A teenage climate change activist has branded the COP26 summit in Glasgow "awkward and strange" after organisers were hit with a deluge of complaints over the length of time it takes to enter the venue.
Alexandria Villasenor, 16, is among the thousands of campaigners who have flown to Scotland to take part in the UN conference at the SEC.
But the New York-based activist told her 65,000 Twitter followers last night she was less than impressed with the organisation of the summit after she spent "four hours in line over the past two days" trying to get in.
She hit out just hours after COP organisers issued an apology to delegates which blamed access issues on "exceptional and unprecedented logistical circumstances".
Villasenor, a co-founder of US Youth Climate Strike, said: "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.
"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 four hours in line over the past two days. It's chaos and a failure on the part of the organisers.
"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."
Hundreds of other COP delegates have hit out on social media over access issues to the site, with some complaining of being forced to queue in the rain.
In a statement last night, COP organisers said: "The UN Climate Change secretariat would like to apologise for the inconveniences associated with accessing the venue of COP26, both physically and virtually.
"As you are aware, COP26 is taking place under exceptional and unprecedented logistical circumstances.
"The Covid-19 pandemic means that UNFCCC and the UK host government had to put many safety measures in place to protect the health of all participants.
"This has meant reducing access to many spaces within the venue to ensure social distancing can be maintained as well as having to reduce the security and registration lanes in line with Covid-19-related protocols.
"At the same time, we have seen unprecedented interest in this conference, given the importance of addressing climate change, with high numbers of participants registering.
"The World Leaders Summit, with its inevitable security arrangements, has added to the many logistical pressures."
It added: "In many ways, the first few days of the COP26 have been a learning process, with participants and staff getting used to the pandemic-related logistical measures and circumstances, and we are doing our utmost to continuously learn and adapt.
"We sincerely ask participants to allow for sufficient time to access the venue. In the case of inclement weather, please come prepared with appropriate gear."
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