Greta Thunberg Vows to Skip COP27 Climate Summit in Egypt Over Alleged Human Rights Violations

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg poses for a picture holding a sign reading "School strike for Climate" as she protests in front of the Swedish Parliament (Riksdagen) in Stockholm on Nov. 19, 2021. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has revealed she will not be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt in November, branding the forum an opportunity for “people in power... to [use] greenwashing, lying, and cheating.”

Thunberg, 19, made the comments at the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre on Sunday, which she attended while promoting her new book, “The Climate Book.”

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27, is being held from Nov. 6 to 18 in Sharm El Sheikh.

Thunberg, who has become the face of the global climate change movement, condemned the talks for being “held in a tourist paradise in a country that violates many basic human rights.”

“The space for civil society is going to be extremely limited,” Thunberg said. “It’s important to leave space for those who need to be there. It will be difficult for activists to make their voices heard.”

Thunberg added that “the COPs are mainly used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention, using many different kinds of greenwashing,” and that the talks 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 mobilize,” she said.

Thunberg previously took to Twitter on Oct. 20 to express her solidarity with “prisoners of conscience“ being held in Egypt and signed a petition calling on authorities in the country to release journalists and political prisoners ahead of COP27.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (C) marches during a "Friday for future" youth demonstration in a street of Davos on the sideline of the World Economic Forum annual meeting, on Jan. 24, 2020. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

‘Thousands Continue to Be Arbitrarily Detained’

Human rights activists and campaigners have condemned the Egyptian authority’s restrictions on freedom of speech, association, and peaceful assembly, particularly with regards to climate change.

“The Egyptian authorities have for years employed draconian laws, including laws on counter-terrorism, cyber crimes, and civil society, to stifle all forms of peaceful dissent and shut down civic space,” reads a petition by COP Civic Space, a coalition of Egyptian human rights groups.

“We note that, under the current government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, thousands continue to be arbitrarily detained without a legal basis, following grossly unfair trials, or solely for peacefully exercising their human rights,” it continues. “Among those arbitrarily detained are dozens of journalists targeted for their media work, social media users punished for sharing critical online content, women convicted on morality-related charges for making Tik Tok videos, and members of religious minorities accused of blasphemy.”

They noted that Egypt remains one of the world’s top executioners, executing 107 in 2020 and 83 people in 2021, and sentencing at least 356 Egyptians to death in 2021. Egyptian officials have denied that the government has violated human rights.

According to local reports, Egyptian police have erected checkpoints in various streets across the capital city of Cairo ahead of next month’s talks and have been searching cellphones for anti-government content.

Thunberg shot to fame in 2018 after skipping school to stage a protest outside the Swedish Parliament, prompting children across the world to join in with the movement. In 2019, she was named Time magazine’s person of the year.

Her new book features contributions from over 100 experts, activists, and authors, including WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and climate scientist Saleemul Huq, among others.

The teenager said on Twitter on Oct. 27 that she will not be earning any money from sales of the book, which will instead go to her eponymous foundation and will be distributed to charities.