The 2020 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law & Diplomacy was conferred in memoriam to Environmental Defenders who lost their lives defending their land and the environment from destructive industries. The number of attacks against environmental defenders continues to rise, with 212 killings documented by Global Witness in 2019. The ceremony was preceded by a panel discussion featuring leading environmental advocates and activists from around the globe. Watch a video of the event below.
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Panelists
Robert Chan, Executive Director, Palawan Ngo Network, Inc. (PNNI), Philippines
Atty. Robert 鈥楤obby鈥 Chan is a product of the Ateneo de Manila University. He finished his law degree, Juris Doctor, in 1994 in the Ateneo School of Law and immediately pursued an internship program with the Ateneo Human Rights Center, for which he was assigned to environmental law practice in Palawan. He initially worked as a Legal Staff of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center and eventually was asked to head the Palawan NGO Network Incorporated as its Executive Director in 2010 up to the present. He is sometimes called the chainsaw man of Palawan owing to his more than 700 confiscated illegal logging chainsaws impounded in his office, along with several dynamite fishing boats and mining equipment. But Bobby wants to be known as an advocate of Deeds, and not Words, which most environmentalists have a tendency to interchange.
Carlos Alfonso Negret, Former Ombudsman, Republic Of Colombia
was the Ombudsman of Colombia during the constitutional period of September 1 of 2016 to August 31 of 2020. He carried out his work with the commitment to ensure the less favored, make visible the invisible, privilege governance in the territories and promote the consolidation of a human rights culture to live in peace.
During his mandate as Ombudsman, he was elected as Chairperson of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), which reunites more than 113 National Human Rights Institutions at the global level.
Prior to his election as Ombudsman, he served in various positions in the public and private sectors, such as INCORA (Colombian Institute for Land Reform), an entity where the first stages to learn about the problems that afflict the rural sector in the nation and the complex difficulties to face it were identified. Likewise, he represented his country in the United States of America, as Consul, getting to know first-hand, the problematics lived by fellow citizens abroad, especially in prison matters.
Krystal Two Bulls, Northern Cheyenne/Oglala Lakota; Director, LANDBACK Campaign; NDN Collective
Krystal Two Bulls has extensive experience as an organizer and on the frontlines with campaign development and management on local, national and transnational campaigns for social, racial and environmental justice. Krystal鈥檚 identity as a Native American veteran is central to her organizing and storytelling. At the heart of Krystal鈥檚 work are the connections between collective wellness, environmental justice, Indigenous Peoples鈥 Rights, and anti-militarism. In healing from her experience as a soldier, Krystal has dedicated herself to embodying what she views as the essential quality of a warrior: a commitment to the well-being of not only her People and their relationship to the land, but that of all Peoples.
Julie Anne Miranda-Brobeck, Head Of Us Communications & Global Partnerships, Global Witness
Julie Anne Miranda-Brobeck is the Head of US Communications and Global Partnerships at international human rights and environmental watchdog Global Witness, where she leads on US media and strategic communications, cultivating partnerships, and overseeing a host of engaging events to bring visibility and impact to Global Witness campaigns and investigations. Prior to her work with Global Witness, she spent 6 years at the Transparency International Secretariat in Berlin, working across communications, public relations and campaign outreach to shine a light on corruption and root out abuse of power around the world. She has also led multiple art & culture publications as Editor-in-Chief. She is originally from Washington, D.C. and holds a BA in Foreign Affairs and Creative Writing (University of Virginia) and an MA in Global Studies (Joint Degree: University of Freiburg 鈥 Germany & Faculty of Latin American Social Sciences 鈥 Buenos Aires).
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