w. . this is the w. news live from berlin upping the ante it's not just climate change now the european parliament declares a climate emergency new lawmakers raising the stakes adding pressure on the incoming e.u. commission chief for his love underline to keep her word and make a bloc climate neutral by 2050 also coming up china lashes out after u.s. president dollar trump signs bills backing hong kong pro-democracy activists beijing vows it will take out all measures condemning the u.s. for meddling in its domestic affairs and in vietnam the 1st funerals take place for

some of the $39.00 trafficking victims found dead in a truck and britain last month. on my heart thank you so much for your company everyone in the european parliament has voted to declare a climate emergency a resolution was passed with a clear majority in strasburg lawmakers their hope the move will send a powerful signal to the u.n. climate summit which starts in madrid next week also aiming to put pressure on the incoming executive to take a leading role in the global fight against climate change. all right they're upping the ante let's take you now to gary marcus our correspondent in brussels good to see you gail how significant is this. it is of course symbolic gesture here that

comes from the peace in strasbourg and they're well aware of that there were some concerns that it could be a sign of panic and that is why. a number of conservative m.p.'s in particular voted against this motion but overall a lot of support for the idea which is say it's not just an urgency it is an emergency that is taking place regarding the climate and so europe has become the 1st continents to declare that state of emergency now even even though this is largely symbolic as you've been reporting some say it doesn't go nearly far enough we spoke to our colleague spoke earlier with the green party lawmaker. who before the vote let's say hear what he said and then we'll continue our conversation right after that the scientists are basically telling us that we wasted the last decade in terms of climate action which means that now the measures that we need to take a much more stringent instead of political will to do that it's very nice to have

a declaration on the climate divergence see but if actions he's not totally this is just hot air and when we have enough of hot air and enough hot air will we see this translate into action georg. well that very much depends on the head of the new european commission has a lot on the line and her team of new commissioners she has made very clear that she wants europe to lead the fight on climate change and that she wants to make it a top of her agenda fighting climate change coming up with solutions improving new renewable energy or creating new infrastructure busses rather than cars which among the greatest emitters of of c o 2 in europe but it really depends to what extent she can fulfill that agenda because look if you look at. a directive from 2017 for instance on vacuum cleaners back then the e.u. banned vacuum cleaners that were not efficient enough and the response from member states was that this is interference that is too much bureaucracy so whatever

brussels tries to do something on that scale regarding climate in particular it is difficult so maybe it's also a message to a member states here that they need to boost their efforts to fight climate change i care please stand by we want to take a look now at what's exactly at stake when it comes to climate change and how rising sea levels are affecting the entire planet. beautiful but endangered greenland ice sheet is melting at record speed raising sea levels across the world global warming could redraw the world map as we know it. mitchell clear to you. when i was a boy sure there was a lot of ice because you might have gotten months years sometimes you hear them a. but in recent years stare only 4 to 5 months. in october everything used to be

locked in ice but now only in december not for many. scientists are on a mission to predict just how much sea levels will rise globally. if it happens at a rate where we're looking at the feet of sea level rise at x. 50 or a 100 years it's going to have a chip for cities all across the planet cities like alexandria in egypt are spending hundreds of millions of euros to hold back the water. in the netherlands billions of euros are being invested under water management innovations to keep the country above water. with rising sea levels are just one aspect of climate change with the future of the planet at stake activists across the world are demanding radical action from governments while there's still time. and derek have climate activists welcome face emergency declaration by the european

parliament. environmental organizations lay low where quick of the mark such as greenpeace to say that they do well come that as a sign that the politicians in europe have acknowledged that urgency is now required in fact emergency things really need to be pushed forward and that is why they now demand of course that concrete proposals are made how this can be put into action and it's not just words that here are a phrase in the european parliament if at the end of the day this remains an empty gesture and that is very much what what the environmentalists than the declaration like that will be more damaging than doing good. reporting for you from brussels thank you. next a u.s. president has signed a law backing democracy in hong kong a legislature means there will be an annual review of the favorable trade status

that washington grants hong kong and also threaten sanctions against chinese officials who commit human rights abuses in the territory china's foreign ministry has denounced the new law saying it seriously interferes with its internal affairs but it's been welcomed as a victory by hong kong pro-democracy movement. i'd like to welcome now here on the set mr charles moch he is a hong kong pro-democracy a lawmaker great to have you here on this well what is a momentous day for the pro-democracy movement of the territory what does it mean president donald trump signing the hong kong human rights and democracy act does it make a difference to the pro-democracy movement well i think for most of the supporters of the ocracy movement this is a great moral support a boost in the moral now i do not expect that there would be immediate action taken by the administration but i think it does send

