Climate activists struggle to be heard at this year's U.N. climate talks

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/12/ [login to see] /climate-activists-struggle-to-be-heard-at-this-years-u-n-climate-talks
They marched, held their fists in the air and raised posters and banners, some shouting against the burning of fossil fuels and others demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

"There is no climate justice without human rights," a crowd of several dozen shouted in a protest at this year's COP28 climate talks.

But their screams for justice may have been hard to hear, or even find, because they were happening behind tight security and within the confines of the annual United Nations climate conference being held in the United Arab Emirates.

Still, they were a startling sight to see. Protests are banned in the UAE, where public forms of dissent are seen as a threat to national security and destabilizing. But as host of the COP28 talks, the UAE has had to allow protests within the U.N.-designated zone of the conference.