Remember that treasure hunt with ECO a couple of days ago? The saga continued and ECO finally found the treasure it was looking for: the shiny COP28 Host Country Agreement! And not a moment too soon, as the hunt for the COP29 agreement has already started. But the journey isn’t complete as there is an important piece still missing.
Make no mistake – the mission is close to impossible with obstacles at every turn* for finding host country agreements, despite a commitment to make them publicly available.
The COP28 Host Country Agreement is bright and shiny, but human rights protection aren’t among the sparkling pieces. In fact despite last year’s hard-fought AIM conclusions, human rights are missing. There was no guarantee for COP28 participants that their human rights and fundamental freedoms would be safeguarded and promoted, and that they would be effectively protected from harassment and intimidation during their stay in Dubai.
Now to the present moment. In line with the AIM conclusions, ECO calls on all Parties to urge the UNFCCC to make the journey more straightforward by immediately making the COP29 agreement publicly available and easily accessible.
We hope that when we find and open it, the human rights guarantees will shine through. But if that’s not the case, Parties must request clarity from the Azerbaijani Presidency and the UNFCCC Secretariat on the steps they will take and the measures they will put in place to ensure the safety and security of all COP29 participants. We urge them to ensure open civic space and freedom of expression before, during and after the conference.
And one more thing, while we are digging up these agreements, the agreement between the German government and UNFCCC for their permanent headquarters should also be made public. After all our safety and security must be guaranteed here in Bonn as well.
After all, not all that glitters is gold.
*Steps to be taken: search the UNFCCC website, ask the UNFCCC, look on the UN Treaty website and don’t find anything, go back to the UNFCCC, create an account on the UN Treaty website, put in a request, receive answer that it’s not available, go back to the UNFCCC, try again, wait, go to Bonn and ask the UNFCCC again, wait for the UNFCCC to realize it is *really* not available, discuss, wait, check your spam, don’t find it, wait, receive it right at the moment the negotiations on the topic are closing 10 months after you started looking for it.