defenders, in November.

The Special Rapporteur also played an active role in the Leaders Platform for Environmental Activists and Defenders (LEAD), a multistakeholder initiative launched at COP30 in November 2025. This initiative aims to ensure that environmental defenders — including specifically Indigenous Peoples and communities — are recognized, protected, and can meaningfully and safely participate in environmental decision-making, including in international forums such as the COPs.

Public statements and contributions to relevant policy frameworks

As part of the prevention component of his mandate, and with a view to contributing to strengthening the protection of environmental defenders, the Special Rapporteur issued several public statements and contributions to relevant policy frameworks in 2025.

In February, the Special Rapporteur issued a letter^[15] on the European Commission’s proposal for an “Omnibus simplification package”, expressing his great concern that the political compromise reached in the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Taxonomy Regulation may be deprived, by this Omnibus simplification package, of important safeguards for the protection of environmental defenders, including Indigenous Peoples.

In May, on the occasion of TotalEnergies’ Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, the Special Rapporteur released a statement entitled “Urgent call: TotalEnergies and its shareholders must take immediate action to protect environmental defenders in Uganda in the context of the Tilenga/Kingfisher and EACOP projects”^[16] following reports of grave human rights violations against those opposing the projects and local communities.

In July, the Special Rapporteur commended, through a statement, the historic Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on States’ Climate Change Obligations. He stressed the critical role played by environmental defenders across the world who brought this case forward, highlighting that of Indigenous communities in particular.^[17]

In October, the Special Rapporteur provided comments, in a statement, on the revisions to the Independent Complaints Mechanism Policy,^[18] a joint initiative by three European Development Finance Institutions.^[19]

In November, following a protest led by Indigenous Peoples during COP30, the Special Rapporteur, along with other UN Human Rights experts, issued a joint statement on civic participation at COP30^[20] calling on States — particularly Brazil as host country — and the UNFCCC Secretariat to respect and protect human rights throughout the process and substance of the COP30 negotiations, in accordance with their international obligations. The statement emphasizes that Indigenous Peoples must be meaningfully heard and that any solutions affecting them must be co‑developed with them, noting that protecting their rights also advances everyone’s right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

8^th Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention

From 17 to 21 November, the Special Rapporteur participated in the 8^th Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention in Geneva.

In preparation for this meeting, he released three reports, in addition to the Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience, that reflect on the work conducted during his first term as Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders (2022-2025):

• Report on complaints received and activities undertaken;^[21]
• Report on regional consultations with environmental defenders;^[22]
• Report on key trends and threats regarding environmental defenders.^[23]

During the 8^th Meeting of the Parties, the Special Rapporteur also addressed Aarhus Parties and observers in a public statement at the plenary session to provide an overview of his work and share his main concerns; conducted an open dialogue session; and participated in multiple side-events organized by civil society in Geneva.

Finally, the Special Rapporteur is looking ahead to a new term (2025-2029). He will strive to continue working to protect environmental defenders, including Indigenous Peoples, who are increasingly facing repression for their efforts to protect the environment and defend the lives and rights of present and future generations.

Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Website: https://unece.org/env/pp/aarhus-convention/special-rapporteur

This article is part of the 40^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here

Notes and references

[1] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention). 25 June 1998. https://unece.org/environment-policy/public-participation/aarhus-convention/text

[2] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Aarhus Convention status of ratification. https://unece.org/environment-policy/public-participation/aarhus-convention/status-ratification

[3] Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention, Decision VII/9 on the Establishment of a Rapid Response Mechanism to Deal with Cases Related to Article 3(8) of the Convention. https://unece.org/environment/documents/2022/10/pp-aarhus-convention-mop7-decision-vii9-rapid-response-mechanism-deal

[4] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. How to Make a Complaint to the Special Rapporteur. https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/how-make-complaint-special-rapporteur.

[5] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Correspondence regarding complaints to the Special Rapporteur. https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/correspondence-regarding-complaints-special-rapporteur

[6] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. Report on key trends and threats regarding environmental defenders identified by the Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders. ECE/MP.PP/2025/20. September 2025. https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/reports-and-other-documents-submitted-special-rapporteur

[7] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Correspondence regarding complaints to the Special Rapporteur. ACSR/C/2024/39 and ACSR/C/2024/62 (Sweden). https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/correspondence-regarding-complaints-special-rapporteur

[8] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Correspondence regarding complaints to the Special Rapporteur. Complaints ACSR/C/2024/38 and ACSR/C/2024/66 (Norway). https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/correspondence-regarding-complaints-special-rapporteur

[9] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Correspondence regarding complaints to the Special Rapporteur. Complaints ACSR/C/2023/19, ACSR/C/2024/26 and ACSR/C/2024/53 (United Kingdom). https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/correspondence-regarding-complaints-special-rapporteur

[10] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Correspondence regarding complaints to the Special Rapporteur. Complaint ACSR/C/2024/53 (United Kingdom). https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/correspondence-regarding-complaints-special-rapporteur

[11] Dr. Patrick Hart was eventually released from prison in late April 2025 but his medical license remains suspended.

[12] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience. October 2025. https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Aarhus_SR_EnvDef_Guidelines_Right_to_Peaceful_Environmental_Protest_Civil_Disobedience_ENG_0.pdf

[13] See Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. Position Paper: State repression of environmental protest and civil disobedience: a major threat to human rights and democracy. February 2024. https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/UNSR_EnvDefenders_Aarhus_Position_Paper_Civil_Disobedience_EN.pdf

[14] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. Report on regional consultations with environmental defenders. ECE/MP.PP/2025/19. September 2025. https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/reports-and-other-documents-submitted-special-rapporteur

[15]Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. "Letter from the UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders under the Aarhus Convention on the European Commission's proposal for an "Omnibus simplification package". 07 February 2025. https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/Aarhus_SR__EnvDefenders_letter_to_EU_Ambassadors_OmnibusPackage_07.02.2025.pdf

[16] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. “Urgent call: TotalEnergies and its shareholders must take immediate action to protect environmental defenders in Uganda in the context of the Tilenga/Kingfisher and EACOP projects". 22 May 2025. https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/SR_EnvDefenders_Aarhus_Public%20Statement_Total%20Energies_Annual%20Meeting_22.05.2025.pdf

[17] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. « Statement on the historic Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on States’ Climate Change Obligations”. 25 July 2025. https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/SR_EnvDefenders_Aarhus_Statement_ICJ%20AO_Climate%20Change_25.07.2025.pdf

[18] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. “Comments by the UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders under the Aarhus Convention on the revisions to the Independent Complaints Mechanism Policy”. 16 October 2025. https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Aarhus_SR_EnvDefenders_comments_ICM_Policy_revision_16.10.2025.pdf

[19] See ICM’s Public Consultation webpage, available at: https://icm-consultation.org/

[20] UN Human Rights Experts. "Statement on civic participation at the Climate COP30”. 18 November 2025. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/climatechange/statements/int-md-mds-bra-18-11-2025.pdf

[21] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. Report on complaints received and activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders. ECE/MP.PP/2025/18. September 2025. https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/reports-and-other-documents-submitted-special-rapporteur

[22] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. Report on regional consultations with environmental defenders. ECE/MP.PP/2025/19. September 2025. https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/reports-and-other-documents-submitted-special-rapporteur

[23] Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders. Report on key trends and threats regarding environmental defenders identified by the Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders. ECE/MP.PP/2025/20. September 2025. https://unece.org/environmental-policy/public-participation/reports-and-other-documents-submitted-special-rapporteur

Tags: Global governance