Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Global Environmental Change journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gloenvcha Environmental conflicts and defenders: A global overview T a a a,b,⁎ a a Arnim Scheidel , Daniela Del Bene , Juan Liu , Grettel Navas , Sara Mingorría , Federico Demariaa, Sofía Avilaa, Brototi Roya, Irmak Ertöra,c, Leah Tempera,d, Joan Martínez-Aliera a Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain b College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China c The Ataturk Institute for Modern Turkish History, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey d Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Canada ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Recent research and policies recognize the importance of environmental defenders for global sustainability and Environmental justice emphasize their need for protection against violence and repression. However, effective support may benefit Environmentalism of the poor from a more systematic understanding of the underlying environmental conflicts, as well as from better Environmental conflicts knowledge on the factors that enable environmental defenders to mobilize successfully. We have created the Sustainability global Environmental Justice Atlas to address this knowledge gap. Here we present a large-n analysis of 2743 Statistical political ecology EJAtlas cases that sheds light on the characteristics of environmental conflicts and the environmental defenders in- volved, as well as on successful mobilization strategies. We find that bottom-up mobilizations for more sus- tainable and socially just uses of the environment occur worldwide across all income groups, testifying to the global existence of various forms of grassroots environmentalism as a promising force for sustainability. Environmental defenders are frequently members of vulnerable groups who employ largely non-violent protest forms. In 11% of cases globally, they contributed to halt environmentally destructive and socially conflictive projects, defending the environment and livelihoods. Combining strategies of preventive mobilization, protest diversification and litigation can increase this success rate significantly to up to 27%. However, defenders face globally also high rates of criminalization (20% of cases), physical violence (18%), and assassinations (13%), which significantly increase when Indigenous people are involved. Our results call for targeted actions to en- hance the conditions enabling successful mobilizations, and for specific support for Indigenous environmental defenders. 1. Introduction defenders for sustainability is recent, already previous research has highlighted how civil society groups and grassroots movements shape Environmental defenders are individuals and collectives who pro- the politics and practices of resource use, frequently towards positive tect the environment and protest unjust and unsustainable resource social and ecological outcomes (e.g. Bebbington et al., 2008; Escobar, uses because of social and environmental reasons. They may include 1998; Guha and Martinez-Alier, 1997; Kenney-Lazar et al., 2018; Indigenous people, peasants or fisherfolks whose lives and livelihoods Martinez-Alier, 2002; Scheidel et al., 2018; Villamayor-Tomas and may be threatened by environmental change or dispossession, as well as García-López, 2018). environmental activists, social movements, journalists, or any other Such movements in defense of nature and equitable resource use are who actively defend the environment because degradation has reached a promising force for global sustainability and just environmental fu- for them unacceptable levels (Butt et al., 2019; Ghazoul and tures (Nagendra, 2018; Temper et al., 2018b). Yet their activism comes Kleinschroth, 2018; UNEP, 2018). The United Nations (UN) Human at a heavy cost to both life and limb. Global Witness (2019) reported Rights Council has unanimously recognized the vital role of environ- that 164 environmental defenders were murdered in 2018. The trend of mental defenders for environmental protection and sustainability (UN, annually recorded killings has generally increased over the last fifteen 2019). While this formal recognition of the role of environmental years (Butt et al., 2019). Defenders face not only murder and physical ⁎ Corresponding author at: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain. E-mail address: juanlcau@gmail.com (J. Liu). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102104 Received 30 January 2020; Received in revised form 1 April 2020; Accepted 5 May 2020 Available online 02 June 2020 0959-3780/ © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/). A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 violence, but also severe environmental, health, and cultural impacts Combining strategies of preventive mobilization, diversification of (Navas et al., 2018), as well as social stigma, such as being accused to protest and litigation can significantly increase this success rate to up to act on behalf of malevolent foreign interests (Dupuy et al., 2016). The 27%. These findings have direct implications for enhanced support of urgency of supporting and protecting defenders from violence and re- environmental defenders that we address in the concluding section. pression is therefore high (Knox, 2015; Tanner, 2011). While activists continue to resort to protest as a legitimate way to seek redress (Hanna 2. Theoretical background et al., 2016), the UN has put forward policy frameworks to promote greater protection of environmental defenders (UN, 2018; UNEP, 2.1. Environmental conflict research 2018). However, support to environmental defenders may benefit from a Environmental conflicts can be broadly defined as social conflicts more systematic understanding of the underlying environmental con- related to the environment. They differ, but frequently overlap, with flicts (Ghazoul and Kleinschroth, 2018), as well as from better knowl- other types of conflicts on gender, class, territory, or identity (Flint, edge on the factors that enable affected groups to mobilize successfully 2005). Conflicts over natural resources have always been part of human for environmental justice (Zabala, 2019). Awareness about killings of history, for instance, “the idea that wars are associated with resources is environmental defenders has increased substantially with Global Wit- probably as old as war itself” (Le Billon, 2012, p. 9). Research orientation ness’ annual reports and recent analyses of their database (e.g. Butt lies often on violent and armed conflicts, although there is a wider et al., 2019; Middeldorp and Le Billon, 2019). Yet a global analysis of range beyond those involving overt violence. Scholars have studied the causes and characteristics of the underlying environmental conflicts environmental conflicts from different angles and disciplines, addres- and the protest forms employed by environmental activists has been sing the causes, the actors and their motivations, the forms of mobili- lacking. While environmental conflict studies are numerous in the