TRANSCRIPT
The Inside Story: Confronting Climate Change
Episode 12 – November 4, 2021
Show Opening Graphic:
Voice of PATSY WIDAKUSWARA, VOA White House Bureau Chief:
President Joe Biden brings ambitious U.S. commitments to the world climate conference:
U.S. President Joe Biden:
The United States will help the world deliver on our shared goal of halting natural forest loss.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
The struggle to reach a global agreement on what to do --- and how quickly to do it.
Clair Marceaux, Cameron, Louisiana Resident:
We're not going to be climate refugees. I mean, I guess we already are in some ways. But we're not the only ones.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
From America’s rising bayou...
to Russia’s thawing tundra ...
The Inside Story: Confronting Climate Change.
The Inside Story:
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
I’m Patsy Widakuswara, VOA White House Bureau Chief.
I traveled with U.S. President Joe Biden to the G20 Summit in Italy last week, and now to the COP26 in Scotland, where he and representatives from more than 120 countries addressed the U.N. Climate Change Conference.
The goal of the conference is for countries to put forward their plans to hit 2030 emissions levels that keep the world on target to get to a net zero carbon emissions by mid-century. But with a disappointing start of climate talks at the G20, it was a much harder lift at COP26.
Stopping deforestation and restoring 200 million hectares of forest and other ecosystems by the year 2030, backed by close to $20 billion in public and private funding. That’s the pledge made by more than 100 world leaders at COP26, the UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, spoke via video link.
Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil:
We are committed to eliminating illegal deforestation by 2030. I call on every country to help defend all forests, including with adequate resources for the benefit for all.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
Methane emission, coming mainly from industries such as oil, gas, and coal, will also be slashed. Leaders committed to cut levels 30 percent by 2030 under the Global Methane Pledge,
an initiative pushed by the U.S. and European Union.
Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President:
So, cutting back on methane emissions is one of the most effective things we can do to reduce near-term global warming and keep 1.5 degrees Celsius. It is the lowest hanging fruit.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
With prospects of his climate legislations uncertain in Congress, U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled a series of domestic initiatives to support the deforestation and methane pledge. He slammed China and Russia for not doing their part.
U.S. President Joe Biden:
The fact that China, trying to assert, understandably, a new role in the world as a world leader, not showing up? Come on. The single most important thing that's gotten the attention of the world is climate. Everywhere. From Iceland to Australia, it just is a gigantic issue. And they've walked away. How do you do that and claim to be able to have any leadership mantle? The same with Putin and Russia.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
China and Russia reject the accusation and say Western industrialized nations are the ones who need to do more, since they are responsible for most of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere today.
Both countries have aimed to cut emissions to net zero by 2060, a decade after the global target. But they did commit to end deforestation.
Vladimir Putin, Russian President:
We take the strongest and most vigorous measures to conserve it ((forests)). We improve forest management and fight illegal logging and forest fires. We are expanding reforestation areas. We have been consistently increasing funding for these purposes.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
Climate activists welcome the commitments but are still skeptical.
Jo Blackman, Global Witness:
This is the problem with a lot of these commitments, there is an accountability gap. Governments made similar pledges in 2014 with the New York Declaration on Forests, but they didn’t lead to anywhere near the progress that was expected.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
COP26 negotiations will continue until November 12th. But one major proposal –
ending coal dependency – was dead on arrival. At the G-20 summit in Rome last week leaders of the 20 largest economies could not agree on when to phase out this dirty source of energy, that accounts for more than 70 percent of greenhouse emissions.
Before we go any further ---
What exactly is COP26? It stands for Conference of the Parties - that is the parties who signed on to a UN climate pact in the mid 90s that essentially agreed to the fact that the planet is dying, and we must do something about it.
World leaders have been meeting ever since, and this COP in Glasgow, Scotland is the 26th.
Among those representing their country is Kaluki Paul Mutuku from Kenya.
Our Henry Ridgwell caught up with him to find out how the climate crisis is affecting Kenya’s economy and the forests where he grew up.
Kaluki Paul Mutuku, Kenyan Climate Activist:
We are 26 years behind when it comes to climate action, but it's been over 26 years of negotiation. And yet there's no serious action being taken on the very negotiations that keep taking us to a place in the world, a different country every year, every year. So right now, I think it's about time that cop26 should stand up and show us that we are about to act, that we need climate financing, especially for adaptation in Africa, not just for my country, Kenya, but for other vulnerable countries in Africa and global south countries.
So, I think for me, it's an important one for us to see where the climate financing is coming and not just in terms of giving us the money, but how do we finance avoid, you know, emissions in Africa? How do we equip communities with resources, money, and other resources to really be able to adapt to climate change, and how do we ensure that we give climate-proofing for them. So, for me, it's an important moment to see how world leaders can come together and how young people grassroots and other communities can really be part of the negotiation and be part of the decision-making at this space in Glasgow.
