Talks begin in Glasgow amid travel delays and bin strike
The long road to the Cop26 summit in Glasgow has got longer.
After some delegates were delayed at the weekend by travel problems caused by weather, hundreds reported queues of several hours to enter the venue.
About 25,000 people have descended on the Scottish Event Campus, where entry has been delayed by Covid-19 restrictions and airport-style security.
The site has been handed over to the UN for the 12-day conference, which was delayed for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The rescheduled event had a troubled start on Sunday when a fallen tree stopped trains travelling from London to Glasgow.
Train operators told travellers to avoid making the journey as delays continued yesterday and some delegates were forced to book flights to Glasgow.
Street cleaners and refuse collectors have gone on strike in the Scottish city over a long-running dispute about pay.
The protest was expected to continue throughout the first week of Cop26.
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman criticised the strike and said unions were considering a new pay offer.
The disruption caused by the stormy weather was a sign of things to come if the world fails to tackle climate change, some travellers said.
Simon Lewis, professor of global change science at University College London, said he was stuck on a train for hours owing to the disruption.
“This is a reminder that climate change drives extreme weather events and every country needs to adapt,” he said.
“A stopped train is nothing compared to the two million people displaced by flooding in Shanxi province in China last month and those facing famine today in Madagascar.”
About 120 heads of state and government officials were expected to attend the world leaders’ summit.
US President Joe Biden – who flew to Edinburgh yesterday – and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among those attending the talks.
But leaders such as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, will not attend the conference.