It’s all COP27 all the time in the pages of the international press this morning. The topic du jour is (unsurprisingly) complaints from activists. The Guardian has grumbling about the reported cancellation of first-day, non-negotiating events as world leaders descend on Sharm. Reuters, meanwhile, has activists saying they won’t have the same freedom to protest and take part in event as they’ve had in past host countries.

Activists are also complaining about corporate sponsors of COP27, with the Associated Press picking up on the flack that Coca-Cola as been taking.

Take this with a grain of salt: We don’t like plastic pollution, but think that it’s important that corporate voices be heard at COP. What’s more: Can you imagine the [redacted] we’d all be taking if business didn’t step up to help cover the costs of COP?

The bottom line: What Coke (and Egypt) is dealing with now is exactly what Unilever (and the UK) dealt with last year. This story has legs, but it’s not the dominant narrative on COP. Activists are playing their part in the climate debate — and we need to let businesses play their role, too.

A pre-COP facelift: Volunteers have cleaned the seabed and beaches in Sharm El Sheikh, a few weeks before thousands of climate negotiators, politicians and NGOs descend on the seaside town for the climate summit. (Africa News)

More presidential pardons: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has pardoned lawyer and former MP Ziad El Eleimy. El Eleimy, a prominent opposition figure during the 2011 revolution, was sentenced to five years in prison in November for spreading misinformation. (Reuters | AP)

AND- Major international fashion brands are hosting shows in Egypt. (Al Monitor)