Is this a humiliation for Glasgow? ?

It seems archaic if not silly during a world pandemic particularly for so many people to travel to a Conference anywhere.
With the technology we have today it can be undertaken by screen. All delegates have computers I assume.

Why they all have to come:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58925049?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

All delegates have computers I assume. That might not actually be the case.

BTW I live in one of the English cities and they each have some or all of the problems OP mentions regarding Glasgow.
Binmen went on strike in Birmingham for months a while ago, the rubbish piled in the streets and there were complaints of vermin etc.

i have nurses coming in every day and they are worried about how they will get to work as we are in the west end of glasgow, they have not only closed visitor sites but also some schools and nurseries. i stay just off a very long road that will be packed with traffic (anybody in the west end will know the rd) emergency services will be affected because of all the closed roads and the express way coming off the m8, they have not thought this through very well and as for the strikes, they probably think they will get what they want because of cop26.....just as an afterthought, someone told me the people coming in do not need a vaccine passport, is not a bit risky?

It's all a bit risky nexus63. Good luck with it all.

Alegrias1, I’d guess that a computer would be a lot cheaper than the travel and accommodation costs for the vast majority of attendees. And could be used for years to come too.

TillyTrotter

BTW I live in one of the English cities and they each have some or all of the problems OP mentions regarding Glasgow.
Binmen went on strike in Birmingham for months a while ago, the rubbish piled in the streets and there were complaints of vermin etc.

But did you have a UNClimate Change Conference there at the time with delegates flying in from all over the world telling the rest of us we can't fly to see our families because in order to save the planet?

Sorry, should have read that through after I altered it!!

Happiyogi

Alegrias1, I’d guess that a computer would be a lot cheaper than the travel and accommodation costs for the vast majority of attendees. And could be used for years to come too.

But as the article I linked to says Happiyogi, the internet infrastructure may not be reliable in some of the smaller or poorer countries and often the work can only be done face to face.

No it is not a humiliation for Glasgow or indeed Scotland it is however a great source of irritation and inconvenience Cop 26 should be virtual for the sake of the Planet and also to reduce Covid infection opportunity

While I agree that during a pandemic is not the ideal time to have a conference of 25,000 people, you really can't have a virtual COP. Really. Has nobody read the BBC article I posted?

This is not a set of people sitting around having staff meetings on Zoom. Some things need face to face discussions and this is one of them.

My d in l works in the centre of town and her work wanted her to work elsewhere during conference involving 3 bus journeys and a 20 min walk. Or £60 each way for a taxi. She finishes at midnight! Haven’t heard what the outcome is yet.

No they didn’t Callistemon (I don’t live in Birmingham). There are other big events at the NEC and it can have have more than 25,000 pass through in a day - but the parallel I was drawing was that Scotland/Glasgow need not feel humiliated as OP asks, as English cities get those problems at times too.

Do 30,000 people actually need to attend in person? Could the key people not just meet quietly somewhere and share the conversations online? Money could then be redirected to set up the necessary communication infrastructure for countries who cannot otherwise join in. Cut attendees, cut unnecessary pollution, help poorer countries?

TillyTrotter

No they didn’t Callistemon (I don’t live in Birmingham). There are other big events at the NEC and it can have have more than 25,000 pass through in a day - but the parallel I was drawing was that Scotland/Glasgow need not feel humiliated as OP asks, as English cities get those problems at times too.

It never happens in Wales, TillyTrotter
We are all out with our brooms sweeping up every morning.

Good job it’s not in Brighton they have rubbish piled up in the streets. There was talk of bringing in the army to clear it up.

Brighton rubbish piling up in the streets due to bin men’s strike.

One thing that strikes me during an international conference on the environment, climate change, air pollution, sustainability, etc - has the cruise ship been asked to use shore power rather than using its own power? Because if not it will be belching out huge amounts of air pollution and not supporting local power services.

Callistemon we’re still using besoms where I live ?

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Trying to train the cat to sit on mine but he's very reluctant. He has no head for heights.
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I can see why COP26 needs to go ahead and can also see that it can’t be done virtually, but surely it could have taken place in a bit more remote place.Also one where it wouldn’t have caused inconvenience to local people.I also doubt that each country represented needs such a massive entourage.

We watched The One Show this evening (unusual for us but it featured something of interest to us)

There was a feature about Glasgow hosting the COP26 and the 2,000 or so local volunteers cleaning up the city in preparation.

Well done to all of them, they are doing a sterling job because they're keen to show off their city of which they are so proud.

All through the pandemic, in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire which border Glasgow City Council LA , there have been lots of volunteers, clearing up litter.
My daughter has been clearing her street of leaves, from trees over a hundred years old. The falling leaves make the roads and pavements slippy.
Lots of people here, taking pride in their local area.

lemongrove

I can see why COP26 needs to go ahead and can also see that it can’t be done virtually, but surely it could have taken place in a bit more remote place.Also one where it wouldn’t have caused inconvenience to local people.I also doubt that each country represented needs such a massive entourage.

The more remote the location, the more inconvenience per local inhabitant.
How would the delegates get there? There would probably not be an airport for a hundred miles or more, and the bus service could be one a day in each direction, so they would need a fleet of taxis.
Where would they all sleep if there were no hotels? "Remote" usually means "not many inhabitants" so not many spare rooms.
Where would the full-scale meetings be held? The church hall?
How would supplies for large numbers of hungry participants, and the IT equipments for communications with each other and the media be brought in over long and inadequate roads?
How would all the international journalists be accommodated, and would the the wifi up to the strain?

Oh, and remote places have no trains for hundreds of miles either. All part of what makes them more remote.