Hold the Line: Supporting Environmental Defenders
By Liangyi Chang
In September 2025, before ECHO Alliance was established, people who would help shape its work joined partners at Climate Week NYC to discuss how to better support environmental defenders.
What does it take to keep defending a river, a community, or the climate when doing so puts you at risk? And what can allies do to help?
These questions brought together more than 30 participants, in person and online, for Hold the Line: Stories of Environmental Defenders in Asia Pacific on September 26, 2025.
Co-hosted by the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition, ALLIED, Chilli Foundation, and the Obama Leadership Network, the gathering connected firsthand experiences with a practical discussion about safety, storytelling, and support.
From individual campaigns to shared support
The event grew out of relationships strengthened through the FreeHong and Stand with Bach campaigns, and a 2024 Climate Week gathering on defending environmental defenders in Asia.
Those efforts raised a broader question: how could the relationships built around individual cases become a lasting source of support for others?
The 2025 gathering created space to explore that question across countries and movements.
Hong Hoang spoke about criminalization, resilience, and rebuilding life and support systems after imprisonment. Maureen Harris of International Rivers shared regional perspectives and lessons from river defenders. Julia Grix of Climate Defenders Australia discussed how allies can accompany defenders and support their public storytelling. Yu-Ting Chen brought perspectives on youth leadership and digital and physical safety. Shawn Hung, founder of Happenus in Taiwan, moderated the conversation.
Support starts with listening
Across these experiences, speakers described pressures that extend beyond a single arrest or crisis: surveillance, legal intimidation, online abuse, and the strain of working in an increasingly restricted civic space.
They also discussed how risks differ. Women and young activists can face targeted harassment, sexualized threats, and attacks on their reputations. Effective support needs to respond to those realities, including through emotional support and safer communications.
A recurring lesson was that defenders should guide decisions about their own stories and safety. Public attention can help, but sharing someone’s experience without their informed consent can expose them to further harm.
“Protect first, publish second” captured an important principle of the discussion.
Practical help matters
The conversation also focused on needs that are easily overlooked: translation, secure devices, legal advice, safe travel, and support for families and colleagues.
Speakers emphasized the value of flexible funding and trusted contacts who can respond quickly. Cross-border relationships can help people find advice, reach resources, and connect with others who understand the pressures they face.
Participants explored ideas for continuing this collaboration, including safer storytelling guidance, clearer referral pathways, and opportunities for ongoing peer learning. These were starting points for further work, grounded in the experiences shared during the event.
Carrying the lessons into ECHO
For those who later helped build ECHO Alliance, Hold the Line reinforced a commitment that continues to shape our work: climate and environmental action depend on people who need trusted relationships, practical resources, and support they can turn to under pressure.
We are grateful to the speakers, participants, and co-hosts for making room for an honest conversation about what that support requires.
