COVID-19 challenges ‘disadvantage’ smaller nations in COP26 climate talks

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Some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries have been forced to scale back their attendance at the COP26 climate summit due to COVID-19 travel curbs and costs, blunting their negotiating power, according to Fiji’s UN ambassador.

Border closures, quarantine rules and high travel costs will see small island states and poorer nations sending smaller delegations, with some leaders unable to travel to the key United Nations’ climate talks that start in Scotland on Sunday.

Only four leaders from Pacific island states – Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and Palau – are due to attend the COP26 conference in person, according to Satyendra Prasad, Fiji’s ambassador to the United Nations.

“The stakes could not be higher, but it’s a very difficult situation,” Prasad told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from New York, where he is based.

Borders remain closed in many Pacific island countries to keep local communities safe from COVID-19, as in Kiribati, while long quarantine periods of up to three weeks including in Tonga make it hard for leaders to travel, Prasad added.

COP26 is billed as the “last best shot” for the world to try to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – crucial for Pacific nations battling more powerful tropical storms and rising sea levels, according to the UN envoy.

Pacific negotiators will need to “work really hard” on crucial agenda items like climate finance, he added.

Fiji – part of the Alliance of Small Island States – will push rich governments to agree to deliver $750 billion a year to support climate action in poorer countries from 2025 – up from an unmet annual pledge of $100 billion now.

“It’s sad that the Pacific will be least well-represented at this COP… We know that not having a presence in the way that we would have in a normal year is a big disadvantage to the smallest countries,” said Prasad.

2 hours ago