at least 30a people have died in a powerful earthquake in haiti. the prime minister says there is extensive damage and has declared a month—long state of emergency. haiti is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake, which killed 200,000 people and affected the economy. the last major city in northern afghanistan — mazar—e—sharif — has fallen to the taliban, who have been advancing at speed as us—led forces withdraw. fighters are edging closer to the capital kabul. us president biden has been defending his decision to pull out us troops from the country. and tributes have been paid to the plymouth shooting victims, as questions are asked of police about why a shotgun licence was returned to the man who killed five people. the decision is being examined by the independent police watchdog. now on bbc news,

global questions. hello and welcome to the second edition of global questions with me, zeinab badawi, from barbados. the caribbean is the region in the world that's most vulnerable to natural disasters such as hurricanes. these have become stronger and more frequent as temperatures and sea levels rise, causing coastal erosion and damage to marine life and ecosystems. the government here in barbados says that climate change is the biggest threat to the caribbean, and is urging strong action at the national, regional and global level. are the right steps being taken, and is the world listening? that's global questions: climate and the caribbean.

applause well, i'm now at the 18th—century george washington house, one of the finest and historic buildings here in the capital of barbados, bridgetown. i am joined by a local audience, who are going to be putting their questions to my two panellists. let me tell you who's in the hot seat. kirk humphry, you're the minister of maritime affairs and the blue economy for barbados, you also have held senior roles at international development agencies, and you believe that caribbean countries need to come together as one to tackle climate change, so welcome to you. and ashley lashley, you are the founder of a campaign group called hey, which stands for healthy and environmentally—friendly youth, and ashley lashly, and you work with unicef, the un agency for children and yound people. and ashley, you're 22 years old, but you have been involved in grassroots environment

and climate activism since you were 16. so welcome to you both and also to my audience here, and also to you, wherever you're watching or listening to this programme. remember you too canjoin the conversation, the hashtag is #bbcglobalquestions. let's get down now to our first question, and it's from maria marshall. maria, your question please? honourable ministers, panellists, ladies - and gentlemen, thank. you for this opportunity. now for the question. we just had a tropical storm elsa and this was the first. of the hurricane season, and it caused major- damages and disruption. do the caribbean countries have a plan of action - for recovery from these types of natural disasters? - minister kirk humphrey, you kick off. i think it's important to put this question into context,

and realise that no matter what the caribbean does, we really are on the front line of what is happening in the world, we are on the front line of changes in the climate. the reality is for us in the caribbean is we face hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, many of us in the region would have never thought volcanoes would have affected barbados. we also face landslides, tsunamis, surges in the storms and currents, so there are lots of things happening in the caribbean. we are really on the frontline. and the question asked is, what are we going to do about the, i believe the intensity, the frequency, because it's changing. the reality is first i think we have to accept that things are changing. we have to plan for it. barbados and the caribbean has taken a number of steps in terms of our planning, to be more prepared. one of the worst things we can do as a region is to act as if we are responding, reacting to something that we should have seen coming. and a lot of these changes we should see coming. firstly, as you said, zeinab, i think the caribbean region has to work together as one. when we speak on the international platform and the international stage as individual islands, we are not heard.

and the reality is that when we speak as a collective, we have a much better chance of being heard. we face the exact same issues, we have to come together to tackle these issues. i think we also have to invest in research, because i have come to the realisation very clearly, no—one is coming to save us. we have to come together to save ourselves, we have to invest in research... but these are all long—term measures. i mean, what are you doing when the hurricanes and the volcanoes and the storms are all hitting you now? you need to improve your stormwater infrastructure, improve your drainage system, adaptation, resilience. in terms of what we're doing, we have to build stronger houses, we have to make sure we have houses that can withstand category three, four and 5 hurricanes, because these are becoming the norm for us. we have to look at our water runoff. traditionally we would build houses in areas where water would run, and now we are dealing with the rising surges in water, we are finding our houses are being exposed. many of the islands in the caribbean have what they call a physical

development plan, they have adaptation plans. we are putting them into action but we have to build out better, and that is the only way we're going to be able to deal with it, but i think really and truly we have to consider education, we have to work with the people and we have to work as a government regionally. all right. ashley lashley, what is your answer to maria's question? minister, i share your same sentiments and i believe that as a caribbean nation we need to become more resilient to the impact from natural disasters. i also believe that within our country, each individual ministry should have a mandate to deal with climate resilience and climate adaptation and mitigation. it needs to be a mandate, because as people we need to see more sensitisation and awareness on these issues being brought to the fore, so i really believe that we need to do more to become more resilient as a small island developing nation to these

natural disasters. maria, do you want to respond to what you have heard ashley and the minister say? i would like to say that, l thank you for the answer, and i could have learnedj a thing or two from that. laughs so impressive, 12 years old, and an ardent climate activist. applause thank you, maria, thank you. let's go to our second question now, and it's from ranako bailey. where is the balance - between boosting economic activity, for example, - the expansion of the tourism industry and environmental impacts of pollution, - deforestation and the - disruption of ecosystems? minister kirk humphrey, you have to get the balance right — you want economic growth for the people here, you have got unemployment level of about i7%, youth unemployment is even higher at 32%, you want to give people a decent living, but you don't want to do it at the expense of the environment? yeah. so, again, thank you for your question.

i am the ministerfor maritime affairs and blue economy. the blue economy in itself is almost a paradox. i have been dealing with this for a long time. you want to preserve on the one hand the ocean space, and you want to produce at the same time from the ocean space. these are conflicting ideas. how do you do that in a way that is sustainable? i have a view that we have to protect first of all the ocean space, we have to give credence to the idea that the climate matters, but there is more value i think beyond extractive values. if you look at the ocean space, people believe all you can get is extraction. and that is not reality. there is value inherent in the ocean in itself. so that tourism, when it comes to barbados, tourists have the opportunity to see a turtle, they have an opportunity to see a fish, and that is what you call inherent value. many people believe we ought to catch those turtles and catch those fish. it is going to require a long conversation with the barbadian people and caribbean people, because many people do not fully appreciate what is

going to be required to do these things sustainably. covid—i9 must have taught us that we cannot rely necessarily on tourism. covid—i9 must have taught us that the old model of tourism will not work in the long—term. covid—i9 must have taught us we have to be able to grow our own food, harvest our own fish in the region, we have to have a balanced approach. ashley? thank you for the question again, ranako. i agree with you, mr minister. we really need to look at a diversification of our economies. as it relates to barbados, we are heavily dependent on tourism. and when we are speaking to tourists, i think what we should do, we should look to invest more in eco—friendly activities for our tourists when they come to barbados, so continue to build that resilience as it relates to our economy, to reduce their carbon footprints when they come, when our tourists come to barbados.

you are being very polite to your minister here. laughter i mean, what you really want to say to him is, "minister, is our tourism sustainable enough? " is that right or not? correct. minister. we have had a model of tourism that worked for us. make no mistake about it, it worked for us. but the world is changing, and we have to change with it. but has it worked for your environment? i don't think tourism was what destroyed our environment. in fact, i would say to you, we have now in the recent past been working to make sure that our tourism product is a lot more sustainable. what we do need to have, and i agree, is some diversification. and i don't think we need to diversify to offer more tourism. i think that tourism is not going to be that thing that saves barbados anymore. even if you have eco—friendly tourism, you are still trying to cater to tourists. i think we have to diversify in a real sense to offer a different product. we have to grow our own food so we can consume our own food,

to sell our own food... let ashley come back to you here on sustainable tourism. although we are speaking about the diversification of our economy, we still have to remember that barbados is heavily reliant on our tourism sector. so when we're speaking to the diversification of our economies, we have to look at... as a young person, we have to look at those jobs in which we can get, those newjobs we can get from the tourism sector, when we are thinking about creating those eco—friendly and sustainable practices. but still, we have to look at a way that our tourism product can remain sustainable, because oftentimes our country is considered the land of sun, sea and sand, so capitalising on those three characteristics, i believe that barbados can become the first eco—tourism country within the caribbean. all right, let's get to our next question, and that's from jaleesa crichlow—augustine. hi, everyone. my question is, givenl the impact of covid—19 on the tourism sector, - we can't only rely on tourism.

so what are the plans - for diversifying our economy, for example, fortifying - agriculture to make it more profitable, more sustainable and more attractive, - especially to young people? ashley, can you make agriculture interesting, attractive for young people like yourself? i believe we can, and that goes back to our educational system. i believe within our school system, from the primary schools here in barbados, we should be looking at teaching our young persons how to plant more of what they consume, and it goes back to the level of sensitisation and awareness and the education process to our young persons. so i really believe that agriculture, as it relates to the diversification of our economy, can play a major role as it relates to the diversification of our economy. it is a big problem for barbados, isn't it, that 80% of the food consumed in barbados has to come from outside?