a very strong message from the united states and i hope actually from the international community to china that the world a deed is watching and they are not only watching they are also demanding that the the there was the behavior of the chinese government must be responsible i think it was only because of the international attention so far in the last half year that hong kong situation hasn't become even worse the p.o. aid has been moved into hong kong i think it has a lot to do with the international attention that we got this particular attention and now by the passing of these 2 bills could this backfire i wonder because of course china from the get you know has said you know this is all due to foreign interference particularly by the u.s. and the u.k. they are stoking. these are protests this backfires well they always say that i mean any time that they think the chinese government is facing

a situation where they cannot find a better reason to foreign policy failure. they would blame foreign interference so i don't think that really changes the picture i think the more important thing is that hopefully it will buy as a little bit more boggling chip and a little bit more time in order for us to really tell the chinese government and the hong kong government that they really need to start a true dialogue they really need to start to investigate or the wrongdoings including the police and so on and not let's just continue. of course both sides are so entrenched in their positions i mean how i mean how optimistic are you or realistic are you that the 2 i mean this comes off the back of a historic alec toral win last weekend nothing really changed i mean kerry lamb is still dark and so i mean is this going to do anything except for moral support as you just realistic then i am optimistic so i think part of the reason

why nothing has changed since the sunday vote of great victory in terms of the margin for camp pozza bit is because i think nobody expected it i think china in my government in hong kong the cherry lamb executive i think they were all surprised by the result in the way we were also surprised at the margin in the strong support of the people so i think that right now i do not expect any immediate response from them i think they are still trying to figure out what the options are and i hope that over the coming weeks we would buy a little bit of peace in hong kong so because of the fact that i think many of the protesters are feeling that they of indicated they are supportive so in a sense they would not hopefully go into even more drastic action so hopefully we will buy some time for the government to react to sit down and talk to sit down and

talk thank you so much to charles amar conquering pro-democracy law makers for coming and thank you. i like to tell you now about some of the other stories making news around the world. medical sources say iraqi forces have shot dead at least 25 protesters in the southern city of nasiriya as unrest continues to grip the country on wednesday demonstrators set fire to the iranian consulate in the city of new jobs outrage over perceived iranian influence has been fueling widespread anti-government protests. north korea has test fired 2 short range missiles and that's according to south korea and japan observers say the move could be an attempt by pyongyang to pressure the u.s. over deadlocked nuclear talks the north has set an end of year deadline for negotiations to restart. ongoing prosecutors have charged the captain of a cruise liner in connection with a deadly boat collision on the danube but back in may the ukrainian national was

charged with misconduct leading to mass casualties and $35.00 counts of failing to provide help 27 people died nearly all of them tourists from south korea. a major poll has tipped british prime minister boris johnson's conservatives for a big win in next month's general election and you go of polling and now as this indicates the pro brigs it johnson is on track for a $68.00 seat which already the results would all but guarantee britain's departure from the european union by the end of january. now to the south scenes in vietnam where the 1st funerals have taken place for some of the $39.00 people found dead in a truck in britain last month british police investigating the deaths have arrested several people including the driver of the truck who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to assist illegal immigration the victims' bodies were flown to vietnam on wednesday. 2 families used

with grief. finally though able to lay their loved ones to rest. cousins when and whine the previous day scores of villagers helped as their coffins arrived in rural vietnam in an emotionally charged and grim homecoming. kept an agonizing wait for the bereaved families who kept vigil for weeks. after a month of waiting the family has been so sad we couldn't eat we couldn't sleep. the younger of the men was just 18 years old he had joined his cousin to embark on a shared dream together.

he went to work abroad with the hope that he could earn money for a better future for him and help the family but it's devastating that he's died it's really painful. the pair travelled to britain in search of jobs but their journey ended in tragedy inside this lorry among 39 people to suffocate at the hands of human traffickers. as the procession made its way to their final resting place the focus was not on justice or the nature of the deaths but on a community mourning together. where the whole village and the people from other neighborhoods came to bid farewell to them holding white roses and that i hope of might comfort the families a bit. into this loss is immense but the compassion i see here would help ease

this terrible pain. and it will and these deaths carry meaning the priest asked the children to let this be a lesson not to risk their own lives by leaving. good of you where business news is up next with carrot out for sassy at the top cow's. affectionately as affectionately as you can. tell me in the middle of his election campaign in the year 2000 but documentary was filmed for russian television. to turn the camera back on of course the film secretly chronicled a power grab that actually everything was precisely his lead instruction. featuring a top supporting role.