Protests at the U.N. summit draw hundreds; the German government expresses alarm

As German officials voiced concerns about possible surveillance and
intimidation of delegates and other conference attendees, hundreds of
environmental activists called on industrialized nations at the U.N.
climate summit in Egypt on Saturday to pay for the impact of global warming
in the largest demonstration to date.

The meeting, COP27, is being held in the popular vacation spot of Sharm
el-Sheikh, and protests have been relatively quiet thus far. Activists said
that protest turnout was low partly due to the exorbitant expense of
travel, accommodation, and restrictions in the city’s remote location.

The demonstrators made their way through the “Blue Zone,” an area of the
conference officially recognized as part of the United Nations and so
subject to its regulations. Because of this, the activists have a little
more freedom to express themselves than they would in the rest of Egypt,
where the autocratic government effectively bans protests.