Cop26: behind the varnish, disturbing anti-sobriety behaviors – The HuffPost

ENVIRONMENT – Behind the scenes. From this Sunday, October 31, and like every year, all the leaders of the planet, associations, scientists and professionals meet under the aegis of the United Nations to discuss the fight against climate change and climate preservation. A 26th Conference of the Parties (or Cop) which is held this year at Glasgow, in Scotland.

Except that behind the veneer of a noble cause and the commitments that should be made by the international community remains all the logistical and economic complexity of the organization of such an event. With the result of images and symbols totally out of step with the goal pursued by the Cop 26.

• A large air show

It is well known: air traffic is the means of transporting people the most polluting in the world (if we except, let’s be fair, the new still ultra-minority fashion of space tourism). Gold to invite to Scotland the tens of thousands of participants – Heads of State and Government of nearly 200 countries, delegates representing NGOs, companies, academics … – they must be escorted there.

Some, like of the Young European Greens, therefore called on the guests at the top to take the train, but it is clear that most of the participants will travel by plane, such as Boris Johnson (who could have made the trip from London by train in just a few hours, but who chose to highlight an initiative of his government on planes “green”Flying thanks to biofuels). So far from Greta Thunberg’s sailing across the Atlantic in 2019 to travel to New York.

Especially, as denounced by several associations including Extinction Rebellion (which provides block some of the airports scheduled for the landing of participants), many leaders will not come by scheduled flights, but via private jets, ten times more polluting. “These private flights, which serve only 1% of the world’s population, cause half of the air sector’s polluting emissions,” laments the green NGO founded in the United Kingdom.

Worse, as reported Euronews, due to the epidemic of Covid, the participants in the Cop coming from countries placed on the “red list” of the British authorities are officially invited to come by plane, via certain entry points where they will be able to observe a ten-day isolation. An incitement that makes the NGOs scream: “Climate defenders and activists from areas particularly affected by climate issues have had to face an endless process linked to visas and vaccination, some even having to cancel their visit. But for those who can afford a private jet, the British government is putting everything in place ”, protests Daniel Willis, for example, of Global Justice Now.

Then, once there, another challenge is to accommodate the 30,000 participants. A necessity that has already led to many difficulties, as illustrated by Tan Copsey, who is in Glasgow on behalf of Bailout Watch, an NGO which monitors state policy in the direction of fossil fuels.

The association posted excerpts from a conversation with a potential landlord on Twitter, who criticized him for having made his reservation too early, at a date when prices were still at their normal level. Arguing that the demand for rentals has exploded with the Cop, the owner asks him to add 70 pounds daily (about 83 euros), an additional cost of about 1700 euros for the duration of the stay. And seeing that his client refuses, he says he is “forced to cancel the reservation”.

A case that is anything but unique. As relates it Tea Financial Times, some hotel rooms usually rented a thousand euros for two weeks (the duration of the Cop) are for 17 times more for the fortnight. Apartments are themselves offered at 42,000 euros for two weeks. “A room that was offered at 42 pounds Monday is priced at 1400 pounds per night for the duration of the summit,” adds the bbc.

An untenable situation for some delegations. Result, a few days before the start of the event, more than 3000 participants were still looking for accommodation for the duration of the summit. Some must therefore find accommodation about fifty kilometers from Glasgow.

So to compensate for the lack of housing in sufficient number (at Financial Times, a tourism specialist estimates that 15,000 homes are available for short-term rentals in Glasgow), the organizers had the idea of ​​bringing in … two cruise ships that can accommodate a total of 6,000 people. Simply another means of transport among the most polluting in the world.

Giants of the seas that run on diesel, which pollute more that hundreds of thousands of cars and on which will therefore be accommodated thousands of participants in the main world climate summit.

Another absurdity: to allow some of the guests to get to Cop 26 from their accommodation, a hotelier has decided to provide them with Tesla brand electric vehicles. And to compensate for the lack of means to charge these cars, he brought in … electric generators running on diesel, as the annoyed Andrew Montford of the climate defense NGO Net Zero Watch recounted. “It is simply ostentatious virtue. It’s incomprehensible.”

• The poorest injured

A situation which pushes many observers and defenders of the environment to denounce these contradictions and a form of hypocrisy. Because in front of these logistical and financial constraints, some countries are even wondering if they will be able to send their delegations to Glasgow. Always with the Financial Times, a delegate from the British Pacific Islands explained that they had no other choice but to stay in Edinburgh, 80 kilometers from the summit. All after having already traveled the world to come to Scotland.

“To date, at least half of the African delegates are not sure of being able to go” to Cop 26, added Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale, representative of Gabon and members of the negotiators for the African continent to World October 11.

Underprivileged countries which, in addition, have concerns about access to the vaccine during this period of the Covid crisis. The evening daily reports that many members of civil society from Africa had to give up participating in the event for lack of being able to be vaccinated on time, or even to obtain a visa.

It is for this reason of unequal access to serums that hundreds of NGOs had called to a new postponement of the Cop. A request rejected, the British government deciding instead to offer hotel rooms and to lift health restrictions to allow fairer access to the global meeting. Thousands of participants are however still in the uncertainty of being able to get there.

Especially since the costs do not stop there for the different delegations. Citing the pandemic and Brexit, the organizers have effectively increased by 30% compared to the Madrid Cop 25 the cost of a pavilion, those spaces where countries can offer discussions, presentations and workshops. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) denounced the “outrageous” cost of these spaces, which doubled the budget provided for by the international institution in Glasgow, specifies the Guardian. A difficulty which, here again, penalizes developing countries and associations or NGOs.

To the point that many pro-climate activists have made the decision to boycott the summit or at least to give up going there. A signal not very engaging at a time when scientific reports are showing more and more alarming about the future of the planet.

See also on the HuffPost: Before the Cop26, the disillusionment of these young people, two years after their speech with Greta Thunberg