Egypt’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Environment and Social Solidarity privately selected and screened NGOs that could apply for one-off registration for Cop27, a separate process from applications for official observer status, which closed last year. Allowed groups were then provided with application details from the United Nations body responsible for overseeing Cop27, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The application process and selection criteria were not made public, and civil society groups were not informed that they could request to attend the conference through these ministries or how they could apply, effectively excluding them. “You don’t let a government tell the UN who is and isn’t an NGO, certainly not the Egyptian government,” said Ahmad Abdallah of the Egyptian Committee for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), one of the five leading non-governmental organisations. they can register to attend the conference because of the screening. “You would expect the UN to have an extra duty of care when dealing with a place like Egypt to ensure that independent organizations have an equal opportunity to apply and then look into the situation. But they don’t pay that extra attention. They treat Egypt as if it were Sweden,” he added. The result, he said, was that “the UN is conspiring with the Egyptian government to wash away this regime.” Efforts by Egyptian authorities to eliminate prominent organizations with a history of criticizing their rule, particularly on the issue of human rights, come amid growing concern over the treatment of protests and civil society at the Cop in Sharm el-Sheikh in November. Observers fear that the UN risks tacitly allowing the host state to curtail protests and civil society participation. The UNFCCC told the Guardian host states are allowed to invite organizations at their discretion for one-time access, but that there is “no fixed written policy” on one-time registration. The UK did not recommend any NGOs for single entry to attend Cop26. A UNFCCC spokesman said: “We have advised the Egyptian government that it may request this [Cop] Office to provide one-time admission for specific entities, but given the time frame and available resources we will not be able to review or conduct due diligence on these entities. If we did not facilitate the processing of this proposed list, the access of civil society groups from the host country to the official Police space would be limited. “The secretariat believes that not facilitating this request would lead to less inclusive civil society participation. The secretariat does not consider itself competent to unilaterally identify additional organizations from the host country that have not applied for admission.” Abdallah said the Egyptian government wanted to use Cop27 “to portray a different picture of Egypt, where people are kept away from cities suffering from pollution, poverty or repression. Part of this image is keeping critical voices out, so that the only ones being heard in Sharm el-Sheikh are those praising the government.” He added: “It sets a precedent if we allow this to pass without a huge backlash, which means that this practice could become the norm, which is dangerous not only for Egypt.” Since taking power in a military coup in 2013, Sisi has moved to stifle civil society activity. The state has required NGOs to obtain government approval to continue operating and has outlawed funding they received from abroad as a way to limit their activities. Organizations that monitor detentions by security agencies, use of torture by state agencies, or state repression of civil rights have found their offices raided, assets seized, and founders banned from traveling or closed off by authorities. ECRF and other organizations blocked from registering to participate in Cop27 – the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Egyptian Women’s Legal Aid Center and the Union for Freedom of Thought and Expression – have faced years of intimidation and attacks by the state for their work. The most important stories on the planet. Get all the week’s environmental news – the good, the bad and the must-haves Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Abdallah told the Guardian that the ECRF had applied to attend Cop27 not only to represent Egyptian citizens but also to provide legal assistance in Sharm el-Sheikh to anyone detained for protesting. “Not allowing ECRF to attend takes participants away from our protection, which means protection from a watchdog organization that can actually support them,” he said. “No one else does this.” Saber Osman of the Climate Earth Foundation for Development, whose organization was admitted to Cop27 through projects and connections with Egypt’s environment ministry, said he agreed with the state’s decision to control NGOs. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think the government made any mistakes,” he said. The UNFCCC was granted permission to participate in approximately 35 NGOs following the Egyptian state’s referral. Osman said he approached the environment ministry to apply for Cop27 observer status as his organization was only a few months old. “It’s been a very smooth process for us,” he said. “To put myself in the shoes of the government, there are 46,000 NGOs in Egypt,” he said, citing a number often used by the government. “So if the government made a public announcement, it would have 46,000 applications and it would be very difficult, a big mess.” Climate justice campaigners said Egypt should not be allowed to host Cop27, while thousands of prisoners of conscience remain behind bars, notably British-Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who is now on hunger strike for more than four months . Abd El-Fattah, jailed on terrorism charges for a social media post, told his family during a recent visit that he thought he would die in prison. A spokesman for Egypt’s foreign ministry told the Guardian it had submitted a list of 56 NGOs to the UNFCCC with a request to receive a one-time registration. “The list of recommendations submitted by the incoming Cop Presidency was drawn up based on a number of criteria, such as the relevance of the NGO’s activities to climate change and environmental issues, the legal status of the entity, previous experiences in implementation and contribution to addressing of the climate. change, including in collaboration with relevant executive agencies, and the scope and level of outreach at the local, national and regional spheres,” they said.
