June 5th, 2023- Climate Whistleblowers (CW) is launched today, on World Environment Day. CW protects individuals who expose wrongdoings that worsen the climate crisis and helps them have a greater impact.
Climate Whistleblowers (CW), a groundbreaking NGO dedicated to protecting individuals who expose climate-related wrongdoings, is officially launched today. CW aims to be a major actor in the climate movement ecosystem, offering comprehensive support to climate whistleblowers.
Whistleblowers can be crucial for the climate movement. They bring precise and substantial evidence and poignant testimonies on attacks on the environment. They can not only deliver impact by themselves but also spark public debate, fuel legal cases, and inspire others to act.
From a banker denouncing a fossil financing project to a government scientist who is being silenced, from an employee denouncing greenwashing practices to an engineer revealing mass deforestation, many can turn into climate watchdogs.
Some have already risked their profession, as well as their well-being, to blow the whistle on environmental wrongdoings. In the United States, several government officials denounced coercion from Trump’s administration to alter efforts to report or combat climate change. In Mali, Amadou Traoré unraveled networks of illegal logging. In Australia, Justin Williams revealed corporate falsification of coal quality certificates. It takes a lot of courage to dare speak up; many of them have faced retaliation, whether it was demotion or threats.
« Whistleblower protection can only succeed when civil society remains actively engaged and holds authorities accountable for their actions,
« Whistleblower protection can only succeed when civil society remains actively engaged and holds authorities accountable for their actions, » emphasized Anna Myers, CW’s chair and executive director of Whistleblowing International Network (WIN). « CW’s mission is to provide unwavering support and protection to climate whistleblowers, who bravely speak up on behalf of all of us and the well-being of the planet. »
CW is founded by a diverse group of activists, journalists, lawyers, and professionals with expertise in climate and whistleblower protection. It provides media assistance, legal defense, and psychological aid. CW protects climate whistleblowers, highlights the public value of disclosures, and creates networks of supporters for whistleblowers on climate-related issues.
By changing the narrative and creating a safe space for people to speak up, CW can help create a movement of unveiling wrongdoings that exacerbate the climate crisis. This mass movement will fuel the work of civil society, the media, legal actions and the climate movement who share the same goal of ending the vicious cycle we live in and building a better, safer world for everyone.
« By offering whistleblowers robust protection, we create conditions where those who witness environmental harm and climate negligence can report their concerns securely and confidentially,” said Henri Thulliez and Gabriel Bourdon-Fattal, CW’s co-founders. “This protection will foster a culture of accountability and transparency, ensuring that vital information regarding the climate reaches the public and decision-makers. »
CW proudly aligns with the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), a sister organization that has been protecting dozens of whistleblowers across the African continent and spearheaded important disclosures and legal action.
CW’s partners and supporters include NGOs such as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Global Witness, WIN, Fridays for Future (France), Human Rights Law Centre, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), European Investigative Collaboration (EIC), Blueprint for Free Speech, Notre Affaire À Tous, ARIA, The Signals Network, Les Amis de la Terre, and WY4CJ, climate scientists such as Peter Kalmus, climate activists such as Kert Davies and Itamar Weizman and economists such as Lucas Chancel.
Source: climatewhistleblowers.org
