NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - The UN has called for protection of journalists so that they are able to highlight environmental issues.

“UN Environment is taking a stand against the ongoing threats, intimidation, harassment, and murder of environmental defenders around the world, with the launch of the UN Environmental Rights Initiative in Geneva ,” said Erik Solheim, Head of UNEP, which is headquartered in Kenya.

Speaking in Nairobi, Solheim said journalists and other environment activists need protection because they help people to better understand their rights and how to defend them and assist governments to better safeguard environmental rights.

“Those who struggle to protect planet and people should be celebrated as heroes, but the sad fact is that many are paying a heavy price with their safety and sometimes their lives. It’s our duty to stand on the side of those who are on the right side of history. It means standing for the most fundamental and universal of human rights,” Solheim said.

He urged governments to prioritize the protection of environmental defenders from harassment and attack and to bring those who harm or threaten them to justice swiftly and definitively.

‘Killings, violence and threats often go unreported and unpunished. More journalistic coverage and stronger legal support at the local and national level are essential to defend the defenders,” said Jonathan Watts, Global Environment Editor, The Guardian.

Solheim said environmental rights are enshrined in over 100 constitutions and yet in January 2018 Global Witness documented that almost four environmental defenders are being killed per week, with the true total likely far higher.

“Many more are harassed, intimidated and forced from their lands. Around 40 -50 percent of the 197 environmental defenders killed in 2017 came from indigenous and local communities,” he said.

The UN noted that violations of environmental rights have a profound impact on life, self-determination, food, water, health, sanitation, housing, cultural, civil and political rights.

This comes at a time when the Kenya Government has imposed a 90-day moratorium on timber harvesting in public forests.

Deputy President William Ruto also unveiled a taskforce last week to investigate why Kenya is losing forest cover quickly due to illegal timber harvesting and settlements.

The 15-member team led by chairperson Marion Kamau will investigate why the country has 500,000 acres in water catchment areas that have no trees.

The taskforce will also look into existing legal frameworks, including the forest Act and others, to ensure punitive measures are put in place to address various environmental challenges facing the country.

The team which has two weeks to deliver its interim report and a month to give its final report is set to collect views from the public, religious groups, civil societies, diplomats and other interested stakeholders.

“I have told the taskforce that this is not a public relations exercise. In the past, we have had exercises that end up being photo opportunities. The taskforce has a very clear mandate,” Ruto said when he unveiled its members.

The call for protecting journalists and environment activists also comes at a time when the Sengwer indigenous people in Embobut forest has accused Government of violence, threats and eviction from the forest.

UN also called on the private sector to move beyond a culture of basic compliance to one where the business community champions the rights of everyone to a clean and healthy environment.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said two disturbing counter-trends are undermining both the environmental rule of law and human rights to participate and assemble.

“The first is the escalating harassment, intimidation, and murder of environmental defenders. Between 2002 and 2013, 908 people were killed in 35 countries defending the environment and land, and the pace of killing is increasing; 2017 was even worse,” Hussein said.

The second, he added, is the attempt by some countries to limit the activities of nongovernmental organizations.

“Between 1993 and 2016, 48 countries enacted laws that restricted the activities of local NGOs receiving foreign funding, and 63 countries adopted laws restricting activities of foreign NGOs,” he said.