Egypt silenced climate experts’ voices before hosting Cop27, HRW says

Failure to address country's abuses will obstruct rollout of meaningful climate action, director of Human Rights Watch says

The Egyptian regime has successfully silenced the country's independent environmentalists in the run-up to hosting this year's UN climate talks, as part of a wider strategy to repress human rights that also threatens to derail meaningful global climate action, according to a leading advocate.

In an interview with the Guardian, Richard Pearshouse, environment director at Human Rights Watch, said failing to address abuses by Egypt and other authoritarian regimes will obstruct the rollout of ambitious climate policies needed to transition away from fossil fuels and curtail global heating.