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Politics67 outlets ran this3 min read

124 environmental defenders killed globally in 2025, report finds

Latin America accounted for 85% of deaths, with Colombia and Brazil being the deadliest countries.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
124 environmental defenders killed globally in 2025, report finds

What this story says

  • At least 124 land and environmental defenders were killed worldwide in 2025, according to a report by Global Witness.
  • Latin America accounted for 85% of these deaths, with Colombia reporting 39 killings and Brazil reporting 26.
  • More than three-quarters of those killed were Indigenous people, small-scale farmers, or Afro-descendants.
  • Land disputes were linked to the majority of killings, followed by mining, logging, and agribusiness.

Who covered it

Left 50%(21)Centre 38%(16)Right 12%(5)

Percentages are shares of the 42 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 25 of the 67 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

59/100

Hype

20/100

67 sources · methodology

Missing from the right

Only 5 of the 42 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

A reader who follows the right would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

A total of 124 land and environmental defenders were killed globally in 2025, with Latin America accounting for 85% of these deaths, according to a report released by the advocacy group Global Witness. Colombia was the deadliest country for the fourth consecutive year, recording 39 killings, followed by Brazil with 26. The report documented 105 killings in Latin America. More than three-quarters of the victims were Indigenous people, small-scale farmers, or Afro-descendants. Land disputes were linked to 84 killings, while mining and extractive industries were associated with 11 deaths, logging with eight, and agribusiness with six.

The worldwide toll of killings fell for a second consecutive year, but the report cautioned that this decline does not necessarily indicate increased safety for environmental defenders. Killings remain significantly underreported, and conflicts over land and resources are increasingly converging with organized crime and competition for resources. In Brazil, the number of killings more than doubled from 12 in 2024 to 26 in 2025. The report also noted killings in other regions, including 12 in the Philippines.

Disagreements in reporting

The Washington Top News report states that 124 land and environmental defenders were killed worldwide in 2025, with Latin America accounting for 85% of the deaths. The digest from Handelsblatt reports that more than 100 people were killed and that Latin America remains the most dangerous region for environmentalists, noting a doubling of killings in Brazil within a year. Digests from other outlets also state that at least 124 land and environmental defenders were killed worldwide in 2025, with Latin America accounting for 85% of the deaths.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mention the specific breakdown of killings linked to mining and extractive industries, logging, or agribusiness. The right-rated digests also do not mention the report's caution that the decline in worldwide killings does not necessarily mean environmental defenders are becoming safer, nor do they detail the specific strategies being adopted for community-led protection.

Tags:#EnvironmentalDefenders#LatinAmerica#HumanRights#Colombia#Brazil#IndigenousRights

Coverage settled. We checked this 48 times and stopped on 21 Sept 2026, 15:45. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

21 rated outlets

  • Left-rated reports led on the overall global figures for killings of land and environmental defenders in 2025, highlighting that Latin America accounted for 85% of these deaths. They specified Colombia as the deadliest country with 39 killings, followed by Brazil with 26. These reports also emphasised that more than three-quarters of those killed were Indigenous people, small-scale farmers, or Afro-descendants. The connection between land disputes and the killings was also a prominent theme, with land disputes linked to 84 killings. Some reports noted the increase in killings in Brazil and the ongoing struggles for ancestral territories.

Centre

16 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports focused on the key statistics from the Global Witness report, stating that at least 124 land and environmental defenders were killed worldwide in 2025, with Latin America accounting for 85% of the deaths. They highlighted Colombia as the deadliest country with 39 killings and Brazil with 26. These reports also mentioned that more than three-quarters of those killed were Indigenous people, small-scale farmers, or Afro-descendants, and that land disputes were linked to 84 killings. The increase in killings in Brazil was also noted.

Right

5 rated outlets

  • Right-rated reports highlighted that Latin America remains the most dangerous region for environmentalists, with more than 100 people killed. The digest from Handelsblatt specifically noted that killings in Brazil more than doubled within a year. The Washington Times digest also reported the overall figures of 124 global killings and 85% in Latin America, as well as the risk to Indigenous people and small-scale farmers.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover 124 environmental defenders killed globally in 2025, report finds?
Of the 42 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 50% are rated left, 38% are rated centre, 12% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 67. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is 124 environmental defenders killed globally in 2025, report finds left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 42 rated outlets on this story, 50% are rated left, 38% are rated centre, 12% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of 124 environmental defenders killed globally in 2025, report finds biased?
124 environmental defenders killed globally in 2025, report finds is one event reported by 67 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting 124 environmental defenders killed globally in 2025, report finds?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered 124 environmental defenders killed globally in 2025, report finds?
67 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How many land and environmental defenders were killed worldwide in 2025?
A report by Global Witness documented at least 124 killings of land and environmental defenders worldwide in 2025. The report indicated that Latin America accounted for 85% of these deaths, making it the deadliest region.
Which countries had the highest number of killings?
Colombia was the deadliest country for land and environmental defenders in 2025, with 39 killings. Brazil followed with 26 killings. Together, these two countries accounted for 52% of all documented killings globally.
What were the main causes of these killings?
Land disputes were linked to 84 of the 124 killings documented worldwide in 2025. Other causes included mining and extractive industries (11 killings), logging (eight killings), and agribusiness (six killings).
Who were the primary victims?
More than three-quarters of the land and environmental defenders killed in 2025 were Indigenous people, small-scale farmers, or Afro-descendants. Specifically, 47 victims were small-scale farmers and 44 were Indigenous people.

Read it at the source

67 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

21
Show 13 more

Centre

16
Show 8 more

Right

5

Not rated

25
Show 17 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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