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03-11-2022, 10:44 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...t-in-egypt
Greta Thunberg to skip ‘greenwashing’ Cop27 climate summit in Egypt
Swedish climate activist says the UN’s climate conference will be ‘used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention’
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has said she will skip next month’s Cop27 talks in Egypt, criticising the global summit as a forum for “greenwashing”.
“I’m not going to Cop27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited,” she said during a question and answer at the launch of her latest book at London’s Southbank Centre.
The 19-year-old activist had previously tweeted to express solidarity with “prisoners of conscience” being held in Egypt. The UN’s 27th conference on climate opens in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on 6 November.
“The Cops are mainly used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention, using many different kinds of greenwashing,” she said.
The Cop conferences, she added, “are not really meant to change the whole system”, but instead encourage gradual progress.
“So as it is, the Cops are not really working, unless of course we use them as an opportunity to mobilise.”
Thunberg was among those who last week signed a petition by a human rights coalition calling on Egyptian authorities to open up civic space and release political prisoners.
Greta Thunberg to skip ‘greenwashing’ Cop27 climate summit in Egypt
Swedish climate activist says the UN’s climate conference will be ‘used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention’
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has said she will skip next month’s Cop27 talks in Egypt, criticising the global summit as a forum for “greenwashing”.
“I’m not going to Cop27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited,” she said during a question and answer at the launch of her latest book at London’s Southbank Centre.
The 19-year-old activist had previously tweeted to express solidarity with “prisoners of conscience” being held in Egypt. The UN’s 27th conference on climate opens in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on 6 November.
“The Cops are mainly used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention, using many different kinds of greenwashing,” she said.
The Cop conferences, she added, “are not really meant to change the whole system”, but instead encourage gradual progress.
“So as it is, the Cops are not really working, unless of course we use them as an opportunity to mobilise.”
Thunberg was among those who last week signed a petition by a human rights coalition calling on Egyptian authorities to open up civic space and release political prisoners.
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