SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — After days with almost no demonstrations, there were several small protests at this year’s U.N. climate conference calling Friday for the developed world to fight global warming more fairly and effectively.
Demonstrators called for rich nations to compensate developing countries for climate change, demanded that a pipeline project in Congo be scrapped and complained about a lack of political will to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the main cause of climate change.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Egypt on Friday to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and then address delegates of other nations.
“I am standing shoulder to shoulder with my sisters and my brothers from Mother Africa,” said Imam Saffet Catovic of the Islamic Society of North America. “It’s time for the global north to pay for their responsibility.”
Lucky Abeng, a Nigerian activist from the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance, said the group would continue to pressure world leaders to do more and “will not be intimidated.”
Often a large presence at climate negotiations, protests had been mostly muted this year, a sharp contrast to previous climate conferences that featured large demonstrations. Activists blamed the high costs of travel and accommodation in this resort town. There were also concerns that the Egyptian government could crack down despite promising to allow protests in a designated venue. Street protests are virtually banned in Egypt. And activists increasingly doubt demonstrations’ usefulness.
Sharm el-Sheikh has been for decades the government’s favorite spot for conferences and high-level summits because it is so easy to control. The city is isolated in the desert near the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. It’s a six-hour drive from the capital, Cairo. Drivers must pass through a closely guarded tunnel under the Suez Canal, then numerous checkpoints along the highway.
Friday’s protests, like others in recent days, took place inside and around the main conference center. Other Conference of Parties meetings have seen raucous protests around various parts of host cities.
“We need countries like the United States to be a climate leader, to stand with the people, to stand with the planet, to stand with the coming generations,” said Vanessa Nakate, a climate activist from Uganda and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. “So my message to President Biden: will you show us the money? Will you stand with the most vulnerable communities?”
In one protest, dozens of medical workers from various countries laid down to perform what they called a “die-in” and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation to show the urgency of addressing climate-change impacts. The activists called for a treaty to phase out fossil fuel.
“That’s the first stage on this emergency. And in the longer run, the long-term therapy is climate justice and systemic change,” said Bea Franziska Albermann, a Swiss physician and climate activist.
