12/07/23 12/07/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the u.n. climate summit in dubai in the united arab emirates, this is democracy now! >> the people of gaza are in the midst of a humanitarian catastrophe before the eyes of the world. we must not look away.

amy: the u.n. secretary general has invoked article 99 of the u.n. charter for the first time in decades to press the security council to support a ceasefire in gaza, warning public order is completely breaking down as gaza's humanitarian system collapses from the israeli assault. we will speak to the award winning palestinian poet mosab abu toha, who was recently jailed and beaten by israeli forces. he is joining us in his first interview since leaving gaza. then this is a cabal of oil producers not a climate summit. that's what climate scientist kevin anderson says about cop28 here in dubai. >> i refer to the cop as a cabal of oil producers. i use that expression because year after year, the most powerful voice is not that from

the u.s., you, china, or any other country, it is the oil producing companies. they make a we will speak with the nigerian climate activist nmimmo bassey here at the u.n. climate summit. >> it is a breaking point for the african continent. it is a moment when real climate action should be taken and not carbon trading. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israeli tanks have advanced into the center of the city of khan younis in the southern gaza strip as israel's assault on the besieged palestinian territory

entered its third month. on wednesday, a strike on the refugee camp killed 22 members of a family of a correspondent for al jazeera arabic, including his parents and his siblings. palestinians and parts of southern gaza that israel has claimed are safe continue to come under fire. this is a five-year-old boy injured wednesday when an israeli strike hit a school in eastern khan younis where his family was sheltering. >> i went into the classroom to play with my friend and i heard a sound going boom. a rock fell on me and my legs and then i ran away. >> who got injured? >> a big rock fell on my leg. amy: gaza's health ministry says

israeli attacks have killed more than 16,200 people, more than 7100 of them children. in a new report, the world food programme finds at least 97% of households in northern gaza have inadequate supplies of food to meet their needs. a third of residents of southern gaza reported high levels of severe or very severe hunger. meanwhile in lebanon, reuters investigation has revealed an israeli tank crew killed one of the reuters journalists and wounded six reporters on october 13 by firing two shells in quick succession from israel while the journalists were livestreaming cross-border shelling. the attack killed reuters videographer issam abdallah and injured six others, including agence france-presse reporter christina assi. reuters has condemned the killing and is demanding that israel explain its actions.

united nations secretary-general antonio guterres has invoked article 99 of the u.n. charter in a bid to force a debate at the security council on a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in gaza. guterres's spokesperson stéphane dujarric announced the move on wednesday. >> the attorney general urges the member of the security council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and appeals for a humanitarian cease-fire to be declared. amy: it is the first time guterres has invoked article 99 since he became u.n. secretary-general seven years ago and just the fourth time in u.n. history. in new york city, medical workers with the french charity médecins sans frontières, or doctors without borders, held a candlelight vigil outside the united nations headquarters wednesday calling for a ceasefire in gaza as they honored colleagues who've been

killed by israel's assault on hospitals and clinics. four msf staff members are among the hundreds of medical workers have been killed in israel's attacks since october. this is dr. africa stewart, an obstetrician and chair of msf's board of directors. >> we speak out now because you cannot deliver humanitarian aid while you fear for your own life. i am here for -- i am here for the mommies. how debilitating it is to decide if you're going to hold your toddler's hand or parent's hand as you flee. our colleagues are being killed at the bedside of our patients. this must stop. we need basic. ok are which includes water and food and electricity.

