Who are we?
Human rights violations are often intersected with profits of the fossil fuel industry: where communities are displaced for oil, coal and gas exploitation, protest against the extractivism is minimized by those in power. Providing holistic safety support amplifies and defends the voices of those actors whose needs and contexts are too often overlooked and ignored - yet, they are the most powerful actors in preventing the worst impacts of the fossil fuel industry and environmental breakdown.
CAD is the emergency contact for climate justice activists at risk: we provide individualized holistic safety & security support; Ranging from conduction risk assessment of specific situations to advice on mitigation and response strategy, to the facilitation of support directly or through network referral where intervention is needed.
Key moments where the climate justice movement gathers come with an increase in visibility and often risks of traveling, crossing borders and navigating new environments. As a direct point of contact to the organizers we can share resources and expertise, while increasing the accessibility of CAD through being present and active with those we support. We have supported efforts in the past years at the Climate Justice Camp, around global climate conferences such as COP and SBs and regional grassroots gatherings such as the AntiCOP 2024.
We also offer capacity building for collectives and NGOs on holistic safety and security through virtual or in-person workshops.
Afghanistan
Since our beginning in 2021, one of our biggest focuses has been the support of climate justice activists in Afghanistan. CAD has always had a focus on holistic safety & security which, in the Afghan context, manifested as providing humanitarian support to ensure livelihoods of defenders and their families, access to mental health counseling, security information about house searches and safe resettlement options.
Finding safe resettlement ranged from finding unique solutions for CJAs as well as submission of cases to local resettlement programs such as the German Humanitarian Program. In order to facilitate the process of long-term resettlement CAD ran a safe house in Pakistan from November 2021 until January 2024.
Our vetting process prioritized climate justice activists who are subject to immediate danger and who are being distinctly targeted followed by those who are subject to disproportionate threat due to their activist activities, their gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or a combination thereof. In the case of Afghanistan, climate justice activists who display public challenges to the government, particularly outspoken female activists, are subject to disproportionate threat by the Taliban regime.
Since the support for Afghans at risk has significantly decreased in the last years, CAD has reshaped some of the work for Afghan CJAs and has established a training program to further security and psychosocial well-being of, especially female, climate justice activists remaining in the country. Together with other NGOs, we continue the advocacy for humanitarian resettlement programs to support Afghan defenders at risk while adapting to the new rise of fascist governments in the Global North.