12/10/15 12/10/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the u.n. climate summit in paris, france, this is democracy now! >> we gathered here and we took a look and it is completely acceptable. it is going to burn our planet and drown out pacific islands. when?now,

if not here, where? if not us, who? amy: as hundreds of activists say no to the draft paris accord, we'll speak with kumi naidoo of greenpeace and asad rehman of friends of the earth. and it's international human rights day. we'll speak with mary robinson, the former u.n. high commissioner for human rights, and former president of ireland. response toustice the moral argument, both sides of the moral argument, to address climate change. first of all, to be on the side of those who are suffering most and are most affected. and secondly, to make sure that they're not left behind again when we start to move and start to address climate change with climate action. amy: and journalist antonia juhasz on her newsweek article, "suicidal tendencies: how saudi arabia could kill the cop21 negotiations in paris."

this is climate countdown. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the gunman in the planned parenthood shooting rampage has admitted his guilt while expressing anti-choice views. at a court hearing where he was charged with 179 counts, john dear acknowledged attacking the clinic, calling himself a "warrior for the babies." >> to protect the babies. the babies who are supposed to be born that day, could you add that to the list? amy: the attack in colorado springs killed three people and left nine wounded. defense attorneys have suggested they may seek an insanity defense. pro-choice activists have called for the obama administration to treat the attack as domestic

terrorism. the fbi says the couple behind the san bernardino shooting massacre were radicalized years before meeting in person and before the rise of the self-proclaimed islamic state. fbi director james comey told a senate hearing that the agency believes suspects syed farook and tashfeen malik were inspired by foreign extremists, but that no evidence has emerged that isil or other groups ordered the attack. muslim-americans continue to report risings acts of islamophobia in the aftermath of the paris and san bernardino attacks and increased anti-muslim sentiment on the campaign trail. a muslim store owner in queens, new york said he was beaten by , an attacker who reportedly said, "i kill muslims." other incidents include racist hate speech directed at two muslim women in an austin café, and a group of boys punching a muslim girl in new york and pulling on her hijab. at a rally on wednesday against donald trump's call to ban muslims from entering the u.s.,

khalid latif of the islamic center at new york university said anti-muslim racism today could be even worse than after 9/11. speakthese voices unchecked, we see a rise in anti-muslim sentiment, there is arguably worse than even the backlash experience immediately after september 11, to give rise and justified to those who in recent weeks have burned down in vandalized mosques all over this country, who have pushed down women wearing headscarves onto train tracks, shot cab drivers, and even in our own city, validated for three young men there beating of a six grade muslim girl in harlem as they punched her, beat her, try to rip the scarf off of her head, and culture "isis" over and over and over. that is not ok. we have to be better than that. amy: chicago mayor rahm emanuel has apologized for the more than ofr old police killing

17-year-old laquan mcdonald. -- than year-old police killing of 17-year-old laquan mcdonald. emanuel spoke at a city council hearing on wednesday. >> i am the mayor. as i said the other day, i own it. i take responsibility for what happens because it happened on my watch. and we're going to fix it. i want you to understand it is my responsibility with you. but if we are also going to begin the healing process, the first step in that journey is my step. and i'm sorry. mayorry manual -- emanuel is facing increasing pressure to step down over the city's handling of the case and a potential cover-up. protesters marched in the streets and staged a sit-in to demand his resignation. >> it doesn't mean our work is over.

getting him to resign means our work is still getting started. >> we got one down and two to go. we have two to go. it is sad that these people are in the office and they can't do their jobs. but you know what? rahm emanuel, you can fire all of these people, but you still will not get our vote because you're going to be out of office by election day. amy: this comes as chicago has released a three-year-old video tape of officers tasing, beating and dragging african-american , philip coleman. coleman died in police custody, although the city claims it was , from an allergic reaction. mayor rahm emanuel has said the abuse was unacceptable. coleman's family says it wants the officers involved charged with crimes. the supreme court has heard arguments in a case that could threaten affirmative action on college campuses. the petitioner, abigail fisher, is a white woman who accused the university of texas-austin of discrimination for rejecting her. on wednesday, a majority of justices appeared to indicate

they will come down against the university of texas' affirmative action policies, a stance that could ultimately threaten similar plans at other schools. justice antonin scalia sparked outrage after saying that students of color with low grades are "pushed into schools that are too fast for them" and may be better off at "a less advanced school, a slower-track school where they do well," he said. the pentagon has asked the white house to build up a series of u.s. military bases across africa, southwest asia and the , middle east. the "new york times" reports top military officials want the network of bases to serve as hubs for special operations troops and intelligence operatives who could conduct counterterrorism missions against groups like the islamic state, ensuring an enduring american military presence in several regions overseas. the pentagon, meanwhile, says it's prepared to send military advisers and helicopters to help iraq retake ramadi, which was captured by isil in may.