amy: in the united states, senators blocked a procedural vote wednesday on a $111 billion emergency supplemental bill to provide military aid to ukraine, taiwan, and israel. every republican voted against the package after party leaders argued the bill didn't go far enough toward further militarizing the u.s.-mexico border. vermont independent senator bernie sanders also voted no. at the university of nevada, las vegas, a gunman killed three people and wounded a fourth before he was fatally shot by police. the suspect has not been named but is reportedly a 67-year-old career professor with connections to colleges in georgia and north carolina. las vegas is the site of the worst mass shooting in modern history after a gunman killed 60 people at a 2017 music festival. former republican house speaker

kevin mccarthy said wednesday he is resigning from congress at the end of the year. mccarthy's planned departure comes two months after he became the first house speaker in u.s. history to be removed by members of their own party. under california law, a special election must be held in about four months' time to decide who will represent mccarthy's district in california's central valley. his departure further shrinks republicans' slim majority in the house after lawmakers voted last week to expel new york congressmember and serial fabulist george santos. in alabama, just four candidates took part in the fourth republican presidential primary debate wednesday evening. donald trump again skipped the debate, holding a fundraiser instead. host megyn kelly set the stage for an unabated attack on transgender youth. here she questions former new jersey governor chris christie, who opposes trans healthcare bans citing parental rights. >> surgeries done on minors

involving cutting off body parts at a time when these kids cannot even legally smoke a cigarette. kids who go from puberty blockers to cross sex hormones are at a much greater likelihood of winding up sterile. how is it you think a parent should be able to ok these surgeries, never mind the sterilization of a child, and argue way out of step on this issue to be the republican nominee? >> no, i am not. republicans believed in less government not more. less involvement with government, not more. amy: other candidates took host megyn kelly's bait to attack trans rights and cite medical falsehoods, with businessman vivek ramaswamy calling "transgenderism" a mental health disorder. florida governor ron desantis had this exchange with former trump u.n. ambassador nikki haley. >> if you're somebody that is going to be the president of the united states and you can't

stand up against child abuse, how are you going to be able to stand up for anything? >> i never said that. >> we have it on video. >> i said if you have to be 18 to get a tattoo, should have to be 18 to have anything done to change -- amy: meanwhile, front-runner donald trump appeared in a fox news town hall tuesday night where he told host sean hannity he would not be a dictator if he becomes president again, "other than day one." he also told hannity his priorities would be to "close the border" and "drill, drill, drill." in related news, georgia prosecutors have put former vice president mike pence on their possible witness list in their sweeping 2020 election interference case. in peru, former president alberto fujimori walked free from prison wednesday after the constitutional court ordered his release on humanitarian grounds. the 85-year-old fujimori had been serving a 25-year sentence since 2009 for the murder of 25

peruvians during his rule in the 1990's. this is gisela ortiz, former culture minister of peru and the sister of one of the victims of the 1992 cantuta massacre in which death squad members disappeared and murdered a university professor and nine students. >> relatives and massacred victims with demand for the law to be respected. lot is equal for everyone, even if your last name is fujimori. the processes and paperwork must be followed. if he's in -- entitled to a pardon. years of hard work for lo -- part of a political arrangement. amy: the legendary television producer and longtime political activist norman lear has died at the age of 101. in the 1970's, norman lear

helped revolutionize tv sitcoms with a string of hit shows including "all in the family," "sanford and son," "the jeffersons," "good times" and "maude." lear's social and political activism earned him a place on richard nixon's enemies list and the scorn of the christian right. in response, he founded people for the american way, a progressive advocacy group, in 1980. this is norman lear speaking in a 2016 interview with democracy now! >> i think it was h.l. mencken who once said, "nobody ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the american people." to some degree, the establishment lives with that and makes its decisions on behalf of of the american people with that in mind. i disagree. i think, you know, we are provably not the best educated, but we're wise of heart and we understand a lot more than we're given credit for. amy: and today is noam chomsky's

95th birthday. to see our interviews with the world renowned scholar and activist on democracy now! about israel, palestine, the climate crisis and so much more, go to democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. u.n. secretary general antonio guterres has invoked article 99 of the u.n. charter for the first time in decades to press the u.n. security council to support a ceasefire in gaza as israel intensifies its assault which began two months ago today on october 7 after hamas attack israel. in a letter, guterres wrote -- "amid constant bombardment by the israel defense forces, and without shelter or the essentials to survive, i expect public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions."

