ENVIRONMENTAL groups have called for the postponement of the crucial United Nations climate summit due to be held in Glasgow in November amid fears that people from poorer countries will be excluded. 

The Cop26 talks, aiming to make countries deliver the cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions needed to curb devastating climate change, have already been put back from last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Although the British government claims that its provision of vaccine and quarantine support means the conference should go ahead, the Climate Action Network is calling for a further deferral.  

An in-person meeting in early November will effectively exclude many government delegates, campaigners and journalists, particularly from the global south anddeveloping countries, many of which are on Britain’s Covid-19 red list, the network warned.

It said that keeping those people away the conference would have serious implications for the issues to be discussed, such as the privision of finance to developing countries to help them cope with climate change and develop cleanly.

Executive director Tasneem Essop said: “There has always been an inherent power imbalance within the UN climate talks, and this is now compounded by the health crisis.

“Looking at the current timeline for Cop26, it is difficult to imagine there can be fair participation from the global south under safe conditions and it should therefore be postponed.”

Mohamed Adow, director of Nairobi-based think tank Power Shift Africa, argued that current plans fly in the face of UN principles and expressed fears that wealthy nations could stitch up the talks. 

He said: “A climate summit without the voices of those most affected by climate change is not fit for purpose.”

Delegates who would otherwise struggle to obtain vaccination have been offered Covid-19 jabs by the British government. 

Tory appointed Cop26 president Alok Sharma said the recent report by the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change, which put into stark relief the impact that human activity such as burning fossil fuels is having on the planet, “underlines why Cop26 must go ahead this November.”

He added: “Ensuring that the voices of those most affected by climate change are heard is a priority for the Cop26 presidency, and if we are to deliver for our planet, we need all countries and civil society to bring their ideas and ambition to Glasgow.”