WHAT WE DO
Powerful fossil fuel companies are lawyered up, and authoritarian governments thrive by repressing dissent. We provide climate defenders with the legal resources they need to win.
Ensuring climate defenders have a fighting chance
There is no one-size fits all definition for a climate defender.
Climate defenders are students, parents, those who live close to the land, city dwellers, journalists, scientists, lawyers, and more. They may not call themselves climate defenders but, in fact, that is who they are.
Common Types of Attacks
ARRESTS & DETENTIONS
Governments label climate defenders as criminals and terrorists, and weaponize the law to extinguish debate.
ABUSIVE LAWSUITS
Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation – SLAPP suits – utilize expensive lawsuits to punish climate defenders for challenging powerful interests.
LEGAL AND JUDICIAL TOOLS
Governments repurpose archaic laws and judicial powers to target climate defenders.
Our Approach
Global Climate Legal Defense gives climate defenders a fighting chance through a four-pronged approach:
We provide legal advice and strategy
We advise climate defenders on how to mitigate and address legal reprisals and work with local lawyers to ensure the best representation possible.
We coordinate legal support for defenders’ cases
We identify the legal issues and risks, connect climate defenders with the right lawyers, and stay involved in cases to ensure that defenders get the legal support they need to do their critical work.
We fund lawyers and legal NGOs
Pro bono legal help isn’t available in most of the world and lawyers need to be paid. We identify key legal NGOs to partner with and provide them with funding, as well as pay private lawyers when necessary.
We strengthen and connect a global network of lawyers from the ground up
Building on what already exists, we strengthen a network of diverse lawyers who bring the kind of legal expertise that the climate movement both lacks and needs. We “build the bench” to bring new legal talent into the movement.
Our Reach
We provide direct, programmatic legal support as well as funding to meet the legal needs of defenders
18+
countries active on five continents
25+
partner organizations
$3.3M+
regranted to legal defense since 2022
Where We Work
CliDef works and funds in priority countries where activities driving the climate crisis have high impact, where our support can be most effective, and where climate defenders face risks.
THE AMERICAS
Brazil
Canada
Mexico
ASIA
Indonesia
Philippines
EUROPE
France
Germany
Italy
Poland
U.K.
AFRICA
Democratic Republic of Congo
Egypt
Ghana
Liberia
Mozambique
Senegal
Tanzania
Uganda
How We Work
On five continents, we build and support legal teams that stop legal abuse and harassment against climate defenders