so can you make agriculture attractive to young people? absolutely. i think the reality is that agriculture is — again, we are thinking in the old way. we have to reframe our thinking. we need to do vertical farming, bring technology into farming, bring new methodologies into farming. things that young people are naturally drawn to. when people think of agriculture, they are thinking of a fork and hoe and digging hard ground that is not very fertile. we are in another place, we are in another space. we are thinking of vertical farming, using greenhouses more effectively. we are also recoginising that another area to diversify in would be in medicinal marijuana. it is an opportunity for a number of locals in the region to be able generate revenue, many in an area where they have tremendous expertise. and then to use that revenue to help countries in the caribbean region. i also recognise we have

to realise that we have to think sustainably, even as we discuss agriculture. we have been using a lot of products that have been given to us from outside, developed countries, containing significant amounts of disastrous nutrients, nitrogens, phosphates and chemicals that have penetrated our ground and remain in the environment for a number of years. so when we are thinking sustainably, again, i make the point, these cannot be ad hoc responses, we have to be able to look at these things and think scientifically, and there are a number of young people who are now thinking so differently about this, and this space in relation to agriculture. can we make agriculture sexy? i definitely think so. ok, let's go to our next question. roland waithe, your question, please? we have earmarked a date - for a complete green economy. how do we make that giant leap from the moneymaking fossil i industries to renewable sources of energy? - alright, let's come to you, ashley, because the government says it wants to be carbon neutral by 2030 and it wants to be fossil free in transport and electricity by 2030.

so, what is your response to roland? yeah, you know, some persons would say that it is a very ambitious move, but i honestly believe that ambition in this sense is a good thing, because as a small island developing state, we need to set that precedent on the international stage. to see that transformation from larger developing nations, to actually take the step in that right direction because we are so prone to these natural disasters and these climatic events. so i love the idea of barbados becoming fossil free by the year 2030, and the level of ambition by our government needs to be commended, especially coming from a small island developing state. so what i would love to see is that bigger nation—states take these same ambitious steps in building their climate resilience and adaptation and mitigation processes. so you like the target, do you? when you say it's

ambitious, are you saying that it's not achievable? well, i don't think it's achievable in the timeframe that was set. minister kirk humphrey. well, to answer your questions specifically, i don't think we have a choice. you know, to be straight with you, we do not have a choice. and the reality is that this is an existential threat for the caribbean. either we do this, or we don't do this — either we survive, or we don't survive. it's as simple as that, for me. and i will begin where ashley started. and the reality, again, is that, even if we do all these things — if we attempt every effort at mitigation, if we do everything at adaptation, if we do everything at resilience — if the bigger nations of the world do not start to play their part as well, with all our effort, we still will not be doing enough. the reality, again, is that many people seem to think that we have all the time in the world. when we made the agreements at the paris agreement in 2015, i believe people thought, "oh, 2050 is very far — 35 years," you know, it's

a long time to complete it. the truth is that now we find ourselves faced with a situation where we have to act big. we have to act now. we have to act urgently. but are you acting big? absolutely. i mean — renewable sources of energy, solar, for instance, could be big here. absolutely barbados is acting big. we're thinking big, we're speaking big, and we're acting big. in what way? i'll tell you now. the caribbean is also thinking big, acting big and speaking big. when we set out to have, first of all, renewable energy in the region, many people said, "oh, you're not going to be able to do it." barbados, for example, as one of the islands in the region, we have the most electronic vehicles on the road of any nation in the caribbean. the caribbean has a significantly higher percentage than many other developing nations. we've been using solar before many other people were using solar. we had an opportunity to expand on it, and now we are. for example, if you were to pass any fish market in barbados, if you pass many other areas and across the region, what you would see are a number of photovoltaics on the roof, because we

realised we need now to be able to fuel our own energy from renewable sources. so will you achieve this target by 2030? carbon neutral. the question for me is not whether i achieve it or not. the question for me is, do we commit every single day to being fossil fuel free? do we commit every single day to reducing greenhouse gases? that is the commitment from barbados. next question, sheena frederick. your question? hi. goodnight. does barbados and the region have the physical space - to fashion a greener economy? i believe this would - contribute to resilience and sustainability in our country. i thank you. minister, so there are people in developing countries that say, "look, the richer nations, who are the bigger polluters, need to step up to the plate and provide some funding for countries like barbados. " is the money coming? not the way that it should. finance is going to be a big problem. again, there were many commitments made, and we have not seen those commitments.

