The Hypocrisy of COP31

Support my work and upgrade to paid here for as little as $5 a month.

LISTENING: to my possibilities playlist you'll soon receive!
FEELING: strangely proud of myself
SEEING: a very messy office I am not proud of

Over 10 years doing this work, and I still have yet to attend any of the global climate negotiations known as COP. Maybe I never will. I mean, COP31 is this week. Three decades of these events, and where have they gotten us? A whole lot of nowhere.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about today. I'm here to highlight one particular issue I have with this year's U.N.-sponsored climate conference: the host, Turkey. Most countries that host these events have their weak points, but Turkey has been arresting and coming after environmental defenders in the months leading up to the summit. Many activists are rightfully contesting their government's support for the coal industry, which caused nearly 200,000 premature deaths in the country from 1965 to 2020.

In October, Human Rights Watch published a report documenting the government's pattern of targeting environmental activists ahead of the event. In July, for instance, Turkish officials arrested 225 people they suspected of "membership in armed organizations." This type of language and behavior is alarming, especially as I see similar language take hold in the U.S.

As governments embark on days-long negotiations on how they plan to address the most urgent global issue of our time, I can't help but think of Esra Işık. In March, her government arrested her for her outspokenness against the coal industry. In July, she was sentenced to two years and one month in prison. She's awaiting her appeal at home. Her activism started in 2019 when the government decided to cut down an olive grove to make way for a coal mine near her community in western Turkey, Muğla. She is only 26.

"This punishment was not just handed to me," she told Mining Weekly Online. "It was an attempt to punish everyone in this country who stands up for their rights, their land and their village."

There's something poetic about Işik's love for the olive groves. As I've written recently, Palestine is in the midst of its olive harvest. I've spent a few hours in Turkey on a layover on my way to the West Bank. I imagine the olive trees I met during my time there: their grace and wisdom. What had the branches and fruit taught Işik? How did she mourn their loss?

Indeed, in solidarity with Palestinians, the Turkish government did not invite Israel to COP31. "We say that there can be no climate justice where peace does not prevail," said Turkish Environment Minister and COP President Murat Kurum.

What irony. What hypocrisy. Does climate justice look like persecution? Like the silencing of protesters? Like people sick from pollution? Like miners killed in a violent explosion?

Coal remains the country's top source of power. And Turkey wants to keep expanding the dirty energy source. There's no climate justice without transitioning away from fossil fuels. Nothing else matters if world leaders don't quit dragging their feet soon. The clock is ticking. 🌀

Currently Reading

Shout out to all the Black folks who continue to show us what solidarity looks like. The blue wave was thanks to y'all. The Cut's Brittany Packnett Cunningham breaks it down.

I should write an essay about this soon, but I've been learning how to swim. I've even been going to my local pool twice a week to start my day with a 25-minute workout. It's been pretty amazing. I am obsessed. Poet Hannah Eve Levy's recent piece on water and her daughter's swimming lesson was moving.

Poem

MY NEW FRIEND
I made a friend today
his name is Grief

he lingers: quiet, icy with stares
yet I feel a warmth when he's around
a reminder of a love I once found

my new friend Grief
he's random in his calls
when he arrives, I can't help
but curl up like a ball

not all new friends are good
and not all new friends are bad

Grief is neither
he is just oh so very sad

-ylf-

See you next week. xx

- Yessenia