Copwatch has been on ice for a while since analysing what happened at COP10 in Panama (The full review is here, but can be fairly summarised as “not very much”).

In that article, Copwatch expressed regret that we could not inform readers where COP11 would be taking place as no country had applied to host it. We wondered which country might take up the privileged opportunity of hosting “a two week opaque talking shop which attracts no tourists or media interest, nor offers infrastructure benefits, but comes with a $5 million price tag.” The answer came in June as the FCTC instructed delegations to “save the week” of 17-22 November 2025 for a long trip to exotic, windswept and interesting (checks notes), Geneva. 

One can only assume from this mundane selection that no offers at all were received to host the event. It would seem that nobody wanted to pay the bill, or maybe COP meetings are not seen as that relevant to countries that have ratified the treaty after all. 

Whatever the reason, the outcome is that the Convention Secretariat has decided to opt for home turf where they are certain not to have trouble with the venue, unlike in Panama. Regular readers will remember that Copwatch reported for months on how there was a problem with the contract for the organisers of COP10 and a falling out with the Panama Convention Centre, leading to a last minute postponement of COP10 until February this year. 

One of the main sights in Geneva is the sculpture of a Broken Chair, symbolising opposition to land mines. But Copwatch is of the opinion that it also works well as a cypher for the disorganisation of the WHO FCTC and its stubbornly hapless refusal to accept harm reduction as one of the vital pillars of its own tobacco control treaty. Considering the chaos and incompetence of the COP10 event in Panama, it could not be more apt.

Featured Image: Broken Chair Chaise cassée Genève 2019. Markus Schweizer, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons