will come to an end. well, if local law is to be believed, it could be quite a while. because punxsutawney fill the ground hawk hook and supposedly forecasts when spring will begin as disappointed houses revelers who gathered to watch the annual events. here's how it works. if phil sees his shadow when emerging from the underground, that means another 6 weeks of winter ahead. and that's just what happened in pennsylvania wednesday. the groundhog day tradition dates back 1886. and that's it for me. for now the w business is coming up next. don't miss that. ah ah, ah ah

ah, ah, soccer is a sport of many colors and the children in this mountain village. oh them all. but can everyone be a drunk with them? regardless of gender? ema wears blue, the color of her favorite teen sexes. traditions prevent her from going to games and playing an insurmountable obstacle. blue girl football on the peak that starts february 4th on d w. ah ah 30 trillion dollars usda. it's a record some with help from the big spending spree of recent years. what does

u. s. debt really tell us about the world's largest economy? also on the show, the commission approves controversial new rules labeling some nuclear and gas energy investments sustainable. we'll talk to our correspondent in process and we'll visit jakarta where new app is helping workers in the informal sector get some much needed. pandemic 811. welcome to the show. i'm seeing fiercely in berlin . it's good to have you with us. the u. s. national debt now exceeds 30 trillion dollars record some hit at the end of january. that's risen a whopping 7 trillion dollars in the last 2 years alone. fuel by government spending during the pandemic. the country's debt to g d. p g d. p ratio is around 100 percent, relatively high figure, but one that the u. s. has eclipse before including at the end of world war 2. and we'll come back to that just a moment. the e commission says it will classify some natural gas and nuclear power investments

as sustainable as part of its new taxonomy of green investments. environmentalist and investor groups have criticize the controversial decision saying it would further greenwashing. i was praise, however, by those who see nuclear and gas is essential to reducing reliance on heavy c o 2 emitters, coal oil over now to d. w, correspond at mac. sandra has been following the story for us from brussels. max, there's been a lot of debate around this issue in recent weeks, reminders why this classification is so important. right, so the e commission today presented their plan on the how to leverage investments into so called green energy by the private sector. and a that way also achieve the use climate goals to become climate neutral by 2050. now that you taxonomy, i'm, is this the overall framework. it's a mix up guidelines to define for investors and for investors. which areas are

green and suspend sustainable for investments. and the idea is to faint phase out harmful energy sources, such as a, such as coal and oil, and replace them with ideally sustainable renewable sources, or in this case with less harmful energy sources, such as nuclear and gas as a transitional tool. and that's why critics, of course, a, this is green washing to say that basically allowing investors at banks to, to check that green box while financing what they called dirty energy projects. and what does the commission say to that? right, so does this despite having added nuclear and gas to the, to the used taxonomy at the commission argues that it still heavily regulated. ok, just to give you an example, for example, gas power plants that will align with you. taxonomy by 20, by 2035 will have to be low carbon luca plants will need special fuel and depositories in order to get this, the so called green label. there has been a lot of talks and so the 1st draft was a, was, was leaked about

a month ago. there has been a lot of criticism. but the european commission didn't really change a lotta a about about this a proposal. nuclear and gas are still at, at the core of this, this delegated act. and this is probably also because the majority, they know that they have the majority of backing in the european parliament and the european council which be the next next steps there. but in terms of reacting to green washing, there has been a change of tone um commissioner at mc guinness today, who was in charge of the youth taxonomy said that the color coding is not necessarily the best way to, to address the issue of nuclear energy and the youth taxonomy, the commission, she says knows that it's not green and sustainable, but it's still necessary to achieve the climate goals as a transitional tool. mcsaunder, they're in brussels for us now to fabulous schneider who research is sustainable financing and was part of the advising team working with the

e. u on this taxonomy fabiola, thank you very much for joining us. what does today's announcement mean for green investors? well, the set scientist and use the jewish nelson. ok, and gas has also been have any criticized by asset managers and the investment community. for example, the i g. c. c. institution, investor group on climate change with over 50000 euros, off acids, unimagined, understand, open. net, explicitly, connie, for gas to be excluded from new taxonomy. you know, there's a claim of green washing here, but if nuclear and gas or bridge technologies to net 0 missions isn't the goal ultimately a green one of good. you taxonomy was supposed to establish a common language and a key if the mission of vote constitutes an environmentally sustainable activity. and thereby, and provide clarity to investors and prevent greenwashing. new criteria for new gas are doing exactly the opposite because they contradict existing market practice,

