'A constant battle on what we can say': Activists say they feel stifled by COP29 rules

In the nosebleed seats of a nearly-empty Baku Olympic stadium coated with a layer of dust, activists used a giant banner to beam the words “Pay Up” to the world.

The protest took weeks of thought and planning, with activists pitching the location as somewhere bigger and more visually striking.

But with the stands outside the main venue, most of the attendees at this year's UN climate talks didn't see or hear it - except for maybe some in the COP29 presidency offices right below.

The majority of the people involved in deciding the financial future of climate action at the talks remained in the sprawling venue, under white tarps with no windows.

It’s “really hard to make our demands heard,” said Bianca Castro, a climate activist from Portugal. She’s been to several COPs in the past and remembers years when there were thousands of protestors in the streets and a multitude of strikes and actions throughout the event.

But at the stadium's seats, they were told exactly where and when they could stand and chants were restricted. A United Nations climate change spokesperson said that “actively facilitating an advocacy action of this sort - in a part of the venue that isn’t open to participants .... involved extensive dialogue among the participants, facility managers and health and safety officers.”

Still, Castro said the difficulty of making an impact meant many are "losing hope in the process."

People involved in protests say they have felt a trend in recent years of stricter rules from the United Nations organisers with COPs being held in countries whose governments limit demonstrations and the participation of civil society.

And some community spaces for prepping and organising have had to resort to going underground because of