12/12/19 12/12/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amamy: from the u.n. climate summit in madrid, spain, this is democracy now! close e and j just three weeks,e wiwill enter a new decade. a decade that willl define our futurere. right now we e are desperate for any sign of hope. well, i am telling you, there is

hope. i have seen .. from thees nonot come governments or corporations. it comes from the people. amy: 16-year-old swedish climate activist greta thunberg addresses world leaders here in madrid just hours before being named time's person of the year. we'll hear her full u.n. addrdress. just hours after greta's speech, hundreds of climate activists are ushered out of the conference center by police. >> this is exactly what has been happening across the world. we have been shut out and we have not been heard. we, the people, havave been kept out by the very polluters who drive this crisis are kept in. amy: we'll hear voices from the speak with vanessa nakate, the first fridays for future climate striker in uganda. then we look at ground zero of the climate crisis, the marshall islands.

>> we e have been totold that ie wawant to stay in our islaland,e and to adapt t and e elevate with migration as the only plan b. we are having to deal with these issues that we in the first place -- amy: we will also speak to poet kathy jetnil kijiner of the marshall islands. she is the daughter of the president of the marshall islands. all that and more, coming up. amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the u.n. climate summit in madrid, spain. the european commission has proposed a sweeping new plan to address the climate crisis. the european green deal would be

the biggest overhaul of european policy since the foundation of the modern european union syststem. system. this is eu commission president ursula von der leyen. >> we do not have all of the answers yet. today is the start of a journey. but this is europe's man on the moon moment. amy: the european green deal would seek to have europe become the first t climate-neutral continent by 2050. it would also seek to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 202030. european leaders are discussing the emissions goals at a summit in brussels today. environmentalists here at cop25 in madrid, spain, welcomed the plan but said it does not go far enough in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. this is greenpeace campaigner martin kaiser. >> the new green deal proposed by the commission today is not

adequate to the climate emergency we see already in europe. amy: back in the united states, justice department inspector general michael horowitz testified before the senate judiciary committee wednesday, where he reiterated his report's key finding that the fbi's opening of an investigation into president trump's 2016 campaign aides was not politically motivated. during the hearing, republican lawmakers slammed the fbi over the myriad errors the report revealed about the fbi's process of seeking approval to surveil former trump campaign adviser carter page. these applications were filed to the secret fisa court created by the foreign intelligence surveillance act. civil liberty experts have long warned of the court's unaccountable and secretive nature for approving domestic surveillance, especially against muslims. this is justice department

inspector general michael horowitz. we outline here, are deeply concerned that so many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate hand-picked investigative teams on one e of the most sensitive fbi investigations after the matter had been briefed to the highest levels within the information sought through the pfizer so closely related to it ongoing presidential campaign and even those involved with the investigation new directions would likely be subjected to close scrutiny. amy: inspector general michael horowitz also pushed back on attorney general william barr's statement monday claiming the fbi should not have opened the 2016 investigation in the first place. in west africa, over 70 troops were killed on an attack on a military camp in niger near the border with mali. it's the deadliest attack on the nigerien military in recent history. no one has taken responsibility for the attack so far, but

islamist militants have carried out a string of attacks across the sahel region in west africa so far this year. the attack came only days before a planned security summit in france between the presidents of france, niger, and four other west african leaders. the summit has now been postponed. france has at least 4500 troops deployed to the sahel region. in algeria, massss demonstratios rocked the country wednesday, as protesters demanded the cancellation of today's national election to replace algeria's longtime president abdelaziz bouteflika, who was forced from power by a mass uprising in april. >> i won't vote because these elections themselves are of a trail.l. everyone who vote is committed of the trail against arkham -- country. the same people and tools and expect a different result. amy: extremely low turnout at

the polls is expected today amid widespread calls to boycott thte election, with demonstrators saying that all the candidates are part of algeria's long-ruling elite. on tuesday, two previous prime ministers were convicted and sentenced to prison over a corruption scandal that also ensnared other top government officials and businessmen. in britain, voters are also heading to the polls today for a defining national election, which pits conservative prime minister b boris johnson against labour party leader jeremy corbyn. at stake in the election is the future of britain's public health system and how to handle brexit -- britain's plan to leave the european union. at the hague, burma's dede facto leader aung san suu kyi is attempting to defend the burmese military from charges of genocide against muslilim rohingyas at the u.n. international court of justice. the burmese military killed and raped thousands of rohingya andd forced more than 700,000 to flee

into neighboring bangladh inin a brutal army crackdkdown in 2017. during aung san suu kyi's speech, she never said the word rohingya and she claimed that no genocide had taken place. >> gambia has placed before the court from incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation and root kind states. yet it is of the utmost importance the court assess thte situation on the ground dispassionately and accurately. aung san suu kyi is a nobel peace prize winner who was placed under house arrest for 15 years while campaigning against burmese military rule. she is now defending that same military, while it continues to hold vast power in burma. this is rohingya refugee shamsul alam speaking from bangladesh after watching aung san suu kyi's speech at the hague.

>> suu kyi was in jail. she is afraid of that jail, so she is lying to stay in power. she is lying to the court. we are crying in pain. we call upon t the u.n. and all nations to please help get justice from this genocide. amy:y: in india, the upper house of parliament has passeded the highly controversial c citizensp amendment bill, widely known as the anti-muslim bill. the legislation provides a path to citizenship for immigrants from a afghaninistan, bangnglad, and pakistan -- unless they are muslim. the bill is part of indian prime minister narendra modi's right-wing hindu nationalist agenda, and many say it's a major step toward the official marginalization of india's 200 million muslims. the indian union muslim league is petitioning india's supreme court to declare the bill unconstitutional. widespread protests against the bill have swept across parts of india this week, especially in the northeast.

the government has deployed the army to the northeastern state of assam. this is binoy viswam, a leader of the communist party of india, speaeaking from new delhlhi. >> not o only our party, nonot y the lefts, the whole country. because that is legislation, the basic constitution. amy: thehe knesset has dissolved and the country is headed towards its third national election i in a year after prime minister benjamin netanyahu and rival benny gantz both failed to form a governing coalition. the election will be held on march 2. the political chaos in israel comes as netanyahu is facing charges in thrhree criminal corruption cases. in france, workers are vowing to continue their strike after french prime minister edouard philippe gave a televised address outlining the proposed pension overhaul.

philippe claimed the legal retirement age would remain 62, although, the proposed change would effectively raise the retirement age to 64 for all people born after 1974. union leaders called the raising of the retirement age a "red line" and many rail lines and schools remain shuttered today amid mass protests. police unions have also join the -- also joined the strike, which now stretches into its second week. here in madrid, spain, at cop25, the u.n. climate summit, hundreds of activists gathered wednesday outside the conference's main plenary halls to demand rich countries take more drastic action to address the climate crisis. activists report being pushed and forced out of the building by police and u.n. security. more than 300 protesters had -- were forced outside in a number had their credentials removed.

we'll have a full report on yesterday's protests later in the broadcast. disgraced hollywood mogul harvey weinstein and the board of his now-bankrupt company have reached a tentative $25 million settlement with dozens of women who have accused him of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. the deal would not require weinstein to admit any wrongdoing, nor would weinstein have to pay any of his own money to the dozens of actresses and female employees who have accused him of serial rape and sexual harassment. weinstein is also facing criminal sexual assault charges in new york and is scheduled to attend court in early january. the federal trade commission has reached the largest-ever settlement with a for-profit college, the university of phoenix, over charges of deceptive advertising and marketing false job opportunities to students. the university's record $191 million settlement will include canceling $141 million in

student debt. ftc member rohit chopra said -- "today's action against university of phoenix and future actions against scam schools will set the stage for canceling more student debt." president trump signed a highly controversial executive order wednesday aimed at cracking down on the growing boycott divestment, and sanctions movement, known as bds. the global nonviolent movement seeks to pressure the israeli government over its treatment of palestinians. trump's executive order will direct federal agencies to adopt a new definition of anti-semitism to include criticisms of israel, and then to penalize college campuses and universities that allow for conversations and debate about the israeli government. many prominent american jewish groups oppose the executive order, even though it claims to protect jews amid rising anti-semitism worldwide. the jewish group j street said

