INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The decision to hold next month&s COP27 climate summit in a highly secured tourist resort in Egypt, along with restrictions on access, is
curbing civil society&s participation in the event, some prominent activists say.The Nov
6-18 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh is the first annual U.N
climate conference to be held after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions
Campaigners see it as a crucial venue for raising the alarm over climate change and pressuring governments to act, Reuters reported.But they
say voicing their concerns through rallies and protests as they have done in past host countries or cities will be more challenging in
Egypt, where public demonstrations are effectively banned and activists have struggled to operate legally amid a far-reaching crackdown on
political dissent.Limits on accreditation and attendance badges for activists, especially from poorer nations, have also been a point of
contention at previous U.N
climate summits.Egypt, which has just one non-governmental organization permanently accredited to attend the annual summits, says inclusion
of civil society is a priority, and it has helped add more NGOs including 35 Egyptian groups through a single-year admission valid only for
COP27, Reuters reported.That was a positive step but the process was not publicly announced and did not give some groups a fair chance to
apply, said Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and one of Egypt&s best known campaigners.As a result,
the list of accredited organizations does not include a single human rights organization and none of the independent human rights groups in
Egypt, including those that are working on the nexus of human rights, environmental justice and climate justice,& he said.A spokesperson for
Egypt&s COP presidency said in a written response to questions that there had been a &fully transparent& selection process approved by the
after consultation with regional organizations and national negotiating teams.Egyptian groups were recommended based on their environment
and climate change expertise, the spokesperson said.A U.N
climate change spokesman said there had been around 10,000 registrations from almost 2,000 admitted observer organizations for COP27, which
was similar to COP26 in Glasgow.Another concern among activists is the difficulty ordinary citizens may face accessing Sharm el-Sheikh
The city, situated at the southern tip of Egypt&s Sinai peninsula, is bordered by the sea on one side and a concrete and wire barrier in the
desert on the other.It is only reachable by air, or by roads studded with checkpoints that run north towards the Suez Canal, the border with
Israel, and North Sinai, where Egyptian security forces have been waging a counter-insurgency campaign, Reuters reported.It&s going to be
virtually impossible for anyone who is not accredited for the conference itself to be able to access the city during the conference period,&
said Bahgat, adding that activists were expecting a &significantly quieter and much more regulated& COP this year.Because of the lack of
local residents in the remote tourist resort, a traditional &global day of action& during the summit would be marked elsewhere around the
world but not in Sharm el-Sheikh, said Tasneem Essop, head of the Climate Action Network, which includes more than 1,500 civil society
groups.Certainly we&re very alive to the fact that Sharm el-Sheikh is an enclosed space, very controlled, very curated,& she said.The post
Egypt COP27 climate summit activists concerned voices will be curtailed first appeared on Ariana News.