he went on to write -- "we are facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system. the situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region. such an outcome must be avoided at all cost." we begin today's show with the celebrated palestinian poet mosab abu toha, who was recently jailed and beaten by israeli forces. he was detained at a checkpoint in gaza as he was headed toward rafah with his family. he was rounded up with scores of other palestinians. after he was released from an israeli jail two days later, abu toha posted a message on social media, writing -- "i'm safe but still have pain in nose and teeth after being beaten by israeli army. i gave them all my family's passports, including my american son's, but they didn't return anything. also my clothes and my children's were taken and not returned to me. no wallet, money, credit cards."

amy: mosab abu toha's detention sparked global outcry from the literary community and beyond. his work has appeared in the new yorker, the atlantic, the progressive, and other publications. he founded the edward said library in gaza. his first book of poetry, "things you may find hidden in my ear," won the american book award and was a finalist for the national book critics circle award. the poetry collection was published by city lights books. on sunday, mosab abu toha managed to leave gaza with his wife and three children. he joins us now from cairo, egypt, for his first interview since he was jailed. welcome to democracy now! thank you so much for being with us. i am sorry for all you have gone through. can you describe what happened,

where you were detained, where you were jailed, what happened to you when you were in an israeli prison? >> thank you so much for having me. i made it from the north of gaza to the south of gaza but i was jailed by the israeli army. i was trying to cross and reach the rough a border crossing. our names were listed by the department of state because my youngest son, 3.5 years, was born in america. he is an american citizen. i was trying to cross from the north of gaza where i spent the past two months i would say to the south of gaza were rough it is -- rafah is and where we were advised to go. at the checkpoint, i was checked by the israeli army along with

200 other people. the soldier described to me, the man with the black backpack in the redhaired boy. put the boy down and let him go. come to me. so i took my passports, my family's passports, and thinking i would show the passports and also my american son to them so they would just let us go. but i was surprised because he ordered me aggressively to put my son down and come to join the queue of other people who were kidnapped with me. there was a younger man who was so scared and he said, i wanted my mother. i want to be with my mom. mom, help me, etc.

i tried to calm him down telling him, don't worry, maybe they're going to ask questions and then we go. but that was not the case. i was then summoned by another israeli soldier who was sitting to another soldier who is pointing his gun at us. they asked us to recite our names and our id numbers, and then i was led to another israel i jeep. there were three israelis soldiers. i was forced to take off all my clothes. i just took off my pants and shirts and kept my boxer shorts on, but i was surprised they asked me to also take off my boxer shorts. so i was naked. i felt humiliated. i felt terrified and terrorized

by this army because they were ordering us to do everything at gunpoint. then i was beaten in my face, my stomach. i still have pain in my face. later i realized there were taking us to about two hours away from gaza without knowing what they were going to do to us. i had little clothes to wear my body during the cold weather. they took me for interrogation. i wasn't aware the whole world, especially in america, were writing about me and asking for my release. i think this is one reason -- i mean, i didn't do anything in my life. i did not harm any person. i lived under occupation on my life. i was wounded when i was 16. i got a piece of shrapnel just a

few centimeters away from my windpipe. my house was bombed. but i myself did not harm anyone but i was harmed again and i'm still harmed by the fact my family and my neighbors are still in gaza. the last time i was in touch with my mother and sisters and my brothers and their children was five days ago. i have no single piece of news whether they are alive or dead. amy: mosab, i would like to ask you, you mentioned very soon after you arrive in egypt that you remain very concerned because your parents and siblings are in gaza. you have not been able to reach them for five days. are you able to reach others in gaza? i would like to read very briefly what a leading military

analyst from u.s. has said, drawing an analogy between the second world war's bombardment of german cities like dresden and then crank bombardment of gaza by israel. this is robert pape writing, dresden, hamburg, some of the world's heaviest ever bombings a remembered by their place names. gaza will also go down as a place name to noting one of history's heaviest conventional bombing campaigns. mosab, if you can talk about that and what you know now about what is going on in gaza since you left? >> well, the situation i think is different than the other places you mentioned. for information and your respected audience, i still have friends whose houses were bombed

