Fiery robe, 5-metre long train: Climate activist shows forest in flames at COP28

No chants were made and there were no banners nor placards but onlookers did not miss the message

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Photo: Angel Tesorero
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Angel Tesorero

Published: Fri 8 Dec 2023, 8:55 PM

Last updated: Sat 9 Dec 2023, 9:41 AM

Have you seen a woman walking around COP28 in a fiery robe with a five-metre long train?

That's Carmen Capriles, a climate activist and member of Artivist Network (a collective of activists who use arts to call for climate justice), who is from Bolivia and is wearing the outfit that depicts a forest in flames.

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Carpiles said the objective is to capture the attention of delegates, observers and negotiators attending the ongoing UN Climate Summit to act decisively and urgently in protecting the environment.

Khaleej Times caught up with her and her organisation on Friday going around the UN-controlled COP28’s Blue Zone. No chants were made and there were no banners nor placards but onlookers did not miss the message.

Call for climate justice

Artivist Network said they have been organising creative actions during the UN Conference of the Parties (COP) for 10 years. “We focus specifically on climate justice organising for its potential to provoke deep, structural, and intersectional change,” the group noted.

“We put pressure on delegates to take immediate action. Stop burning our future,” they added.

Artivist Network is one of the several groups that are assembling peacefully at COP28 to make their voices heard not only on climate issues but also on human rights, food security, equitable distribution of climate fund, protection of Indigenous peoples ancestral lands, and other sectoral issue.

Earlier, creative climate activists prominently displayed several pairs of children’s on the ground as a form of silent protest with a stong message that says 'No climate justice without human rights'.

One of the issues climate activists have been highlighting at the UN Climate Summit is the fact that more than 6,000 of the 15,000+ people who died in Gaza, due to continuous Israeli bombings, were children.

Collective responsibility

At COP28, the collective is also responsible for designing and decorating the Civil Society Climate Justice hub by curating the visual artworks from various climate justice campaigners around the world. The space is being used by the civil society to brainstorm, create, organise and strategise their movement.

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Angel Tesorero

Published: Fri 8 Dec 2023, 8:55 PM

Last updated: Sat 9 Dec 2023, 9:41 AM

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