UK’s COP26 president criticized for traveling without quarantine

LONDON — U.K. opposition parties have criticized Alok Sharma, president of the COP26 climate change conference, for flying to tens of countries this year and skipping quarantine upon his return to Britain.

The Daily Mail reported Thursday that Sharma flew to 30 nations in the last seven months, six of them on the U.K. government’s “red list,” which requires travelers to isolate in a hotel for at least 10 days at their own expense or face fines of up to £10,000.

Sharma is exempted from the COVID-19 requirements for these trips — including self-isolating after visiting red-list countries such as Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil and Turkey — because he was conducting work deemed essential as a “Crown servant,” according to a government official. The official added this work was necessary to secure commitments from key countries at COP26, which the U.K. is hosting in November.

The official said Sharma’s trips were made as safe as possible, and he took the mandatory PCR tests for COVID-19 on departure and return, wore face masks and followed social-distancing advice.

However, opposition politicians accuse Sharma of ducking coronavirus regulations and contributing to CO2 emissions by jetting around the world rather than meeting counterparts virtually.

Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy told LBC Friday that the lack of self-isolation was “bizarre and dangerous,” adding Sharma “should be leading by example.”

Mark Drakeford, first minister of Wales, accused Sharma of undermining his responsibility to tackle climate change.

“I’m afraid I do think it really undermines the effort that we know everybody has to make. We’ve all got used to having meetings with people in different parts of the world without needing to travel around the world to do it,” he told Sky News.

“And when we’re trying to persuade people to make the changes they need to make, we need to make, in our daily lives, transport, in our own homes, in the way that we think about the contribution we can make, we need the people at the very top to be demonstrating that they are doing that too, not thinking that that is for other people to carry that burden.”

Jenny Jones, a Green Party baroness, conceded that face-to-face meetings have advantages over virtual calls, but said: “When you’re in charge of COP26, to take this many flights is hypocritical.”

A U.K. government spokesperson said: “Helping the world tackle the climate emergency is an international priority for the government. Virtual meetings play a large part, however, face-to-face meetings are key to success in the climate negotiations the U.K. is leading as hosts of COP26 and are crucial to understanding first-hand the opportunities and challenges other countries are facing in the fight against climate change.”