WASHINGTON, D.C. | July 27, 2022 — National Whistleblower Center (“NWC”) is proud to announce Environmental Defender Alfred Brownell will speak as part of its 2022 National Whistleblower Day event. Brownell will engage in an interactive discussion about environmental whistleblowers and environmental defenders around the world. The conversation with NWC Executive Director Siri Nelson will take place on Friday, July 29, at 5 PM, to conclude the second day of the three-day event.
Alfred Brownell is a renowned lawyer from Liberia and environmental rights activist. He has been a vocal figure in human rights efforts and a firm supporter of environmental protection, specifically in West Africa. As an executive director of Green Advocates, a Liberian non-governmental organization that he co-founded to represent communities that needed to protect their environmental and human rights, Brownell’s efforts have achieved significant success in pioneering a structure for environmental law. Brownell was met with notable recognition for a range of advocacy advancements, primarily with his work in preventing the destruction of six million acres of Liberia’s tropical forests for palm oil production.
Tropical forests play a crucial role in the inhabitants for various endangered species and carbon sinks. In 2010, Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), signed a deal with the government for a 65- year lease of roughly 543,600 acres of land to extract and develop the palm oil operations. In 2011, when Brownell became aware of GVL’s efforts to destroy the forest, he quickly rose to work in finding solutions to stop this production. In 2018, Mr. Brownell was able to put a stop to the GVL production and prevented the clearing of 513,500 acres of land. After this courageous act of whistleblowing, Mr. Brownell and his family were forced to flee Liberia and take refuge in the United States – fearing for their lives.
In 2019, Brownell won a prestigious “Green Noble ” Goldman Environmental Prize Award, which merits his leadership and achievements of environmental activists. Currently, he is the Tom and Andi Bernstein Visiting Human Rights Fellow at the Law School’s Schell Center for International Human Rights and at the School of Law of Northeastern University is a distinguished research associate professor and scholar.
Alfred Brownell has played a major role in establishing coalitions and networks that protects indigenous land and has continuously used his voice to speak out on the unjust and unsustainable corporate practices that are carried out.
“Alfred Brownell has the experience and expertise to help us understand the relationship between environmental defenders and whistleblowers at large,” said Siri Nelson, Executive Director of NWC. “It is such a huge honor to welcome such an incredible person to engage with me and our audience for an interactive discussion. NWC has worked to highlight the need to protect wildlife whistleblowers. I am eager to discuss how wildlife whistleblowers and ending wildlife trafficking factor into the larger push to protect our climate with this award-winning advocate and educator.”
The live discussion will happen on Friday, July 29, at 5 PM EST, RSVP today for a link to watch and join in the Q&A.
NWC will include three days of programing, and best way to stay updated is to RSVP for the event.
NWC Executive Director Siri Nelson is available for comment. For more information, contact NWC at info@whistleblowers.org.