field zation, the outcomes, and their multiple impacts within different con- of political ecology, they frequently are limited to local or national case texts (for a review, see Le Billon, 2015). studies (Le Billon, 2015). Larger statistical analyses involving up to A prevalent argument has been that environmental conflicts are several hundred cases have become available only recently (e.g. Del largely due to poverty or resource scarcities, which can be demand- Bene et al., 2018; Gerber, 2011; Haslam and Ary Tanimoune, 2016; induced, supply-induced, or structural (Homer Dixon, 1999). This im- Jeffords and Thompson, 2016; Martinez-Alier et al., 2016a; Pérez- plies that the occurrence and intensity of conflicts would increase as Rincón et al., 2019). Comparative analysis of the conditions leading to resources become scarcer, or if resources have been overused, depleted, success for environmental movements have been rare (see however or degraded to a certain threshold, environmental conflicts would ex- Aydin et al., 2017; Bebbington et al., 2008; Hess and Satcher, 2019) and acerbate. In response to this frequently apolitical perspective on conflict large global analyses have not been done at all. causes, the field of political ecology emerged as a radical critique in the In this paper, we aim to address this research gap by providing a 1970–80s, coined by cultural ecologists, anthropologists and geo- global overview of environmental conflicts and mobilizations by en- graphers (Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987; Watts and Peets, 2004; Peluso vironmental defenders. Our study is an analysis of the Environmental and Watts, 2001; Robbins, 2012). Political ecology aims to provide Justice Atlas database (EJAtlas, www.ejatlas.org), which we created in more nuanced analyses of power relations in environmental conflicts by 2011 to foster systematic and comparative research on environmental departing from the “neo-Malthusian assumptions, reductionist and essen- conflicts (Temper et al., 2018a, 2015). We understand environmental tializing character” (Le Billon, 2015, p. 603) of the studies that primary conflicts as social conflicts over the environment that manifest through focus on scarcity as conflict driver. mobilizations by individuals or groups in response to perceived en- Political ecologists recognize that scarcity or abundance of re- vironmental threats with detrimental social impacts. The EJAtlas sources are relative social constructs (Kallis, 2019). The transformation documents such conflicts in a standardized manner, based on the in- from ‘nature’ into a ‘resource’ is a historical process of social con- tegration of different information sources. The extensive collaborative struction, which is related to human desires, needs and practices, and process has involved so far several hundred individuals and organiza- the conditions, means and forces of production (Harvey, 1996). The tions worldwide. With about 3100 cases registered by April 2020, the study of environmental conflicts sheds light on who has the power to EJAtlas has become the largest global inventory of environmental decide about, control and allocate environmental benefits and burdens, conflicts that documents also the claims and actions of involved en- which includes issues of distribution, access rights, and the division of vironmental defenders. labor (Robbins, 2012). Martínez-Alier and O’Connor (1996) termed In an effort to advance statistical political ecology, we present here such struggles over the distribution of environmental benefits and the largest analysis of environmental conflicts up to date, based on burdens, ecological distribution conflicts. In contrast to economic dis- 2743 recent, visible, and previously documented cases registered in the tribution conflicts, ecological distribution conflicts do not arise over EJAtlas. Through descriptive statistics we provide a global perspective economic costs and benefits, or being linked to profits, salaries, or on i) where which types of environmental conflicts occur, ii) the prices between sellers and buyers over commodities, but are conflicts characteristics of involved environmental defenders and how they that arise over the unfair distribution of environmental ‘goods’, such as mobilize successfully for environmental justice, and iii) important po- clean water and air, or access to fertile land, and ‘bads’ such as exposure sitive and negative conflict outcomes for environmental defenders. We to pollution, as well as risks and threats to health, livelihoods, social focus not only on global rates of murder, but also on the criminalization and cultural identities. of dissent and physical violence against activists, and how these in- Studies on ecological distribution conflicts have frequently high- cidences change when Indigenous people are involved in mobilizations. lighted both social and biophysical dimensions of conflicts. Martinez- We find bottom-up mobilizations for more just and sustainable uses Alier et al. (2010) pointed to the different valuation languages apparent of the environment to occur globally, testifying to the important role in environmental conflicts, reflecting incommensurable worldviews, that diverse forms of grassroots activism play for sustainability. values, and priorities of different actors. But also, the social metabolism, Environmental defenders are often comprised of vulnerable groups, that is, the appropriation, transformation, and disposal of energy and acting frequently in collectives and employing largely non-violent material resources by societies, is considered a relevant conflict driver protest forms. When Indigenous people are involved in such mobiliza- (Muradian et al., 2012). This view stems from the parallel development tions, protesters face significantly higher rates of violence. Yet, mobi- of the field of ecological economics, which poses that industrial lizations bring also important successes for environmental movements economies are entropic, and not circular (Georgescu-Roegen, 1971; and defenders. In 11% of cases globally, protesters contributed to halt Haas et al., 2015). From this perspective, even a non-growing industrial environmentally destructive and socially conflictive projects. economy would need a continuous supply of natural resources from the 2 A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 commodity extraction frontiers (Moore, 2000) and dispose waste to human rights defenders) who is defending environmental rights, including maintain itself. Consequently, this may trigger the appropriation of constitutional rights to a clean and healthy environment, when the exercise natural resources from other (customary) users. The growing problems of those rights is being threatened whether or not they self-identify as human of waste disposal and contamination indicate that powerful actors are rights defenders. Many environmental defenders engage in their activities able to reap the benefits from environmental goods while shifting en- through sheer necessity” (UNEP, 2018). This may include Indigenous vironmental burdens to marginalized or poorer actors (Demaria and