Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report by Global Witness entitled, Standing Firm, published on 13 September 2023, what steps his Department is taking to help to protect people who focus on protecting (a) land and (b) the environment around the world.

Human rights defenders (HRDs) and civil society organisations, including those working to protect land or the environment, are supported through the bilateral engagement of our global network of Embassies and High Commissions and, importantly, through multilateral organisations. In 2019, the Government published guidance entitled 'UK support for Human Rights Defenders' which sets out what we could and would do to support HRDs. The FCDO also monitors repression of HRDs and civil society in its annual Human Rights and Democracy Report, most recently published in July 2023.