In Dubai, tens of thousands of people from around the world have come together for the United Nations summit on climate change, also known as COP28. The host, in the oil-producing country of the United Arab Emirates, has facilitated some political action within the summit venue. However, protests are essentially illegal in the country. Indigenous people, youths, and women are also a visible presence at the summit, wearing traditional attire and participating in the discussions.

Despite these efforts to include more voices in the summit, activists have complained that it has been one of the most difficult years to hold protests within the blue zone of the summit. Emirati officials have pledged to make the summit more inclusive, but many say that the country needs to relax its political restrictions. They say that the U.N. should not hold the summit in countries with such limitations on political action going forward.