One of the characteristics of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh is its high cost for visitors. From accommodation in this Egyptian seaside resort to food on the conference grounds, everything is expensive, which makes it difficult for civil society activists in Europe, and especially in Africa, to adapt and be present.
With our special correspondent in Sharm el-Sheikh, Claire Fages
They are six young Africans and Europeans from the ATD-Quart Monde association who made the trip to Sharm el-Sheikh. Impossible, says Solal Billon, to find an apartment to share for less than 1,000 euros a week. As for the first meal within the very grounds of the COP, its price remained a shock for the young Frenchman and it deterred half of the group:
Not everyone ate here, we paid 100 euros for three sandwiches, three cokes, three fruit juices and three desserts.
While fellow Kenyan Terry Kiarie points out the small number of young Africans in this COP… African. Elhadji Oumar Gueye from Senegal deplores that the poor, the first victims of climate injustice, cannot have a say:
We are here to think about climate change. This reflection requires that all social strata be represented. Today, a family that is in a situation of poverty and that has its say does not have the conditions to be there. So that, I think, is really an inequality: we should perhaps think about how to do it in the future.
Significant effort: since Thursday, November 10, the Egyptian organizers have halved the price of drinks inside the COP after numerous complaints.
► To read also: COP27: the usual impossible civil society demonstration in the streets of Sharm el-Sheikh