>> hello and welcome to global 3000. now take a deep breath because today we head to nairobi, where air pollution is a big problem. kenya is gearing up to switch to electric mobility. viva la revolucion? not quite. as cuba tries to modernize, women are still fighting for gender equality. and all that glitters is not gold. sometimes, it's mica. in india, ild mine collect a mineral widely used in cosmetics.cellphones anc

devices all contain cobalt, coltan and gold, metals that are often extracted in some of the world's orest regions and conflict zones under hazardous conditions. one million children between the ages of five and 17 are forced to work in these mineral mines, according to the organisation stop child labour. on average, they earn less than two dollars a day mining raw materials for a sector that sees revenues totalling 700 billion dollars a year. the global mineral industry is booming. but the poor and vulnerable are paying the price. >> komal devi and her five-year-old son raju turn the eartin search of mica. the glittering mineral plays a tal role ithis regn's onomy. for many people, mining the raw material is the only way to surve. children working for hours i

the blistering sun. in the indian state of jharkhand, it's nothing out of the ordinary. >> my children are so young, but there's no other way of making a living here. there's no farming, nothing. i can't affordo send tm to school. they have to help me. they manage two to two-and-a-half kilos a day. we work until 5:00 in the evening. >> the used to be more than 700 official mica mines in northern india. but in 1980, a new law came into force banning deforestation. that made it almost impossible to access new sources of the mineral. the companies left, but the mines remained. today, some 50,000 adults and children work here illegally. almost all the workers are dalits, who occupy the lowest rung in the indian caste systems tribes w are sociay margalized. because there's little in the way of industry in the area, people are reliant on the mine a kilogr of mica c bring the

equivalent of upo 20 euroicents. way of industry in the area, but ofn, they receive just half of that. thplatelets e then cutntoal in largevaing sizes.s. this is how it enters the market. thword 'ca' descris a oup of nurally ourring silicate materials that are rigid,et at the same time elastic. it's an el conductor. many industries use the mineral in huge quantitiesmong them, r a few years ago, anna-maria jäger and her husband kai founded their company, lethal cosmetics. the jägers stress that all the ingredients the firm uses are vegan and ethically sourced. in other words, they guarantee no animal testing was involved in production and no child

labor. one of the key raw materials lethal cosmetics uses is mica. some oit comes from india. >> here we have three different types of mica. this is for example a very sparkly version, which also has a duo chromatic effect to it. and what is great about this is that it's very sparkly, but it's completely natural and free from plastics. >> the jägers can't imagine making their cosmetics without mica. that's why they decided to hand-pick their supplier in india. they chose a distributor who was able to provide assurances that his mica only comes from mines that don't use child labor. although in the sector, it's often difficult to determine where the material originated. >> the key to that is having supply chains that are as short as possible. because if you are buying from a

distributor, who is buying from another distributor, then it becomes very transparent where things come from. with our supplier, it's one supplier that is also the manufacturer that also works directly with the mines that also does the audits of the mines and has them independently audited as well. and that is where we gain that confidence. >> mica is used in a wide range of applications. the biggest buyer in 2015 in terms of market value was the electronics industry followed by companies that added the mineral to paints and lacquers. mica also finds widespread use in the construction industry. and of course, it plays an important role in the cosmetics sector. every day, komal devi and her son toil away to help satisfy the global hunger for mica. they never have any problems selling what they've collected to one of many traders.

if they receive 150 rupees, a little under two eos, then 's a gooday, she says. that'snough to buy some vegebles and re. but for that, everyone has to pitch inncluding bh her >> i'm always afraid when i'm working that i'll be bitten by insects or snakes, or that i'll fall into a pit. >> i'd really like to go to school, but we need money. we don't even have our own house. so i have to collect mica. >> an unambiguous law has been in place in india since 2016. no child under the age of 14 is allowed to work. but the government itself concedes that around 12 million children and young people are doing just that. aid organizations estimate there are around 44 million child laborers in india. it's thought that around 22,000 children are working in illegal mines in the states of jharkhand anbiha many othem have ver known

life without work. because of their size, they're often made to crawl into freshly dug, unsecured pits and shafts. >> i'm always afraid when i'm looking for mica. not long ago over there, two or three children of my age wer buried in one of the shafts, and ey died. i want to go to school. i don't want this. ♪ >> for companies that work with mica products, it's a perpetual balancing act between marketing and morals, business and conscience. at lethal cosmetics in berlin, the jägers are trying to tackle the issue head-on. wherever possible, they want to know exactly where their raw materials are coming from. they also don't try to conceal

from their customers that they use mica. >> there's entire regions of india that are financially dependent on mica. and so if you replace it with something, for example something that's synthetic you are basically taking away their livelihoods. and so i think it's absolutely within our responsibility. of course, it's also within the responsibility of everybody in the chain to make sure that it's produced anas well.d ethically >> the cosmetics industry is very secretive when it comes to mica. 2017 saw the launch of the responsible mica initiative, an alliance of companies obtaining mica from india. they all say they have a clear goal, to end child labor in the mines by 2022. but an interview on the subject to camera? all of our request iluding those sent to big industry names like merck, the clarins group and groupe rocher were turned down.

if you ask the miners of jharkhand how to solve the problem, they say genuine change can only come if mining is once again officially allowed. because that's the only way to offer woers clear fety andards and a fair wage. then their children wouldn't have to work. some politicians have been demanding e reintrodtion of official ming for a long time. >> child labor can only be abolished if the government legalizes the mines and companies assume responsibility. companies could then join forces to create cooperatives. r the children, we need a sufficnt number of public scols, free education, free meals and basic amenities to enable them to lead a better life. >> but nothing is changing. the system, turning a blind eye on a ctor that kes a lot money from mica and the children forced to work with it. this young man, a child larer himself just a few years ago, is in dpair.

>> you can see that all the labore here are giving their swt and blood. they arereaking their bones. what kind of life is this? thgovernment can't just look the other way. don't we deserve better than this? >>oving north to nepal, this week's global team lives in the capital, kathmandu. ♪ >> i am 17 yea old. i ve here inepal, kamandu. ♪

>>y fatheruns a neral shop there, 10 minutes wa from here, and my mother is a housekeeper. i wento be a denst. i want to generaze oral healthcare in the rural areas of nepal. i want to help them. i love reading bks, and sides, irite. ibut then, the vorite thing is reading books. the internet tells me that hunger is the biggest glob

problem. and i think it is. we can see kids starving and th we waste od in here. thatoes not make sense, does it? ♪ >> i have a lot better life than my grandparents. they didn't have accs to all e faciliti we have n, like electricity. it was not generalized back then, but it is now. ♪ >> change might be underway in nepal, but 14,000 kilometers away in the caribbean, progress in cuba is happening at a slower pace. in many ways, the country is still culturally and socially isolated the legacy of the cuban

, revolution. when communist revolutionary fidel castro took power in 1959, he nationalized industries and seized u.s. owned property worth $1 billion. in 1960, the us retaliated with a trade embargo that remains in place today. many cubans are unhappy with the low standard of living and restrictions on travel and opt to leave if they can. socialism has given women education, employment, and in theory, equal rights. but they still contend with patriarchal attitudes shaped by the revolution. cuban society remains staunchly sexiest, a place where it's far from easy for a woman to assert her individuality. >> ana lyem is made of stern stuff. she runs a tattoo

parlor, one of just a few in cuba, a country that's still deeply chauvinistic. >> when i started out, customers would come in and then leave again when they saw i was a woman. >> almost all the equipment she uses was brought in to cuba from overseas by friends due to its lack of availability here. ana's studio is in a legal limbo. private businesses require the approval of the communist authorities. zenit-tattoo doesn't have an official license, but it's tolerated. >> we're defending a way of life. my idea was to create a space where people can meet, exchange ideas, feel good and come back. it's not just about tattoos. >> ana belongs to a generation of get-up-and-go young women who want to see their country change not neccessarily by becoming

more western in a consumer sense, but by granting people more freedom to explore their individuality and their passions and interests. >> all people need is something to eat and a roof over their head. and then we talk about social constraints and taxes and what people can buy. the only thing no one talks about even though it's what should be talked about is love. >> zenit-tattoo is an exciting place and has been profiled in garbos, an online magazine run by women. it specializes in fashion, the arts in popular culture, -- arts and popular culture, making it one of a kind. >> we need to show what young people are up to because they have less scope than previous generations.

