COP27 suffers from queues, expensive food and river of sewage; watch video

Have you ever imagined what it’s like to be at a UN conference on climate change, the increasingly well-known COPs, where leaders and technicians from around the world come together to try to decide what the future of the planet and ours will be like?

So imagine queues in almost every corner, a certain difficulty to get water and disputes even to buy food at expensive prices. After all, there are more than 20 thousand people trying to eat and drink in the middle of a desert. To complement, a flow of sewage passing between the pavilions of the event.

While the rest has basically been going on since the beginning of COP27, a conference in Egypt that started on Sunday (6), luckily, the leaking sewage was a smelly moment on Wednesday (9) at the conference.

Looking at it quickly, it might even seem that the small stream, formed in the late afternoon on Wednesday, was of clean water. The Egyptian COP team also did not clarify the origin of the strange flow.

What made people stop and pay attention to the water flowing through the entrance to one of the pavilions was the crowd of event participants looking for a way to cross without getting their shoes wet — the smell arrived a little later.

A path made with three tiles was improvised by employees so that people, balancing themselves, could cross the sewer stream. A wooden platform also helped on another stretch. Some unsuspecting ones, however, ended up with wet feet.

Finally, a COP employee used a squeegee to make the dirty water flow faster down the curb.

This, so far, was the best example of a climate conference that has been facing several organizational problems, a curious contrast to the surveillance — including over the internet, with blocking of sites — that surrounds the event and the daily reality of Egypt.

THE Sheet contacted the COP27 organization to comment on the problems, but there was no response until the text was published.

Even in hotels in the tourist city that hosts COP27, there is intense control, with people posing as government representatives asking about nationality, room number and asking where guests are going when they are leaving the building in the morning — it is possible to notice , including that those who approach have passport images on their cell phones.

At least in the place where the report of the Sheet is hosted, the security guards who are at the entrance, with the help of a cable and a mirror, even check the underside of the cars that want to enter.

In the event pavilions, lines for food, soft drinks and coffee are spread out in open spaces and with relatively little shadow. When people’s turn finally comes to order, prices are high.

In general, the event started with menus over US$ 10 (about R$ 53) for sandwiches or pieces of pizza and quiche. Options include meaty and vegan flavors.

Some improvements, however, came from this Thursday (10), when the food stands began to offer all items with 50% discounts, if the customer requests it.

In addition, the spaces started this Thursday to deliver free water and soft drinks — it is worth noting that Coca-Cola is a sponsor of COP27 (which even raised criticism from environmentalists).

There is also the possibility of resorting to event pavilions where it is possible to find free coffees, on behalf of countries and booth sponsors. In these places, interestingly, the lines seem smaller and faster.

Sometimes it is also possible to get free water from drinking fountains. The lack of supply, however, is frequent. Even in parts with less movement of people, the water ran out and took a while to return in recent days.

In the press room, for example, there were times when there was no water to refill the reusable glass bottles given by the COP organization.

In addition to the lines for food, at times of intense movement to leave at the end of the day, lines of cars, taxis and buses form. Further away from the conference, there are times when the traffic is scary, considering the speed with which some drivers walk and make sudden maneuvers – accidents don’t seem to happen by luck.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}