people, peasants, fisherfolks, environmental activists, social move- D’Alisa, 2013). By focusing explicitly on the relation of conflicts to ments, journalists, or any other people concerned over adverse corpo- commodities and resource use sectors, the EJAtlas and this study builds rate or state-driven resource uses and related environmental change. on the tradition of ecological distribution conflicts research. In protesting and mobilizing against the exploitation of nature, Most research on environmental conflicts are site-specific case stu- environmental defenders frequently serve a larger purpose of environ- dies at the local level, or sometimes at national, regional, or sectoral mental protection, even though their actions are not always framed as scales (e.g. Amengual, 2018; Bebbington et al., 2013; Urkidi, 2010; such (Ghazoul and Kleinschroth, 2018). The UN Human Rights Council Veuthey and Gerber, 2012; Yang and Ho, 2018). Larger comparative (2019) asserts that there can be no environmental protection without studies and statistical approaches have become available only recently recognition and respect for environmental defenders. The contributions (e.g. Gerber, 2011; Haslam et al., 2018; Haslam and Ary Tanimoune, of environmental activists to sustainability have also been highlighted 2016; Jeffords and Thompson, 2016) and offer new avenues to the in the academic literature on environmental conflicts and transforma- recent calls to expand methodological plurality in political ecology tions towards sustainability (e.g. Nagendra, 2018; Scheidel et al., 2018; (Zimmerer, 2015). Also the EJAtlas represents a new research tool: it Temper et al., 2018b). enables standardized data collection on environmental conflicts While the term environmental defenders and the attention given to it worldwide in order to move towards a more systematic understanding is recent, it relates to previous debates.1 Guha and Martinez-Alier of environmental conflicts (Temper et al., 2018a). (1997) introduced the concept of an environmentalism of the poor as The first studies that used the EJAtlas as a novel database were early as in the 1980s to describe the environmental protection actions published in 2015 (Latorre et al., 2015; Martinez-Alier et al., 2016a; by poor people who were struggling against the degradation of the Temper et al., 2015). A recent special issue further consolidated its use environment upon which their livelihood depended. Similarly, Indian for comparative political ecology (Temper et al., 2018a). These studies scholars Gadgil and Guha (1995) called them ecosystem people, high- employed in their analysis up to a few hundred cases and focused lighting how many rural dwellers rely on healthy ecosystems. The idea mainly on regional trends, such as environmental conflicts in Andean of an environmentalism of the poor emphasized the material and social countries (Pérez-Rincón et al., 2019), sectoral dynamics, such as con- interest in the environment as a livelihood source for marginalized flicts over wind power (Avila, 2018), dams (Del Bene et al., 2018), or groups in rural areas in the global South. It questioned the theory that mining (Aydin et al., 2017), or specific thematic concerns, such as only rich people would defend the environment because they have their multidimensional violence in Central American conflicts (Navas et al., needs covered and thus can prioritize ecological actions (Bell, 2020; 2018). The only study employing a global dataset of 1357 EJAtlas cases Martinez-Alier, 2002). was published by Martinez-Alier et al. (2016b), and provided some In the same period that the notion of an environmentalism of the preliminary statistics on the involved actors and mobilization forms, poor was put forward, the idea of environmental justice, and a strong while focusing further on qualitative aspects, such as a description of social movement supporting it, was born in the United States during the the protest vocabulary used by environmental justice movements. Since struggles against waste dumping in North Carolina in 1982. then, the number of registered conflicts has more than doubled. With an Environmental justice was defined and developed by civil rights analysis of 2743 conflicts, this article is by far the largest study using activists and members of Christian churches as well as sociologist the EJAtlas data. It provides entirely new analyses of environmental Robert Bullard (1994, 1990). Their protests began to make a conflicts in relation to sectors and income groups, actors and their connection between racism and social injustices and the negative en- successful protests forms, and key positive and negative conflict out- vironmental impacts suffered by people of color in urban or peri-urban comes and their association with Indigenous and non-indigenous mo- areas in the United States. The neighborhoods where African Americans bilizations. lived were the most contaminated as most landfills were allocated In this regard, the EJAtlas has not only enabled multi-sites com- there. parative studies with larger samples in geographical, sectoral, or the- By taking a global view, Anguelovski and Martínez Alier (2014) matical terms. The EJAtlas also expands the research scale of political argued that, despite the diversity of actors and their different origins, ecology to a global level to advance a comparative statistical political the overall concerns of environmental justice movements and the en- ecology. Without dismissing the importance and richness of in-depth vironmentalism of the poor frequently converge over aims to reassert case study and other qualitative methods, we argue that such a broad customary practices and to protect lands and livelihoods from adverse comparative view can reveal global patterns that are relevant for a environmental change. Here we take such a global perspective and use more systematic understanding of the characteristics of environmental the term environmental defenders to refer to any individuals, civil so- conflicts worldwide, the actors involved, and their successful mobili- ciety groups and social movements that mobilize against unsustainable zation forms. or socially unjust uses of the environment, no matter if they are from the global North or South, or whether social or ecological reasons are 2.2. Environmental defenders: terms and concepts their primary motives. Among the key actors in environmental conflicts are those that 2.3. Violence in environmental conflicts defend the environment against negative social or ecological impacts, because their lives and livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems, or The assassination of environmental defenders is the highest and because of other directly related social or environmental reasons. Such most visible expression of direct violence, but it is not the only one actors have been termed environmental defenders in media, civil society appearing in environmental conflicts (Navas et al., 2018). Structural reports (e.g. Global Witness, 2019, 2014), academia (Butt et al., 2019; Knox, 2015; Martinez-Alier et al., 2016b; Middeldorp and Le Billon, 2019; Tanner, 2011), and recently also in international human rights 1 Other approaches not covered here have referred to this phenomenon as policies. The UN Environment Programme refers to environmental subaltern environmentalism, livelihood ecology or liberation ecology (see Martinez- human rights defenders as “anyone (including groups of people and women Alier 2002 for an overview). 