the order is designed to have a "chilling effect on free speech." group said this executive order is more about the administration support for israel than to protect americanjews. immigrations and custom enforcement has attempted to issue fines as large as $500,000 against immigrants who take an sanctuary churches across the country to avoid deportation. ice sent letters to seven immigrants threatening them with fines and criminal prosecution after he tried issue fines last summer but had to revoke them will step in attorney at free migration project working with some of the sanctuary leaders said the fines are unconstitutional because they restrict freedom of speech and violate the religious freedom restoration act. and in jersey city, new jersey,

hundreds of people gatherered wednesday night to mourn victims of tuesday's shooting, which authorities are calling g a hate crime. authorities say the shootout began when two suspects killed a authorities say e e shootoutut bebegan whenen two suspects kila police officer and then fled to a kosher supermarket where a gun battle with police unfolded. the alleged assailants were linked to the black hebrew israelite movement, described as a hate group by the southern poverty law center. the shootout left six people dead and follows a pair of deadly attacks at u.s. synagogues within the past 14 months, including the 2018 attack at tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh that claimed 11 lives. there the alleged shooter cited president trump's language when saying the synagogogue supported the hispanic invaders. 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 inside the united nations climate change conference here in madrid, spain, where 16-year-old swedish climate activist greta thunberg addressed world leaders on she spoke just hours after wednesday. being named time magazine's person of the year. >> months ago, i did not speak to anyone unless i had to. but then i found a reason to speak. sincnce then, i have given many speeches and learned that when you tatalk in public, you should start with something personalalr emotional to get everyonone's attention. say thingsgs like, "our house es on f fire, i wananted to panic,r how dare you." but today i will not do that because then those phrases are all that people focus on.

they don't remembmber the facts, the very reason why i say those things in the first place, we no longnger have timeme to leave ot the science. for about a year, i have been constantly talking about our rapidly declining carbon budgets overer and over again. but since that is stilill being ignored, i will just keep repeating it. in chapter two, on page 108 in the e sr 1.5 ipcc report that te out lalast year, it t says thatf we ought to have a 6% to 7% chance of f limiting the globall temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees celsius, we had on january 1, 2018, 420 g gigatonsf left t to emit in t that budgd.

and of course, that number is much lower today as we emit about 42 gigatons of co2 every year, incncluding land use. with today's emissions levels, that remaining budget will be that r remaining budget wiwill e gonene within about eight yeara. ththese numbmbers aren't anyones opinionsns or political views. this is the current best available science. though many scscntists suguggest these figures are too moderate, these are the onones that have been accepted through the ipcc, and please n note that these figures are global and therefore do not say anything about the aspect of equity, which is absolutely essential to make the paris agreement to work on a global scale. [applause] that means that richer countries needed to do their fair share ad get down to real zero emissions much faster and then help poorer

cocountries do the same, so peoe in less rtrtunate partrts of the world can raise their living standards. these numbers also don't include most feedback loops, nonlinear titipping points, or a additionl warming hidden by toxic air pollution. most models assume, however, that future generations will somehow be able to suck hundreds of billions of tons of co2 out of the air with technologies that do not exist in the scale required and maybe never will. the approximate 6% to 7% chance budget is the one with the highest odds given by the ipcc. and now we have e less than 340 gigatons of co2 left to emit in that budget to share fairly. why is it so important to stay below 1.5 degrees?

