Center for International Environmental Law🚨 #SB64: During discussions on Arrangements for Intergovernmental Meetings #AIM, Türkiye indicated that the Host Country Agreement (HCA) for #COP31 was signed earlier this week and will be published soon. This is welcome news.
A 🧵
At this stage, however, the agreement 📄 has not yet been made public. Without seeing the text, it remains unclear whether the HCA includes the human rights safeguards and protections necessary to ensure safe, meaningful, and inclusive participation in the COP process.
Host Country Agreements should not be treated as administrative formalities. They must contain robust provisions on #HumanRights, conflict of interest, and binding commitments to protect the freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression before, during, and after the climate talks.
“Civil society participation and inclusion cannot be treated as an afterthought. The Host Country Agreement should ensure that CSOs, Indigenous Peoples & human rights defenders can access the country, participate freely & safely in the climate talks.” 💬 CIEL’s campaigner @[email protected].
A key reminder? The meaningful and safe participation of civil society at UNFCCC climate conferences is crucial to inform urgent and just climate action, ensure scrutiny of governmental decisions, and strengthen transparency in decision-making.
Upholding #HumanRights, including the freedoms of expression & peaceful assembly, is critical before, during & after climate talks.
Yet, across the world 🌎 governments are cracking down on civic spaces & curtailing these fundamental freedoms. The UNFCCC must ensure a safe & open civic space.
🛂 That includes ensuring timely, transparent, accessible, and non-discriminatory visa procedures. Barriers to entry undermine the inclusiveness and legitimacy of the process.
For #SB64, the UNFCCC & Germany clearly didn’t get the memo👇
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UN climate talks kicks off in ...
UN climate talks kicks off in ...
It’s time for the UNFCCC to remove administrative, financial, & logistical barriers to the meaningful participation of #IndigenousPeoples & environmental human rights defenders, including by installing a unified, equitable visa system & providing visa support.
The #UNFCCC must also adopt a zero-tolerance approach to:
❌ Intimidation,
❌ Harassment,
❌ Violence, and
❌ Reprisals
against observers and establish a dedicated focal point to monitor incidents, document abuses, and support accountability and redress.
As civic space shrinks in many parts of the world, the #UNFCCC and host governments [ #COP31=Türkiye 🇹🇷] have a legal responsibility to ensure climate conferences remain spaces where people can participate freely, safely, and without fear of reprisals.
🚩 #COP31 will be hosted by Türkiye, which has a longstanding record of severely curtailing freedoms of expression and association, has effectively criminalized peaceful protests, and has paralyzed the ability of independent organizations to work 🚩
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ALL States must:
👏 Demonstrate their commitment to upholding human rights by putting an end to the criminalization of protest & the repression of dissent,
👏 Urge Türkiye to end its crackdown on civil space and to release activists, journalists & all those arbitrarily detained
🔍 We expect the HCA to be published as soon as possible🔍 .
Transparency matters!
Public access to the agreement is essential to assess whether adequate safeguards are in place and whether commitments made to participants are enforceable.
Finally, the #UNFCCC must ensure the participation of ALL rights holders groups. In order to do so, States must mandate the establishment of a formal observer constituency for #PersonsWithDisabilities.
Meaningful participation is not optional! It is essential for legitimate, inclusive, and ambitious climate action.
We'll continue watching for developments and look forward to reviewing the published agreement 👀