>> this is dw news lie from berlin. -- live from berlin. the u.n. climate summit opens in madrid. >> three want to be remembered as the generation that did nothing while the planet burns? >> the u.n. secretary-general said it is either that or semi-earth -- saving the earth

through climate performance by 2050. a storm makes landfall packing winds of 75 kilometeters per hours.s. and china moves to track cell phone users triggering new privacy fears. a new law requires everyone registering new sim cars 24 -- tim cards to first submit to a facial scan. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers, welcome. two weeks to save the future. that is how many are describing the u.n. climate change conference starting today in madrid. delegates from 200 countries have begun to weeks of meetings amid a growing sense of crisis. u.n. secretary general antonio guterres is calling for bold action, warning the world risks passing the point of no return. negotiators have been tasked

with ironing out the rules for implanting that historic 2015 paris climate agreement -- implanting -- implementing, and which countries agreed to limit global warming to under two degrees celsius from the average of preindustrial times. the united states is also represented. president donald trump has pulled his country out of t the paris agrereement but that does not take effect until late next year. >> we are, indeed, still in. unfortunately, we are having to fight our way through a bit of a blockade by the fossil fuel industry. but that will not prevail. and the america that you know, the america of leadership, the america of progress, the america of confidence, the america of clean and green energy, people like secretary kerry and president obama's work at the original paris cop, is

something we should all reflect on here today. that america will be back. and a speaker pelosi said, yes, we are still in. >> that was senator sheldon whitehouse at the u.n. climate conference in madrid. i am joined now by dr. quentin lejeune a researcher at climate analytics here in berlin. when you see the u.s. senator speaking, do you believe that the u.s., the world's biggest economy and one of the world's biggest leaders, is going to do what is needed to mid gate climate change? >> good evening first and thank you for having me. the united states is obviously a special case. they have agreed that they want to pull out of the paris agreement. but at the same time, donald trump has said or stated that he wanted to boost the coal industry in the u.s.. what we see actually on the ground is the opposite.

so, in the united states, we have seen a retreat and the coal fired power generation over the last years. brent: so there is progress being made? >> there is progress being made despite what donald trump announces and what u.s. official policies are. unfortunately, obviously, that makes a difference if u.s. official policies would actually be supportive of the paris agreement. brent: if all of the countries that promise to do so complied with the paris agreement, would that be enough to slow and stop global warming? >> so, there is, it is quite simple what needs to be done to stop little warming. you just need to -- to stop global warming. you just need to bring carbon emissions to net zero. unfortunately countries are not on track to the -- to do that. if current pledges of omissions

productions were implanted, climate action tracker actually says we would head to plus three degrees and 2100, which is a beastly way more than the 1.5 degrees that the paris agreement stated. brent: going into the conference in madrid, are you more optimistic then you are after paris in 2015, or more pessimistic? >> you know, the political momentum, the international player clement tim incontext was definitely more -- international momentum incontext was more enencouraging back then. that is why we had the agreement . we live in a critical moment where he still have a window of opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and to be in line with the 1.5 degree scenario. what needs to be done now is that globally, carbon emissions need to peak in the next years,

if not 2020. then we need to have carbon missions globally to reach net zero carbon emissions around 2050. brent: please standby, we will come back to you. we want to take a look at one region feeling the direct effects of climate change and doing something about it. the seychelles is an island chain off the coast of africa threatened by rising sea levels. they have destruction of local marine life. the low-lying nation north of madagascar is enacting policicis they hope will serve as an example to others. take a look. >> over 300,000 people a year had to the seychelles to enjoy a holiday in paradise. the vast array of corals, fish and other marine life in this running ocean is breathtaking. but this entire ecosystem is under threat from climate change. the presidedent of the seychells

calllled for urgenent action ane took in the ocean floor earlier this year in a submersible vehicle. >> scientist have spoken. politicians around the world, the time has come for us to act. i will be a strong ambassador and a strong advocate for rain protection around the world. >> the most alarming problem for the seychelles waters is rising temperatures. warmer seas have bleached many coral reefs, damaging areas of natural beauty. fofor a a country that relies os fishing anand tourism industrie, the impending disaster could cost many people their jobs. >> we are the least response will for the problems of climate change. yet we are vulnerable. in fact, it were different, the fight would have been different. >> the seychelles is working on a solution. a government led initiative is

turning one third of the country's territorial waters, an area the size of germany, into protected zones. thesese zoneses stretchching oum the countries inner islands and all deborah group islands aim to limit group -- limit human activity and make marine life more resilient. marine scientists from the diversity of oxford and an institute have been examining the seychelles waters. >> there was incredible diversity and abundance of fish, incredibly in protected areas like all deborah which says marine protected areas do work when they're put into place. >> the seychelles is aiming to become a model for rain protection around the world in an effort to slow the effects of climate change. president is hoping other countries will take notice. >> we all know that we have a problem. what is needed is response of global action -- responsible global action. and there is no time for a blame game. >> the seychelles and its

president are already seeing the effects of comic change. they do not want discussion, they want action -- of climate change. brent: there is a realistic possibility that the seychelles could appear in our lifetime. what should leaders from small countries like this are on the front lines of clement change, what should they be expect from the big economic powers in the next few weeks inn madrid? >> so there are several things that will be debated in madrid. one thing is that it will-two complete discussions on the paris rulebook, set rules to implement the paris agreement, should be agreed upon. discussions and a set of rules for arc at six, the market mechanisms to do that -- article six. this comes when you're before 2020, a crucial year in climate

action. it is the year when we should see an missions peak -- we should see omissions -- emissions 1.5 degrees scenario. that paris agreement has ratchet mechanisms which say in 2020, we should see the punishment -- the commitments of countries to reduce their emissions be ratcheted up. this means these country should submit new, more ambitious commitments. brent: ambition is the key word. we will see what happens over the next two weeks. and deftly by 2021. thank you. -- and definitely by 2021. from the climate to the weather, and the philippines, the powerful typhoon kammuri has made landfall with winds of more than one hunter 75 kilometers per hour.

the typhoon knocked out power in several provinces. manila's international airport is due to suspend operations in the coming hour is more t than 200,000 people have fled to safety. -- 175 kph. >> with wind and rain getting stronger, coastal residents ran for shelter and battened down the hatches. as typhoon kammuri approached, anything that could be blown away, needed to be stowed away. with the help of the military, these families packed up and fled. they did not know what if tens of thousands of people on the island of lausanne have been evacuated to makeshift shelters like this. volunteers prepared a packages for those displaced. the typhoon is on course to

disturb the philippine games. organizers say they are ready for whatever comes. some are asking if we will make an extension and i said no. there's always a solution. >> but for many coastal residents, the only solutions is to get to shelter and wait out the storm and hope for the best. brent: here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. aa new wavavof flooding in southern france killed at least five people. three of the victims were rescuers who died when their helicopter crashed near marseille. the country's mediterranean coast faced heavy rain over the last few weeks leading to serious floods and transport disruptions. hundreds of women have taken to the streets in the iraqi city of basra to show solidarity with antigovernment protests. elsewhere in the country. it is the first protest led by women. it follows the resignation of

the prime minister at the weekend. german defense minister annegrette kramp karrenbauer annegrette kramp karrenbauer ,, also known as akk started her first visit to afghanistan. she is calling for germany's mandate in the country saying a lot of work still needed to secure afghanistan. germany has 1300 troops in the country. their mandate is currently due to and in march. -- two and in march. -- to end i in march. romanian sees a spike in verse by six arian section -- bites a syrian -- by cesaerean section. critics blame doctors. the social democrats in germany elected to new leaders chronicle of the partnership with the chancellor's conservatives. they indicate they want to see major changes, raising the prospect of the coalition

collapsing, potentially causing either an early election or a minority government. >> sus cap nexen -- the newly chosen leaders of the social democrats. will there election mean the end of germany's coalition government? the results of the spd poll came as a surprise, as did the clear margin of victory. the new leaders to be want to make your own m mark and chart their own course for the party. they want to renegotiate -- they want to open rate negotiations with chancellor merkel on government policies. >> it is about -- it is the responsibility for social democrats to make agreements for the lower and medium earners. time and again we see clauses in our contract with the cdu not in their best interest. that has to change. >> the conservatives are willing to talk with the spd but say renegotiate in parts of the coalition agreement is not an option. >> the chancellor is

fundamentally prepared to cooperate and that is the way it should be in a coalition. she is willing to talk, as is usual in a coalition. >> talk, yes, but we cannot renegotiate the coalition agreement. incidentally, that would also involve the spd discussing it all first with the rank-and-file. >> opposition greens say berlin is headed toward a government crisis. >> the spd has to clear this up this week. do they want to govern this country, yes or no? you cannot govern if your answer is maybe. >> the spd has v veered left. what this means for the german governmentnt should become clear over the coming days. brent: dw's chief political correspondent melinda crane can guide us through this. is this a crisis? >> it is a shock. and it is certainly a crisis for the spd, has seen its share of crises over the last couple of years.

whether it is a crisis for the government and for the country as a whole does depend on a couple of different factors. factor number one. what happens at the social democrats party conference on friday? they do have to confirm this new leadership duo. it seems pretty clear that they well. but that is still one very -- va riable. to prevent that party conference from becoming a yes-no referendum on whether the government stays in power, whether the spd leaves the government, the new leaders have said they do not, in fact, want to immediately precipitously leave the government. what they do want is to renegotiate the coalition agreement. meanwhile, however, spokesman for the government have said the cdu is not about to agree to that. so both angela merkel's spokesperson and also, as we heard, kramp karrenbauer

the conservative party later, have said that is not going to happen. so this could become a crisis in slow motion. we will see the two governing coalition partners negotiating with each other, i think. the cdu has said it is open to that. if they cannot come to agreement, that would presumably lead to the spd leaving the government. then, the option would be either early elections or, as you mentioned, possibly a minority government, led by the conservatives. not a very stable option many people in germany what certainly not prefer to see that happen. brent: and it certainly is a dent in the armor of german stability within the european union. the timing is not good, is it? we are preparing for breaks at and a lot of other challenges for europe. melinda: right, one example of that. the other rival candidate for party leadership was the current finance minister the governing coalition, schultz, highly

regarded by many people in germany, but not obviously within his own party because he did not win the referendum. that means he now goes into crucially meetings this week, to some degree discredited and with a lot of questions being raised about the stability of this very important economy. the issues of instability are not only at eu level. also here, do medically, in germany, we have a somewhat -- domestically in germany we have a volatile situation with the afd reading down the next of a conservatives saying they very much want to be part of government. -- breathing down the next of -- necks of conservatives. if it is largely now going to spend months working on whether or not the two partners can stay together, that does not augur well for the stability of this very important country. brent: our chief political

correspondent melinda crane with the story here in berlin. thank you. here are some of the other stories making headlines. ukraine's president zelensky denied any quid pro quo deal with the u.s. president to investigate donald trump splitter arrival joe biden -- donald trump's political rival joe bididen. zezelensky said he doess not --d not understand the allegations concerning his july phone call with trump. those allegations are at the center of the impeachment inquiry concerning the u.s. president. china says u.s. naval ships and military aircraft will no longer be allowed to stop in hong kong. beijing has announced sanctions against several american ngos. the retaliatory measures come after the united states passed legislation last week backing pro-democracy protesters in hong kong. we stay in china with the question, what you have to do to get a new phone number?

beijing put into effect relations that require people in the country to have their faces scanned. -- new regulations. this is ingenious even if it is sinister. talk to me about this. what exactly is happening? >> this is part of a broader push by the chinese government to make it increasingly hard for people to stay anonymous online and off-line as well. a sickly, if you want to get a sim card for your phone, phone number to make your phone works, you have to involuntarily surrender your identity. this is a huge deal because, obviously everybody wants a phone. it is almost impossible to live in chinana without one. everything is sort of link to your online app. facial recognition technologogys being increasingly used for every thing in china as well. the technology is being used to pray in shopsnd supermamarkets. it is becoming increasingly