meanwhile, iraq has asked nato to pressure turkey into withdrawing its forces from northern iraqi areas. turkish forces recently arrived near mosul, but turkey says it's there at the request of the iraqi government. the syrian government and rebel forces have completed a rare negotiated truce in the opposition stronghold of homs. hundreds of rebels and civilians left homs on wednesday as part of an agreement to end fighting that devastated the city for years. the evacuees will be resettled in other rebel-held areas of northern syria. doctors without borders has delivered a petition to the white house demanding an independent probe of the u.s. bombing of the group's hospital in kunduz, afghanistan. the october 3 airstrike killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens more. at a rally across from the white house, doctors without borders board president deane marchbein paid tribute to the attack victims. >> 6000 patients have been

treated at our hospital since it opened in 2011. now hundreds of thousands are cut off from lifesaving care. the patients who were killed to lead they had come to a safe place -- who were killed believe they come to us a place to be treated. they could not have imagined they instead would become targets. tove individuals committed providing health care for all. amy: and the tunisian national dialogue quartet has dedicated her nobel peace prize to every single tunisian. >> we would like to thank the norwegian nobel committee for having bestowed upon us the quartet of this very prestigious prize. it is a prize awarded to every single tunisian, to the people who lost martyrs, awarded in memory of all of the martyrs who sacrificed their blood in service of liberty. it comes in recognition of the major sacrifice paid in blood.

the tunisian human rights league. one of the civil society groups that make up the quartet. he spoke wednesday before today's oslo nobel ceremony. the nobel committee says the prize at six to honor the quartet's contribution to building a pluralistic democracy after the 2011 tunisian revolution which toppled tunisia's longtime u.s.-backed dictator. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we're broadcasting from the u.n. climate change summit in paris, france, cop21. it's international human rights day. it commemorates the day on which the united nations general assembly adopted the universal declaration of human rights in 1948. earlier today, the nobel peace prize was awarded to tunisia's national dialogue quartet for helping achieve a peaceful transition to democracy in their own country.

well, we begin today's show looking at climate change as a human rights issue. here at the talks, negotiators have been debating how human right should be addressed in the paris accord. the united states, norway, and saudi arabia have been criticized by for seeking to eliminate key references to human rights in the text. we are joined by former irish president mary robinson, who is also the former u.n. high commissioner for human rights. in 2010, she set up the mary robinson foundation -- climate justice. president mary robinson, welcome back to democracy now! amy, and happy international human rights day. amy: talk about how human rights relates to climate change and climate justice. >> absolutely a relates to climate change because climate change is undermining human rights all over the world. and undermining people's livelihoods, undermining people's health, forcing people

to leave their homes because of drought or flooding. . itn, causing loss of life is having a very negative impact and that is being recognized at the human rights council. even if there were stepping in this agreement -- which i hope there will be -- about human rights, human rights is there anyway, very, very central to our approach to climate change. to me, it is the biggest human right issue in the world. amy: how did you come to this issue of climate justice? certainly did not make a centerpiece when you are the u.n. high commissioner for human rights. >> i've been very open and modest about that. no, i didn't. it was being dealt with in another part of the u.n. a little bit of a silo approach. i started work on economic and social rights in africa. everywhere i went, people said, things are so much worse. and i realized they meant the rainy seasons weren't coming in liberia the way they used to and there was long periods of droughts and flash flooding in uganda. peoplerywhere i went,

saw something that they had never seen before. world tradition, more than 200 years, because people pass stories on. it was so much worse, climate shocks, climate disruptions. i thought in bangladesh when i went there. i realized when i read the signs, we are running out of time. actually, as has been said often now during this year, we're the first generation of fully understand the dangers of climate change in the last generation with time to do something about it. and that time is now here in paris. amy: you were the president of ireland. we saw the big family photo, the first two days of this cop were you had more than 100 world leaders, about 130 world leader standing together, the largest gathering of world leaders in the history of the world. there were not many women. can you talk about why that matters? >> it matters hugely that we have more women in leadership

roles -- and leadership happens at all levels, but it is good that you have top leaders because they influence the policy of their country and they influence priorities. they decide what will be as a priority of the country. there are women and supportive men who are been working for years in the climate context to try to ensure human rights and gender equality are fully recognized because they are important to good climate policy. amy: what does gender equality have to do with climate change? >> huge impacts. if you underline for livelihoods, who will pick up the pieces? who will put food on the table? those who are trying to adapt and be resilient, the vast majority of farmers in the developed world are women. it is usually important that the gender dimensions are recognized , both the fact that women are more vulnerable because even in

natural disasters, therefore times more likely to die than men -- 14 times, because they care about their children and try to help them. they can't run very fast and long clothing. i've a right of reasons. amy: i want to ask you a question. on wednesday, there was a major protest year last night. democracy now!'s amy littlefield got a chance to speak afterwards law and director of the policy program at amnesty international. he talked about the status of human rights and the current draft of the climate accord. know the moment, we don't if states are going to accept them, so there is still a debate over whether to keep them in the part of the text where it is about how they are applied throughout. we're a bit worried because gender equality has just been dropped from the same provision, and we think that is a trade-off, where some states agreed to drop gender equality in order to drop the reference to the rights of occupied peoples living in the

occupation. >> could you explain which states you're talking about? >> saudi arabia is one country that we are talking about, which opposed -- which insisted there must be language about the rights of people under occupation. the united states and others oppose that. as a result, they traded where the gender equality was taken out to make the saudis happy in the rights of occupied people was taken out to keep the united states and other states happy. have amnesty you international, president robinson, your response? them.gree with neither human rights nor gender equality are secure in the text. human rights is still in the operative art, which is important but it is in brackets and could go. amy: what does brackets mean? >> it means it is not a great. if it is not in brackets, that is text that has been agreed. there are still a lot of brackets. gender equality, for reasons we

don't understand, was dropped. protection of human rights and promotion of gender equality. obviously, i want both because they are extremely important. amy: is sounds like saudi arabia did one gender equality and the u.s. did not want referenced occupied people. >> maybe. there are a lot of negotiations going on. i think a lot of countries one gender equality back in, so we are not at the end. i think it is more important that we see white support. i've just come from a roomful of people, including a number of ministers and delegates, who are supportive of both human rights and gender equality. they see them as being very much part of the core principles of the united nations. and the reason we want this language -- not just to see the words, the recently want the language is the values that are behind those words and the importance for good climate policy. we have made mistakes. you remember the corn for ethanol driving up food prices for poor people? ams that displaced people with

poor land rights. there will be a rush for renewable energy. unless we make sure it is done responsibly and in accordance with human rights principles, we could have more people affected by how we take action on climate who are already suffering from climate change. amy: as president of ireland, you are part of the divesting from south africa, the apartheid regime. there is this move around the world, and you have a foundation, whether in companies, universities to divest from fossil fuels. >> what i always say, i support the movement, but i say to vest from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy. otherwise, you're not moving that equation fast enough. we need more investment in renewable energy and in r&d and we definitely need countries and companies to get out of coal. that is the worst. we also need to leave two thirds of the fossil fuel in the ground. we have a paper of my foundation, zero carbon, zero poverty.

way.limate justice we say we have to get out of carbon by 2050. the interesting thing, just to show you there is a business group here and a lot of business year that is more progressive. there is a team i'm linked to through the fact i am an elder, getting on, elder brother together by else amendola. amy: you are part of the council of elders. >> business leaders who are saying, we want net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. stronger than we are likely to see the text here, unfortunately. businesses are saying, please, give us a mandate, give us a challenge, if you like, and make us go faster in getting out of fossil fuels. take away the subsidies on fossil fuels. at a price on carbon. that is what businesses are saying as well as civil society. amy: president robinson, you said climate change will lead to further radicalization. what do you mean?

>> if you're in a situation where we are already isolated and impoverished and then you have the displacement of climate change -- it will be a driver of more people becoming displaced -- it is another reason to feel totally frustrated with the inequities in the world. and now people can be influenced, as we know, to be radicalized and become frustrated just as young people are wonderful in an arena like this. we have had young people who are rallying to make sure we do the right things. but if we don't, you know, if people feel hopeless and jobless and then it is made worse through climate change, which human-induced now. it is the lifestyles of rich countries that have caused this. yes, it can lead to radicalization. amy: we're going to talk more about loss and damage but there's a great till of anger among the least developed countries and the developing countries. it is around the issue of responsibility, not just shared he like help a country that is

suffering terribly from climate change, but that the most developed countries, the historically biggest emitter -- the united states, the largest emitter now china -- owe money and support to the countries that are suffering from their access. >> certainly, that whole issue of money, of climate finance is a key issue and it is still not resolved. i feel we don't talk about it in the right way. we talked about simon finance as if it was charity for poor countries that somehow have to make changes now and adapt and grow without emissions into renewable energy. in fact, what we should be saying is, climate finance is a means to a safe road for all of us. we should be looking at this from the point of view of, how do we encourage india, for example, that is going solar very dramatically but also saying, we also have to invest in coal?

if india invests in a large amount of coal, that is 30 or 40 years, it will be too late. it is in our interest to say to countries like india and african countries, countries that have to develop and build their infrastructure, let us help you because it is in our interest, too, ensure the technology and bring in the private investments -- and share the technology and bring in the private investments. we need it as a leverage for trillions in developing countries to help them leapfrog into readable energy. amy: we just came back from calais, the largest refugee camp in france. thousands of people from war-torn nations, from syria, afghanistan, iraq, sudan, who are trying to get into britain. they can't. i wanted to ask you about what you feel should happen with ireland. it has been criticized, group of ngos saying 22,000 refugees should be allowed in. these people are fleeing war.

>> i am more constrained talking about ireland as a former president. i'm not at all constrained talking about the migrant situation. i feel it is shameful that so many have died coming across the mediterranean, that some in a live in terrible conditions because they have human rights. they have the right to the dignity of moving. they don't have a right to go to any particular country. that is the trouble. refugees have rights under the refugee convention and those rights are not being respected at the moment. we need more pressure. i'm glad angela merkel has gotten recognition for what she was doing on migrants, because we have to have leadership in different countries. the reality is, without that leadership, the populace far right representation of different countries will, you know, walk all over this. we need very clear principles of leadership based on human rights and based on gender equality. amy: do you have any

presidential advice for republican presidential candidate in the united states donald trump who says, don't let muslims into the united states? >> i'm glad he is being rightly outraged and condemned for that. that even people in britain don't want them to visit. i think the world reaction may well be enough to bring home that he is not a suitable person to be president of the united states. he's not qualified. ,e is saying terrible, racist exaggerated things just to get publicity. amy: former president of ireland, mary robinson. she now runs the mayor robinson foundation climate justice. -- she is the former u.n. high commissioner for human rights. when we come back, we go to the protest within the cop here of hundreds of people demanding a just paris accord. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: ta'kaiya blaney, a 14-year-old from the sliammon first nation in canada, singing her song, "turn the world around" at the international rights of nature tribunal here in paris on saturday. you can go to democracynow.org to see her full performance. yes, this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the world and peace report. we are broadcasting live from the cop 21 here in paris, france. we've entered the final stretch of the negotiations here at the united nations climate change summit as representatives from nearly 200 countries attempt to reach a final deal before the weekend. on wednesday, a near-final draft was released. the text pared down to 29 pages , from a 43-page document, contains about 100 decisions still left to be made, including the role that wealthy and more advanced developing countries should play in helping

vulnerable nations cope with the impacts of climate change. civil society groups attending the summit erupted in protest over the draft, saying it will not go far enough to prevent catastrophic global warming. activists continue to demand protections for indigenous rights and gender equality within the accord, and emissions reductions to keep the increase in global temperatures to less than 1.5 degrees celsius over pre-industrial levels. after the draft text emerged, climate activists staged the largest protest to date inside the heavily fortified paris summit. hundreds converged around an installation of colorful acrylic animal sculptures near the main plenary halls, where they staged a sit-in. then they marched outside onto the main walkway inside the cop -- called the champs elysees, after the main boulevard here in paris -- where they surrounded a replica of the eiffel tower made from red bistro chairs. there they posted dozens of notes with messages to

negotiators, among them, "keep your promises" and "the world demands better." participants included bill mckibben from 350.org, kumi naidoo, and asad rehman. democracy now! was there as dipti bhatnagar of friends of the earth international kicked off the protest. >> what do we want? >> climate justice! >> when we want it? >> now! at the text look and it is completely unacceptable. it is going to burn our planet and drown our pacific balance, so we got together to make a noise to say this is unacceptable. >> mic check! failed us leaders again.

not faile people will our people. dead people in -- record floods in the u.k., record floods in the west coast of the u.s., record floods in the maldives. we have no time to waste. we need action now. and we know who is blocking it, the biggest fossil fuel companies on earth. we know that x online. we know that because they lied, people died. we are not when you take it anymore. it is about climate justice. it is about justice for women. it is about justice for the whole of humanity. people cannot commit to an atmospheric temperature that is well below -- >> i am from st. lucia.

for us in the caribbean, this is very critical. he really is a matter of life-and-death. we had very small low-lying islands. we're already beginning to see very dramatic impact from climate change. for us, as citizens of the caribbean, this is life and death. ♪ >> i come from peru. we are part of the most honorable countries -- vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change. we're not talking about 1.5 to survive, we're talking about 1.5 to maybe have a chance at surviving. because we are already dying. that every to demand

single country take action. however, some countries need to take more action because they have polluted our atmosphere for 200 years. and their wealth is based upon our poverty. >> county what you want, what you really, really want. tell me what you need, what you really, really need. >> we need emission cuts by developed countries. we need finance. we need technology transfer. we need developed countries to do their fair share now. [applause] we think our leaders for the good speeches, but we want to assure them, we want to tell them, good speeches without action will not put food on the table of the most vulnerable.

speeches will not stop the drought. speeches will not stop the floods without action. let them tell them what they have done to fix the situation. do you put fire on some of his house and give them a loan to rebuild it? this injustice is a ready happening. people in africa are losing their farms, people losing their animals. do they do anything to deserve this? we are not begging for aid. we need compensation for the .amages that are being caused remember, if there is injustice anywhere, it is a threat to justice everywhere. -- thatmore luther king is martin luther king. lack of urgency in london,

paris, washington -- we're under the same threat. how long can we wait? >> mic check! the security is here to send us away. >> they are not deciding how to tackle climate change. they are deciding who lives and who dies! not let them decide! >> i am with 350.org. hundreds -- it seems like almost 1000 people are marching out of the conference center, heading

down the main pathway of cop21 to really show that civil society is mobilizing in the last 48-hour's. the latest draft text came out and every thing is to let the fight for here in paris to make sure we get a strong signal we're looking for out of the talks. coordinatorgeneral -- bolivia. when the draft can, one of the issues we were most worried about is that it doesn't address gender inequality. as women, we're the ones who worry about our daily living. we're the ones that sustain our life at home. so it doubles our clothes. where we used to find food is no longer there. where we used to find resources is no longer there. it has contributed, making women more vulnerable. >> i am from fiji. i am representing women from the pacific arms. >> palestine is affected by climate change.

water shortage and high temperatures during summer and low temperatures during the winter. the occupation increases the situation worse because we cannot manage our water resources. >> i come from peru, one of the most avoidable countries to -- vulnerable countries to climate change. we are covered by the amazon rain forest which is extremely fragile. is extremely interdependent. any change of the environment affects the entire ecosystem. we have to begin to record dies we are not separate from nature, we depend on nature. it is the butterfly effect. a change in the amazon rain forest in one part of the changesat a basic level temperatures, change and drought, center cap can have drastic impact on the rest of the world. , now name is yeb sanyo leader of the people's pilgrimage. this action demonstrates that

despite the fact we have been excluded, our voices and a lot of our issues and things we care about have not been included in this draft text. we will continue our journey. we will continue standing up for what is right and beyond paris come all of us will be going back to our communities, building resilient communities who can stand up, produce food renewables and build and clean energy and our communities. we will do what needs to be done because we are tired of waiting for world leaders to act on the climate crisis. amy: for my chief philippines climate negotiator yeb sano speaking at a protest against the draft agreement inside cop21 last night along with hundreds of others. yeb sano walked more than 900 miles from rome to cop21 in paris to call for climate justice. crew for thanks to our that report. when we come back, we will be

joined by some of the people at that protest and more. stay with us. we're live from paris, france, at cop21, the u.n. climate summit. back in a moment wil. ♪ [music break]

amy: indigenous people from the lummi nation of washington state singing, "the eagle song," here in paris tuesday. the lummi are fighting construction of a massive coal terminal on sacred grounds. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting live from the 21st climate change summit in paris, france, where negotiators from nearly 200 nations are in the final stretch of negotiations. the text is nearly -- has nearly 100 outstanding points of disagreement that still need to be resolved. one of the most contentious issues is the role that wealthy and more advanced developing countries should play in helping

vulnerable nations cope with the impacts of climate change. another is whether the final text will include the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius over pre-industrial levels. to make sense of where the talks stand, we are joined by three guests. antonia juhasz is a journalist here in paris covering cop21 for newsweek. we're also joined by kumi naidoo , executive director of greenpeace international. and asad rehman is the head of international climate for friends of the earth. kumi, you are there last night. why did you gather, hundreds of people saying no to the draft paris accords? >> there are so many loopholes in that draft text, you can fly air force one through it. i mean, the bottom line is, it

is lacking in ambition. it has lots of options which might give a false sense of complacency, lots to fight for. but importantly, i think we should acknowledge that everybody was participating in the climate process over the pascoe love years can take some comfort from the fact that 1.5 as a goal is alive still, he would not have been there had it not been for the activism that we are seeing around the world. however, at 1.5, if it is not backed up with a long-term goal of how we phase out fossil fuels by 2050, the commitments that governments have made in terms of emissions, when you add it all up, it is taking us to 3.7 degrees world. know, it justyou doesn't add up to the level of ambition and a sense of urgency that we need to see. the bottom line is, i would say the fingerprint of the fossil fuel industry is in far too any

places on this draft text. amy: like where? >> basically, in trying to push the dates for decarbonization beyond 2050, because you see, they want that so they can go into false of fuel burning over the next -- fossil fuel burning over the next couple of decades. right now the science is clear, extreme weather events are telling us that we're running out of time. lives are being lost now. we saw what happened. we're seeing huge devastations in the philippines on an ongoing basis. the continent in africa is suffering. quite frankly, there is a big responsible before developed countries. and i feel -- and this is not comfortable to say -- if london, paris, washington, brussels were facing as urgent the situation that we are facing in the developing parts of the world, i don't think we would be having such a struggle to get the kind

of ambition that we need and the goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2050. amy: are you saying there is racism involved? >> people can draw whatever they want from that. there is no person that -- i've used the term climate apartheid before. i said it is uncomfortable, the way -- the biggest historical responsibility lies is not were the first most brutal impact is been received. the democracy of that is clear. a nickel you were an activist inid africa. >> they need understand nature does not negotiate. they cannot change the signs, just political work. what is at stake is not some ethereal thing called a planet, this is our fight for our children and their children's futures. there is absolutely no sense of intergenerational urgency other than a few nice words which is

of total disconnect between what the heads of state said in the first two days of the talks and how the conversations have proceeded in the negotiations. amy: you said you could drive u.s. air force one through the loopholes. are you suggesting the u.s. is involved with stopping any kind of actual meaningful accord? rate the waye to the u.s. behaved in copenhagen and how they're behaving here, there is an improvement overall, but there are many things, like on loss and damage, the u.s. is the biggest blocker in terms of ensuring poor countries who do not contribute to the problem are facing devastating impacts, and are saying, we need support, we need compensation, we need insurance. and the u.s. -- they're are the biggest blocker. amy: so the u.s. is saying no? i want to go to u.s. secretary say john kerry announcing plans to double funding the united states plans to help developed

just developing countries adapt to climate change to around $860 million u.s. dollars a year. >> i am pleased to announce today the united states is committing to double our public grant-based adaptation investments by the year 2020. and we are -- [applause] prepared to do our part and we will not leave the most vulnerable nations among us to quite literally weather the storm alone. amy: that as secretary of state john kerry yesterday as we were broadcasting the show. a doubling of funding, is that right, antonia juhasz? >> this is staying consistent with the same plan the u.s. was already on, but making announcement it is a doubling of the commitment. it is good there is this money on the table, of course, but it is not a doubling of what the u.s. had a ready land -- it is the same plan we had coming into the cop. amy: asad rehman, you're

particularly critical of this on loss and damage, especially on the united states, these climate change negotiations are hardly being covered. when you say loss and damage, what that means in real terms. >> that means the support for the most vulnerable, the poorest people who are really losing their lives and livelihoods that are going to do with ever-increasing climate impacts mostly because of the responsibility of rich, developed countries. grown in part rich from carbon. we see the biggest conflict. now you have the united states, backed by the european union, saying we actually support loss and damage as long as loss and damage doesn't mean that we have to provide support for those most vulnerable. we're saying there willing to accept the words, but put a caveat in there no longer responsible, and we see the same thing on the 1.5 degree target. rich, developed countries have never had any indication that it was support such a meaningful target are saying they supported, but without

delivering any of the ambition that is needed now, not tomorrow . the same with climate finance. amy: say what you mean by climate finance. >> rich countries have a legal -- it is illegal as well as a wall obligation, to help poor countries deal with existing climate impact and be able to grow cleanly. we are living in a deeply unequal world where poor countries are still struggling with many of the challenges of rising poverty. rich countries are responsible for this crisis have taken on a legal obligation. what is happening is those rich countries now want to shift the burden of responsibility from the rich to the poor, so they to put a cap to the poor. that is what is being fought over. many people talk about president obama's legacy in terms of climate change. imports like, the legacy will leave as a poison chalice to the poor, to make them pay for the impacts of climate change. i'd also much difference between the united states now and the united states and copenhagen.

amy: weight, the poison chalice to the poor. explain what you mean about what the u.s. role is here and around the issue overall of climate change. >> the united states is primarily the bad guy. they are keeping an alliance of countries together, mainly the rich, developed countries. they brought on the european union with them. they are trying to rewrite the legal rules. amy: i want to clarify a big news headline that came out yesterday, there is the high ambition group that was kept under wraps, secret for six months. they unveiled themselves in the last few days. over 100 of the world's countries, led by the united states. >> smoke and mirrors. high ambition alliance of countries who have got no ambition. the united states, which is 1/5 fit of its fair share, the european union doing 1/5 of its fair share.

how they can call themselves high emission alliance, what this really is is about trying to shift lame. if we go back to copenhagen, we knew the blame then was on india. now it is on india -- china. now the blame is on china. amy: so on the issue of who is in the coalition and who is not, china and india are not in this coalition? >> no. what the united states has managed to do -- look, this is geopolitics. we're talking about one of the must-have for countries in the world. it is managed to get people to sign up to a paper agreement. it doesn't mean anything. in reality, what we saw in what we saw last night is everything will developing country, now the, very strongly saying attempt by the united states to rewrite the legal rules, to rip up the legal protection. what we're talking about the protection to the poor, the most vulnerable, and the poor countries around the world. they want to rip up that protection and take the responsibility of that pollution and put it onto the poor.

that was rejected by developing countries. in the next 36 hours, what we're going to see is either a lowering of expectations, bullying and bribing a poor countries to shift the blame. in reality, there is a crime scene, but the criminal is the united states. amy: antonia juhasz, you have written of article four newsweek "suicidal tendencies: how saudi , arabia could kill the cop21 negotiations in paris." you see a another fourth-year. >> this is not to say saudi arabia to the exclusion of other governments, the united states for example, but that -- amy: of course saudi arabia is an ally of the united states. >> and saudi arabia is playing a key role in trying to do real the negotiations. that, of course, not particularly surprising, the world's largest producer of oil, 16% of the world's reserves from also a country that 90% of its export income comes from oil, this is clearly a very significant issue for saudi arabia.

and they are using their influence among the arab group, among the gulf cooperation council in the negotiations themselves to put up roadblocks, slow things down, water things down, make it so it is not as meaningful of an agreement that it needs to be. amy: just to explain the reason it matters, i mean, it is not surprising that large oil-producing nation would be opposed to limits on greenhouse gas emissions. but the u.n. works by consensus. why saudi arabia has so much, like the united states, power here to block? >> well, it is an interesting form of consensus. consensus that tends to only be utilized when it's large powers that are offering a block. anis -- i would call it informal consensus process. there is the ability for large powers to put in wedges. on the 1.5 degrees in particular, saudi arabia leading

the arab group has taken a stand against the 1.5 and is adamant against the 1.5. saudi arabia has also taken a stand against the emerging economies putting up more money to pay for all of the needs that we have heard articulated so that -- trying to get china and india and others to put up more money. saudi arabia has used that point as a place to say, well, if we're not what it do that and until you take that off the table, we are also not going to look at putting in long term goals. we're not going to look at these critically important reviews of everyone's climate plans that ideally are supposed to start happening right away and after five years they said that is to be off the table. and these are very important watering down -- wondering down is too weak of a word. severely weakening what could come out of the agreement. but there is an interplay between these powers, right? so