3 A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 violence is understood as a process that refers to the violence ingrained economic and resource use sectors provoking the conflict, covering ten in the social, political, and economic structures, producing dis- main categories: biomass and land use, conservation, energy and cli- crimination or social inequality (Farmer, 2004). Cultural violence refers mate, industries, infrastructures, mining, nuclear, tourism, waste to how cultural elements (i.e., language, religion, or ideology) are used management, and water management (for definitions, see Appendix A). to legitimize the former forms of violence (Galtung, 1990). Slow vio- The socio-environmental concerns in conflicts frequently overlap across lence points out the daily and long-lasting violence, caused, for in- various categories, e.g. a mine may cause also land conflicts over land stance, by the increasing and cumulative effects of daily exposure of acquisition for the mining concession. In such cases, conflicts are ca- communities to contamination by extractive industries such as mining tegorized in one of the ten mutually exclusive main categories based on (Nixon, 2011). the sector causing the conflict, which in the previous example would be Given these manifold forms of violence, Navas et al. (2018) called mining. However, the ten main categories can be complemented in the for a multidimensional approach to violence in environmental conflict EJAtlas by indicating 52 mutually non-exclusive sub-categories. research. While we recognize the importance to address the subtler forms of violence, these are also more difficult to be tracked and as- 3.4. Data collection, validation and quality checks sessed at the global level. Based on the data provided by the EJAtlas, we focus in this study on three aspects of violence: a) assassinations, b) The scarcity of grounded data is a major challenge for a better un- physical violence against activists and c) criminalization of environ- derstanding of the local dynamics of environmental conflicts. Under mental defenders. For a definition of these terms, and all other variables such circumstances, the use of local and non-academic knowledge analyzed in this study, see Appendix A. sources is a valuable approach to overcome knowledge gaps (Couzin, 2007; Gerber, 2011; Huntington, 2011). The use of newspaper accounts 3. Methods on conflict and mobilization events is also a common practice in social movement studies, despite limitations on potential coverage bias (for a 3.1. Overview thorough discussion and justification see Earl et al. (2004)). The EJAtlas has made a substantial effort in facilitating data gathering from various The study presents a quantitative analysis of 2743 cases of en- sources on a global scale to bring local knowledge to environmental vironmental conflicts, the characteristics of the involved environmental conflicts research (Temper et al., 2015; Temper and Del Bene, 2016). defenders, successful mobilization strategies, and positive and negative Case data are collected through a collaborative process among conflict outcomes from the perspective of environmental defenders. The academics and civil society actors, whereas individuals (e.g. academics, cases were documented based on secondary sources and were coded in journalists, environmental activists and other knowledgeable persons) a standardized manner through the EJAtlas. and collectives (e.g. local associations, non-governmental organiza- tions, academic groups, and other collectives) must first register in the 3.2. The Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas) EJAtlas as contributors. Once registered, collaborators can identify environmental conflict cases, and provide information and secondary The EJAtlas was created in 2011 through a collaborative process sources on the conflict events. Data gathering over the past eight years between academics and civil society groups (Temper and Del Bene, has involved several hundred collaborators. 2016). Among the aims of establishing the EJAtlas was to advance and The EJAtlas documents only cases that are verifiable through sec- expand political ecology by going beyond case study research and ondary sources, published previously elsewhere. Sources include aca- moving towards large comparative and statistical analyses (Temper demic papers, newspaper articles, lawsuits, formal complaints and et al., 2018a). Today, it constitutes the largest global database on en- other legal documents, civil society reports, and other sources. Case vironmental conflicts and the involved actors mobilizing for environ- documentation is coordinated, and the quality of the provided in- mental justice. For further information on the EJAtlas rationale, see formation is reviewed, cross-checked and validated by a permanent Temper et al. (2015). team located at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), who also counts on external experts’ support if necessary. The same team also 3.3. Unit of analysis and case documentation assures consistency and completeness in the coding of reported conflict events. All conflict cases analyzed here and the way they have been The unit of analysis of the documented cases is an environmental coded can be looked up online at www.ejatlas.org. conflict provoked by a specific state- or corporate-driven resource use project (e.g. a hydroelectric dam, or a mine) due to perceived risks and 3.5. EJAtlas dataset and limitations negative socio-environmental impacts triggering mobilizations. Perceived threats may include social and environmental impacts that The resulting EJAtlas dataset is a large convenience sample of recent were either documented or directly noted by local groups in the ab- and previously documented conflicts from an unknown total number of sence of formal assessments, or anticipated risks severe enough to environmental conflicts worldwide. Therefore, the dataset is statisti- trigger conflict. The latter is, for instance, frequently the case for nu- cally not representative globally; the shown frequencies and associa- clear power plants. Conflict cases are documented in a standardized tions of observations reflect the distributions within the EJAtlas dataset. form that includes information on general characteristics (location, Similar limitations apply also to several other global conflict datasets, relevant background information), project details, companies, finance such as Global Witness’ data on killings of environmental defenders, or institutions and government actors involved, visible and potential so- the NGO GRAIN’s database on land grabbing conflicts that was used by cial and environmental impacts, actors mobilizing to defend the en- research institutions for describing global land grab characteristics (e.g. vironment, forms of mobilizations used, conflict outcomes, and refer- World Bank, 2010). ences to relevant legislation, academic research, videos, and other This is an important caveat that has several implications for inter- media. Note that this focus is broader and different than Global Witness’ preting EJAtlas data. First, some regions such as parts of Russia and database on environmental defenders. While the latter principally fo- Mongolia, Central Asia, and Central Africa have limited coverage in the cuses on events of killings as the unit of analysis, the EJAtlas focuses on EJAtlas. This may result in the underrepresentation of actors and mo- the underlying environmental conflict and protest dynamics as the unit bilizations forms common in these areas, such as conflicts involving of analysis, whereas one conflict could involve several assassinations. pastoralists (Fratkin, 1997). Second, some countries are mapped in Information on conflict events is coded and provided also qualita- more detail than others, not necessarily because of having more con- tively in the EJAtlas as descriptive texts. Conflicts are mapped by flicts, but because of better data availability. This limits possibilities for 4 A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 meaningful comparisons across countries and continents, such as Sorman, 2012; Schleicher et al., 2019). Assassinations associated with whether one country has more conflicts than another. However, global the establishment of conservation zones occur in our data in one out of country groupings by income, as defined by the World Bank, are rela- eight conflict cases. This points to how initiatives relevant for en- tively homogenously covered in terms of documented conflicts per vironmental sustainability that do not address social justice concerns millions of people (see Appendix A for a discussion and data). There- can lead to severe and violent conflict. fore, we compare here only world income regions. Third, the EJAtlas EJAtlas data show that environmental conflicts occur across all has limited information on environmental conflicts in war zones, where country income groups, whereas the relative prevalence of conflict confrontations may be embedded in more violent histories and con- types changes with economic development (Fig. 2). (For an analysis of texts. Further inclusion of environmental conflicts from such areas the relation between income and killings of environmental defenders, could lead to an increase of violent events reported in the dataset, both see Jeffords and Thompson (2016)). Conflicts over conservation, bio- against and by protesters. mass and land, and water management (i.e. dams), account for 52% of Despite these limitations, the EJAtlas dataset represents currently all cases in low-income countries, yet they account only for 19% in the most extensive global sample available on environmental conflicts. high-income countries. Conversely, conflicts about waste management, Therefore, it allows for new insights from a broad comparative per- tourism, nuclear power, industrial zones, and other infrastructure spective that has not been possible before. Where applicable, we en- projects account for a minor share (14%) in low-income countries but courage the comparison of results with other databases to further assess rise to almost half of all conflicts (48%) in high-income countries. the strength of derived findings. Likewise, in poorer countries, most environmental conflicts recorded in the EJAtlas are rural, and as income levels per capita increase, urban 3.6. Statistical analysis and semi-urban conflicts account for an increasing share, representing up to half of all conflicts (see Appendix A, supplementary Table 4). The The sample analyzed here (n = 2743) includes all conflicts that triggers of environmental conflicts vary thus with patterns of in- were registered, reviewed, and approved for publication on the EJAtlas dustrialization, urbanization, and technology use, and environmental since its inception in 2011 and until March 26th, 2019. These are pre- conflicts emerge in new sectors along the lines of economic develop- dominantly recent conflicts: 95% of the 2743 cases began during or ment. Muradian et al. (2012) explain this by pointing to the changing after 1970; 50% of the cases began during or after 2008 and reach the social metabolism associated with economic development, i.e. the present (for more details, see Appendix A). We use descriptive statistics growing demand for sources of material and energy provision, and sinks to analyze the characteristics of environmental conflicts, the environ- required for waste, pollution and emissions (see also Martinez-Alier mental defenders involved, and the mobilization strategies used. et al., 2016a; Spiric, 2018). These changes fundamentally reconfigure Results are presented by indicating the frequency of observations, resource extraction and use patterns and thus affect the distribution of percentages of the total sample, and confidence intervals at 95%. We environmental benefits and burdens across different actors and sectors. use Pearson’s Chi-square tests of independence to examine the asso- In urban areas of middle to high-income countries, mobilizations ciations between selected conflict outcomes (project cancellation, as- arising in environmental conflicts are frequently termed movements for sassinations, violence against activists, criminalization) and different environmental justice, while in rural areas of low-income countries, they sectors (main EJAtlas categories), mobilization strategies (timing of have been referred to as environmentalism of the poor (see Section 2). mobilizations, legal actions, and protest diversification) and actors There are certainly regional and sectoral differences between them that (involvement of Indigenous groups in mobilizations). Reported p-values shape conflict dynamics, specific movement concerns, strategies, and are two-tailed. The significance level was set at 5%. All data used in this outcomes (see Bebbington et al., 2008; Borras et al., 2018; Edelman and article are provided as data tables in Appendix A. Borras, 2016). Yet, they commonly share overarching goals of just and sustainable resource uses, based on the reaffirmation of customary 4. Environmental conflicts across world income regions practices as well as on concrete efforts to protect their living environ- ment from adverse change (Anguelovski and Martínez Alier, 2014). The Environmental conflicts are driven by a range of economic activities fact that such bottom-up mobilizations for socially and environmentally related to resource extraction, processing, and waste disposal. Of the more benign forms of resource uses are widely documented in the 2743 cases documented in the EJAtlas and analyzed here (Fig. 1a), the EJAtlas, across large parts of the world and among all country income most frequently reported sectors are the mining sector (21% of all groups, testifies that various forms of grassroots environmentalism exist cases), the (fossil) energy sector (17%), biomass and land uses (15%), globally. This is a promising