12/02/15 12/02/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the u.n. climate summit in paris, france, this is democracy now! .> this is what it is all about talk, talk, talk, but the bottom line is, we are to keep fossil fuel on the ground and divestment is one of the key ways to do that. >> the divestment move it is quite civil, if it is wrong to cause, change, it is wrong to profit from, change. this movement has taken up all around the world with this as it rallying cry. >> i have six major freeways that crisscross that like a

serpent, chokes belongs, chokes the oxygen, the air. >> today is a milestone in the campaign for divestment from the gas from oil, and coal copies fueling, change. we will talked with color 20 states and a president kevin deleon and bill mckibben here i cop21. will also look at how exxonmobil has targeted columbia university and its journalists who exposed exxon's massive climate cover-up. then extreme carbon inequality - the richest 10% of the world's population produce half of the earth's time it, harming fossil fuel emissions. the poorest have come about 3.5 million people, are responsible for only around 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions. we'll speak with oxfam's tim gore. the new report out today, it finds the richest 10% of people

on the plane of the responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions. the poorest, just 10%. need to address it. amy: and while world leaders come and go from cop21, one couldn't leave home. maldives president mohamed nasheed deposed in a coup sits in a prison cell. all that and more, coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting live from the cop21, the u.n. climate summit here and paris, france, where police have extended a ban on public demonstrations. the ban, established in the wake of the november 13 attacks, was scheduled to end tuesday. but police extended it specifically for central paris and for le bourget, where the

cop is being held, until december 13, two days after the end of the climate conference. meanwhile, a protester arrested at sunday's protest at place de la republique has been sentenced to three months in jail for throwing a glass bottle, which hit a police officer. a second protester has been fined more than $1000 for refusing to have her fingerprints taken at sunday's protest. in washington, d.c., the house has voted to block federal rules to cut power-plant emissions, one day after president obama delivered a speech at the climate summit pledging the united states would help lead the world in addressing climate change. the environmental protection agency rules seek to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants and implement limits on emissions for new facilities. in india, one of the country's oldest newspapers was not printed for the first time in more than a century due to

massive rains and floods in the southern city of chennai. the daily newspaper the hindu did not come out because workers could not access the press. the publisher said it was the first time this has happened in the entire 137-year history of the paper. the indian government has deployed the army to rescue thousands of people stranded in the city as heavy flooding continues. pentagon officials have announced the u.s. is deploying more special operations troops to iraq and syria. speaking to congress tuesday, defense secretary ashton carter said the special forces are authorized to conduct raids, gather intelligence, free hostages, and capture members of isis. he also said the troops would conduct unilateral operations inside syria. chair of the joint chiefs of staff general joseph dunford acknowledged the u.s. is not technically at war in iraq or syria, even as the military ramps up combat operations.

ashton carter was responding to repeated questions from virginia republican congress member randy forbes. >> you are the secretary of defense a boat in writing and verbally that we are at war. who declared that war? >> chairman or revisited of forbes, i think what the secretary is saying, because we discuss this is, we view the fight against isil as a threat to the united states and we are mobilizing all of the military capabilities that are necessary -- >> who would have actually made a declaration? is that something that you would make? >> congress. >> as a declaration been made? >> know, it has not. >> so how does the secretary say we're at war? i only have five minutes. >> i'm just going to tell you -- >> i would ask if he wants to elaborate, he can -- he is taking my five minutes. general, can you tell me as the joint chiefs, if you know? >> where technically not at war.

amy: that is chair of the joint chiefs of staff general joseph dunford. meanwhile, the british parliament is debating whether or not to join the us-led bombing campaign against isis in syria. prime minister david cameron is urging lawmakers to approve the airstrikes. the opposition labour party has split on the issue. opposition leader jeremy corbyn has long been opposed to the plan. on tuesday, thousands rallied outside the british parliament to voice opposition to the bombing campaign. protester hadi nasrallah spoke out. >> when they bombed isis, tons of civilians will die. i'm thinking thousands. the u.s. already killed a lot. so it will just make it worse. amy: u.s. officials have admitted that a man who has been imprisoned for 13 years at guantánamo bay was captured in a case of mistaken identity. pentagon officials conceded they wrongly believed 37-year-old

mustafa al-aziz al-shamiri had played a more significant role in al-qaeda because they confused him with others who had similar names. despite this acknowledgement, he is still imprisoned and it is not clear if and when he may be freed. this comes as the white house has rejected the pentagon's draft plan for closing the guantanamo military prison saying it is too expensive. , the pentagon's plan called for more than $600 million to close the prison and construct a new us-based facility to hold remaining prisoners, at an annual operating cost of $300 million. the annual cost of operating the guantanamo detention facility now is about $400 million. in chicago, police chief garry mccarthy has been ousted as protests continue over the police killing of 17-year-old laquan mcdonald, who was shot 16 times by white police officer jason van dyke more than year

ago. chicago authoritiewithheld the police dashcam video of the fatal shooting for more than a year and only released it last week under a court order. the footage clearly contradicts the police claim mcdonald lunged at officer van dyke with a small knife. instead, the video shows the teenager posing no threat and walking away from the officers at a distance as officer van dyke jumps out of his police car and fires 16 bullets into mcdonald's body. chicago mayor rahm emanuel announced tuesday he had asked for and received police chief garry mccarthy's resignation. the mayor himself is facing increasing calls to resign over what many are describing as a cover-up. in april during the mayor's reelection campaign, the city agreed to a pre-emptive $5 million settlement with laquan mcdonald's family after they obtained video footage of the killing. the terms of the settlement, which was offered before the family even brought a lawsuit, required the video remain confidential.

the settlement itself was not made public until after the mayor's reelection. meanwhile, officer jason van dyke, who killed teenager laquan mcdonald is free on bond. , puerto rico has made a $355 million debt payment tuesday, even as the governor of the u.s. territory warns puerto rico is facing impending default. there had been speculation that puerto rico would default on at least some of the december 1 repayment. puerto rico's governor alejandro garcia padilla has long warned the u.s. territory is in a "death spiral" and that the staggering $72 billion in debt is "unpayable." the once-imprisoned u.s. activist lori berenson is returning home from peru, where she was imprisoned for nearly 20 years. she was released on parole in but was barred from leaving peru 2010, for good until her sentence expired on sunday. berenson was convicted in 1996 of helping the tupac amaru

revolutionary movement. she was tried by a hooded military judge, and prosecutors used secret evidence against her. democracy now! was the first to interview berenson and broadcast her voice to the public after she was sentenced, and has long covered her case. here's a excerpt of our exclusive 1999 interview with lori berenson in the socabaya prison in the andes mountains. did they present any evidence at the trial? >> no. in the actual trial? no. amy: are you innocent of the charges? >> yes. amy: which brings us to the u.s. and what they're doing around your case. are they helping? >> there is been some pressure at certain times, and not heavy enough pressure because i am still here. amy: do you think if they differ pressure, you would not be here? --i think in the sense

[indiscernible] that kind of support, no. i think he feels like -- amy: facebook co-founder mark zuckerberg and his wife dr. priscilla chan have announced they will give away 99% of their facebook shares, currently worth $45 billion, to charity during their lifetimes. the announcement came in an open letter to their newborn daughter, max. meanwhile, a new report shows the 20 richest people in the united states own more wealth than half of the population of the u.s. combined. the report, published by chuck collins and josh hoxie of the institute for policy studies, shows the 20 wealthiest americans, which includes zuckerberg, own about $732 billion. the report also shows that the 100 richest households in the u.s. have the same amount of wealth as all african americans in the united states combined. in montgomery, alabama, city

officials have unveiled a historic marker in honor of the 60th anniversary of rosa park's arrest on a public bus on december 1, 1955, which kicked off the historic bus boycotts protesting segregation. at tuesday's ceremony acclaimed , actress and professor dr. tommie tonea stewart spoke out. >> remember, it wasn't just riding the bus, it was the water fountain, it was the right to vote, it was evil education, it was equal job opportunity, it the colorg you not by of your skin, but the content -- it was not about individual persons, it was about all people . justice started right here in montgomery, alabama. amy: the new marker dedicated to rosa parks replaces a sign which was dedicated to rosa parks on one side, and country music star hank williams on the other. and the academy of motion

picture arts and sciences has released the shortlist for best documentary. nominees include four documentaries featured on democracy now! "the look of silence," directed by joshua oppenheimer; "3 1/2 minutes, 10 bullets," directed by marc silver; "we come as friends," directed by hubert sauper, and "what happened, miss simone?" directed by liz garbus. other nominees include michael moore's upcoming documentary, "where to invade next." to see our interviews with the directors, go to our website, democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting live from cop 21, the united nations climate summit. we begin looking at a new milestone in the growing campaign for divestment from the gas, oil and coal companies that are fueling climate change. may boovie, executive director of 350.org, made the announcement just before our broadcast today. >> we are very pleased to be announcing the new commitments to divest from fossil fuels and

before i announce them to all of you, i just want to once again remind everyone what this movement for divestment is all about. we are here for a historic summit on climate change, and the divestment movement is about something quite simple. if it is wrong to cause climate change, it is wrong to profit from causing climate change. and the divestment movement has taken up all around the world with this as its rallying cry. so without further a do, today we are announcing that as of today, total divestment commitments have passed the $3.4 trillion mark, that is $3.4 trillion of assets under ,anagement now fossil-free including a combination of different types of commitments both commitments to full divestment, which we define as divestment from coal, oil, and gas, and also partial divestment , which includes one of those

fuels or some other combination. now, i also want to say that because there are varying degrees of level of disclosure with these commitments, we don't have the exact total of amount invested, but do know that state of portfolios contain around 3.7% of fossil fuels. but the point here has never been exactly how much is pulled out in that way. that is why we measure the total amount of assets. that is for simple reason. a growing number of investors representing a growing amount of capital do not want to be associated with this industry any longer. it is a rogue industry. and that is what these commitments represent. it demonstrates that investors are taking climate risk extremely seriously. so to close, i just want to highlight some of the commitments themselves. over 500 institutions have committed to divest, including just today, 19 cities here in .rance, including bordeaux

the french parliament has endorsed divestment. and between last september when we announced the $2.7 trillion la becametoday ,upsu the largest city in sweden, we have the first german city to the vest, melbourne, australia, second-largest city committed, and the london school of economics, another primary institution -- we have so to speak to that. they have committed to the vest. we're seeing a surge of commitments. it is very exciting. and to close, i just want to say thanks to all the people who helped make all of these commitments possible. this movement works because it is powered by tens of thousands of individuals who are powering these commitments forward. we thank you come all of you who fought for divestment and who will fight for reinvestment of where those resources go.

thank you. amy: that is may boovie of 350.org. to talk more about these developments we're joined by , kevin de león, president pro-tem of the california senate. he led the effort in the california state senate to pass a resolution to divest two of the world's largest pension funds, california's public employees and state teachers' retirement system. together the two funds represent , nearly $500 billion in assets. also with us bill mckibben, , co-founder of 350.org which has played an instrumental role in the divestment movement. we are going to begin with the president of the california state senate. we just heard may boovie layout the cities around the world that are devasting. california. talk about the significance of the state of what is happening there. think isgnificant i huge because california is the seventh largest economy in the entire world on planet earth. what we have done successfully to date is we have decoupled

carbon from gdp, which is very important. to underscore that, we have grown the economy, added more jobs in california, put people to work simultaneously reduced our carbon emissions output in california, specifically with senate bill 185. it is a port we align our values with our policies. thermal coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels in existence. it causes a lot of illnesses for children, emphysema, cancer, rates have skyrocketed because of dirty fossil fuel specifically because of the rollcall. the we did is we insured kitchen plans and california combined calpers and counselors, which are the largest in the value, $500 billion in the vest from thermal coal will stop 20 13, all investments in our kitchen plans in the state of california will be formal or coal-free. amy: how do you answer those who say it is illegal to do this

because you're supposed to safely maximize profit? >> fair question. or so for most, we have movements throughout the country throughout the world of these pension plans have been responsibility -- have a responsibility to the pensioners. we have to make sure we turn value, maximum value. at the bottom line is this, and i want to underscore the following, with regards to thermal coal, the values from these publicly traded companies have fallen at least approximately by 95%. that is a bad, risky bet for pensioners in california. amy: at the news conference just before our broadcast, you described the circuit. explain. >> as a senator for the state of california, as a leader but in my senate district 24, one million constituents will have the freeways at the 2, 5, 10, 60, the famous hollywood 101 freeway, the seventh and as well as the 110 freeway. these are seven major freeways that crisscross my district like

a serpent that chokes the air and the oxygen out of a young child longs. that is why asthma rates are so high is skyrocketing. the number one reason for absenteeism in school is due to asthma. these airborne illnesses these children contract have been -- a cost schools hundreds of millions of dollars, costs parents lost days of work, impacts our economy. we must tackle this head on. i think we're doing so the state of california. amy: your response to the house voting to block federal rules to cut power plant emissions only hours after president obama delivered his climate speech air in paris? >> i will get lots of credit to our president barack obama. unfortunately, his head to move forward through the executive level, executive decision-making because he has no partners of the legislative level in the congress. i am very concerned that washington, d.c., specifically congress, has yet to recognize climate change as a reality. that is why as a subnational am

a what a seventh-largest gdp, california, is not going to hold its breath for the congressional members to take action. we are going to take action on our own. amy: repeat that. we're in a global space here for the paris at the cop21. how california, not the entire country of the united states, how largest economy in the world? talks with a seventh-largest gdp on the planet earth. number one gdp is the united states as a whole in the it is the two, china, sixth in u.k. a number seven is is the great state of california. our economy is larger than every other nation minus six nations on planet earth. to put this in context, we have added 500,000 new jobs in the clean energy space, energy efficiency, as well as renewables. what we're trying to accomplish is recalibrate a new economy of tomorrow that is clean, that's cheap, that puts people to work. that is what we're trying to calibrate.

we're not waiting for washington, d.c. unfortunately, they have yet to deal with this in a responsible manner. amy: bill mckibben, cofounder of 350.org. we just heard your colleague may boovie. how significant is the divestment movement right now? >> amy, you're the first person almost to cover this movement. your number three years ago when it was me writing in "rolling stone" with justin bieber on the cover, the same argument now because of the divestment movement, the argument these copies have more carbon and the reserves and we can burn, that is no longer "rolling stone," it -- they are great leaders like kevin deleon, people like the governor of the bank of england, like the people at deutsche bank, like the imf, like the world bank -- really, this whole cop understanding we have to leave most fossil fuel in the ground. and when we do, thus fossil fuel companies will be worth a lot less. amy: what are you most surprised

by it the united states whether it is a foundation, whether it is the university? >> the great moment came a year ago when the rockefeller family, heirs to the greatest also feel fortune on earth, began dives ting. after that, was as if the dam broke. what happened in california. half italian dollars worth of pension funds. thank god they got out when they did. they have lost $5 billion in california by not divesting three years ago. it is one of the reasons it was possible for senator dilley on to rally his colleagues to do the right thing now. amy: as we wrap up, state senator kevin deleon, some may say, what are you doing in paris? you should be back in california. >> i say this. washington, d.c. other than our president, is taking action. the congress, republican tom innate congress has not. this is not necessarily a

partisan or ideological issue, it is a political issue because there is a lack of political leadership in the congress in washington, d c we're not going to wait for them to ask. what california does first and foremost for the rest of the country as well as the rest of the world follows closely what happens in california. therefore we're moving forward with our public policies. amy: how has climate change affecting california? >> you don't have to look farther than california to see how the devastating impacts -- we are in our fifth year of a record drought in california, so we have the crisis of water. we're farm workers who are unemployed and in food lines in the central valley because there is no water. if there is no water, there is no jobs. that simple. we have devastating fires. we're spin upwards of $4 billion fighting these forest fires. i would rather spend that money investing in children, a public education, higher education and

combating forest fires due to climate change because of the drought in california. amy: thank you so much for being , presidentvin deleon pro-tem of the california senate. he led to pass the resolution to divest to the world's largest pension funds. bill mckibben, please, stay with us. this is democracy now! we will be back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: "tayo tayo" performed by the climate walkers. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from cop21,

from the u.n. climate summit. we will be here for the full two weeks of the summit. meanwhile in india, one of the country's oldest newspapers was not printed for the first time in more than a century due to massive rains and floods in the southern city. the daily newspaper, the hindu, did not come out today because workers could not access the press. the publishers that it was the first time this has happened in the entire 137 year history of the paper. the indian government has deployed the army to rescue thousands of people stranded in the city as heavy flooding continues. we're joined right now by the managing editor of the paper, the editor. welcome. we were just talking yesterday in our office and then we get this news. i know you just have a few minutes. talk about the significance of what has happened to your newspaper, "the hindu" and where the city is in india. >> "the hindu" is one of the oldest newspapers and india,

started in 1878, published all over the country. there is a long tradition of supporting liberal journalism and credible newsgathering. it is the first time this has happened. due to circumstances entirely beyond our control. we are in the southern east coast of the country, which is normally prone to hurricanes and cyclones, as we call them. so this is the first time we have been hit by 50 centimeters of rain in one day. city,e found the whole flatland basically, and it has gone completely under. amy: the reports are at this point, something like 188 people have died in recent weeks as a result of the floods. >> we have had three spells a really bad rain in the season. already we had information that 60 people died in the past two instances and i'm not surprised that more people have died. background, in

relation to the real estate the relevant which is uncontrolled, and the whole change in the climates in the intensification we are witnessing in chennai and some cities along the coast. it is a clear cause of worry. amy: the horror as some of the people have died, but the irony of the newspaper not coming out as your team is here covering the climate summit about what to do about climate change. chennai is they, base of the newspaper. this is where we have our largest circulation. our greatest voice. this being the case, it is a real tragedy the paper could not come out for the first time in this fashion. amy: what happened at the presses? did you have a report back from home? >> some of the people were not able to come into work because they train lines -- some were

able to come into work because the train lines, some of them, were able to operate. that is at least on the cards. we don't know how we will do the paper tomorrow. it will be very difficult. the presses are away from the actual printing center, the main center. the printing center is about 45 kilometers to the south along the coast. it is very difficult for people to reach when large swaths of the city and surrounding areas are inundated. it is a delusion. --deluge. amy: "the hindu" not printed in more than a century due to massive rains and flooding, which made the press inaccessible. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn right now to the oil giant exxon mobil. it is under criminal investigation in new york over

claims it lied to the public and investors about the risks of climate change. now exxon is fighting back against the journalists who exposed how exxon concealed its own findings dating back to the 1970's that fossil fuels cause global warming, alter the climate and melt the arctic ice. , students at columbia journalism school collaborated with "the los angeles times" on two of the exposes. exxon accused the students of producing inaccurate and misleading articles. in its complaint, exxon also refer to the "numerous and productive relationships" exxon mobil has with columbia; exxon has donated nearly $220,000 dollars to the school. on tuesday, steve coll, the dean of the columbia journalism school, responded to exxon's critics written to columbia's president after an extensive review. he wrote -- "your letter disputes the substance of the two articles in a number of respects, but consists largely of attacks on the project's journalists. i have concluded that your allegations are unsupported by

evidence. more than that, i have been troubled to discover that you have made serious allegations of professional misconduct in your letter against members of the project even though you or your media relations colleagues possess email records showing that your allegations are false," coll wrote. our guest bill mckibben, cofounder of 350. board -- 350.org. he was arrested after staging a one-man protest at his local exxon station in vermont. he held a sign reading, "this pump temporarily closed because exxonmobil lied about climate." you are a journalist yourself. talk about the significance of exxonmobil writing this letter of complaint to the president of columbia university who then turned the letter over to steve coll, also a leading and journalist, who did an investigation. >> exxon is never very subtle and this was a particularly heavy-handed instance of it.

their letter to columbia can only be described as thuggish. it carried every kind of implication of how they would do one thing or another to them if they did not get satisfaction. but i think they might think twice before they do it again. the letter that came back from steve coll at columbia was a six page masterpiece of dissection. it sort of shows what happens when real reporters go up against pr people. it was remarkable, amy. these stories, i mean, this is just exxon trying to kick up smoke around the edges. there's no problem with the stories. they are incredibly powerful and incredibly true, and so salient to where we sit today. if exxon had told the truth about what it knew 25 years ago, we would not be needing to have cop21. we would have sometime around 4 got down to work as a planet. this problem would not have been solved yet, but we would not

have wasted 25 years of funny debate. amy: we did an extensive look at on the democracy now! investigation about both inside climate news, the pulitzer prize-winning journalistic organization and "the los angeles times." but the evidence -- they had top scientists. they were deeply concerned about this, doing very good work, and saw climate change as real. but then what happened? on theird of acting knowledge, they instead set up the architecture of denial and disinformation. there was a remarkable piece i came out, a study that came out yesterday documenting the money brothersn and the koch constituted its epicenter of denial. this was one of those big data analyses that changed -- traced the links between thousands of organizations and newsletters and front groups and they traced it back to exxon. that is why the secretary of state yesterday, john kerry, pretty rare moment, in "rolling

stone" let loose on exxon and said these allegations were true, it was worse than the tobacco industry and eight the trail of everything that -- the trail admit of everything to be a corporation. amy: and the significance of eric schneiderman launching a criminal probe into exxonmobil? >> you can be sure exxon is taking it seriously because yesterday, they hired one of the most expensive lawyers in the country, theodore wells, most recently famous for having written the deflategate report about the new england patriots in last years football season. exxon's --lls is now on retainer for exxon to try to battle these allegations. because the them evidence is in black and white, which is pretty stunning. remember, at the best, no one is saying -- the best anyone is saying is that exxon was merely

referenceable, not outright criminal. that is the best defense anyone has mounted for them so far. amy: so we're not talking about a civil probe, a criminal probe. this good land exxon officials in jail? >> well, who knows? at the moment, they're just subpoenaing documents. we're still at the beginning stages. the great hope is that other attorney generals, california for instance, we hope join in at some point and the department of justice -- 360,000 american's them toitioned investigate that song. amy: on the issue of exxonmobil writing a letter to the president of colombia university and mentioning the amount of money they have given to columbia, do you see this as an attack on freedom of the press? who knows what precisely they had in mind, but exxon has attacked the freedom of thought of an entire planet for 25 years. they knew the truth and they did

it. they told people things that they knew not to reach room. there is no more devastating attack on the freedom of thought than that. amy: one more question i want to raise with bill mckibben, our guest right now, and that is the guardian piece he wrote called "the paris summit is missing one of the great world leaders on climate." the article is about former maldives president nasheed. for years, he was a leading climate campaigner. today he sits in a prison cell after being deposed in a coup. this is a clip of mohammed nasheed in 2009. >> countries depend -- it was a frontline state. it is very important to take care of the maldives now because the maldives and many other small states are in the front line of what is happening to the world, to climate today. the maldivesfend

today, you will be able to defend yourselves tomorrow. any code that was mohammed nasheed in 2009. and i certainly remember -- met him for the first time that year at the copenhagen climate summit, one of the most vocal voices around the effects that climate change with his island nation maldives. bill mckibben, where is he today? >> he is in prison on a prison island archipelago. the copenhagen climate summit, a great failure, had very few heroes but one of them was mohammed nasheed. i won't soon forget him leading a huge crowd of people and " booming across the conference center or forget the activism he displayed. he taught his whole cabinet to scuba dive so they can hold an underwater meeting on their dying coral reef, something that was on the front page of every paper around the planet to dramatize what was happening.

what happened to him is horrible. he was not only a climate leader, he was a great freedom fighter. they call him the mandela of the indian ocean. he overthrew a dictator of 30 years in a free election. the dictators people fought back in a military coup deposed him, not only is he now in joke, but so are many, many others. the maldives has turned into a full on autocracy. nasheed apparently is in poor health and being denied medical treatment. amnesty international is eating out on his behalf and so is amal clooney to speak with them. it is a disgrace. one hopes leaders at this conference will remember his leadership and speak up a little bit on his behalf. and because sadly after the gun was put to his head and he was deposed in a military coup, the u.s., i believe, was the first, if not one of the first countries, to recognize the new

government. it is really, really sad. it is not as if the maldives has some sort of enormous strategic value to anyone. it has enormous moral value. this is 1000 island stretching across the indian ocean with the highest point in the archipelago only a few meters above sea level. for are the poster child where not to be in a warming world. it was nasheed who promised to take his whole country carbon-neutral by 2020, instead, the dictators running it now are inviting the oil industry in to drill around the edges of those islands. if you want to think about irony, it doesn't get much better than that. amy: folks should check out our interview with mohammed nasheed before he was imprisoned at democracynow.org. finally, we're here at the cop21, bill mckibben. the state of the talks are voluntary standards for each

country, targets enough? what do you want to see come out of this? do you feel it is a failure from the start or has the possibility of some sort of success? >> i have never thought of it in those terms. it seems to me like this event is not the game, it is the scoreboard. what it reflects is what has happened over the last five years when we built a movement all over the world. before copenhagen, there was no climate movement, so there no pressure on anyone. barack obama could come home from copenhagen with a new agreement, hillaryclinton, no agreement, and pay no price. that is no longer true for them or him is to anybody else. we will get something out of here, but it won't be enough. amy: what will it be? probably on the path to a world that he's up 3.5 degrees celsius instead of five degrees. so uninhabitable world. but what it tells us is what the score is now and how much work more we have to do.

my guess is we are when you come out of your saying, look, the governments of the world have done what they're going to do for the moment -- not enough. we have to talk to the people behind the governments. we have to go after the fossil fuel industry, which still holds the balance of power. that is why this exxon investigation is of the absolute first importance. amy: are you concerned about the ban on protests? it was planned through tuesday, which is just after the massive mobilization was planned for this past sunday. instead, there was a human chain. now they have extended it just for downtown paris and right around here through to december 13, direct actions were planned for december 12. what is the significance? >> i am concerned, but what i'm gratified about is the way the rest of the world has picked up. so last weekend, we helped organize demonstrations -- 2200 places around the globe.

just sitting and watching the pictures flow in made me cry. i mean, it was unbelievable to see people from every corner of the planet, from cameroon, minneapolis, from australia, stockholm. everyplace else around the world, we can still protests, so it is a good thing there are people in those places who are stepping up. amy: bill mckibben is cofounder of 350.org, an author of many books. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the --broadcasting from just outside paris, france, at cop21, the un climate summit. we in today show looking at extreme carbon inequality. a new report by oxfam has found the richest 10% of the world's population produce half of the earth's climate-harming fossil fuel emissions. the poorest half, about 3.5 billion people, are responsible for only around 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions. oxfam's report is titled, "extreme carbon inequality: why the paris climate deal must put the poorest, lowest emitting and most vulnerable people first." to talk more, we're joined by the report's author tim gore. he is the head of policy for oxfam international on food, land rights and climate change. , welcome back to democracy now!

these figures are stunning. the world's richest 10% produce half of carbon emissions while the poorest, 3.5 billion, account for just 1/10. >> it is absolutely obscene. what we're saying is we absolutely have to tackle climate change and inequality together. we will either solve both of these problems or another. another staff, the richest 1% probably imminent something like 175 times more than the poorest 10%. this can't continue. we must tackle these two problems intended. amy: what most surprised you in a report? >> the starting global numbers we just talked about. it is a comparison between countries. there is a lot of talk here at the cop about the responsibilities of middle income countries, india, china, brazil, south africa, etc. one thing i think is tracking is when you compare the lifestyle emissions of even some of the

richest and those countries, it is still far, far lower than enriched developed countries like u.s. and european union. that is one of the things i think is raising eyebrows and sheds a light on the talks here. only think about these new emerging economies, larger emissions on a national scale, but even the richest, nothing like the highest last on missions like citizens in europe or the u.s. amy: how does this address, for example, the population control folks? if you just limit population, this will take care of all of these problems? actuallytion growth is in the poorest countries were emissions are incredibly low, so that is not a problem. the problem is, unfortunately, the richest people on the planet are responsible for the majority of the emissions. we have to do something about their emissions. we are not saying this is solely the responsibility of people in the richest 10%. you don't have to be that rich to get into the top 10% in terms

of salaries in the u.s. or europe, but the real problem here, the real blockers are the vested interested in the fossil fuel industry, the carbon barons. they're the ones really holding back progress. amy: tim gore, you're poor states between the copenhagen in paris climate summit, between 2009 and 2015, the number of ilya and ears on the forbes list with interest in fossil fuel activities has risen from 54 and 2015 while the size of the combined personal fortunes have expanded by around 50% from over 200 billion to more than $300 billion. >> that should be the target of our campaign. these are the real problems. we need richer people to reduce emissions it do with a canada lifestyle to do that and we need to support the poorest people to have access to renewable energy and adapt to climate change, but the real blockers, the real

problems in this process are the fossil fuel interests. they are still making millions, billions even, from their investments and false of fuels. that is what is have -- great to have bill mckibben and others to fight that. that should be the target of our effort. amy: as the whole global education ramps up on the dangers of also fuels to everyone, just to repeat this, the number of billionaires on the forbes list has gone from 54 -- with fossil fuel activities -- to 88. increasing exponentially. >> their continuing almost oblivious to what the rest of the world is doing or experiencing. new scientific studies, extreme weather events, more regular people taking action on the streets like we've seen around the world in the last few days. despite the growing public opinion and even political leaders speaking out, these guys are just unconcern and continue to rake in the profits. we have to expose them as the real interests behind climate

inaction in this process. amy: talk about some of the solutionons to dealing with extreme carbon inequality, as you call it. >> first of all, we need a paris agreement that does deliver for the poorest half of the global population. they are living in countries that are highly impact by drought, extreme weather events. the first of is to get a pair still delivered to them. what does that look like? more adaptation on the table. at the moment, it is only between $3 billion to $5 billion for your flowing to all developing countries. that amounts to something like three dollars a day for every small-scale farmer on the planet. it is like a cup of coffee a year. that is a total disgrace. we need a big increase flowing to the poorest. we also need to make sure we're dealing with the impacts of climate change to which it is not possible to adapt -- islands

that are being submerged by rising sea levels, crops being destroyed where it is not possible to replant, make sure there is something of this agreement to address that. one of the big issues at the moment, we have to make sure this is an agreement that respects human rights and gender equality. we have your opinion is sitting on the fence, the u.s. not doing enough to defend those principles in this agreement. these are some of the things we must have. of course, the agreement needs to drive down emissions much quicker than what is on the table right now. that is what is one to determine if the poorest people will have a chance to survive on this planet. amy: let's talk about the unequal impact across the world. this is african development bank president akinwumi adesina. >> africa, the least in matter of greenhouse gases in the world, now suffers the most from climate change. others pollute, africa pays. and pays dearly. nature is a must gone.

we must not abandon africa. africa has been shortchanged by climate change. africa is not be shortchanged by climate finance. amy: that was the president of gap can develop it bank president akinwumi adesina. president akinwumi adesina. response?your >> these are powerful words, but they're the same we're hearing from small-scale farmers in many regions of the world. farmers whose livelihoods defend on the seasons, depend on when the rains come. if they don't come or commit a different time or fall too late or too strong when it does come, and that text, frankly, whether or not they can grow enough food to sell to the markets and see their families for the year. these are the people that must be in the minds of the negotiators that are here in paris. we can't imagine this is just a deal between the big powers like the u.s. and china, we have to make sure this is for the poorest people, wherever they live. amy: you also deal with food.

food and disease. disease is a whole other issue caused by climate change. as we wrap up, talk about the scarcity that people will suffer from. >> right now we are witnessing around the world and unfolding food crisis linked to the el niño phenomenon, which is being supercharged by climate change. from southern africa to areas of east asia and central america, we are seeing droughts, crops failing, and literally millions of people like any deal be a that are a very serious risk of a major food crisis. that is the backdrop to these talks. it is not making headlines around the world. we are experiencing that in responding to that as oxfam. that is what kind of change looks like, people going hungry. amy: i want to thank you, tim gore, for being with us, the author of oxfam's the report called, "extreme carbon inequality: why the paris climate deal must put the poorest, lowest emitting and most vulnerable people first." he is the head of policy for

oxfam international on food, land rights and climate change. as we turn right now to a poet and climate activist from the marshall islands. just before the show, she shared a column. she was standing in front of the fake eiffel tower that has been erected here that is built from the chairs, the small wooden chairs of the time the awful tower was built. at aecited this poem protest calling for fossil fuel development. >> i am definitely a supporter of the divestment movement. i teach at the college of the marshall islands. the first college in the micronesia to divest. even though we don't even have as much funds as some of these bigger institutions, we took this to divest. the reason was, it depends on

our survival. we will do everything we can to save our islands. -- i will be sharing a poll of about the beauty of our islands and what we want the world to know, which is that we should not have to leave and we shouldn't have to move from our islands because of the flooding. this is a poem i wrote called "tell them." i prepared the package for my friends of the states. first the dangling earrings, woven into half moons, black girls glinting like and i and the storm with tight spirals second, the baskets, woven, byny, intricate push it callused fingers inside the basket i write a message, where these earrings to parties, the corner store, and while riding the bus capricorns and curly letters like this one in this basket when others ask you where you got this, you tell them, they are from the marshall islands show them where it is on a map tell them we are proud people toasted dark around

tell them we're dissonance of the finest navigators of the world. tell them our islands were dropped from a basket carried by a giant. tell them we are the hollow canoes as fast as the wind splicing to this specific seas. wood shavings tell them we are sweet harmonies of mothers phthalate and tonight we are whispered prayers tell them we are little girls with braids are willing beneath the rains we are shards of broken beer bottles, children slinging like rubber bands across the road caused by -- tell them we only have one road and after all of this, you tell them about the water, how we have seen it rising, flooding across our cemeteries, gushing over sea walls crashing against our homes tell them what it is like to see these entire oceans letter with the land tell them we are afraid tell them we don't know of the

politics or the science, but we see what is in our own backyards tell them some of us are old fisherman who believe that god made us a promise tell them some of us are little more skeptical most importantly, you tell them that we don't want to leave we have never wanted to leave and that we are nothing without our islands. thank you. [applause] is why i support the development campaign to support our islands so we don't have to leave from our islands. so we can do whatever we can to save our islands. thank you. [applause] amy: that was kathy, a poet and, activist from the marshall islands reciting her poem in front of an apple tower reproduction made from the bistro chairs of the time the eiffel tower was built.

that does it for our show. if you want a copy, go to democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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