Vulnerable countries slam ‘middle class’
activists’ call for climate summit delay
A call to postpone the COP26 talks for cost and
pandemic reasons is brushed off by many countries.
BY KARL
MATHIESEN
September
7, 2021 7:52 pm
An
explosive green group demand on Tuesday to postpone the U.N. COP26 talks was
furiously denounced by vulnerable countries for ignoring the danger they face
from climate change.
A group of
1,500 NGOs, including Climate Action Network International and Greenpeace, said
the talks should not go ahead on November 1 due to concerns over the expense
and lack of access to COVID vaccines among delegates from poor countries.
But the
countries themselves aren't especially keen on the NGO effort. On Tuesday
morning, the 45 countries making up the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) released
a collective statement that said COP26, already delayed by a year, must go
ahead as planned.
“The COP is
for the nations, for the vulnerable nations. We need emission cuts," CVF
Ambassador Mohamed Nasheed, the speaker of the Maldives parliament, told
POLITICO. "We need adaptation pledges, funding. We need both. And we do
not want a situation where this conversation is delayed. It's already delayed
for too long. It’s an emergency.”
A clearly
angry Nasheed said the CVF had not been consulted by CAN International. “There
was no conversation, we were not told at all. And it's very difficult to see
how they can advocate for us without talking to us,” he said. POLITICO asked
several other developing country diplomats if they agreed with the call to
postpone. All of them said no, although they agreed access was a problem.
Responding
to the CVF's complaints, CAN International Executive Director Tasneem Essop
said the organization had not consulted with any national representatives
because it was “not a mouthpiece for governments, whatever bloc they are a part
of … Right now it is civil society and of course, from the poorest and most
vulnerable countries, facing most exclusion from this process … This statement
from CAN is a stand based on our principles.”
After the
U.K. government said Tuesday it would cover the cost of delegates traveling
from red zone countries staying in quarantine hotels, Essop called the response
“piecemeal” and maintained it was not possible to host a fair and safe event.
The call to postpone was later joined by a coalition of dozens of U.K.-based
NGOs and the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists.
Vaccines
and climate change
Essop and
Greenpeace Director Jennifer Morgan said they wanted the U.K. and other wealthy
nations to act on global vaccine inequity, including through patent waivers, to
address the root causes of the divide between rich and poor.
"Authentic
climate solutions exist but what is missing is genuine solidarity,” said
Morgan.
Essop
added: “Vaccine inequity must be addressed by rich nations. No one is safe
until everyone is safe.”
Nasheed,
whose atoll nation is immediately threatened by rising sea levels, said the
danger of the pandemic was outweighed by the need to resolve climate change.
“Even in
the face of death, we must meet. The alternative is the death of the planet,”
he said, adding: "It's all very well for middle-class Europeans to say
that ... but we need a result. For us not having a result ... is far, far more
worse than anything else. So we need this to happen.”
He also
downplayed worries about accessibility for delegates from remote or red zone
countries. “I fail to see that. I have not heard of ... any of these concerns,
and I'm in the middle of it.”
Nasheed — a
former Maldives president who has lived in London since an assassination
attempt in May — was in Rotterdam on Tuesday for a meeting on adaptation also
attended by delegates from several African countries.
“I can't
see why it should be an issue at all. Our airport is open, there are flights
coming,” he said. “The pressure groups might not be able to come. But that is
no reason why we should not try and build international consensus on how to act
and what else to do.”
UK-NGO
divide
The NGO
announcement also marked a spectacular breakdown in relations between the U.K.
climate talks presidency and CAN International, which is the world’s largest
network of climate NGOs and traditionally plays an important role in the U.N.
climate process. The rupture came after months of behind-the-scenes lobbying
between the civil society groups and the U.K. COP26 organizing team.
According
to a log of the engagements, seen by POLITICO, the NGO met or communicated with
U.K. officials at least 10 times since March, including a call with COP26
President Alok Sharma. It repeatedly asked the U.K. to admit that hosting a
normal event was impossible under pandemic conditions and to deliver a detailed
plan to ensure no one was excluded.
But the
U.K. failed to deliver a plan that satisfied the NGOs, Essop said. The COP26
unit declined to comment.
"The
logistical briefings from the COP team have been heavy on details selling
Glasgow as a venue: how beautiful the city is, how amazing the venue is, the
proposed menu, where private jets can land — everything but the details that
matter for a safe and inclusive COP,” she said.
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