force for sustainability and just environ- and water management (14%) such as dams (Fig. 1b). These activities mental futures. concentrated in the extractive and agrarian sectors are those which are most associated with assassinations of environmental defenders 5. Environmental defenders and successful mobilization (Fig. 1c). The murder of the Cambodian forest and land activist Chut strategies Wutty in 2012 motivated Global Witness to start the systematic doc- umentation of killings of environmental defenders worldwide (Global Environmental defenders are frequently self-organized local groups Witness, 2012). The killing of Berta Cáceres in 2016, who opposed the (Fig. 3), such as local associations, social movements, neighbors and Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam in Honduras, caused an international recreational users, driven to action over concerns about local socio- outcry that reinforced global efforts for better protection (Middeldorp environmental impacts. Both local organizations (involved in 69% of and Le Billon, 2019). Globally, 13% of the environmental conflicts EJAtlas cases) and neighbors (67%) are the two most frequent actor documented in the EJAtlas involve assassinations of environmental groups mobilizing to defend their environment. While formal recogni- defenders (Fig. 1c). tions for environmental defenders, such as the Goldman Environmental We find mining and land conflicts, with assassinations occurring in Prize, as well as media reports and statistics of killings tend to portray one out of five conflict cases, significantly deadlier than other cate- the individual struggles of defenders, the high frequency of groups in- gories and the global average (Pearson χ2 = 77.58, df = 9, p < 0.001), volved in environmental mobilizations shows the importance of col- which is consistent with Global Witness data (Butt et al., 2019). Even lective struggle. projects aiming to enhance sustainability, such as conservation zones Institutionalized groups, such as political parties (active in 36% of and renewable energy infrastructures, frequently cause conflicts over cases), trade unions (12%), or religious groups (12%), appear less fre- restriction of livelihood activities or enforced evictions (Avila-Calero, quently globally, but their involvement can be decisive. Trade unions 2017; Brockington and Igoe, 2006; Del Bene et al., 2018; Scheidel and intervene in such conflicts in industrial areas to support healthy work 5 A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 Fig. 1. Environmental conflicts registered in the EJAtlas and occurrence of assassinations of environmental defenders across conflict types (n = 2743). a: Geographical coverage of environmental conflicts reviewed here (each dot represents one case). b: Types of conflicts and coverage (pie colours corresponds to the colour of the cases shown in the map). c: Occurrence of assassinations of environmental defenders per conflict type. Error bars are 95% CIs. conditions as part of a working-class environmentalism (Barca and support movements’ claims. Leonardi, 2018). Religious groups are important supporters, particu- Environmental defenders belong frequently to vulnerable segments larly in Southeast Asia and Latin America, but also in the US. For ex- of society that are disproportionally threatened by development pro- ample, the United Church of Christ played a leading organizational role jects and resource exploitation (cf. Blaikie et al., 1994). Many are ex- in the US environmental justice movement (UCC, 1987). Buddhist posed to intersectional discrimination and subject to vexed dynamics of monks frequently shape environmental activism in Southeast Asia, class, ethnicity, or gender that generate both risk and inequality (Acker, where customary and sacred landscapes such as forests are threatened 2006; Thomsen and Finley, 2019). Of these, we find in the EJAtlas that by state and corporate economic activities (Walter, 2007). Professional Indigenous people mobilize most frequently against damaging en- organizations and supporters, such as international NGOs (active in vironmental activities, appearing in 41% of documented environmental 30% of cases) and local scientists (active in 40% of cases) can become conflicts. 47% of cases involve farmers (including Indigenous ones), important allies. They may help to legitimize local claims in the media underlining the need to ensure appropriate land tenure rights (FAO and and international fora, facilitate regional and global networking, and CFS, 2012). 21% of EJAtlas cases highlight the role of women as leaders engage in the collection of scientific evidence on risks and impacts to and claimants for feminist rights in the mobilizations, sometimes 6 A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 Fig. 2. Occurrence of types of environmental conflicts across world income regions (n = 2737). because of being disproportionally affected by environmental and quarter of all cases. Local scientists and professionals frequently support health impacts (Deonandan et al., 2017; Rodriguez Acha, 2017). Many the creation of new knowledge and alternative proposals (see Conde, of them also face repression and killings (Martinez-Alier and Navas, 2014). Reports that provide the perspective of affected communities on 2017). conflictive projects are produced in 36% of cases, while alternative Diverse forms of protest shape environmental defenders’ repertoire project proposals are put forward in 23% of cases. More disruptive of contention (Fig. 4). The vast majority are non-violent actions that, interventions such as road blockades (28%), occupation of public following Gene Sharp (1973), we group here into acts of non-violent buildings (13%), land occupation (12%), and self-sacrifice are often protest and persuasion, non-cooperation, and non-violent intervention. employed when previous interventions were not successful (Hanna Formal petitions (reported in 58% of all cases), public campaigns et al., 2016). Their use depends also on the political culture; for in- (57%), and street protests (56%) are the most commonly reported forms stance, 40% of cases involving hunger strikes come from India and of protest and persuasion, followed by the creation of collective action reflect the Gandhian tradition of civil disobedience (see also Williams networks, involvement of NGOs, and media-based activism. Strikes, and Mawdsley, 2006). boycotts of official processes, companies, and products, or refusal of Potentially violent protest actions, such as property damage, sabo- compensation payments are relevant forms of non-cooperation parti- tage, or threats to use arms have been documented in 7%, 3%, and 3% cularly in urban contexts, however, they appear globally only in up to of cases, respectively, testifying to the overwhelmingly non-violent 10% of all cases. character of defenders’ protest actions. Environmental defenders use different forms of non-violent inter- Understanding how civil society movements mobilize successfully is ventions. We find legal strategies such as lawsuits in almost half of all important for developing effective support (Hess and Satcher, 