COP28: What is happening on day 9 of the UN climate conference?

‘It adds some human feeling’: Why one peace and climate campaigner is joining the march at COP28

Campaigners of all stripes are gathering for the climate march in Dubai’s Expo City this afternoon.

We caught up with Katrin Geyer, environment advisor at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), an NGO which uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. 

Global military activity adds 5.5 per cent of total global emissions (compared to around 2.5 per cent for civilian aviation). The richest counties spend 30 times more on their militaries than on climate finance. 

WILPF are at COP highlighting these shocking statistics, and calling for states to reduce military spending and re-allocate it to the climate emergency.

“Militarism is the elephant in the room. We can’t talk about climate justice if we don’t talk about peace and demilitarization,” says Katrin Geyer. Credit: Lottie Limb

“We’re really trying to raise awareness and shift the narrative for demonetisation to be included in the official negotiations at COP,” says Katrin. “We know that it’s not going to happen this year, but we’re seeing more and more awareness and support from the climate movement, as well as the peace movement.”

COP28 featured a peace themed day for the first time last week. But Katrin says the declaration that emerged from it failed to look at one of the root causes of the climate crisis and conflict: rampant militarisation.

She explains why the climate march this afternoon is important:

“I can imagine that people watching what’s going on at COP from afar are thinking, ‘what is even happening, they’re not getting anything done’. But one of the key benefits of a place like COP is bringing together some of the biggest climate justice activists in the world. And they have so much influence and power and they will come here, connect, learn, amplify each other’s messages, and then go back to their own contexts where they spread the message.

So I think it’s a really powerful show of solidarity; also solidarity with what’s going on in Gaza right now. And it does provide some kind of human feeling to what can be a sanitised and cold and depressing space.”