because even at one degree, people are dying from the climate crisisis. because that is what the united science calls for to avoid destabilizing the climate so that we have the best possible chance to avoid setting off irreversible chainin reactions susuch as melting glglaciers, pr ice, and thawing arctic permafafrost. every fraction of f a degree matters. so there it is again. this i is my messagege. this is what i want you to focus on. so please tetell me, how d do yu react to these numbers without feeling at least some level of panic? how do you respond to the fact that basically nothing is being done about this without feeling the slightest bit of anger? and how dodo you communicate ths

without sounding alarmist? i would rereally like to knonow. sincnce the paris agreement, global banks have invested 1.9 trillion u.s. dollars in fossil fuels. 10100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions. the g20 countries account for almost 80% of total emissions. the richest 10% of the world's population produce half of our co2 emissisions, while t the pot 50% account for just one tenth. we indeed have some work to do, but some m more than otherers. recently, a handful of rich countries pledged to reduce their emissions of greenhouse

gases by so-and-d-so many percet by this or that date or to become climate neutral or net zero in so-and-so many years. this may sound impressive at first glance, but even though the intentions may be good, this is not leadership. this is not leading. this is misleading because most of these pledges do not t inclue aviation, shipping, and imported anand exported g goods, and consumptption. they do, however, include the possibility of countries to offset their emissions elsewhere. these pledges don't include the immediate yearly reduction rates needed for wealthy countrieses, which is necessary to stay within the remaining tininy budget. zero in 2050 means nothing if high emission continues even for

a few yearars, then the remainig budget will l be gone. withouout seeing theull l pictu, we will not solvlvthis crisisis. finding holistic solutions is should be all about. but instead, it seems to havee turned into some kind of opportunity for countries to nenegotiate loopholes and to avd raising g their ambition. [applause] countries are finding clever ways around having to takeke rel actionon. like double counting emissions reductions and moving their emissions overseas a and walkikg back on their prpromises to increase ambition n or refusingo pay for solutions or loss of -- loss and damage. this has to stop.

what we need is real drastic emission cuts at the source, but of course justst reducing emissionons is not enough. our greenhouse gas emimissions s to stop. to stay below 1.5 degrees,, we need to keep the carbon in the ground. only setting up distant dates and saying thingngs which give e impression of the action is underway will most likely do more harm than good bebecause te changes reququired are still nowhere in sight. the politics needed does not exist today despite what you mighght hear from world leadade. and i still believe that the biggest danger is not inacactio. the real danger is when popoliticians and ceo'o's are mg itit look like r real action is happening when in fact almost

nothing is being done apart frfm clever accouounting and crcreate pr. [applause] i have been fortunate enough to be able to travel around the world. and my experience is that the lack of awareness is the same everywhehere, not the least amongst those elected to lead us. there is no sense of urgency whatsoever. our leaders are not behaving as if we werere in an emergency. in an emergency, you change your in an emergency, you change your behavior. if thehere is a child standing n the middle of the road and cars are coming at full speed, you don't look away because it's too uncomfortable. you immediately run out and rescue that child. and without that sense of

urgency, h how can we, the peope , understand that we are facing a real crisis? and if the people are not fully aware of what is going on, then they will not put pressure on the people in popower to act. and without pressure from the people, our leaders can get away with basically not doing anything -- which is w where we are now. and around and around it goes. in just t three weeks, w we will enter a new decade, a decade that w will define our fututure. right now w we are desperate for any signgn of hope.. well, i am telling you there is hope. i have s seen it. but it does not come from the

governments or corpoporations, t comes frfrom the people. the people who have been unaware but are now starting to wakeke up. and ononce we become a aware, we change. people can chahange. people are r ready for change. and that is the hope becausese e haveve democracy andnd democracs happening all the time. not just on electionon day, but every second and every hour. it is public opipinion that runs the free world. in fact, every great change throroughout history has comomem the people. we do o not have t to wait. we can start the change right now. we, the people. thank you. [applause] amy: that is 16-year-old climate

activist greta thunberg. right after heher address, s scs of yououth activisists rushed te stage as security tried to escort them off. they s stood, immovavable, fists raised in the air,r, chanting, "youan't t drink oil! k keep itn the soil!" theieir final chanant as ty wawd off f e stage was, "we are unstoppable! another world iss possibible!" >> w ware unstoppable! anothther world isis possible! wewe are unstoppppable! anothehr world is p possible! ,,my: outside the u.n. plenaryry we will hehear voices frfrom the protesesthat took place that afternoon and speak w wh ugandad's first t fridayforr fututu climate s stryker. she was thehe on the statage tht

morning anand pushed outside as she protested d with otherers ie afafteoon. we will l be speakining with fue climate striker vanessa nakate. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: orion camero singing during the walkout protest. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. are broadcasting from inside the u.n. climate summit in madrid, spain. just hours after greta thunberg slammed world leaders for ignoring climate science at the plenary on wednesday, and just as time magazine announced she was their choice for person of the year, hundreds of activists gathered to demand rich countries take more drastic action to address the climate crisis. the protest began just as we

were finishing our live broadcast. right now the protesters are walking by us, by tom and karin. security opened up what looks like a large garage door. there holding the front person who has got his hand up in a fist. i know hundreds of people are passing as as they walk out of the cop. it is not clear why they're walking out of the cop. tom, why're doing -- don't you explain. >> there's a possibility they will lose their badges. amy: tom is afraid they will lose their badges if they walk out of the cop. >> shame on you! >> my name is rita walker. i am from nigeria. i represent friends of the earth. want sustainable solutions. we want solutions that connect

the people to the ground. there are different landscapes across the world. people are dying every day for sins they do not commit. we are here to say no more corruption. we want the people's voice to be heard. we want a climate just solution. we don't want capital markets. we want people power solutions. and that is what we are calling on our governments, on cops to listen to the voice of the people. that is why we are here. we will not be coerced. we would like to quickly call on another speaker. her name is angela. >> we are here in solidarity with chile. we are here in solidarity with

the frontline communities. [cheers] people andllions of global south who are facing the worst of the climate crisis. are here because we have not forgotten about them that are present and our future. we are here because we need our governments to listen to us. last week it has been all about profits, carbon markets, that don't respond to the needs of people and nature. if we unite, we can have a president and a future. >> we have one last speaker. she is from the amazon. she is here to share one last thing with all of you here. i am from the ecuadorian

amazon. i am here because our territories are being violated. those industries are causing climate change, polluting our rivers and territory. we are here because we are defending our territory. we are to ending biodiversity and the planet. we are defending the rivers. because you know in each and everyone of us, we have water. we are water. because without the water, we cannot live without our territory, without our soil. matter howive no much money we have. the earth is our mother. we are here to tell the big industries to stop violating our territories, to stop destroying our land. big polluters out, let the people in.

keep polluters out, let the people in. >> this is what will happen. that theydecided don't want us there. de-badging us. how can they! >> i am from malaysia. amy: what happened to your badge? >> they were not happy that i thised to help and join movement. and they were not happy with what i had to say. they took my badge immediately and tried to throw me out most of amy: who open the garage door? >> the unsccc. they were so afraid they wanted to get rid of us as soon as possible. something completely ridiculous. we spent months and months and

months trying to get accreditation, trying to plan out things that happened inside here. they were used to listen to us. that is just blasphemy. amy: why did you go outside? >> we went outside because they forced us out. >> we were cattle by u.n. security. they pushed us outside come out this door, and closed the door behind us. there were people who do not even intend to be part of this. my name is nina. i am from the ecuadorian amazon. we were having this action inside demanding climate justice and action on today's climate crisis. amy: can you tell us why you came here from the ecuadorian amazon? extractive industries are destroying our lands, our communities, violating our women. they are taking away our

children's future. a victim of that violence as a child, and it is really -- it is really painful. indigenous peoples are the ones taking care of these lands and biodiversity and protecting forests, protecting water, yet we are not being listened to. we are not being included in these conversations. we are being lined up to march like animals. with police around us. we should be inside. amy: that was nina, a climate activist from the ecuadorian amazon. 350.org and a coalition of climate activists issued a statement after protesters were ejected by security here at the climate summit saying, "this has never happened before in 25 years of negotiations." after negotiating with unfccc, demonstrators eventually got

their badges back and were allowed to reenter the climate conference today. thursday morning, activists held a news conference to address yesterday's protest. this is jean su with the center for biological diversity. >> instead of listening to us yesterday, there was a heavy-handed crack down upon civil society. hundreds of us were corralled like cattle into a concrete box outside of these premises. and then were m marched in cold without our jajackets for hours. this is exactly what has been happening across the world. we have been shut out and w we have not been heard. we, the people, have been kept out while the very polluters who drive this crisis are kept in. we refused to have that happen. and today we're going to allow for r the people who are sufferg at the front lines to speak about what they are demanding from governmenents. amy: that was jean s su with the

center for biological diversity. well, we're joined now by one of the climate activists who joined yesterday's protest, both in the afternoon, ejected by the u.n. and local -- not clear who the security was -- and who rushed the stage after greta thunberg spoke in solidarity with her, but addressing world leaders with their chants "shame" and "keep the oil in the soil." vanessa nakate is a climate activist. she was uganda's first fridays for future climate striker. thank you for joining us. when did you get involved with the whole climate issue? >> after my school last year. it was a few years before graduation. i wanted to do something that could change the lives of the people in my community and my country. therefore, i started carrying on about the main problems of the people of my country.

i found a number of problems. what strikes me the most is the climate change being a problem because it i is not really taugt in schools so we don't really know it was a challenge to us. so i decided to read more about it and understand its causes and impacts that are making the threat to humanity and the people in my community. when i realized it was s such a bibig threat, i found out ways o bring it to public awareness in my country. that is how i found out about the fridays for future strike. and i decided to start the climate strikes. amy: what was the response in uganda? where was your first strike? >> i actually had four locations because i wanted everyone to know about it. i think it was excitement. so i went to four stages. -- one was in a big mall

. amy: how do people respond? >> people found it very weird that i was on the streets. some of them through negative comments like i was wasting my time and the government will not listen to anything that i have to say. but i just kept going. amy: talk about the effects of the climate crisis specifically in uganda. >> specifically in uganda, the impact due to torrential rains that has destroyed a number of things in my countrtry. it has been raining since september up until now every day. -- these it rains rains arare so heavy, they cause floods that kill people. every time you watch the news, you have to expect to see someone died as a result of the floods. you have to see that people's

homes are being destroyed as a result of floods. this is a crisis to the people in uganda. amy: so you have extreme weather. you have the tororrential rains every day. and then you have the drought. >> yes. there are areas that experience extreme drought. and this is affecting the crop production in those areas. in my country, most people depend on their farms and crops for survival. but with all of the droughts and floods, people are left with no hope for the future. amy: we are at the u.n. there's a lot of u.n. speak. one of them that has been around for a long time -- we talk about food insecurity. but when a kid is hungry, they don't say, mom, i feel food insecure. they say, "i'm hungry." can you talk about how hunger relates to the climate crisis? >> i will give you an example of

my country. my country heavily depends on agriculture. thereforore, most of the people depend on agriculture. so if our farms are destroyed by floods, if the forms -- farms are destroyed and crop production is less, that meaeans the price of food is going to go high. it will only be the most privileged will be able to buy food and they are the biggest emitters in our countries that will be able to survive the crisis of food whereas most of the people who lived in villages and rural communities have trouble getting food because of the high prices. a lack of rain on my country means division and death for the less privilege. amy: vanessa nakate, can you --k about the climate crisis how did the guardian newspaper put it, "why climate change is creating a new generation of child bride"?

