Egypt’s restrictions on climate activists before COP27 shows the gap between many leaders of the global south and the citizens of their countries

Civil society groups in Egypt have complained that the Egyptian government is preventing outspoken Egyptian NGOs from participating in the COP27 event.  The government prohibits protests, and will not allow any protesting during the COP27 summit.

The “Global South” generally means the countries in South America, the Middle East, Africa and South and South East Asia. This of course includes Egypt. As climate activists correctly point out, the global south (with some notable exceptions) is the least responsible for global warming, is the most vulnerable to climate change, and needs additional resources for “loss and damage” and for a transition to renewable energy.

The vast majority of citizens of Egypt, and other countries in the global south, would surely agree with these demands. But the repressive actions of the Egyptian government and its human rights violations show that it is not interested in listening to its citizens.

Repressive governments

There are many other examples of countries in the global south with unrepresentative and repressive governments whose overriding objective is to remain in power. Corruption is a worldwide phenomenon, but the example of Lebanon has shown how extreme corruption can paralyze the provision of services to citizens.

Political leaders, even in the poorest of countries, generally give themselves inflated incomes on a par with those in the wealthy north. They do not have the same interests as the vast majority of their populations.

The call for more resources to be transferred from the global north to the global south must take this into account. Providing funding to repressive or unaccountable governments will damage global climate efforts. A new international framework for fighting climate change is required. Funding must be transparent, accountable and not slowed down by years of bureaucratic red tape.