a few weeks ago and whose bodies are still not retrieved. i wrote in one of my posts, not only are we in gaza concerned about being killed under the rubble of our house, but also being alive under the rubble and no one coming to rescue us. there are no fire trucks, no civil defense staff, no fuel, no equipment to retrieve the bodies of those who might still be alive under the bombing of their house -- after the bombing of their houses. i don't think gaza could be compared to any other place on earth. now with social media and all the world watching us, i mean, it is different from the second world war. people will hear the news of the bombing of a house or something maybe later, that people are watching us live and no one can step in to stop the carnage, the genocide that is committed

against my family, my neighbors, my friends, my students, my fellow writers and artists. so during the truce a few -- i think two weeks ago there was a truce. i was in the other half of the gaza strip while my brother, a father of three children and whose wife is pregnant and about to give birth -- that is another issue no one talks about. the reality and the circumstances with which women in gaza are living. we're talking about sexual violence against israeli women but no one talks about the violence against our lives. no one talks about pregnant women. no one talks about women themselves under the rubble with their families. so you just care about sexual violence? that is all you care about?

amy: mosab, could you talk about that? could you say -- nermeen: if you could elaborate with the situation of palestinian women in particular, as you pointed out, palestinian women who are pregnant given what the situation in hospitals is? give said a little bit about this in the past, if you could elaborate? >> women, just like other women in the world -- women in gaza have their own needs. there are no clean bathrooms. there are no clean toilets. when a woman gets the period, there are no stuffed for them to

take care of their bodies. there also other pregnant women. many hospitals in gaza are out of service right now. not only for the wounded but also for pregnant women. no one talks about this. you need to talk about this. where can my sister-in-law give birth? is there enough clothes for the newborn baby? so you don't care about the violence committed against parents? how are they going to manage their lives? no one talks about this. this is violence in itself. it is about the lack of water and food. before the start of this carnage, we used to buy 25 kilo of wheat flour for 40 shekels, which is about $12.

yesterday, my wife messaged me and paid 500 shekels, which is about $130. so he paid $150 to get 25 kilograms of wheat flour. if you could find it of course. if he had the money to buy it, there are other people who have not been able to get any money because they are jobless. most people in gaza depend on daily jobs -- farmers, sellers, etc. the majority people in gaza don't have money so they're sometimes begging other people to give them money. no one talks about this.

they're just talking about sexual violence come about october 7. but this has been going on. amy: mosab abu toha, are reporting on everything, the horrific stories we're hearing from october 7 but also what happened before october 7, palestinians, and after. i want to get your response to the world health organization calling the assault on gaza humanity's darkest hour. the u.n. top of the coordinator said the attack in southern gaza has been a devastating as in the north with the apocalyptic conditions preventing the delivery of aid. some 85% of the population now displaced. and particularly, if you could talk about your conversations with doctors and nurses in gaza? you've tweeted, just imagine

yourself as the father watching your child not only having his/her leg amputated, but also dying of pain. do you still feel you are a father? that there are still humans in the world? talk about the hospitals. >> so the first hospital i was able to enter -- i don't like to go to hospital because first of all, there isfor me to enter. beds are full of patients and wounded people. at the same time, the corridors, the hallways are just full of people lying there. wounded people are getting treated, getting surgeries while on the floor. but i had to go to the hospital

to get some treatment for my face and my bleeding nose. there are not enough doctors to treat the patients and the wounded people. and there are bodies everywhere. i mean, they would just go and bury people without relatives around because the relatives have died with them, which is really hard making -- heartbreaking. people are turned into numbers. they would just put a body in a piece of cloth and write their names and that is it. they would just take them to the cemetery. so i was able to talk to some doctors and nurses at the hospital. i was shocked. i knew there were not enough medications, but i was told by one nurse about the case of a

child who had their leg amputated. because there was no anesthesia, no painkillers, the child died while she was having her leg amputated. i am wondering, how would i feel as a father if i child had to have her leg or arm amputated while she is watching her arm or leg amputated and then she would continue to bleed and then she would die because of the pain? i'm asking all the people in the world to put themselves in my place as a father. and i am asking them, are you really ready in the future when a gazan child needs you and maybe in the street or when you come visit gaza or visit the cemeteries in gaza, what would you say to this child? what have you done to protect your family?