i think at cop26, there's going to be... and i want to begin again by thanking the honourable alok sharma, because he is working very steadfastly. that's the british official, politician in charge of cop 26. yeah. who will be the president going forward. we hope, for example, he's put financing on the agenda, mitigation, adaptation. he's put loss and damage — these are real conversations for the caribbean. yeah. we experience all these things in meaningful ways. but i'm concerned, of course, as anybody is, about the commitments that were made that weren't kept. alright, yeah, i mean, alok sharma has said that the climate fund has not received enough money to date. ashley? i would love to see that sense of unity from our small island developing nations when they go to activities such as cop26, whereby they demand what i call "environmental reparations", because what those 620 nations are doing to us as a small island developing states is an injustice because we're so vulnerable to the climatic events. so i think we need to band together to really see that

difference and bridge that gap as it relates to the adaptation and mitigation funding. minister, i have a question to you based on what you said. do you think it can be done, with our coral reef system being so heavily damaged at the moment, as it relates to the physical space? absolutely. i think one of the things we have to do, and we've been doing, is replenishing the coral stock in the region. that's why you see all the islands in the region looking to replenish the coral. there's a coral restoration programme in every single island in the caribbean. right. so i believe the coral... the coral�*s not going to be an issue. next question, please, from penny highnam. balancing the insistent economic demands ofl the government with the i critical needs of the island environment is a toughjob. we've heard that — everythingl you've said tonight shows that. can we manage to speak with . one voice across the caribbean, as we're all in the same boat, and can you provide the - leadership that's needed here?

we can and we have. i don't think the question is speaking — and i don't want anyone in this room to walk away thinking that the caribbean hasn't been speaking as one voice, or that small island states have not been speaking as one voice. it would not be true. we have been for some time. the question is nobody�*s listening. the prime minister often makes the point that they see us as invisible, or they don't see us, and dispensable. so we have to speak, perhaps, in a louder voice. we have to take charge at all these meetings we go to. but i don't want to blame the victim in this scenario. it's not that we're not speaking and it is not that we're not speaking in one voice, because we have been. alright. ashley, do you agree with that? well, i think it's time that these larger nationstates respond to us now and give us that sense of unity. we need to see those proactive measures being taken from developing nations because we are on the front lines of climate change. every day, a young

person is affected. a person is dying, as we're... persons are dying from climatic effects. so we really need... you spoke about the unity, but we really need to see that action being taken from those larger developing nations. but are you happy with what your own governments are doing? are they providing the leadership that's needed, as penny asked? yeah, i think our government is providing the leadership. a quick response from you, penny. i'm afraid i don't think- you all are moving fast enough. 0h, right. we're running out of time. look at what has. happened in 2021. i mean, the world is rapidly- showing huge effects of climate change, and we don't have time to discuss whether we - are leading or not. we need to go forward as hard as we can. - and i'm saying that cop26 provides the opportunity. but do not think because small island developing... we are the ones on the frontline. facing the ocean as a fence. yeah. we've done nothing to cause this discontent. it is not us. no matter what we do — unless the developed nations of the world start making changes, then we will continue to face this brunt. that is why i think we need

to speak truth to power. you've done today. thank you very much. let's go to our final question. tristan downs, what do you want to ask, please? my question is, what advice - would you give to young people to lead future research and development - on climate change? ashley? well, thank you for that question, tristan. i think when it comes to climate change and climate negotiations, more capacity—building needs to be place on that, as young persons. and i would really love to see that more young persons are involved in the climate negotiations processes when it comes to cop26, and i think when it comes to building that resilience as well, we really need to provide our young persons with the data to conduct the research and to be really engaged in the governmental processes regarding climate change. so, minister, iwould really love to see a youth desk being implemented

