At COP26, the obstacle course for small delegations to reach Glasgow

“Go ahead, it’s office 12 next to Belgium, in the back left.” Appolinaire Gnanvi rests for a few moments before following his colleague. Both are delegates from Benin to COP26 in Glasgow (Scotland). Sitting in a comfortable chair in front of the entrance to the delegation offices, he is participating, this Sunday, October 31, in its 6th Conference of the Parties. “This time it was not easy to come”, he tells franceinfo. Departing on Friday from Cotonou, the capital of Benin, he passed through Paris, then London and finally Glasgow. “We had to change our flight plans. When the tickets were issued, we could no longer cross two countries in the Schengen area”, he recalls.

In question, the health measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Even if they have been lightened (PDF document) by the British government after criticism from the international community, fearing a “COP of the rich and the privileged”, small delegations encountered several obstacles before being able to pass through the narrow security turnstiles of the COP. Vaccination certificate, test, letter of confirmation … Kouka Ouedraogo, member of the delegation from Burkina Faso, had difficulty filling out the documents requested to attend the conference. “We didn’t have an embassy [du Royaume-Uni] in Burkina, we had to go to Ghana. It took a long time “, he tells the microphone of Matthieu Boisseau and Lena Soudre, for France 2.

“A lot of things are complicated, because we don’t speak English. We had to understand the questions, the forms, everything … It’s understandable because of the health situation, but we would have liked it to be easier”, adds Indonesian Mina Setra.

Once these documents were gathered, the trip was not easy. When asked about the conditions of his arrival, Lafita Meatuai Paeniu Pita, member of the delegation from the Tuvalu archipelago, sighs. “It was very difficult. There is no commercial flight from Tuvalu to any part of the world. A Chinese company therefore organized a charter. We left Fiji, direction China, then Singapore, then London. and finally Glasgow “, list the delegate. The trip lasted five days.

Same obstacle course for Tshering Tashi, member of the Bhutan delegation. He took off from Paro, the capital of his country, to Delhi (India), then London and finally Glasgow … but earlier than expected. “Because of the Covid-19, there is only one flight a week from Bhutan. To be on time for our first meeting, on October 25, we had to arrive on the 19th. Our government therefore paid a week’s accommodation for nothing “, he regrets.

Especially since the price of housing in Glasgow has exploded, going up to 1,000 euros per night, underlines The world. “We sleep with the locals, about 30 minutes by car” of the place where the COP takes place, specifies the Beninese Appolinaire Gnanvi.

Even if it did indeed arrive at this COP26, the delegation of Tshering Tashi for Bhutan ultimately has 13 members. “We would have needed more people, but when we get back we will all be under a two week quarantine. We couldn’t afford it.”, he reports. “The fact of having small delegations will force a certain number of countries and parties not to be able to participate or follow all the subjects”, decrypts for Europe 1 David Levaï, researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations.

Tshering Tashi, however, has a lot to defend. “We are suffering the effects of climate change at home. Two weeks ago, in the height of the harvest season, we had several days of very heavy rains. The farmers lost everything”, he says behind his mask. He came to the COP to push the “big polluters” to deliver on their pledge of $ 100 billion a year to help poor countries cope with the climate crisis. Speeding through the aisles of the conference, Lafita Meatuai Paeniu Pita confirms: “We’re on the front lines! We had to be here to lobby, to talk about our vulnerability.” Its archipelago is threatened with disappearing under the rising waters.