so your living in the western world -- and somewhere another your supporting israel -- yes. nermeen: please, go ahead. finish. >> you are in some way or another supporting israel. you are paying taxes, which is just most of the taxes are going to israel. i was shocked by the american administration. i hope my voice will reach the american administration people. so in october 7 happened, you went to israel and showed support and offered weapons and money, so you are able to do everything. but now you're asking israel to protect, to minimize the casualties among the civilians. can you do anything to protect the civilians? to minimize the

casualties? so what can you do as an american administration to force israel to abide by law? is it really hard for you to stop the carnage to protect the civilian people, to protect hospitals, to protect shelters, schools? new minco finally -- nermeen:, what is your message to the u.s., to president biden and to european leaders? >> well, i think if you can't stop the war, can't stop the genocide, stop the genocide, just stop financing it. stop providing more weapons to israel. because these weapons are just killing children who are just like your other children.

you could be born here in my place in gaza. your child could be living in a shelter. they could be bombed in a classroom instead of studying and continuing education for supper child could be sheltering in a classroom with no teacher, no books. they're just big educated how to survive if they could. amy: mosab, we just had 30 seconds. you ever told while you were jail? about 200 palestinians were jailed. there was a great outcry for you. do you know if the others were released? >> no. i mean, there are a few other people i knew by name because

they are from the same town as me. so i was kidnapped november 19 and today it is december 7. until now, there are other people who are still detained by the israeli army and their families are contacting me, "you know anything?" i was just released. i don't have any news. so they are still kidnapped. the israelis accuse me of being a hamas member. what a ridiculous ike cassation. i have been living in america for the past four years. i have been hurt. i asked the israeli captain if they have any photograph from if there are any satellite photo of me holding a weapon or being anyplace that could cause any harm. he slapped me in the face and said, "you give me the proof."

amy: mosab abu toha, thank you so much for being with us, palestinian poet and author who was jailed by israeli authorities as he and his family fled gaza. his son is an american citizen. he is a columnist, teacher, and founder of the edward said library in gaza. also the author of the winning book of poetry "things you may find hidden in my ear: poems from gaza." we are broadcasting from dubai in the united arab emirates at cop28. our next guest calls this a cabal of oil producers not a climate summit. we will speak with a renowned climate scientist kevin anderson and find out why he is not here. stay with us.

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amy: "tuffah" by yusor hamed ft. maysa daw. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we are broadcasting from cop28, the united nations climate summit in dubai, united arab emirates. today is a day of rest as the two-week conference reaches its halfway point and negotiations begin nearly 200 countries begin

to take shape. this is u.n. climate chief simon stiell. >> we can only overcome the climate crisis by pitching business as usual. it is just a start. now all governments must give their negotiators marching orders. we need highest ambition, not clean scoring or lowest common denominator politics. nermeen: this comes amid ongoing furor over the cop28 president and uae oil company ceo claim there is no science indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to address the climate crisis. sultan al-jaber made the comment during an interview with mary robinson. robinson has since posted on x,

formally known as twitter -- "a successful cop28 is not about a single individual or nation but the collective will and concerted efforts of all countries in these negotiations. the science compels -- phase out fossil fuels rapidly, accelerate renewable energy adoption, and radically scaled up finance." a new report by the global carbon project shows carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are set to hit a record high this year. according to oxfam, the richest 1% generated as much planet warming pollution as the poorest two thirds of humanity, with private jet travel a key source of emissions. amy: for more, we are joined by kevin anderson, a leading climate scientist and professor of energy and climate change at the university of manchester and the university of uppsala in sweden. he is a former director of the tyndall center for climate change research. recently wrote on social media -- "this is a cabal of oil producers not a climate cop.

