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Greta Thunberg Skipping UN Climate Conference Over Vaccine Inequality

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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, 18, announced Friday that she will not be attending the United Nations climate conference (COP26), scheduled for November, citing vaccine inequality as the reason.

“As it is now, I don’t think I’ll be going to COP, because this needs to happen in the right way,” she told BBC. “Of course, the best thing to do would be to get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible so that everyone could take part on the same terms.”

The teen activist, who gained prominence three years ago after refusing to attend classes until the Swedish government took action on climate change, further elaborated on her decision to skip the conference in a series of tweets.

“Of course I would love to attend the Glasgow #COP26 But not unless everyone can take part on the same terms,” she wrote. “Inequality and climate injustice is already the heart of the climate crisis. If people can’t be vaccinated and travel to be represented equally that’s undemocratic and would worsen the problem. Vaccine nationalism won’t solve the pandemic.(RELATED: Greta Thunberg Tweets How Penises Are Getting Smaller Due To Pollution, Recruits For Climate Strike)

The alternative of holding the conference virtually would also be “far from optimal,” Thunberg said.

“High speed internet connection and access to computers is extremely unequal in the world,” she wrote. “In that case we would lack representation from those whose voices need to be heard the most when it comes to the climate crisis.”