2019; cases, and objections to environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in a Zabala, 2019). While successes take many forms (e.g. Özkaynak et al., Fig. 3. Characteristics of actors mobilizing in environmental conflicts according to the EJAtlas (n = 2743). Error bars are 95% CIs. 7 A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 Fig. 4. Characteristics of forms of mobilization and protest reported globally in the EJAtlas. Protest actions are clustered following Sharp (1973) (n = 2743). Error bars are 95% CIs. 2015), the cancellation of conflictive projects with adverse socio-en- Where protesters used more than ten different mobilization forms, vironmental impacts is a common goal of those mobilizing and it is projects were again more than twice as frequent to be canceled (16%) worth examining those protest strategies that achieve project cancel- than in cases with less than five types of protest actions (7%) (Pearson lations more frequently. Here we analyze project cancellation in rela- χ2 = 26.93, df = 2, p < 0.001). Such tactical diversity is arguably tion to three specific mobilization strategies: timing of mobilizations, beneficial because it reflects a range of skills available in the movement, protest diversification, and pursuit of legal actions. We acknowledge it allows more people to participate in a diverse range of protest ac- that many other factors beyond mobilization strategies influence whe- tivities and thus to increase pressure on proponents of conflictive pro- ther success is achieved or not (e.g. political climate or movement di- jects, and it may turn mobilizations more resilient as claimants can versity, see for instance Bebbington et al. 2008; Aydin et al. (2017)). move between protest forms in case of repression of a particular one Yet the significant differences observed in conflict outcomes in relation (Chenoweth and Stephan, 2011). Regarding legal strategies, the filing to these strategies reveal their relevance for mobilizations (Fig. 5). of lawsuits alone does not significantly associate with higher cancella- When mobilizations were preventive, undesired projects were can- tion rates. However, when combined with formal objections to EIA, we celed in 17% of all cases. This is about twice as much as when mobi- observe a cancellation rate of 15.5% (Pearson χ2 = 12.87, df = 3, lizations occurred in reaction to project implementation, or for re- p < 0.01). parations once impacts were experienced (Pearson χ2 = 50.36, df = 2, The most successful way to mobilize seems to not rely on a single p < 0.001). Besides the situated contexts of specific cases, environ- strategy but to combine several at once (Fig. 5b). We find a significantly mental mobilizations initiated in a preventive stage usually imply better higher project cancellation rate of 26.7% (Pearson χ2 = 25.67, df = 1, awareness of the risks and access to information, knowledge, and net- p < 0.001) in those cases where mobilizations were preventive, highly works of local groups and key actors (Bondes and Johnson, 2017; diverse and took strong legal action (lawsuits and formal EIA objec- Christoph Steinhardt and Wu, 2016). Features like this may come to- tions). Effective support for environmental defenders should thus pro- gether with preventive actions, such as early campaigning, formal ob- mote measures that enable them to pursue litigation, preventive protest jections to impact assessments before projects are constructed, or al- and diverse mobilizations all together. ternative knowledge creation from the onset to point out neglected risks or frame alternative pathways. Furthermore, it is arguably easier to stop a project during planning phase because more leverage points exist for 6. Outcomes of environmental conflicts groups to intervene, fewer resources have been invested so that the cancellation costs are lower for state and corporate entities, and a Both positive and negative outcomes for environmental defenders longer timeframe for negotiating and creating alternatives is available. mark environmental conflicts (Fig. 6a). One frequent positive social Recognizing the effectiveness of preventive protest has key implications outcome is strengthened participation among affected people (docu- for supporting environmental defenders: it points to the need to address mented in 29% of cases), including cases of increased civic engagement those factors that inhibit or enable preventive mobilization. and participation in consultation, planning, and politics related to project development. Other positive outcomes include environmental 8 A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 Fig. 5. Mobilization strategies and project cancellation rates. (a) Percentage of cancellation of conflictive projects in relation to three different strategies: preventive strategy (n = 2533), legal strategy (n = 2743) and diversification of protest (n = 2743). (b) Percentage of cancellation of conflictive projects in cases with a combined strategy (preventive, highly diverse, lawsuits and EIA objections) (n = 101). Note: Highly diverse mobilizations = use of 10 or more different mobili- zations forms as reported in Fig. 4; diverse mobilizations = use of 5–9 different mobilization forms; not diverse mobilizations = <5 different mobilization forms. For definition of other categories see supplementary Tables 6–9, 14. Error bars are 95% CIs. Fig. 6. Positive and negative conflict outcomes from the perspective of environmental defenders (a) and occurrence of repressive outcomes when Indigenous groups are involved (b). n = 2743, except for cases with lawsuits (court successes and failures), where n = 1220. Error bars are 95% CIs. 9 A. Scheidel, et al. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020) 102104 improvements (12%), such as through the rehabilitation of degraded activities and development projects occur worldwide across all income areas. Negotiated alternative solutions, such as negotiated reductions of groups, testifying to the existence of various forms of grassroots en- conflictive land concessions to mitigate community impacts, or changes vironmentalism globally. This indicates a promising force for environ- in the routes of conflictive pipelines, are reported in 10% of cases. More mental sustainability and social justice, yet one that comes too often at radical achievements from the perspective of environmental defenders a heavy cost of violence and repression. To enhance the protection and are the above-discussed cancellation of conflictive projects, apparent on support of environmental defenders, we close this article by discussing average in 11% of all EJAtlas cases. The struggles led by environmental some implications of our results. defenders can thus bring important social and environmental benefits First, the EJAtlas database indicates that, assassinations, physical and evidence how environmental movements are important actors for violence and criminalization occurs significantly more often in mining sustainability. and land conflicts and when Indigenous groups are involved in mobi- However, for the case of renewables and conservation