>> i will speak about uganda and africa. most of these things happen in the rural communities. as they depend on farms, they don't really have any other hope. so if their only hope is destroyed, that means they are left in total poverty. it is the girl child who suffers the most because when the family has no hope for the future, that means they will have to give away their daughters for like 15 at young ages years old, 16 years old. it is really horrific to see parents give out their children. it is not because they want to. it is because it is the only way of survival. of course, the children do not agree to this. they cry because of it. no 15-year-o-old wants to get .arried to one old man it is these old men who get married to them. this points to the climate crisis. becauseir only hope

their farms and crops are destroyed, they are only left with giving up their daughters for marriage to get something in exchange. amy: can you talk about the media coverage of your climate activism? biased by thes so climate crisis. its focus is in selling news. i have to appreciate if you media that has tried their best to try and cover the activism of people from the global south. but the media, especially the much bigger media, they are so biased. not telling the stories that really matter to people. they keep talking about climate change being a matter of the future, but they forget that people of the global south, it is a matter of now. they have to help us because if they don't report these things, our leadaders won't understand e importance of the strikes were

holding. amy: can you talk about the strike? even yesterday, as hundreds of you gathered here in front of the u.n. climate summit, the plenary session, you were pushed out, ejected by the u.n. security. can you talk about your voices being heard inside this summit and what you demand of countries like the united states, historically largest fossil fuel polluter? >> first of all, i still can't believe we were kicked out. because when you listen to them speak, they keep saying they're very positive of our actions and -- but it doesn't make sense for them to say they are supporting us and then throw us out and leave the very polluters in the building, protecting them instead of us. we are the children and they are the adults. they really contradicted

themselves by saying they support our actions and then throw us out and take away our badges. amy: i want to thank you for being here. i am glad you got your badge back today to be on the show, being able to be inside the summit as well as outside in the streets. as you had back to uganda to continue your climate strike. vanessa nakate is a climate activist. uganda's first fridays for future climate striker. when we come back, we look at ground zero of the climate races -- crisis, the marshall islands. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: women protesters singing during wednesday's demonstration here at the u.n. climate summit after they were rejected from the protest site outside the plenary. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we're broadcasting from inside climate change

conference here in madrid, spain. we turn now to the marshall islands, one of the lowest lying island nations in the world and located in the central pacific ocean between hawaii and the philippines. the marshall islands declared a national climate crisis emergency in october. earlier this week, marshall islands youth activist carlon zackhras addressed global climate negotiators in a youth form here e at the u.n.. sumumm. >> before i came to madadrid, exactly y two weeks ago, ii experienced 6060 foot swells tht forced 200 people frfrom their hohomes. -- we alsodo we have and the d dainty flu neneighbors are fifighting the measleles that took k 70 lives. 3030 of whihich are children unr the age off four.r.

these are illnesses linked to and made worse by climate change. we have e been told that if we want to stay in our island, we .ould have too adadapt and eleve and withth migration as ththe oy plan b. we are having toto deal with the issues that we in the first place did not crereate. and may i remind you, thee marshall islandsds contributiono 0 0001te change is only pepercent t of the world emissi. thisis is why our country is pupushing for social m media campaign c called madad for survival. and we e encourage everyryone to joinin in. my home isis only two metersrs e water.. with the threatsts of climate chanange, we would lose two o ms , our language,e two meters of our legends.

this is why wewe creatated a yoh leaders coalitioion that has to create w ways to find changnge d lot of t them toward our leader. a team of students came up with a a new sustainable design precs wall that our minister of environmnment david paul has shn interest towards. this i is why are you should be more involveved. when you are in trouble, you find new solutions to face it. inin our youth has proven to d o so. this is why i am here. theirresent them a and ideas. to be a part of thee genereratin that i is going to endnd of the fight t against climatate chang. to voice out the reality of thte futurere that the marshall islas is facing. to tell you that we don't want to lose e our only two m meters. thank you.

amy: that is youth activist carlon zackhras. for more on the marshall islands, we're joined now by kathy jetnil-kijiner, poet and climate envoy for the marshall islands here at the climate summit and daughter of the president of the marshall islands. we welcome you to democracy now! ground zero for the climate crisis or catastrophe. and you and the marshall islands have declared a climate emergency. explain. >> we declared a climate crisis this past september before the september climate summit. this really shows that on a national level, we are recognizing how serious of an issue it is for our country and trying to signal that to .he world amy: explain how the climate change affects the marshall islands and how large is this archipelago of islands? >> it is tiny. we are one of the smallest nations on earth. we are only two meters above sea

