In January 2018, the Polish parliament passed a law limiting protest rights in the context of the Conference of Parties (COP24) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is due to take place in December in Katowice, Poland. The law also contains an additional mandate for the police to collect private information about COP participants. There have been several parallel responses to the situation amongst international NGOs and human rights activists, including a civil society petition and open letters to the UNFCCC Secretariat and the Polish government.

As the Bonn Intersessional, the 48th session of UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) convenes in Germany from 30 April to 10 May, we take a look at the international response to the Polish law. On 7 May, five UN experts including the special rapporteurs on environment and human rights, on freedom of assembly, and human rights defenders, released a statement urging the Polish government to ensure there is "meaningful civic space" at the climate talks this year. We will update this page with any developments in the coming months and ahead of COP24.