Freedom of expression at COP28 | The most “sanitized” of all COPs

(Dubai, United Arab Emirates) Protesters dressed as dugongs demanded an end to the exploitation of fossil fuels on Friday afternoon in one of the many buildings of the immense conference site where COP28 is being held.

This marine mammal living in coastal areas, where it feeds almost exclusively on seagrass, which has earned it the nickname sea cow, is threatened by new gas drilling carried out… by the oil and gas company headed by the president of COP28, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, deplored a coalition of environmental organizations in a report published earlier this month.

But there is little chance that Emiratis will hear about this militant action, since it took place in the very opaque “blue zone”, where the negotiations and other official events of COP28 are taking place.

Demonstrations are permitted there because the blue zone is an international territory under the responsibility of the United Nations police service for the duration of the conference – as was the Palais des congrès de Montréal during COP15 last year.

“Apart from this place, there is nothing, zero, demonstrations are strictly prohibited in this country,” laments Kjell Kühne, director and founder of the organization Leave it in the Ground, which, as its name calls it, ‘indicates in English, to leave fossil fuels in the ground.

“When I was heading towards the metro station to bring these posters here, to the UN space, police officers stopped me to find out what I was doing,” he says, himself disguised as a dugong.

Holding actions in the blue zone does not have the same impact as doing it in public, in the streets of the city, says Kjell Kühne, explaining that the United Nations rules governing demonstrations prohibit naming a country, a company or an individual.

“It’s the worst of all COPs, the most sanitized,” takes offense to the one who is in his 10th^e COP.

First event in 15 years

These restrictions on freedom of expression are “a real problem,” says Nicolas Haeringer, campaign director for the organization 350.org and specialist in mobilization during the COPs, who coordinated the only major march on Saturday afternoon. COP28.

Hundreds of people marched through the clean aisles of the Blue Zone to demand an ambitious climate deal marking the start of the shift away from fossil fuels, as well as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, claiming that “ there is no climate justice without peace and human rights.”

Their slogans, chants and speeches will certainly have been heard by the delegates present at the site, including the special envoy of the President of the United States for climate, John Kerry, who passed the procession in an electric golf cart on transporting from one meeting to the next, but it does not have the same impact, believes Mr. Haeringer.

“Civil society needs to mobilize outside [du site de la conférence]massively, to be able to influence the negotiations, not just internally,” he says, emphasizing that each place has its importance.

The actions carried out within the walls of the conference are directly linked to the negotiations and aim to have immediate repercussions, he explains to The Pressbefore a UN police official interrupted him to ask him to end the demonstration.

“We have rather good relations with them, without them we would not be able to mobilize at all,” he said on his return, stressing that this demonstration is the first to be held in the United Arab Emirates since 2008 – people were then took to the streets to support Palestine, he says.

To a Backstreet Boys tune

Any event held within a COP must have prior authorization from the UN authorities 24 hours in advance.

“We have to indicate what will be written on our posters, what we are going to talk about, the precise time, the place,” lists Marina Guião, a Brazilian who is part of the school strikes for climate movement (Fridays for Future, in English), launched by the now famous environmental activist Greta Thunberg.

His group had relied on originality to be heard on Saturday, singing its environmental complaints to the tune of I Want It That Wayof the Backstreet Boys, in front of the entrance to the negotiation rooms.

« Notre principal objectif est de cibler les négociateurs », a-t-elle expliqué à La Presse.

Manque de chance, les rencontres de la journée avaient été décalées, mais le cadre strict des Nations unies ne permettait pas au groupe de décaler lui aussi son action.

« Toutes ces limitations ont évidemment un objectif : on n’a pas autant d’impact, notre message ne rejoint pas autant de gens », a-t-elle regretté, estimant qu’une manifestation dans la rue était plus efficace.

« J’étais à Glasgow [à la COP26, en 2021] and the moment that struck me the most was the walk we were able to take outside, she says. There were thousands of us in the streets, and certainly we could express our demands publicly, but here we are forced inside in small boxes. »