A Right to Defend the Environment Legal Protection for Environmental Advocacy in the IACtHR’s Climate Advisory OpinionAs the world faces an escalating triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – those who step forward to defend the environment are increasingly stigmatized, criminalized, and subjected to violence. In a remarkable yet underexplored section, the IACtHR establishes a right to defend the environment, along with corresponding duties of States to protect environmental defenders. While grounded in the Inter-American context, the IACtHR’s recognition of a right to defend the environment should inform the interpretation of existing legal frameworks and catalyze more robust protection of environmental defenders worldwide. A special duty to protect environmental defenders and the right to defend human rightsThe IACtHR’s recognition of both the fundamental role played by environmental defenders and the elevated risks they face lays the groundwork for recognizing a distinct right to defend human rights in environmental matters and a corresponding special duty to protect environmental defenders. This finding builds on the IACtHR’s jurisprudence on the protection of human rights defenders, especially the landmark judgement in CAJAR v. Colombia, where it established that the right to defend human rights constitutes an autonomous right under the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR).