COP27 Day 4 concludes as world leaders urge Egyptian authorities to free Alaa Abdel Fattah

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'The climate crisis is a human rights crisis': Top human rights activists call out repressive regimes at COP27

Dozens of journalists and activists crowded into Germany’s booth inside the COP27 venue on Tuesday night to hear top human rights defenders speak on the connections between human rights and climate.

Panellists included leaders from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), Egyptian human rights defender Hossam Bahhat, and Sanaa Seif, the sister of the jailed Egyptian dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah, who landed in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to campaign for his release.

"The biggest crowd I’ve seen at any pavilion [at COP27] is now gathered outside of the German pavilion for a talk on human rights," a Washington Post correspondent tweeted. "It will be hard for any foreigner to leave COP27 without knowing the name Alaa Abdel Fattah."

States have human rights obligations in relation to climate change.

They owe specific obligations to members of groups at greater risk of harm from climate change, such as women, children, Indigenous Peoples, minority groups, older people and people with disabilities. pic.twitter.com/1EiKJUnf5B

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) November 9, 2022

Alaa Abdel Fattah, a political activist who rose to prominence during Egypt’s 2011 revolution, has been sentenced to five years in jail for sharing a social media post critical of the Egyptian regime.

Can meaningful climate action take place without human rights? Not according to last night’s speakers, who spoke to a packed room on the importance of putting human rights at the heart of climate negotiations.

"It’s not just a climate crisis. It’s a profound human rights crisis," Dr Agnes Callamard, the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, highlighted. As the worst effects of climate change materialize around the globe, "people are going to rise, people are going to protest, people are not going to stay idle while their entire way of life and community is destroyed. And what will be the answer to these ineffective and corrupt governments? It will be repression."

Find the full story by our correspondent Lyse Mauvais in Sharm el-Sheikh here. 

Calls for Alaa Abdel Fattah's Freedom Grow Louder in Westminster

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday he would continue to press the Egyptian government to resolve the situation of imprisoned Egyptian-British hunger striker Alaa Abdel Fattah.

"I know the whole House will share my deep concern about his case, which grows more urgent by the day," Sunak told parliament, speaking about the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, where he raised Abdel Fattah's case with the Egyptian president.

PM Rishi Sunak in Parliament just now:

“I raised the case of British-Egyptian citizen, Alaa Abd el-Fattah and I know the whole House will share my deep concern about his case which grows more urgent by the day."

To which there were shouts of 'hear, hear' in approval. #FreeAlaa

— Free Alaa (@FreedomForAlaa) November 9, 2022

"We will continue to press the Egyptian government to resolve the situation. We want to see Alaa freed and reunited with his family as soon as possible," Sunak said.

Abdel Fattah's mother has still received no news of his health as she waits for news outside the Egyptian prison he is held in. At time of writing, he has been on a water strike for 79 hours, according to a press release by the FreeAlaa campaign. 

(Reuters)

World leaders call for Alaa Abdel Fattah's freedom

Several world leaders have called for the release of Alaa Abdel Fattah.

Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for  the activist's release. "I urge the Government to immediately release Abdel Fattah from prison and provide him with the necessary medical treatment," Türk said in a statement. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz joined UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in calling for his release, on stage at the conference and on Twitter: "We are very concerned for the life of #AlaaAbdelFattah who is in prison here in Egypt and has now gone on thirst strike. Today, like other Heads of State and Government, I lobbied President al-Sisi for his release."

Wir machen uns große Sorgen um das Leben von #AlaaAbdelFattah, der hier in Ägypten in Haft sitzt und nun in Durststreik getreten ist. Wie auch andere Staats- und Regierungschefs habe ich mich heute bei Präsident Al-Sisi für seine Freilassung eingesetzt.

— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) November 8, 2022

PM Sunak had also indicated there was widespread international support for Alaa’s release, saying the day before that "It’s something that not just the United Kingdom but many countries want to see resolved," according to a press release from FreeAlaa campaign. 

A complete guide to Arab states attending the UN climate change summit

Arab leaders are taking part in the COP27 summit in Egypt, with many using the conference as a way to present their green credentials and willingness for regional cooperation. 

People living in the Middle East are some of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with some experts predicting desertification and extreme heat could make parts of the region unlivable. 

Egypt is hosting the conference against the backdrop of its abysmal human rights record, having jailed dozens of activists, journalists and dissidents - including British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, whose case has garnered much international attention during COP27. 

It was a pleasure attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference #COP27 hosted by Egypt and the Middle East Green Initiative Summit held by Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of COP27 pic.twitter.com/theswBrMlh

— Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II (@AlHusseinjo_01) November 7, 2022

The leaders of oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia are also attending the summit, where Riyadh unveiled a string of measures to combat climate change. 

The leaders of the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq are also in attendance. 

Read the full story by Rosie McCabe here. 

Show us the money: Developing world at COP27 seeks finance details

Finance took centre stage at the COP27 climate talks on Wednesday, with UN experts publishing a list of projects worth $120 billion that investors could back to help poorer countries cut emissions and adapt to the impacts of global warming.

A report released on Tuesday suggested that developing countries would need to secure $1 trillion in external financing every year by 2030, and then match that with their own funds, in order to meet the world's goal of preventing runaway climate change.

Getting money to low- and middle-income countries so they can build infrastructure, such as renewable energy plants needed to replace fossil fuels, has long been a focus for the UN climate talks. But progress has been slow.

"Even though the pipeline of interesting projects is there, they will require technical and financial help to get to a position where they can attract the right kind of finance," said Nigel Topping, High-Level Champion for COP26.

"We need all actors in the system to roll up their sleeves to make that happen," he said. "We won’t get anywhere near unlocking the scale of finance developing economies need if everyone continues to pass the buck."

The world's leading development banks lent $51 billion to poorer countries in 2021, with private investors contributing $13 billion, a recent report from the lenders said.

(Reuters)

Biden to raise human rights issues in Egypt: US officials

US President Joe Biden plans to discuss human rights when he travels to Egypt for the COP27 climate conference, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

Biden will have a bilateral meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday during his short stopover to attend the COP27 summit, and he "will never shy away from raising human rights with foreign leaders," an official told journalists.

The White House remains concerned about the case of jailed dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah "and the reported condition of his health, and we have raised repeated concerns about his case and his conditions in detention with the Government of Egypt," the official said.

Read the full story here.

Show us the money: Developing world at COP27 seeks finance details

Finance took centre stage at the COP27 climate talks on Wednesday, with UN experts publishing a list of projects worth $120 billion that investors could back to help poorer countries cut emissions and adapt to the impacts of global warming.

A report released on Tuesday suggested that developing countries would need to secure $1 trillion in external financing every year by 2030, and then match that with their own funds, in order to meet the world's goal of preventing runaway climate change.

Getting money to low- and middle-income countries so they can build infrastructure, such as renewable energy plants needed to replace fossil fuels, has long been a focus for the UN climate talks. But progress has been slow.

"Even though the pipeline of interesting projects is there, they will require technical and financial help to get to a position where they can attract the right kind of finance," said Nigel Topping, High-Level Champion for COP26.

"We need all actors in the system to roll up their sleeves to make that happen," he said. "We won’t get anywhere near unlocking the scale of finance developing economies need if everyone continues to pass the buck."

The world's leading development banks lent $51 billion to poorer countries in 2021, with private investors contributing $13 billion, a recent report from the lenders said.

(Reuters)