Delegates to COP26 from the countries most impacted by, and least responsible for, the climate crisis fear they will be excluded from the upcoming summit because of quarantine requirements, travel bans, and vaccine inequity in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately ravaged their countries, the Washington Post reports. Such obstacles cut against vows by organizers to make the UN’s 26th Conference of Parties on climate change both “safe and successful” and “the most inclusive ever.” For those coming from developing countries, “getting to Glasgow is already going to be an almost insurmountable endeavor,” Aubrey Webson, the ambassador to the UN from Antigua and Barbuda, and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States told the Post, “and adding this burden could well be a breaking point.”

So far, with the deadline approaching rapidly, not a single negotiator, official observer and accredited journalist has received a vaccine to enable them to more easily and safely attend the conference, despite British PM Boris Johnson’s promise to provide them. British officials expect 25,000 official attendees from more than 190 countries will have access to the UN-managed “blue zone” with many thousands more expected in Glasgow for side events and protests. (Washington Post $)