We cannot afford to lose hope. And as long as young people grassroots and our frontline communities are leading the decade of change, then we are in the right trajectory. For me, any delayed financing is a shame to leaders. so it doesn't matter what they say here. What matters is how we find the monies and how we support people at the grassroots. But bottom line is that I'm optimistic that as long as communities are working on the ground, then we are on the right track.
If we get financing and close collaboration, engagements between young people and our governments to me that becomes a huge success out of this conference.
So when we come to conferences and spaces like this, we take it so seriously because it's what determines our future, and our future is now. and if we don't demand that we are at the table and contribute to the decision-making, then you don't have a tomorrow. So for us, it's a big deal that we are here and our voices must be heard, and that we must be equally recognized so that we drive the decade of action and the decade of restoration with our own leaders and in all communities that are represented here.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
Accompanied by Scottish bag pipes, activists from the organization Oxfam wore giant paper mache heads depicting world leaders, urging them to, in their words, “stop blowing hot air” and take critical action on climate change. U.S. President Joe Biden is promising, exactly that.
U.S. President Joe Biden:
We'll demonstrate to the world, the United States is not only back at the table, but hopefully leading by the power of our example. I know it hasn't been the case. And that's why my administration is working overtime to show that our climate commitment is action, not words.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
Biden expressed regret that the U.S. has been largely absent in global climate talks, since President Donald Trump in 2017 pulled out of the Paris Accord, a monumental global agreement on climate change promoted by President Barack Obama.
U.S. President Joe Biden:
I guess I shouldn't apologize but I do apologize for the fact that the United States in the last administration pulled out of the Paris Accords and put us sort of behind the eight ball a little bit.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
Global pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions are just a fraction of what’s needed to prevent catastrophic global warming. Our Henry Ridgwell explains what is at stake.
HENRY RIDGWELL, VOA Correspondent:
The world’s wealthiest nations — the G-20 — account for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
But scientists say poorer countries — particularly in Africa — are suffering the worst impacts of climate change.
Rich nations pledged in 2009 to give developing countries $100 billion a year to help them deal with climate change. But the target date has been put back to 2023.
At the COP26 summit Tuesday, African leaders voiced their anger.
Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghanaian President:
Those same nations are however insisting that we abandon the opportunity for rapid development of our economies. That would be tantamount to enshrining in the global community inequality of the highest order.
HENRY RIDGWELL:
Their appeals failed to shift the timetable. But the frustration was tempered by progress on other vital climate emergencies.
Over 100 nations agreed to end deforestation by 2030 — backed by close to $20 billion in public and private funding. The signatories included Brazil.
Deforestation has increased in the Amazon under Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to its highest level in a decade and some are skeptical of his pledge.
Chief Ninawa, Brazilian Indigenous Leader:
It won't solve the social problems in our communities, where there is no water, where there is deforestation, where there is river contamination. These are investments that will only give free rein to companies to keep their polluting.
HENRY RIDGWELL:
Over 100 countries also signed a Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in driving global warming.
Steve Hamburg, Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense Fund:
It’s incredibly important progress in addressing the climate crisis because we can now think about methane emissions separately from CO2. And recognizing that reduction of methane represents an enormous lever for making progress in reducing the rate of warming.
HENRY RIDGWELL:
China and Russia — two of the world’s biggest methane emitters — did not sign.
There may be no big breakthrough at this summit. But organizers say the smaller, targeted agreements on protecting rainforests, cutting methane or helping vulnerable island states all add up to significant progress.
The absence of the Chinese, Russian and Brazilian presidents has led to questions over how effective the summit will be in curbing global warming. Host — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson — said he was “cautiously optimistic.”
World leaders have now returned home. Their teams of negotiators will now decide the fate of the summit — and, many scientists say, the future of planet Earth.
Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, at the COP26 summit, Glasgow.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
By the year 2050, 200 million people around the world will have lost their homes due to climate change, according to the World Bank.
In the United States, the state of Louisiana recently endured four major weather events over a nine-month period.
VOA’s Steve Baragona spent time there and produced a 30-minute documentary on the recovery efforts of a community devastated by natural disasters.
Here’s a portion of the upcoming documentary, “Weathering the Storm.”
Clair Marceaux, Cameron, La. Resident:
I didn't want to get upset.
STEVE BARAGONA, VOA Correspondent:
Clair Marceaux's home was demolished by Hurricane Laura in August of 2020. A year later, the memories still hurt.
