Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): By now, you've probably heard about the lines, access and representation issues at #COP26. But it's been a really awkward, strange day, so I want to lay everything out here, because if you've wondered if #COP26 is okay, I'm gonna show you that no, #COP26 is really not okay/1
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): First, it's true, there's one entrance for 20k attendees, it's like a single file line for everyone to get in and get through security. I've spent 4 hours in line over the past 2 days. It's chaos and a failure on the part of the organizers/2 https://www.businessinsider.com/cop26-climate-summit-lines-so-long-officials-missing-meetings-report-2021-11
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): Inside, it gets even weirder, with civil society literally locked out of negotiation spaces, with no video link or any other way to effectively observe at all/3 https://twitter.com/chilledasad100/status/1455515615494541319?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): The only way to observe the main plenary, is to pull out your laptop while INSIDE #COP26, and watch it online from the other room/4 https://twitter.com/aliya_hirji_/status/1455620468208246784?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): Back outside, eventually they stopped allowing people in altogether. The UK & UNFCCC have accredited more people than they'll allow into the venue. Can't get in for your event or meeting after coming all this way? So sad too bad. Dial in from your hotel/5 https://twitter.com/chilledasad100/status/1455520377568993285?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): But it seems like the UNFCCC knows all this, because they sent us a letter. They basically said "the pandemic ate our brains" but for the overwhelming amount of branding and sponsorship at this conference, they could have hired more staff and built more queue's to let people in/6 https://twitter.com/AlexandriaV2005/status/1455706022627082244/photo/1
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): Speaking of access, #COP26 also didn't consider the inclusion of people with disabilities and therefore, designed an ableist space. No sign language interpreters, no wheelchair access and even the exclusion of the Energy Minister of Israel/7 https://twitter.com/LiamODellUK/status/1455277960290779142?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): But wait, there's more exclusion! So #COP26, it's time we talk about racism. First, youth activists of color are being profiled and removed from the venue, when no white youth activists have been removed from the venue for anything/8 https://twitter.com/Ayishas12/status/1455501729173278727?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): Then, we have the media cropping @vanessa_vash, and other people of color, out of photos, or not naming them or tagging them altogether. This is not an "accident", this is implicit bias which creates real structural racism/9 https://twitter.com/HylandSonja/status/1455498940288229380?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): So let's flip this around and let me tell you who IS INCLUDED at #COP26 . You wanna guess? Fossil fuels! Just look at Australia, who in a creepy, terrifying way, has allowed @ASantos_Energy to inhabit it's pavilion and its soul.../10 https://twitter.com/DMacSyd/status/1455413843954335747?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): As a matter of fact, fossil fuel interests are represented here IN FORCE, both openly and secretly. These people are even pulled out of the queue and brought in before others when they have meetings/11 https://twitter.com/patrickgaley/status/1455538785089818624?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): And finally, if this exclusionary dystopian hellscape of a conference wasn't enough for you, well, enter the billionaires.../12 https://twitter.com/patrickgaley/status/1455480744130777094?s=20
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): And this billionaire had to go to space to figure out what billions of people, in the most affected areas of the planet, have been yelling at the top of their lungs about for a long time now. Dude needs a listening session not a rocket trip/13 https://twitter.com/timothy_stanley/status/1455486560086933510
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): Now I can hear some of you already in the comments saying "but this is just the logistics of the event! it's not the negotiations" and I have to point out that this is the environment that the #COP26 negotiations is swimming in/14
Alexandria Villaseñor is at COP26! (@AlexandriaV2005): An exclusionary, racist, ableist, classist environment directly informs the decision making process that is placed in it! The negotiating space that we create, as a planet, is one of the most important aspects of these talks and can ultimately set it up for failure or success/END