the outcome is known -- crafted rhetoric and lacquered sincerity. grand announcement with no teeth. " i don't know if i have to ask you then, professor anderson, why you are not here, but talk about your own lifestyle and the decisions you have made to cut down on your carbon footprint. and then what is happening here and what should be happening here? >> sometimes i'm quite reluctant to talk about my own lifestyle but i have tried to make changes as a climate academic. i stop flying in 2004. i live in a nice flat but it is a two bedroom apartment. i have cut my driving by about 70%. i have been a vegetarian for many years. but those changes in isolation are irrelevant. the only manifest of individuals

making changes is when we speak to others we can talk to a position of understanding how difficult or easy it is. we know from repeated psychological evidence that improves or increases the credibility of our arguments, so by making the changes ourselves, that allows us much more scope and potential for changing the system. that is two sides of the same coin. system change also requires personal change. they are the same thing. separating the two, delivered by those who are height emitters. that is why i have made these changes. i am not at the cobb for two reasons. one, it is difficult for me to get there even from sweden or the u.k. without taking a very long time since i won't be flying. also disillusioned as to what

merits the cops have. i say that with an awareness that many people in the poorer parts of the root site it is important for them because they get their voices heard. that is true. sam cooke has made that statement. we've heard the voices of poor community's at the cops that we have not listened to them. as some point hearing is not enough. we have to listen and act. 1992 was the first summit, 1990 was the first report by third of a century ago. our emissions are still going up. this year's cop is overseen via chair of an oil company. at every single level, these processes have been deeply

co-opted. i don't just mean necessarily by the oil players themselves, but they have change the narrative of the media, funding for research, advertising for art and sport at every single level. the tendrils of big oil changing our society and fundamentally changing our climate, and these cops have become a little more than a scam under which the oil companies and the other fossil fuel companies are hiding that nothing is being done. i am almost a bit of disillusionment. i think some changes in civil society are really important but i am very skeptical of these grand events now doing anything other than providing two weeks for the media to talk about climate change and forget about it the other 50 weeks of the year.

nermeen: kevin anderson, we will the possibility of any kind of change can happen, but if you can speak specifically about the top 1% -- and this is not just in the u.s. or europe, although principally there -- the top 1% of the rich around the world and the percentage of pollution and consumption that they are responsible for relative to the rest of the world's population? >> i think the top 1% is really important. the numbers tell us that. from the emissions and greenhouse gas point of view, that top 1% covers combined urban footprint that is a proximally twice as big as the bottom -- the bottom half of the world's population. 1% have a carbon footprint twice as big as the bottom half of the world's population. that in itself is appalling and

obscene. that 1% -- also, newspapers. they are the senior people in our policymakers, companies, the senior academics, vice chancellor save universities. i use the word almost pejoratively, that elite group framed the whole climate change and brought ecological debate. they have framed it in a way that supported them, supported us. we are unprepared to ask the questions that would be difficult for us to think about in relation to our own norms and lifestyles. we have deliberately twisted everything in society to fit with that particular worldview, which the physics doesn't give a

damn about. the tip which will keep rising. emissions will go up again this year. we can have all these fine speeches but the temperature will keep rising. people will get seriously damaged or impacted in the global north and they already are in to global south. climate change is not a threat to many, it is a daily reality. people are dying. communities are being fractured. their livelihoods are being loss . whitney global north, particularly 1% come have imposed on them and carry on doing so. that is why the scam and language around cop28 is deeply disturbing. to have so little concern for our own children's future that we are prepared to scam the whole climate change agenda just to maintain our comfortable -- overly comfortable way of living

, which will include most of the so-called elite in our society? amy: dr. anderson, you have said there are now no non-radical futures. the choice is between immediate and profound social change. we are waiting a little longer for chaotic and violent social change in 2023, the window for this choice is rapidly closing. your final comments? >> went to recognize responding to the climate change, marshall style rollout of technology, but that in itself is too late. alongside that we have to have fairness and equity. the paris agreement and the ipcc tell us fairness is a prerequisite of delivering the paris commitment.