level. there are no mountains. right now -- amy: how many islands? >> about 64. i dodon't have the exact number. what if you spread across a lot of ocean. it is impacting us in many ways. first off, just two weeks ago before i came here, with 16 foot swells that displaced over 200 people. we are having disease and health outbreaks. we had over 1000 cases of dengue. amy: how does that relate? >> mosquito borne illnesses increase with climate change. these kinds of disease outbreaks will increase as climate change worsens. these are kind of some of the impacts we are saying. we're also developing our national adaptation plan. we're calling it our survival plan. we're are not just looking at mitigation, lowering our co2 emissions in our solar panels. we are looking at changing the entire physical landscape of our island so we can stay above

water. amy: two years ago at the climate summit in germany that was hosted by fiji, we were joined by you and your mother, the president of the marshall islands. i asked her about the legacy of nuclear testing in the south pacific and the marshall islands. >> yeah. >> the legacy of the nuclear theing program brings back colonialism and how the u.s. had colonized the marshall islands. to this day, we're still struggling with the legacy of what they call jellyfish babies. amy: babies without buns. >> they were borne byy women tht were contaminated. we still have people that have not returned to their homelands. 50 years of being displaced from

their homelands. we have isislands ththat were vaporized by the nuclear testing program. thesese islands s belong to peo. so we can never be recovered. so we are still seeking nuclear justice for the people of the marshall islands. this is one of the legacy of this u.s. presence in our country. it seems like we are repeating with the climate change issue same forces from outside being brought to influence or to impact the livelihood of the marshall islands people. amy: that is marshall islands president hilda heine. we are joined by her daughter kathy jetnil kijner. they were together on democracy now! two years ago at the summit in germany. share ayou are a poet, poem with us. >> this one is my latest poem

and it is about the national adaptation plan i told you about. as indigenous people were really routed to the land. having to go about these negotiations and represent our nation, it can be disheartening. it is about that but also about a cultural tradition which is the first birthday where we celebrate our first birthday, the biggest one. it is about how our cultural traditions give us hope and nourish us. children used to diet a higher mortality rate. i telly daughter winds, her, so you want in a nice voice. my nice voice is reserved for meetings. my palm outstretched think i'm here are our problems. legacy is rolling out like multicolored marbles. do not focus on the doom and gloom, they keep saying. we do not want to depress everyone. this is only our survival. i'm instructed to point out the need for funds to build islands move families from -- shovel to

save the concrete just pointing out. so needy. small, underdeveloped countries. i feel myself shrinking in the back of the taxi when a diplomat, limits me. how brave for admitting it so openly. the lure of global negotiations does like the back of a worn spoon. -- a celebratioion, a breath's our gloved hands up like a barbecue chicken, fried fish, scoop potato salad, someone yells for another container. the speaker warbled, child cries. someone shouts your kids are obstructing the view. the dances begin. there is the nice celebration of survival." poetkathy jetnil kijner,

from the marshall islands. as we wrap up come the solution that the marshall islands is engaged with? >> i wanted to make it clear we are not just victims of this kind of process of what is happening. the marshall islands is doing a lot of the forefront. we are one of the first countries to enhance our ndc, renewable energy plan, so rise most of our outer islands. we have also -- we are the chair of the alliance of 48 nations of the most vulnerable nations. a social media campaign while here. we have been going around getting as many countries as we can to join on to say they are enhancing their ndc's. amy: we have to leave it there but we will continue this discussion. kathy jetnil-kijiner, a poet and climate activist from the marshall islands.

congratulations to mike burke and her wife michelle on the birth of their baby boy on international human rights world. welcome to the world. 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!]

narrator: on this episode of "earth focus," the most basic human need is also its most precious commodity. in california's central valley, home to 19% of the food prodtition ththe orld,d,any liveitithoutleanan dnkingg watewwhileat t thedge ofof moroc's ahara reon, rvesting water fm m fog s the potentiatoto deey imimpa a ctuture. [cama focus s ng clicking] [shutterlicking]