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Environmental and Climate Justice
At RFK Human Rights, we know that environmental issues are human rights issues. Our team uses advocacy, litigation, and education to bring awareness and effect change at this critical intersection.
Students jailed for standing up for their future
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a project on track to become the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world, cutting through protected lands and displacing thousands of people from their homes in Uganda and Tanzania. The project threatens some of Africa’s most biodiverse regions—and the human costs are equally devastating. In Uganda, anti-EACOP protestors have faced state surveillance, smear campaigns, and violent crackdowns. Four of these defenders were beaten, tear-gassed, detained, and put on trial. While they were released on bail, they are still awaiting their final decision. More recently, twenty students languished in maximum security prisons for the simple act of standing up to a pipeline that threatens their future. Despite these attacks, their resistance persists, a testament to the power of collective action.
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Civic Space Case Tracker
The criminalization of Ugandans protesting the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)
Seeking justice after murder of environmental activist
In January 2023, Manuel Paez “Tortuguita” Terán was killed while peacefully protesting the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, known as Cop City—becoming the first environmental activist in U.S. history killed by law enforcement while protesting. In April 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and partners filed a petition on behalf of Tortuguita and their mother, Belkis Terán, to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The petition declares, in part, that the United States violated Manuel’s rights to life and personal security and Belkis’s rights to mental and moral integrity and the truth of what happened to her child.
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About The Case
Seeking justice after murder of environmental activist
Submission to the United Nations
US used lethal force to suppress climate change activism
Investing for profit and the planet
Our Business and Human Rights program partners with investors to focus on the “S” in ESG—the sustainable and societal impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance investing—and ensure it remains a priority. By developing, curating, and disseminating appropriate tools and initiatives to engage and support investors’ work on social justice, we catalyze actions and drive positive change impacting people, the planet, and profit.
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Artificial Intelligence
Atlas of AI: Examining the human and environmental costs of artificial intelligence
Behind the Headlines
The Urgency of Decarceration in the Fight for Climate Justice
Highlighting the intersection between climate justice and civic space
The physical violence, intimidation, and judicial harassment that climate activists increasingly face not only threatens climate justice—it also encroaches on civic space. Requests for advisory opinions from international and regional courts and tribunals, including the Inter-American Court, aim to clarify the relationship between environmental defenders and States’ environmental and human rights obligations. On this front, RFK Human Rights has conducted advocacy through multiple mechanisms, including submitting an amicus brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, sending a written submission to the International Court of Justice, and participating in the May 2024 Inter-American Court hearings in Manaus.
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Protecting Environmental Defenders
Recent Developments in Human Rights and Climate Change
Partnering with grassroots activists
Our International Advocacy and Litigation team works with grassroots environmental defenders, to strengthen their capacity to protect the environment and their rights to weigh in on projects and policies that can impact their communities. In 2020 and 2023, our annual Human Rights Award recognized Brazilian environmental defender and indigenous leader Alessandra Korap Munduruku and the Xinka Parliament, a Guatemalan indigenous group that advocates for the environmental integrity of their ancestral lands.
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Alessandra Korap Munduruku
Alessandra Korap Munduruku: ‘I will never stop fighting and defending my river’
About The Case
When Mining Turns Into Murder
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