Israel’s Energy Minister Karine Elharrar.Photo: Alberto Pezzali/AP/Shutterstock
Israeli Energy and Water Resources Minister Karine Elharrar says she was unable to enter the United Nations climate summit known as COP26 on Monday due to a lack of access for those who, like her, use a wheelchair.
On Twitter, 44-year-old Elharrar said she came to the summit — being held in Scotland — “to meet with my counterparts around the world and promote a common struggle in the climate crisis.”
But she could not enter the compound where the event was being held and was instead made to wait outside for two hours,The Hill reports.
The outlet added that while Elharrar, who has muscular dystrophy, was eventually offered the use of a shuttle to head to the summit area, it was not wheelchair accessible.
“The only way they said I could come in was to walk on foot for almost a kilometer, or to board a shuttle that was not wheelchair accessible,” Elharrar told Israel’s Channel 12 news, according to theTimes of Israel.
The energy minister ultimately returned to her hotel in Edinburgh, later tweeting her thoughts on what happened.
“It is sad that the UN, which promotes accessibility for people with disabilities, in 2021, does not provide accessibility to its events,” Elharrar wrote, according to a translation. “Hopefully the lessons learned will be learned so that tomorrow green energy promotion, removal of barriers and energy efficiency will be the things I will deal with.”
TheTimesofIsraelreports that, upon learning Elharrar was not able to enter the facility, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett contacted her and arranged for her vehicle to arrive to the venue the following day as part of his official motorcade.
On Tuesday, she returned, arriving to the conference alongside Bennett.
The U.K.’s environment secretary George Eustice also offered an apology,telling the BBCin a radio interview: “We deeply regret that incident.”
Eustice further told BBC’s Radio 4 that wheelchair access is available at the venue, just not at the particular entrance where Elharrar arrived.
“I know that at most of the other entrances, wheelchair access is there. It was because she came to an entrance where they didn’t have that provision,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, anestimated 1 percent of the world’s population, or more than 65 million people, use a wheelchair.
On Twitter, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid wrote of the incident: “Note to the organizers of the climate conference in Glasgow: It is impossible to worry about the future, the climate, and sustainability if we do not take care of people, accessibility and people with disabilities first.”
source: people.com
