Egypt: Ahead of COP27, trade unionists and climate activists accuse the govt. of "greenwashing" its long record of human rights abuses & attacks on workers' rights to organise
"Don’t be fooled by Sisi’s climate lies’ Egyptian activists warn ahead of COP27 summit" 19 August 2022
As Egypt prepares to host November’s COP27 climate summit, Egyptian activists have issued an urgent appeal to the global climate justice movement not to be taken in by the regime’s claims to speak on behalf of ordinary people in the Global South. In a statement...the Egyptian Campaign for Climate and Democracy warns that the regime of Abdelfattah al-Sisi is planning to use the COP27 conference to burnish its reputation after presiding over a decade of brutal repression...
While the COP27 conference takes place, thousands of people have been jailed and abused for demanding basic democratic rights, including journalists, activists, academics and students. The response of the military regime to protests and campaigns related to environmental issues has been just as harsh, whether over plans to build coal-fired power stations, polluting industries or the destruction of green spaces...
This appeal follows a similar warning by jailed activist Alaa Abdelfattah...who was convicted of ‘terrorism’ for posts on social media and other trumped-up charges...“Of all the countries to host [the COP27] they chose the one banning protest and sending everyone to prison, which tells me how the world is handling this issue. They’re not interested in finding a joint solution for the climate,” he told his sister during a prison visit.
...“The international climate movement must start paying attention to what is happening in Egypt’s prisons,”...“We cannot sleepwalk to Cop27 as if these are not crimes against humanity.”
The TUC has also called on the British government to hold the Egyptian regime to account during COP27 for its attacks on workers’ rights to organise. In a statement published in June, ahead of preparatory talks in Bonn ahead of the COP27 conference, the TUC said:
"The Egyptian trade union organisations affiliated to the...Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions and the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress...have faced repeated repression, with labour organisers forced to retire, limiting the unions’ ability to function...Vital to tackling the climate emergency is the need for freedom of association and the rights of workers and communities to organise for change...By hosting COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Egyptian government will have an unprecedented opportunity to greenwash its atrocious record in human rights"
TUC statement 10 June