COP26: No danger of failing your step count challenge here – Alastair Dalton

There’s no danger of not reaching your daily step count at COP26 – I’ve just arrived for the day and have clocked up 3,000 just getting to my desk at the conference.

If you thought the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) was big, what with the original huge 1980s multi-hall building, and the Armadillo and Hydro venues, think much, much bigger.

Temporary buildings now occupy the car parks on either side of the complex, so getting from the entrance turnstiles beside the Squinty Bridge, east of the SEC, to the media centre on the opposite side of the site, it felt like I’d walked half way back home to the west end.

The United Nations’ Conference of the Parties on climate change is like a cross between a giant trade show and a vast airport terminal.

At any one time, a fair few of the 10,000 people on site will be strolling or striding about, often with backpacks or wheeling suitcases, along miles of blue carpets through the tented city.

That’s in addition to large numbers of police and security staff ringing the perimeter fence and closed-off surrounding roads.

They are probably also getting their steps in, but for many it won’t be pleasant standing around in all the weather we’ve had over the last ten days with not much to do.

My daily journey has involved an early start to beat the notorious queues, negotiating a cycle diversion route, forced by COP26 path closures, using maps and bitter experience because of the lack of direction signs at several key junctions.

A walkway between venues at the SEC where COP26 is being held. Picture: The Scotsman

The big red “Road Closed” sign on the route near Exhibition Centre station, complete with bollards, police officers and parked vehicles, raises a smile every morning, but I’m glad to see at least some other cyclists undeterred by such a daunting obstacle course.

The police have thankfully turned a blind eye to riders using the officially pedestrian-only Finnieston Street, home to the COP26 entrance turnstiles to which conference delegates swarm from before first light.

After getting blank looks from information desk staff and police, an insider finally pointed to the official cycle parking – hundreds of yards from the entrance in a side street – but some delegates have given up and locked their bikes to railings opposite the turnstiles instead.

Suitable footwear a requirement for the miles to walk at the conference. Picture: The Scotsman

From there, you have to negotiate a zig-zag queuing system both outside and inside the security area, which then requires airport-style disrobing.

Clothes back on, it’s now time for the big walk – through the registration hall (a massive tent that could easily accommodate the biggest wedding reception), another security check, past the cloakroom (a further large expanse), down temporary covered corridors, through the entire length of the main SEC building and then another structure, which feels almost as long.

There should be airport-style walking times on the signs.

If you’re going to a plenary session or many of the other meetings, you’ve finally reached your destination.

Even the two-storey media centre is vast. Picture: The Scotsman

But you could amble through a forest of “pavilions”, where many countries showcase their wares and host events, adding another a mile or more were you to walk past them all.

The jury may still be out over whether the conference reaches agreement on carbon reductions, but it’s been zero emission travel for me all the way.

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