Just how inclusive is COP 26?

Though the United Kingdom — this year’s COP 26 host — has described the conference as the most inclusive COP ever, the lead-up to the summit was marred with calls for postponement over concerns that travel and COVID-19 restrictions would limit participation from the global south. Delegates from low- and middle-income countries insist that the confusion has done just that.

Speaking at a Devex event on the sidelines of the conference, Adrián Martinez, director of La Ruta del Clima in Costa Rica, said that though organizing the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference was “a humongous challenge” in light of the pandemic, the U.K. should have done more to ensure inclusivity.

“What we experienced, it’s either … a systemic logic of discriminating [against] people based on their origin,” he said, “or simply a lack of context and understanding of what are the hurdles and obstacles and social and economic challenges that people and observers from the global south have.” Effective participation requires lots of funding and effort, as well as going through stressful visa processes, he added.

Martinez noted that this issue posed a challenge during COP 24 and 25 as well, but said COP 26 is “a new example [of] this sort of logic where public participation is addressed not as a human right but something that may or may not be considered when the decisions are taken.”

But a spokesperson from COP 26 said that throughout the summit, the U.K. has provided a platform for a diverse range of voices to directly address leaders and government officials.

"In our commitment to hosting an inclusive COP26, ensuring that the voices of those most affected by climate change are heard is a priority for the COP26 Presidency,” they said. “If we are to deliver for our planet, we need all countries and civil society to bring their ideas and ambition to Glasgow.”

Adding that they have worked closely with international partners and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change to work through the challenges that certain delegations may face in physically attending COP 26 — which includes understanding the availability of flights, the complications of vaccine and testing requirements, and transiting procedures via third countries.

But Martinez said that the uncertainty and back and forth when it came to pre-conference decision making led people to lose confidence that organizers understood the barriers and requirements people in the global south face when crossing international borders — and that a lack of participation was not just a disadvantage to those unrepresented, but a danger to the summit’s stated priorities.

“People in Africa, people in Southeast Asia, in the Pacific Islands, in Latin America, have certain political expectations of COP 26 and when you reduce [them] … that shapes the influence and generates undue influence by the already big presence of the global north,” he said.

Looking ahead, he called for a human-based approach to future conferences.

“For … future COPS we have to remember that there are 72 parties of the UNFCCC that have human rights obligations in terms of access rights,” he said, “and they have an obligation to promote the right of public participation principles within the UNFCCC.”