“The purpose of many leaders is to make deals with fossil fuel lobbyists the next election cycle and get as many short-term benefits as possible,” Nakate said on the sidelines of the U. N. climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh. Egypt.
He warned that the annual assembly is being infiltrated through oil and fuel representatives who make it “a sales and marketing convention for more pollution, more destruction and more devastation. “
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The environmental teams had more than six hundred delegates linked to the fossil fuel industry at the two-week meeting.
Nakate cited studies by the International Energy Agency indicating that there can be no new investment in coal, oil or fuel if the global temperature remains below 1. 5°C.
This has been undermined by heavy public spending on fossil fuel subsidies, due to the fallout from Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which has triggered a race to choose oil and gas resources.
“The wind is sown and frontline communities harvest the storm,” he said. “Seeds of coal, oil and fuel are sown, while frontline communities reap chaos, devastation and destruction. “
Many emerging countries are disproportionately affected by climate change because they have less capacity to adapt to excessive climate exacerbated by global warming.
Nakate on countries that have issued new licenses for the exploitation of oil and fuels in their territorial waters, or have promised investments in new fossil fuel infrastructure in Africa.
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Jochen Flasbarth, Germany’s longtime climate negotiator, said Nakate is right to stress the urgency of tackling climate change, but questioned his complaint from the politicians involved about the election.
“Maybe he’s right that politicians are short-sighted, but (he should) make the most of those elections,” he said, adding that “it’s young people who are increasingly absent from elections over the last decade. “in many democratic countries.
Flasbarth told Nakate that young people “must collaborate” with democratic processes to “strengthen democracy in the world. “
Later on Tuesday, a handful of climate activists gathered outdoors at the convention site in a symbolic rally to highlight what they called restrictions and crackdowns on environmental and human rights defenders.
Organized through the Fridays for Future movement, the brief demonstration took position in the designated official protest domain under maximum security. Organizers said they had obtained the required permission from Egyptian authorities but refused to speak to media at the protest site, saying they needed to legitimize it.
They said the symbolic demonstration was aimed at showing “restrictions on civil society and protest” at this year’s conference.
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“We protest in the name and solidarity of all those who raise their voices, we call here for the release of the silenced,” activist Luisa Neubauer said in a speech.
So far, protests at this year’s convention have largely been limited to the “blue zone,” which is UN territory.
Climate activists have continually complained that restrictions and expensive services have discouraged mass protests this year, in stark contrast to previous years that have featured giant protests. and protesters piled up in squares and public parks.
Street protests are virtually banned in Egypt, but the government has established a designated outdoor domain as a bargaining ground for protests.
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Activists also called for the creation of a new framework on the rate of climate-related loss and damage to expand nations’ investment in the face of global warming.
The protests come as convention negotiators debate many thorny issues, adding increased efforts for greenhouse gases and monetary aid to deficient countries.
Ministers began arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to urge the assembly to reach a very broad agreement until the close of its agenda on Friday.