for example, under green bond market, which exclude a few of the nokia. you commission itself into you being recovering package extrude again. nokia overall, it's just very inconsistent and hence splitting a mad, fabio, it will. investors then turn to other taxonomies for green investment that they like a because then you taxonomy is no longer the gold standard but lagging behind globally . and within that he hadn't been progressed with 0. in fact, on gas, the economy is less than a chinese and the russian taxonomy. and it was a nuclear in the south korean one fabulous schneider with university college dublin . thank you very much. and out of some of the other global business stories making headlines. hi, energy costs, especially oil and gas prices, drove inflation in the euro zone to a record high of 5 point one percent in january compared to a year earlier. the rise piles pressure on the european central bank ahead of a monetary policy meeting this week. us drug maker, johnson,

and johnson and 3 drug distributors have agreed to pay a $590000000.00 settlement to hundreds of native american tribes lawsuit blame the companies for opioid addiction among native americans study show the group has had the highest per capita rate of opioid overdose of any population and we want to go back to our top story now. the u. s. national debt exceeding 30 trillion dollars record some hit at the end of january ins, quarter joins me for more in new york. yes, that's a nice big round number, but what does it really tell us? it is a huge number ended 7 trillion dollars higher than early, 20 or 20. so before the pandemic really started here in the united states, i mean what that means is some, it will be very difficult to get a, the congress, sir, to approve of more a spending for example,

for you and infrastructure programs that actually could hinder the u. s. economy to grow stronger, and then on top of it too, we do know that the federal reserve are very likely will increase interest rates this year. so that will make this, that blog even more expensive. so that could be a huge trick on the economy. but what is interesting in general on wall street and also in some parts of washington, a lot of people seem to ignore this huge debt load that we a master during the pandemic at even before or against quarter in new york. thank you very much. or governments around the world have opened up their coffers to provide that kind of direct pandemic relieve to employees and business owners in need in many cases cash. but what about those in the informal sector? think street vendors, farm hands are domestic workers who don't have tax numbers or bank accounts. in

indonesia, 5 young professionals have developed an app to give exactly those workers, lifeline scrolling or instagram account, marita poetry who had just lost her job in an advertising agency, discovered baggy lotta initiative that promised financial aid without red tape. it wasn't gung, actually. i had no income other than selling breakfast time from yeah, my husband used to work that he was laid off to you in the pandemic. if he did so to feed the family, i try to sign up for this platform baggy rata to have at least some pines, to keep my breakfast business going on lane whenever you i, if i buggy data is the wealth distribution platform where the name reflects the aim it translates to equal share because this is what lote andrea felt was needed most in the lockdown. with 4 friends, the 29 year old designer founded the non profit organization bagget at that in the

bathroom subsidies. ellen baggie, rata is a cross subsidy platform for the people who are affected by the pandemic, especially in formal workers who don't get government assistance, or who don't get help from their employers or freelancer's yet. so the platform itself allows people who can help financially to be able to get in contact with people who need help on them. and in the same way with those people can say what they need. i think what i think i'm good with lenin, monica more than 4000 people from all over indonesia have already received money through bucky data. the founders have distributed around $90000.00 euros in donations. the key to success was that andrea took advantage of an existing digital infrastructure that had been built up in, in nisha, in recent years. he programmed back hirata as a direct transfer system where the money doesn't have to go through their hands.

donors can directly send funds to beneficiaries through their e wallet. almost everybody here uses apps like oval go pay or donna and mobile phones are affordable. marita pottery no longer needs the platform, at least for now, for husband found a new job. and the 28 year old mother of 2 is now optimistic that the country's economy will recover to why is an app even necessary? why didn't the indonesian government you more in the 1st place to help families need? here's our correspondent, give matters with more. are to be fair when it comes to the government. a one has to say that it's facing huge challenges. if you lockdown an economy like indonesia that creates enormous problems and so the government has put out some stimulus packages, some packages to deal with the health sector. in fact, for this year, a loaner 30 mill, f. 30000000000 euros have been earmarked for various projects. a lot of that will

go into the health sector. but there is some controversy now whether some of that money will is also a plant or to be used for the a moving of the capital of jakarta, a to a different island. and that is what some people are recheck because they say that the problems we have right now are already so big. and here's a reminder of our top business story. the u. s. national debt now exceeds 30 trillion dollars a record. some has risen 7 trillion dollars in the last 2 years alone viewed by the government's pandemic spending. and that's all for me and dw business team to find out more align dot com slash business, watching new best fashion, a 1000000000 dollar business. gross exploitation for the men

and pollution for everyone. the chinese fashion giant shaking eclipse is anything like it before ever faster and ever cheaper, but it will cost the world so much more than money made in germany. d, w. o one, continent. 700000000 people. with their own personal stories. europe. mm hm. we explored every day life with what europeans feared and what they hope for focus on europe in 60 minutes on d. w. ah,

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