Climate change activist Greta Thunberg says she will not attend the COP26 summit in Glasgow later this year in protest unless something is done about the uneven distribution of vaccines worldwide.

Thunberg, 18, says poorer countries that have been unable to secure vaccines in the same volume as richer nations wouldn't be able to participate equally, when announcing her intention to boycott the United Nations' climate change conference in November. 

The Swede added it was wrong that wealthier nations will soon be vaccinating healthier, younger people, while vulnerable people living in poor countries still haven't received their jabs.

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"With the extremely inequitable vaccine distribution, I will not attend the COP26 conference if the development continues as it is now," Thunberg told AFP in an interview.

She said the conference should be postponed "if everyone could not attend on the same terms."

The summit has already been postponed once, having originally been scheduled to take place in November 2020.

While the climate issue has been largely overshadowed by the pandemic, COP26 is seen as one of the opportunities to put it back on the agenda.

The absence of Thunberg, who is a leading advocate for immediate and rapid targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, would be a symbolic setback.

There is hope the campaigner will change her mind but she says that will only happen if vaccines are redistributed fairly. "Of course I would love to attend the COP26. But not unless everyone can take part on the same terms," Thunberg said.