Clair Marceaux, Cameron, La. Resident:
My husband just kept stacking up cinder blocks because what else are you going to do? It's not like you have anything to repair. It's just like (the house) was never there.
STEVE BARAGONA:
Hurricane Laura crashed ashore here in Cameron, Louisiana, causing 19 billion dollars of damage across the region.
Just six weeks later, Hurricane Delta struck. Then in February, a freakish arctic blast. And in May, 30 centimeters of rain fell in one day.
The city of Lake Charles, 48 kilometers (30 miles) north of Cameron, is still reeling.
Nic Hunter, Lake Charles Mayor:
If you asked me about climate change ten years ago, I probably would have said I think that's a bunch of hogwash or some type of made-up agenda. I don't believe that today.
STEVE BARAGONA:
Mayor Nic Hunter adds that thousands remain displaced a year after Laura.
With climate disasters ratcheting up worldwide, what happened to Lake Charles demonstrates how the impacts ripple through a community.
Hunter says the biggest problem is housing. Nearly half the homes were damaged in Laura and Delta alone.
Joyce Nash lives on a street lined with abandoned houses.
Joyce Nash, Lake Charles Resident:
My neighbors aren't able to come back because their home isn't livable for them to come back.
STEVE BARAGONA:
Many residents have not returned to their jobs, either.
Joyce Nash, Lake Charles Resident:
When they try to go back to work, they can't go back to work because they have nowhere to live. They have nowhere to live.
STEVE BARAGONA:
Across the city, the housing shortage has created a labor shortage.
Kathi Vidrine, Owner, Steamboat Bill's:
Alright. Guys, you doing OK?
STEVE BARAGONA:
Kathi Vidrine owns Steamboat Bill's, a popular Lake Charles seafood restaurant. Before the storms, she had about 50 employees.
Kathi Vidrine, Owner, Steamboat Bill's:
I need about 30 more people. So if anyone wants a job, if it’s a senior citizen or 15, we hire them. I had two people who lost their house. One's living with the parents. There are so many of them that have moved away.
Becky Franks, Marketing Manager, Manpower:
There just aren't enough workers. And you see that down every street, with every business.
STEVE BARAGONA:
Becky Franks is marketing manager with the staffing firm Manpower. She says the whole economy of the city is suffering.
Becky Franks, Marketing Manager, Manpower:
From the perspective of bringing revitalization back into the community, when the doors aren't open, it's a domino effect.
STEVE BARAGONA:
People in Louisiana pride themselves on their resilience. But the impacts of repeated disasters add up, says Louisiana State University anthropologist Craig Colten.
Craig Colten, Louisiana State University:
Each time a storm hits, it drives the resilience of the population further down, and they have farther to go to get out of the depressed state of the economy and their social wellbeing.
STEVE BARAGONA:
Back in Cameron, Clair Marceaux and her family are rebuilding. She knows life here is getting more precarious with climate change. But this is home.
Clair Marceaux, Cameron, La. Resident:
We're not going to be climate refugees. I mean, I guess we already are in some ways. But we're not the only ones. It's a global crisis. It's not just here.
STEVE BARAGONA:
Steve Baragona, VOA News, Cameron, Louisiana.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
Watch more of the documentary and get more details about the region at VOANews.com.
While the ravages of climate change are seen and felt by millions around the world every day, researchers say understanding the effects of climate change requires recreating these patterns in a controlled environment. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi takes us to a specialized lab in Italy.
ARASH ARABASADI, VOA Correspondent:
It wasn’t long ago that rescue workers trained by climbing for hours – even days – to reach mountaintops to practice in extreme weather conditions. Today, they can do so in a lab.
Christian Steurer, terraXcube – Eurac Research:
In these rooms we can reproduce … environments from negative 40 degrees Celsius up to 60 degrees. In terms of altitude, we can go up to nine thousand meters. We combine wind, snow, and rain, and we have an entire research department that studies these (effects) on people.
ARASH ARABASADI:
This is the terraXcube extreme climate simulation center, a part of Eurac Research. Here, scientists study the impact of altitude and extreme weather on participants’ blood thickness and its ability to carry oxygen. Last year, the facility served as an incubator for mountain climbers Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger.
Christian Steurer, terraXcube – Eurac Research:
They were acclimated in our room for about a month. They were slowly brought up to seven thousand meters altitude. They trained inside. We monitored them with researchers and doctors. The goal is always to understand how man behaves scientifically in a process of acclimatization.
ARASH ARABASADI:
The researchers also look at what happens to heavy machinery exposed to the same extreme climates. Steurer explains.
Christian Steurer, terraXcube – Eurac Research:
We did some defrosting tests on big machines. These are cabins where people have to be inside. The test was to understand how fast the glass can defrost.
