COP26 has been labelled “one of the whitest” climate conferences in years, as delegations from the most at-risk nations have struggled to overcome constantly changing COVID-19 restrictions, expensive flight prices, and exorbitant rent.  In May 2021, the UK government hailed that COP26 would be "the most inclusive COP ever"; yet, with some of the attending countries removed from the UK’s COVID red-list just two weeks ahead of event, delegations had no other choice but to forgo attending this year’s climate conference.

The director of immigration at COP26 Coalition, Rachael Osgood, has said that the “event, because of multiple combining factors, most of which fall under the responsibility of government, is set to be the most elite and exclusionary Cop ever held”.

Ahead of the climate conference, landlords in Glasgow hiked up rental prices anticipating the large influx of attendees. Whilst high profile attendees did not have difficulties finding a place to stay, activists and delegations from smaller nations were faced with prices as high as £36,000 for a fortnight. 

Landlords also cancelled bookings in the hope of securing a higher price for their accommodation.

Mike Szabo, the director of Carbon Pulse, had to take the difficult decision of withdrawing their delegation after multiple cancellations by landlords. “We booked through hotels.com, through Airbnb, through Vrbo, and everyone has been cancelled by the owners,” he said.

The lack of affordable accommodation has disproportionately affected attendees from low-income countries. A third of the Pacific Islands announced they would not be attending. This is especially worrying as the Pacific nations are some of the most at-risk countries to climate change. Lavetanalagi Seru, a Fijian leader from the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN), has remarked that COP26 is “near impossible to attend” for activists and campaigners.

Invited climate activists decided not to attend due to difficulties with finding accommodation and managing COVID-19 restrictions. Philippines-based activist Mitzi Jonelle Tan, of youth movement Fridays for Future, decided not to attend, citing the Visa and quarantine requirements as a “nightmare”. 

Goodness Dickinson is a climate activist from Nigeria who was invited to participate at COP26. He, and other activists faced challenges, but were resolute in their conviction to attend, worried that “the COP will lack representation from the African continent".

Last minute fixes to tackle the accommodation deficit proved creative. Two cruise ships arrived in Glasgow to help ease the accommodation strain. A further 700 Glaswegian households signed up to the COP26 Homestay Network that sought to offer visitors, such as climate activists and attendees from low-income backgrounds, the opportunity to make their voices heard. 

Kat Jones, COP26 project manager at Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, said that the COP26 Homestay Network had received thousands of applications from delegates. “We didn’t anticipate having demand from people right across society. We are talking about scientists, people who have jobs at COP like translators, delegations, etc.”. As of Friday October 22, there were around 2,500 people on the waiting list.

The issue of attendance is not restricted to delegations representing the nation’s most at risk from climate change. Two-thirds of NGOs who would usually attend the climate conference decided not to do so, again citing COVID-19 restrictions, flight prices, and expensive rent. Observers, who are unofficial watchdogs at COP, have also noted that the lack of accessibility to meetings at the climate conference puts the legitimacy and fruitfulness of the event under question.

The executive director of Climate Action Network (CAN), Tasneem Essop, said that “civil society voices are critical to the outcome of COP, but we’ve not been able to do our jobs. If participation and inclusion are the measure of legitimacy, then we’re on very shaky grounds”.

Failure to include the most at-risk nations and civil society organisations in discussions and decision-making processes will have long-term negative consequences. For instance, decisions made without the input of indigenous communities that make up only 6% of the world population but oversee protection of more than 80% of biodiversity, could have irreversible human rights consequences. It is up to the international community of the global elites at COP26 to make sure that the voices of all stakeholders are represented.

Maria is an undergraduate student at the London School of Economics studying International Social and Public Policy. She is also taking additional courses in public international law and foreign policy analysis. Maria is interested in the intersectionality between international relations and conflict resolution. She is also the Vice President of TEDxLSE, and is currently interning at the Estonia-Asia Trade Agency.

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