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Introducing ‘anti-COP’: A climate summit for activists who are fed up

Summary

Activists from 40 countries gathered in Oaxaca, Mexico, for the Global Meeting for Climate and Life, or "anti-COP," as an alternative to COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Frustrated with the exclusionary nature of COP and its perceived prioritization of fossil fuel interests, attendees focused on grassroots solutions and addressing issues like clean energy megaproject impacts, water crises, and forced displacement of Indigenous peoples. The five-day summit fostered collaboration between climate and land-defense movements and concluded with a roadmap for future action, including plans for advocacy at COP30 in Brazil. Participants criticized COPs as increasingly inaccessible to civil society, especially under authoritarian host governments. The anti-COP emphasized creating a more inclusive and equitable approach to climate action, serving as both a critique of and complement to the formal COP process.

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