Global Witness welcomes the news that the Dutch and Finnish development banks behind the deeply controversial Agua Zarca hydropower dam in Honduras - which led to the murder of acclaimed land defender Berta Cáceres - have withdrawn their backing for the project. But the organisation warns that the banks urgently need to commit to concrete action to protect environmental and land defenders if they are to ensure future financing does not contribute to the abuse and violence suffered by thousands of activists every year.
More than 120 people have died in Honduras since 2010, according to Global Witness research, making it the most dangerous country per capita to be a land or environmental defender. In 2015 185 people globally were killed for defending their land, rivers and forests against destructive industries whilst countless others have been murdered, threatened, imprisoned or criminalised in the pursuit of their rights.
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