India: Activists feel restricted at climate summit: ‘Protest is important’

• Rob Ramhar

  Climate editor

Hundreds of climate activists mobilize in the main hall of the climate summit in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. “Billions not billions,” the group sings. They want a lot of climate dollars to support poor countries.

Protest is a permanent part of the annual climate summit. Activists want to emphasize this, says Maarten de Zeeuw from Greenpeace’s Climate and Energy Team. “To show all negotiators: the world is watching.”

Today an international group gathered, including De Zeeuw. They put out professional banners with texts against fossil fuels, or papers with texts quickly scrawled on them. They find joy in singing, slogans and wild speeches.

There are lectures on climate change, but also on how this topic is linked to women’s rights and international solidarity. Some of the protestors wear keffiyehs, Palestinian scarves, and slogans are also shouted to draw attention to what happened to the Palestinians.

After Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, the summit will be held again in a country where the right of demonstration is not apparent. This is what Freedom House, an organization that monitors political freedom around the world, says.

So there are no big climate marches like there were before in Glasgow and Paris. However, UN regulations apply to the roof area so there is always room for demonstrations, although human rights groups have complained in recent years that this freedom is also being curtailed. .

This roof makes that claim again. It is “very difficult to express our demands”, Portuguese climate activist Bianca Castro told the AP yesterday. A protest in the stadium in Baku was barely visible due to the restrictions.

What are the talks about at this year’s climate summit in Azerbaijan? And what about previous summits?

The organization of the summit contradicts that extensive thought and consultation has been done to make protests possible in a part of the stadium where the summit does not take place. The group also told AP that the rules for demonstrations have not changed.

There is also a protest today. The protest will only have a short time in the main hall. When the last speech is finished, everyone must leave. People are handwritten notes saying “quiet” that are posted everywhere. Campaigners refer to the requirement that they may only ‘hum’ to prevent noise pollution.

There is no parade in the aisles. The space, which is entirely indoors in windowless halls, would be unsuitable for this. But the protesters display banners with slogans and form a human chain. This may only take an hour. Lots of pictures will be taken to share the protest with the world.

“It is important that this protest exists,” De Zeeuw emphasizes, although he would prefer it to look different. “This is the place where our future is has been decided.”

Over the past few years, he now sees that free shows are not self-evident. “You know it’s a privilege to live in a free country like the Netherlands.