A/HRC/59/62/Add.1 disproportionately vulnerable to pollution, natural disasters and extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts. The marginalized living on the periphery are invariably prone to natural calamities. Ongoing marginalization can make individuals more prone to displacement after such events and less able to gain access to support for recovery. This vulnerability occurs despite these groups typically having contributed the least to these crises due to their pre-existing marginalization. For example, following the flooding in Rio Grande do Sul in April and May 2024, Indigenous people, Quilombola communities and Roma persons were reportedly displaced. The Special Rapporteur met with representatives of these groups who had not been able to gain access to rehabilitation and government aid in the wake of the large-scale and destructive floods. The displacement of many of these groups from their lands because of the floods has also exacerbated existing challenges faced in claiming their land rights. The Special Rapporteur also heard about high levels of air pollution and vulnerability to flooding in the peripheries of cities such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where people of African descent often live. 22. The Special Rapporteur highlights that considerations of environmental racism have been largely marginalized in international policy debates about the global ecological and climate crises.6 Negotiations within the framework of the thirtieth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, being hosted in the city of Belém, Pará State, in 2025, offers an important opportunity for Brazil to demonstrate leadership by addressing environmental racism and the marginalization of racial and ethnic groups in relevant international dialogues. D. Attacks against anti-racism human rights defenders 23. The work of anti-racism human rights defenders is at the heart of any progress that has been made towards the realization of racial equality in Brazil. The Special Rapporteur was therefore shocked to hear about the high levels of threats, intimidation and violence, including lethal violence, against human rights defenders working to address systemic racism. These acts reportedly include the targeting of those who defend Indigenous and Quilombola lands and advocate for the right to a safe and healthy environment for all, as well as bereaved women of African descent advocating for justice and change following the loss of their children due to State violence and repression. 24. A survey identified 1,171 cases of violence against human rights defenders in Brazil between 2019 and 2022.7 Given the threat levels faced by anti-racism human rights defenders and the fundamental role they play in the realization of racial equality, the Special Rapporteur notes with concern multiple reports that a federal programme for the protection of human rights defenders does not have adequate resources and is not fully effective. She welcomes the fact that efforts have been made to improve this programme, including through steps to comply with the findings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Sales Pimenta v. Brazil, which concerned a human rights defender killed in the context of violence over land and agrarian reform.8 E. Situation of women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups 25. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned about the situation of racially and ethnically marginalized women in Brazil, including those facing intersectional discrimination. All too often, Brazilian women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups sit at the harsh intersection between misogyny, sexism, racism and classism in Brazil, deepening their marginalization and increasing their vulnerability to violence and unrelenting attacks on their bodily autonomy. 6 7 8 GE.25-06011 A/77/549. See https://www.global.org.br/en/blog/programa/protection-of-democracy-and-human-rightsdefenders/. See https://corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_454_ing.pdf (in English) and https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_454_esp.pdf (in Spanish). 7