ARASH ARABASADI:
He says that test measures the quality of the glass, which is essential for machinery operating in extreme temperatures. TerraXcube received national accreditation to carry out climate tests not only on objects but also on living beings. The Eurac Research center has more than 400 scientists and officials say collaborating to understand the effects of climate change may be its most important work.
Arash Arabasadi, VOA News.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
Parts of the planet that were once thought to be permanently frozen are starting to thaw.
With 65-percent of its land covered with permafrost, the thaw is a concern in Russia, going so far as to impact one of its major industries --- oil.
AMY KATZ, narrating for VOA reporter Oleksandr Yanevskyy:
Last year, a thermal power plant in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, failed, flooding nearby rivers with some 17,500 tons of diesel oil.
It was the first large scale disaster of its kind in the Arctic, says Greenpeace. The Kremlin blamed local authorities for the spill. But many scientists and the company that owns the plant say the region’s thawing permafrost is to blame because it weakened support for the fuel tank.
Vladimir Romanovsky teaches geophysics at the University of Alaska.
Vladimir Romanovsky, University of Alaska:
This thawing process and melting ice will lead to changes in topography, microtopography. Where there is lot of ice, the surface will be subsiding rapidly. It’s not good for the ecosystem generally, it’s not good for infrastructure. These changes are impacting not only people who live in the Arctic and work there, but also it has some impact on infrastructure in general, things like energy security, food and water security and national security.
AMY KATZ:
The melting permafrost will cause even more carbon emissions causing climate change, says Romanovsky.
Vladimir Romanovsky, University of Alaska:
Of course, a very well-known list of permafrost-carbon feedback. Because permafrost contains a significant amount of carbon in frozen form, and by the scientists’ estimates, it’s about twice more carbon in permafrost regions sequestered in soils, compared to the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. So, roughly speaking, if all of this carbon is released to the atmosphere, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere will be tripled.
AMY KATZ:
And it’s not only Russia that faces these problems. The U.S. has felt the consequences of permafrost melting too.
Scientists say the governments of countries with areas of permafrost on their territories need to prepare for an increase in spending to maintain the existing infrastructure to keep it functional.
For Oleksandr Yanevskyy in Washington, Amy Katz, VOA News.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
Madagascar is a nature-lover's paradise. While it’s relatively isolated, it’s not immune from the impacts of climate change.
Located 400 kilometers off Africa’s southeastern coast, unpredictable rain patterns, rising temperatures, and drought are damaging the country’s food supply.
Now, restoration efforts are underway that show promise in reversing some of climate change’s effects.
ANNE NZOUANKEU, Reporting for VOA:
Last year, this waterfall in the Tsitongambarika forest disappeared for six months - as many waterways in the forest dried up. The state, with the help of the local population, launched a reforestation program.
Ange Chambou, Farmer:
We use this water source for our farms. I am proud to contribute to the reforestation of this forest which is a source of life. Our children will not have the same environmental problems as we do.
ANNE NZOUANKEU:
The South of Madagascar is suffering a four-year drought that the World Food Program says is the worst in 40 years.
The country has also lost nearly 40 percent of its natural forests. Advocates blame climate change but also the cutting of trees by the local populations.
The Tsitongambarika forest is a model of reforestation in the country. It has been reconstituted to more than 60 percent.
Thirty-nine thousand hectares have been restored out of a total area of 59,000 hectares. It is an important conservation area, protecting many endemic and threatened species.
Vahinala Raharinirina, Environment Minister:
It contributes especially to the mitigation of climate change at the global level. The forest of Tsitongambarika is a carbon sink at the global level in a context where greenhouse gas emissions are increasingly important. Madagascar contributes to this global objective.
ANNE NZOUANKEU:
According to data drawn from the Global Carbon Project, Madagascar produces less than point-zero one percent of all the carbon dioxide generated in the world.
Researchers say about five percent of the world's animal and plant species live on the island.
Madagascar’s president calls for everyone to do their part.
Andry Rajoelina, President of Madagascar:
What we are asking is that the countries that pollute the most should help the countries that pollute the least so that we can really, in my opinion, mitigate the impact of this climate change and help the population in this part of the island.
ANNE NZOUANKEU:
During the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, the states are expected to find an agreement to limit global warming to avert any more crises like the droughts that threatened Madagascar’s forestlands.
Anne Nzouankeu, for VOA News, Tsitongambarika, Madagascar.
PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:
That’s all from the COP26 Summit here in Scotland.
Follow me on Twitter at PWidakuswara and connect with us on Instagram and Facebook at VOANews.com.
Stay up to date with the rest of the Global Climate Conference and check out our reporting about climate solutions at VOANews.com.
See you next week for The Inside Story.
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