"SLAPP attack: The clap-back against lawsuits that threaten climate activism. Plus news...", 5 October 2022

... [S]trategic lawsuits against public participation, also known as SLAPPs [are] legal threats used to silence activists or journalists that are proving a serious problem around the world... As well as formal legal challenges that attempt to drag campaigners through lengthy, costly and stressful litigation, opponents say powerful individuals and organisations are employing a range of judicial harassment techniques...

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has recorded 413 SLAPPS around the world, of which well over half relate to the environment. Legal researcher Lady Nancy Zuluaga Jaramillo says a fast and just transition to renewable energy is at risk of being derailed due to sustained attacks like these.

“Environmental, land rights, climate and labour rights defenders – the very people on the frontlines of driving a just transition – are under attack because they are raising concerns about business actions harmful to human rights and the environment."

... Earlier this year, a joint session by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders and civil society organisations found that SLAPPs are a global problem, and concluded that immediate action by states and business actors is needed to stop its use “against people who are bravely and legitimately speaking out against injustice in the context of business operations”...