Environment activists hold signs against the reclamation of Manila Bay in the Philippines. Basilio Sepe / Global Witness

Asia-Pacific

Global Witness’s roots are closely tied to Cambodia and Thailand, where our founders uncovered how the illegal logging trade was funding the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.

We’ve since seen palm oil ravage Indigenous communities in the Pacific Island Nations, Myanmar’s jade trade seized by its military junta, and a squashed resistance to mining turn the Philippines into one of the most lethal countries for land and environmental defenders. Now, with China on track to become a world leader in processing transition minerals, there is a historic opportunity to put ethical supply chains at the heart of the green transition. But the world must avoid repeating the conflicts, land grabs and suppression of defenders that have historically marred resource extraction.