difficult to use cash in many cities. so a alongside that, china is setting up a social credit system to keep score of its citizen and stores that in the database that will be linked up to this facial recognition technology. this technology was used extensively or is used in chin zhang province to crackdown on the muslim population in that area. this is now being rolled out across the country. at the same time, china's aggressively expanding its use of cctv cameras. brent: you think would be enough to give your address when he wants a new phone number. >> this is taking it to a new level. the cctv cameras, they want 620 6 million across the country by next year. that is one for every two people. -- 626 million next year. brent: are people in the country worried about this? >> that's had a lot of foreign

criticism and human rights watch have come out condemning it. but within c china, criticism hs been at a murmur. most of the criticism has been at the use of ththe data and commercial intnterests. who will l pick get targeted by from this data? the reason from -- the reason for lack of criticism i is probably to prompt. there's not much of a platform for people to be critical in china or even debate these issues. second, it is being sold as a positive thing for china that china is a technological global leader, which it is. anand people largely agree with that. brent: it is hard to know what public opinion is in china. should we be worried about this? we are talking about a country with a billion people? >> exactly. the human rights issues are apparent and really clear. closer to home of a perhaps, this technology is been used elsewhere. in serbia, hundreds of wally made cctv cameras -- huawei

cameras are being installed around belgrade. nobody knows what the data is being used for. the u.s. has been very critical in particular saying that the company is being used as a backdoor by the chinese government to surveyor or spine. -- or spy. brent: it gives new meaning to the phrase i have your number. four out of five newborns in some hospitals are being delivered by cesarean section. critics say is because of corruption in the health service. doctors make more money from c-sections than natural births >> . when this child goes on the slide, his father is there to catch him. his mother can only watchch. because of the c-sections he had when she gave birth to him. that nearly killed her. >> the doctor decided to take

the c-section and i do know what has happened, at some thing has happened. because a week after the surgery, i had four surgeries. >> ever since my wela started talking to the press about her experience, many women have contacted her to share their stories. doctors often insist on performing said syrian -- cesaeriansns. although the operation went badly, the doctor insisted she give him the traditional cash gift. he showed up after hours after drinking. >> you need cash to get into t e hospital, this is how it is. >> and natural l birth costs 300 euros. for a cesarean you have to slip the doctor up to 1000 euros. at the clinic, no one wanted to be interviewed. here, like everywhere in romania, the government has raised salaries for medical personnel over the last year.

but still, 80% of births are cesareans. irina popescu as a midwife who has too mt papatients in a café if you wans to explain the advantages of natural birth. she lost her job in a clilick after contracting doctors who insisted on a c-section. -- her job in a clinic. >> i'm sure it will be lower. because i know my doctor and my doctor knows me and he knows my medical l file. they do not feel safe. >> bribery is so common in romania's medical system, that the government is clapping down and auditing facilities more. even the health minister admits it is not enough. >> recently, we had to close a birth station because of the risk of infection. the employees were against it. it was right before christmas. they had 60 cesareansns lined up and needed the money.

this child is not a why his mother cannot pick him up. but she is glad she can at least kiss him. it means she survived. brent: to sports news now. i bet you know this. the top woman's rocker player in the world is american megan rapinoe. the prestigious palm door awards -- palm d'or awards this evening. she took it buildable honors -- individual honors and for team awards. she furthered her status as a feminist icon and credit of -- and critic of u.s. president donald trump. as temperatures in the northern hemisphere drop, let me take you to hawaii. or temperatures and cloudless

skies are perfect for the top servers in the world. they have been taking part in van's workup of surfing. this is veteran kelly slater who last won the e event 21 years ago. he is still at it. this ride, despite the wipeout, helped put him into the fourth round and in contention for the title one more time. i do not think the age when they serve. -- when they surf. stick around, we will be right back. ♪

two hundred fonts twenty four correspondents around the world. be able to see watching fronts twenty full life in paris hi marco in these living world news headlines. francis paid its last respects to the thirteen soldiers who were killed in mali each received a poststhumous relational donnana france's highest honor. french president on american spoke of that sacrifice in the face of terrorism and in the eugene mac ansett freedom. often alas has the taste of spoke about. the us president is to snub the impeachment hearings against him. white house lawyers citing a lack of fence in the proceedings the set to the side of trump will face a full on trial in congress