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Presentations at COP27 were broadcast live around the world. But the denial of “austerity” will happen behind closed doors. Activists are excluded and voices silenced. The incident revealed Egypt’s poor human rights record – freedom of expression is restricted and demonstrations can only be carried out under strict guidelines.
Agnès Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, wrote: “No country can claim to be a credible player in tackling the climate crisis while continuing to tighten its grip on civil society.”
“Egyptian authorities have committed a series of crimes that violate international law, including torture, unlawful killings, and enforced disappearances. Virtually all independent and critical voices in the country have been silenced.”
Participants at the conference reportedly lost access to the Human Rights Watch website and some 200 other websites during the climate talks.
While the conference is being held in Africa, African climate activists have been largely excluded. Some communities that will be affected by the conference’s decisions will not have their voices heard.
Irreplaceable
While climate compensations are an important part of climate justice — how much do they really matter unless we immediately curb our dependence on fossil fuels?
Yes – humanitarian aid is necessary and urgent, but money cannot undo lives lost, homes destroyed and livelihoods destroyed. It doesn’t bring back culture or heritage.
Money won’t bring back our native habitats—for example, 10,000 acres of the 55-million-year-old Amazon rainforest are disappearing every day.
Report after report from the UK has repeatedly highlighted that the world has failed to reduce carbon emissions, so there is no credible path to 1.5C.
Even with current commitments to action by 2030, we could still see global warming of 2.5C. As the International Energy Agency has warned, any investment in new oil, gas or coal projects will not be consistent with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
More time is wasted by shutting out the voices of those who are directly experiencing the crisis, while allowing representatives of fossil fuels to take up space and push their deadly agendas.
However, the extraction of fossil fuels has only increased, As confirmed by a recent report. Spending precious time debating the amount of money for poor countries without addressing the root cause of the climate crisis — our global dependence on fossil fuels — is a peculiar kind of insanity.
the author
Yasmin Dahnoun is Assistant Editor ecologist.
