African countries face visa obstacles

Obstacles around obtaining visas will shut some of the world’s poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries out of crucial UN climate talks that are taking place in Germany this month, country representatives have told The Independent. Countries including Sudan, Yemen, Sierra Leone, Senegal and The Gambia have all reported significant barriers accessing the 2026 Bonn Climate Change Conference and are sending smaller delegations as a result. Their absence comes despite many of these countries being among the most vulnerable to the impacts of rapidly warming global temperatures, with the least financial capacity to respond. ‘The majority of the delegation, including the head of delegation, have received visa refusals, while others remain unable to secure appointments through German embassies outside Sudan,' said Dalal Ebrahim, who leads the climate adaptation department for Sudan. The Bonn Climate Change Conference is an annual two-week conference that centres on technical climate policy discussions, and is considered a key event in the global climate action calendar.