Climate Change Summit Summary: The Egypt Climate Summit and Climate Negotiation in the Era of a Sustainable Development Goal in the 21st Century
This year’s conference has a disagreement over its ultimate goal. Wealthy countries want to focus on ways to help developing nations phase out fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy.
Poor countries would like to have a commitment of money to address the disasters they are already experiencing. Poor countries want to see a new fund to pay for relocations of vulnerable villages, or making up economic growth lost to worsening floods, storms and heat waves. Industrialized nations, including the United States, have opposed a new fund in part because they fear being held legally liable for the skyrocketing damages caused by climate change.
The climate summit is happening in Africa for the first time. Many diplomats hope that it will be an African COP, given the impact of climate change on African nations.
More than 35,000 delegates are expected to attend the event, including President Biden and more than 100 heads of state, according to the U.N. climate body. Last year in Glasgow, over 40,000 registered participants were invited to the summit which brought together 120 world leaders. But for a year in which no major decisions are officially expected, it’s still a substantial gathering.
Climate protests are a part of the negotiations. Activists have held marches, hunger strikes, sit-ins and other forms of civil disobedience in the past to highlight the importance of the climate crisis.
While world leaders are in Sharm el Sheikh to highlight Egypt’s dismal human rights record a growing number of Egyptians are calling for protests. The government of President el- sily has banned all demonstrations and has criminalized free assembly, which makes those demonstrations unlikely.
Many people are unable to speak during the United Nations’ annual gathering of climate negotiators. The Egyptian government has put in place certain restrictions on would-be protesters because the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, and other high-profile meetings have become the sites of activism and demonstrations.
“You can protest in only one area that is far from the COP, and you can protest only from 10 to 5, and you must inform the authorities 36 hours in advance. Hussein says it has to be related to the climate.
“The Egyptians there will face reprisals given the history of mass surveillance,” he says of the protesters. They will be arrested after the cameras leave.
There are attempts to raise human rights issues at the conference. Hossam Bahgat called on attendees of the congress to wear white on Thursday to show solidarity with the political prisoners in Egypt. The action has been promoted with a campaign on social media using the phrase #FreeThemAll.