technology and fairness have to go hand-in-hand. amy: kevin anderson, leading climate scientist, speaking to us from sweden where he is a professor of energy and climate change as well as the university of manchester, former director of the tyndall center for climate change research. we will link to your articles. coming up, nnimmo bassey here at the u.n. climate summit. in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break]

amy: "name of god" by mustafa. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we are broadcasting from cop28, the united nations climate summit in dubai, united arab emirates. there is a day of rest today so we are among the only ones come along with the workers in this

fast facility in dubai at the expo that are here. nermeen: this week protesters from after cap -- africa gathered with a call to make the polluters pay. this is a frontline climate activist from namibia. but first, powershift south africa. >> united will never be defeated. >> the people united will never be defeated. [indiscernible] the injustices are undeniable. it is clear and witnessed here [indiscernible]

we what climate justice now1 >> when you leave this area -- climate criminals. that is what they are. [indiscernible] we are you. we are telling you now, big polluters pay!

amy: climate activists from namibia and south africa. now we go north. that last reference to a remarkable climate activists in nigeria, leading writer who was killed by the state of nigeria. we're joined now by nnimmo bassey, a longtime governmental activist and poet here in dubai, director of the health of mother earth foundation. at one of these summits, were arrested. i can't remember which one. here there is protest within the bounds of the u.n. summit, not allowed outside -- we are in the united arab emirates. if you can talk about what is happening here and what you think needs to happen. >> the arrest that happened in copenhagen. that was when we were assisting

the or than one degree increase was setting africa on fire. the report came out a couple of days before the cop that showed if countries do all they say they're going to do, the road will be set for 2.9 degree increase. that would mean about four degrees for africa and other regions. here we see right from day one, the agenda -- the cop appears more like a carbon trade fair. people are making deals rather than looking how to cut emissions. i'm not really very disappointed , and different as -- in

different. the cop is already compromised. amy: at knock adnoc, sultan al jaber, head of this cop. >> bankers crawling the spaces spaces. this frakes my this breaks my heart. carbon offsetting or carbon trading. we are seeing a sellout of african continents. [indiscernible]

it means negative impact. we're talking about millions of hectors being sold out for carbon credits. some of this means clearing the land and planting new trees. that itself releases a lot of carbon from the soil. new trees are not -- we see losses in every dimension. nermeen: if you could elaborate. what precisely is being discussed here with respect to carbon trading and the purchase of large tracts of land in many parts of africa, in particular by this emirate company blue

carbon but by no means the only company to be doing this. >> i think they've been opening up the space for this kind of forced climate solutions. the paris agreement which allows for carbon offset. this allows polluters to keep on polluting without cutting emissions at the source. and so we have corporations like the one you mentioned in africa, liberia, kenya -- everywhere, zimbabwe. they are investing into large tracts of land. it is really scary some of the things we are hearing. we are hearing some countries were up to 20% of their landmass , 10%. we hear about nigerian states that also -- memorandum of

understanding. 800,000 hectors of land. this is very disturbing. this is a clear example of selling off territories -- nermeen: if you could talk about, or one of nigeria's leading of our middle activists and have been for decades. what are the implications of the decisions made here for nigeria? it's biggest oil producer? >> nigeria is a very important country on the african continent for size and population and energy composition. we point --

energy is passion in africa. everywhere you look, new oil or gas. there open for export, not for uses of resources on the continent. it is all about money without any care about the people. in the case of nigeria, excited -- it is about trying to attract resources, financial resources without impact on the communities, climate. [indiscernible] one particular oil will that blew up -- amy: we want to thank you for

being with us. this is a conversation we will continue. nnimmo bassey is a nigerian environmental activist and poet. of the health of mother earth directorof the health of mother earth foundation, and author of several books, including "oil politics" and "to cook a continent: destructive extraction and climate crisis in africa." in 2010, he received the right livelihood award. that does it for our show. happy 95