areas, ten- lizations. These results are consistent with Global Witness data (Butt sions between social and ecological sustainability goals may become et al., 2019) and the strong evidence for these findings emphasizes the apparent. For instance, while locally affected groups may celebrate the urgent need for developing specific protection mechanisms within these cancellation of an unjust wind park, others may worry about not sectors and particularly for Indigenous people. The role of Indigenous reaching renewable energy goals. Given that sustainability is multi- communities in environmental defense must be recognized and cele- dimensional and multiscalar, such tensions between global environ- brated. Ongoing efforts to recognize their territories and the right to mental goals and local socio-environmental impacts are not surprising. self-determination as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on Environmental conflicts play an important role here in fostering societal the Rights of Indigenous peoples, must be accelerated (Feiring, 2013; negotiation processes and the search for alternatives that are both UN, 2008). ecologically sustainable and socially more just (Scheidel et al., 2018). Second, effective support for environmental defenders should en- In cases where defenders were able to take legal actions, 18% of hance the conditions that enable successful mobilizations to defend li- cases reported a court failure while 34% of cases a court success (some velihoods and the environment. We found that strategies pursuing cases may have both due to multiple and overlapping proceedings). preventive mobilizations, diversification of protest, and legal actions Legal successes can take many forms, such as winning demands for are important to achieve positive outcomes, and particularly successful, monetary indemnification, land restitution, recognition of customary when combined. Towards this end, access to justice must be improved land rights, or orders to suspend and cancel conflictive and unsustain- beyond the development of general policy frameworks (Knox, 2015). able projects. The relatively high rate of court victories suggests that Concrete measures could include the provision of free legal education, many conflictive projects do not develop in compliance with prevailing training, and aid, as well as monetary support to cover related expenses. laws as well as social and environmental standards. This emphasizes the Leverage points for legal interventions can be identified by tracking the need for enhanced monitoring and accountability of corporate and legal liabilities of involved companies across the entire investment state-led resource use projects and confirms the importance of im- chain (Blackmore et al., 2015). This requires states and companies to proving defenders’ access to justice as an effective way of support. enforce corporate transparency and accountability (Fox, 2007), not Regarding negative outcomes, 21% of the 2743 cases provoke dis- only where investments are made, but also in investing countries for placement, either directly caused by corporate or state-driven projects human rights abuses committed by their corporations abroad. Trans- (Satiroglu and Choi, 2015), or due to the adverse effects of environ- parency must also be improved in public administration, as early dis- mental change (Rechkemmer et al., 2016). Defenders face also physical closure and knowledge about development plans, project bids and violence (18% of all cases) and assassinations (13%). Criminalization of tenders are key to enable preventive mobilizations. dissent, for instance, through imprisonment, restriction of activists' However, the effectiveness of such recommendations, policies and rights, or prosecution without clear charges (Moore et al., 2015), ap- formal procedures has also limits. Environmental conflicts develop pears in 20% of cases and shows the structural violence that environ- within complex political, socio-economic, and cultural contexts that do mental defenders face. not necessarily respond to such measures. Many governments are not Butt et al. (2019) have highlighted the role of structural factors and supportive of environmental defenders and rather seek to delegitimize country contexts (i.e. rule of law, corruption) in shaping the occurrence them, for instance by stigmatizing them as agents of foreign influence to of violence in environmental conflicts. Our data furthermore evidence limit support from international actors (Matejova et al., 2018). Bottom- that Indigenous environmental defenders are significantly more sus- up protest in its manifold forms remains then a central and necessary ceptible to various forms of violence (Fig. 6b). While assassinations strategy for the claims-making of affected groups, particularly when occur in 8% of cases when Indigenous people are not involved, killings external support is constrained and when existing formal procedures, rise dramatically to 19% when Indigenous people are part of the mo- such as project safeguards, free prior informed consent, or social and bilizations (Pearson χ2 = 68.93, df = 1, p < 0.001). With Indigenous environmental impact assessments are not conducted or enforced by involvement, also the occurrence of criminalization of dissent (25%) states (Hanna et al., 2016). Diversification of protest, which we found and physical violence against activists (27%) is significantly higher to be highly relevant to achieve movement goals, can be enhanced than in cases where Indigenous people were not involved in mobiliza- through networking and sharing of knowledge about successful mobi- tions (with Pearson χ2 = 64.65, df = 1, p < 0.001 and Pearson lizations. The EJAtlas, apart from opening avenues for comparative χ2 = 58.87, df = 1, p < 0.001, respectively). Indigenous populations political ecology research on such themes, can be a useful resource for have historically suffered from coloniality and racism (Quijano, 2000). activists, as it documents diverse mobilization strategies and their This trend has not changed until today. Furthermore, state and corpo- outcomes across the globe. Furthermore, it can also be used as an ad- rate pressure to exploit Indigenous territories is high as they represent vocacy map for citizens’ grievances to reach diverse actors, such as local to the global economy some of the remaining frontiers of resource ex- and national government bodies as well as global media (Drozdz, traction. The significantly higher exposure to criminalization, violence, 2020). and assassinations underlines the urgent need to specifically support Finally, to address some of the underlying drivers, it is important to Indigenous environmental defenders. consider that environmental conflicts are embedded in global economic structures that require continuous resource extraction (Muradian et al., 7. Concluding discussion 2012). Our results show that environmental conflicts do not disappear with economic development but are shifted to new sectors, following Our results show that non-violent bottom-up mobilizations in re- the changes in resource uses. 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