within our government. and i think that our government should look to focus on a barbados youth climate action team whereby us, as young persons, are engaging with you guys to really get that research and data — which you're speaking — to really build on our advocacy and communication with other young persons. alright, minister kirk humphrey? i want to make the point, you know, i think in terms of real change, the young people who are changing the world aren't waiting for the government. maria isn't sitting down waiting for the government. all the brilliant young people across the world, they're not waiting for the government. my advice would be, do not wait for the government. you know, i think we have to keep the governments all over the region on their toes. and sometimes when you're brought inside the belly of the beast, you don't get to make the changes you would like. i think you have to find a way to be activists, you have to hold hands to a certain extent, but do not wait on the government. that is my genuine advice to you, because i believe there is a lot to be done. and we are speaking to children who are five and who are six — i mean, they're not getting

involved in government agencies, but i want them to think differently, so when they get to that age, they bring the change. us as young persons, we're not waiting on the governments, because we see that every day that climate change is affecting us. what i would like to see is that governments stop using us as young persons as tokens and to really have us be meaningfully engaged in the climate change activities and negotiations, because... i formed the hey campaign because experiencing first—hand the climatic events, and we have a global network of young persons, all coming together as one to take that proactive step to actually see change within their countries. so i don't think that young persons are waiting on our governments. i never said that they're all waiting on governments. the government has a very open door policy to young people. we want to see more young people engaged, we want to see young people making decisive actions and making decisive steps. it would be, i think, completely misleading to think that anybody in this government, and certainly most regional governments, are using

young people as tokens. but i also think — i make the point very strongly — that young people have also to take up the mantle and do their own thing. when maria started making change, maria didn't wait on the government. maria got international acclaim making some very strong points. if you want to hold the government accountable, you going to need to be inside the government to be able to do it. alright. that's my point. alright. minister kirk humphrey, ashley lashley, thank you both very much indeed. that's all from this edition of global questions: climate in the caribbean. thank you to my two panellists and my audience here in bridgetown, barbados, outside the george washington house. from me, zeinab badawi, and the rest of the global questions team, till next time, goodbye. hello. it is turning into a very mixed but not particularly dramatic weekend of weather.

saturday brought a bit of sunshine, a bit of rain for some. it's a similar mix as we head into sunday. a couple of frontal systems, this curl of a weather front here bringing rain for parts of northern ireland, england and wales at times. this front pushing into northern scotland promises some pretty hefty showers. and in between, some zones of drier, brighter weather. some patchy rain likely to push across east anglia and the south—east through sunday morning, but then brighter skies follow, at least for a time. more cloud for wales and the south—west, spots of rain here. some rain for a time in northern england, but northern ireland should brighten up with some sunshine. quite a lot of dry weather for southern and central parts of scotland, but northern scotland will see some showers. and it will feel decidedly cool here, highest temperatures across parts of eastern england up to 23 degrees. so, we will see areas of cloud and some showery rain continuing through sunday evening, but most places turn dry into the early hours of monday. notice quite a lot of cloud out west by this stage, and overnight temperatures generally between ten and 14 degrees.

so, as we start monday, we have low pressure to the north—east of us, high pressure attempting to build from the west. we are essentially trapped between the two, and that brings a north—westerly wind across the uk, not a particularly warm north—westerly wind, i have to say, and one that will also introduce quite a lot of cloud, especially across western areas. that cloud bringing in some showery rain at times. the best of the sunshine across eastern scotland, down across the eastern side of england, but temperatures will struggle. 16 to 20, maybe 21 degrees in the south of england, that's the very best we can expect. and then as we get on into tuesday, again, we can expect lots of cloud, some showery rain here and there. we've still got that north—westerly wind, so temperatures are going to be little disappointing for this point in mid—august. a high of 17 perhaps in aberdeen, 19 in cardiff, 20 there in london. and as we head through the middle part of the week, we keep that north—westerly flow across the uk and we keep that feed of cloud.

now, it is not going to be cloudy all the time, that cloud will break to give some sunny spells, but generally speaking, if you expect lots of cloud, you won't go too far wrong. temperatures will struggle, though, high teens or low 20s.

you're watching bbc news — i'm rich preston — our latest world headlines. at least 304 people have died in a powerful earthquake in haiti — the prime minister says there is extensive damage. the government decided this morning to declare a state of emergency for one month following this disaster. the last major city in northern afghanistan — mazar—e—sharif — falls to the taliban, as president biden defends his decision to pull out us troops. tributes to the plymouth shooting victims — as questions are asked of police about why a shotgun licence was returned to the man who killed five people. australia's most populous state, new south wales, awakens to a statewide lockdown, as the premier warns of difficult months ahead. and banksy by the sea — people flock to england's east coast to see original work

by the famed grafitti artist.