this is a negotiation and they're using each other to take things off the table that they don't want to have on the table. amy: you point out in your piece that saudi arabia has its own cop 21 facebook and twitter pages featuring a photograph of solar panels in the desert. they deny human connected climate change. i'm not talking about the republican presidential candidates in the u.s., but the saudi delegation. they are accepting that now? >> i was a within the delegation, there's a tremendous amount of awareness about the severity of climate change and it impact on their country and the region, which is actually why i entitled the piece "suicidal tendencies." you can't ignore the dramatic increases in heat, dust storms, sea level rise -- amy: report that just cannot and the gulf states, you will not be able to stay outside for more than a few hours soon. >> and the impact of that on conflict is something that is felt very real within the delegation and within this group.

however, they will say that and they will also say we can't get off of this resource and they will also say, we are investing in alternative energies, submitted our plan, looking at renewables. when i asked a representative what that means, which is the saudi oil company, i was told, yes, we are investing in alternative energy and that will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, but that is for domestic energy consumption so we are able to produce more oil to export. amy: and this deal that amnesty international said was made about dropping language, the u.s. dropping language around gender equity and human rights and saudi arabia dropping it on occupied peoples that the u.s. did not want? do you know about this? >> i did not about this deal being reached. this is important paragraph about establishing within the meaningful portion of the text, so i don't know if this is moved

into the preamble. a lot of it was about keeping it in the arbor bowling which, article two. one of the things that happened was it was moved into a preamble, which makes it not legally binding, women's rights, indigenous rights. saudi arabia had -- not that most of us would disagree it is an important thing, but to put it in as a poison pill to keep the united states and israel from the able to include this paragraph. amy: from wanting to include. >> from wanting to include the paragraph. amy: kumi naidoo, you are at a session calling for people to take to the streets, that the real action want take place inside the cop but outside? we are in a state of emergency right now appears, france. the day after the u.n. climate ends, so people are defying that? >> it is important to note that most in civil society never said the road to paris, we always said the road through paris. we know that many of our

governments are heavily controlled and influenced by the interests of oil and gas companies. indc,w that so-called were the targets have come up, was way below what we needed. we have always said that come the day after the cop, the struggle continues, that we have to fight the struggles. it is going to need these will disobedience. it is going to need investigation. i'm pleased to say today in the philippines, the philippine human rights commission has formally started an investigation against 60 of the top carbon companies in the world with the view of litigating for the impact of the people in the philippines have experienced. we have to go after not just the oil, coal, and gas companies, but the very funding institutions, banks and hedge funds and so on that actually

find these companies. so we announced today a coalition of organizations is going to intensify our resistance moving forward, and that in the course of next year, we're going to see massive civil disobedience around coal plants, oil pipelines, on various fossil fuels. amy: and the issue legally of forcing polluters to pay, asad rehman? >> i think there are two issues here. first of all, folders have to pay. the biggest polluters our countries. corporations are not created -- they're not political entities, we create them and their regulated by our states. so the key question is also a that we have to be careful, but we're not just talking about corporations but our governments because it is our governments that have the legal and moral responsibility. what we don't want to get into is corporations thinking they can continue to pollute as long as they pay a fine. we've seen that with the tobacco

industry and other industries as well. what we need to see is regulation, deep cuts, emission cuts, and a move away from our pollution, including dirty energy. can i just come back on the one interesting thing about the human rights issue is, the united states is not rectified any human rights statute. so it is also using as a poison pill to try to divide developing countries. what we're seeing is a real big game of dividing and try to pick up -- we've heard it time and time again. the poorest countries are being run, captors are being told you have to blame other developing countries. we are being set up for an argument about survival versus development. in reality, which a be having a conversation about the rich elites pattern of consumption and the last i'll against the majority of the world. this is the 1% versus the 99% plus of any go i want to thank you for being with us. we will be here tomorrow

covering the end of the cop, though it may not in tomorrow. asad rehman efforts of europe, kumi naidoo of greenpeace, and antonia juhasz, a journalist covering the cop for newsweek. we will link to her piece, "suicidal tendencies" as well as all of the position papers that groups have been putting out. i will be speaking in paris friday night at 9:00 p.m. at "the place to be." the talk will also be livestreamed. for information, go to democracynow.org as well as our full coverage of this global meeting, you can 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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