UAE hired a PR Company to “counteract negative press” before the COP28. A backlash occurred In July 2023, facing mounting criticism from climate and human rights activists, UAE, the host of this year’s climate change summit, hired a PR company, First International Resources, to “counteract” critics. The contract triggered a backlash and was “terminated before...
GENEVA, Sept 13 (Reuters) – More than 200 civil society groups have written to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), host of this year’s COP28 U.N. climate summit, and all participating governments with a series of demands concerning the Gulf nation’s human rights record. The UAE, a Gulf trading and tourism hub, big oil producer and...
UAE: leaked recording shows officials intent on limiting public debate at COP28. The Center for Climate Reporting obtained audio in which UAE officials are heard discussing how to restrict public discussion of climate change and human rights. Dozens of unfairly-jailed civil society activists languish behind bars, while draconian laws allow for the arrest of almost...
Climate movement must be aware of the threats the UAE poses ahead of COP28. A trio of human rights organizations today released a new briefing that looks to highlight the threats that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) poses to the aims of the climate justice movement in advance of the country’s hosting of COP28. FairSquare,...
Modern-Day Slavery in the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), renowned for its opulent skyscrapers and extravagant lifestyle, hides a dark reality beneath its glossy facade, where there exists a foundation of human tragedy that paints a stark contrast to its outward image. In the pursuit of a better life, millions of South...
Reacting to reports that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as host of the COP28 climate meeting which begins in Dubai in November, has defined a narrow list of talking points for its officials around climate issues and is aiming to avoid discussion of human rights abuses in the country, Marta Schaaf, Amnesty International’s Director of...
In part one of this two-part article series, the Canary reported that UAE-based carbon credit company Blue Carbon LLC – under the patronage of sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum – has been amassing land agreements with governments across Africa and the Pacific. The organisation’s latest land-grab amounts to some 7.5m hectares of exclusive land development rights in Zimbabwe. Now,...
The COP28 climate summit’s host has launched a neocolonial green-grabbing crusade across the Global South. Naturally, it’s yet another nifty ‘net-zero’ carbon con. In part one of this two-part article, we’ll look at how UAE-based carbon credit company Blue Carbon LLC has been amassing land agreements with governments across Africa and the Pacific. Blue Carbon...
Deep dive: A big year for climate negotiations… or not? Today, we dig into the major tensions building in climate negotiations in the lead-up to the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 28, which starts in late November. Summer used to be a time of joy. Now, each passing July in the Northern...
Why on earth is a giant petrostate hosting Cop28? Putting the United Arab Emirates in charge of this year’s international climate conference is like getting a tobacco company to lead an anti-smoking convention, fumes Anthony Harwood. Two glaring contradictions leap out when you consider why on earth the United Arab Emirates is hosting this year’s international climate...