they have less scope to show what they're doing, even though they're currently writing cuban history. >> to many outsiders, havanna has a ragged but romantic image -- romantic image, a place of fading glory, where time has stood still. but it also has pockets of progress, where young cubans are striding into the future with confidence and a sense of purpose. and they want the world to know. cuba now has access to the internet and while it may be sluggish and expensive, it's having a huge impact. >> we know what's happening in the world. it's torn down barriers, created a bridge across the ocean that surrounds us. there is an explosion of creativity. it's like a jolt of electricity. >> yaya guerrero has also been profiled in garbos. she is a

surfer, another male-dominated domain here in cuba. >> guys told me to surf somewhere else so i wouldn't steal their waves. i see myself as a strong woman. i can be very determined when i set out to do something. i don't stop until i've succeeded. >> there's not much of a surf scene in cuba. yaya has been detained and questioned by police all too often. >> they thought i was going to get on my surfboard and head to the u.s. >> when she is not out mastering the waves, yaya runs surfing classes for children from poor backgrounds and especially enjoys working with girls. start -- the 36-year-old doesn't make any money with her mentoring and has yet to get any state support.

but for her, that's not the point. >> i do it because i enjoy it. i do it because it's what i love and i want to share it with others. i don't need to be paid. >> meanwhile, ana lyem has got some bad news. the lease on her beloved studio is not going to be renewed. but ana won't let herself be miserable for long. onwards and upwards. >> i will open a new studio, a new baby somewhere else. >> the winds of change are blowing in havana thanks to the many young women challenging the

patriarchy and living their own individual cuban way. >> this week in our series global ideas, we venture out onto the chaotic streets of nairobi. 60 percent of the global population now lives in cities, and nairobi has 4.5 million inhabitants, twice as many as 20 ars ago. traffic s badle city's air quality, and carbon emsions contue to riserom year to year. our reporter thomas hal met some of the entrepreneurs pioneering a switch to electric mobility. >> it's still early when leroy maina heads into the poverty-stricken districts o nairobi deliver fresh produce. it is pourg with rai which isnusual at is time year. but climate change is affecting kenya's noal weather patterns.

leroy gets around on a solar-powered cargo e-bike. >> a full battery charge osuch a dacan do youp to 60 kilometers. and on a sunny day, a battery charge can take you up to 100 kilometers. , the pane give you an extra rangwhen it isunny. >> theike can reh a speed 40 kilometers an hour even when it'sarryg a heavy ad. the solar panel on the roof protts leroy fm the rain and thbattery kes chargi even in this kind of weather. leroy works for a local company foods to street food vendors in it smostly impoverishedd staple neighbourhds using stainable sources ofenewable ergy. >> we want to be sustainable. that is the number one driver,

but also, we want to be economically sustainab, so that we arable to pruce produc that are affordableor our customers, who are mainly the poor and in order to do that , we find itore efficit to use een energy e solar bis that we e, we n't pay anfuel forhem and theyre able carry me , we find itore efficit to cao compar to a morbike. >> the electric cargo bike was developed by t start-up lar e-cycles. the general manager is confident that affordable, solar-powered electric vehicles have a future in africa. >> sustainable mobility is wonderful because it is good for the environment, especially in kenya and africa, where our population will grow massively over the next 20 to 30 years. so the envonmental ce is a ry strong se that always have to ma. >> the number of vehicles driving on gasoline or diesel is on t rise infrican cits, worsing air poution and increasing carbon emissions. the unitedations envonment

progmme unep itherefore promotn africa and also in asia. it's working on the introduction of ectric two and three eelers. climate change, is the transport sector and the biggest polluter, when it comes to health, is the transport sector, and within the transport sector, these old dirty motorbikes are one of the biggest polluters. so we want to replace them completely with zero-emission motorcycles like this one. >> in kenya, some 80 percent of the electricity in the count solaand windower and dergeothermalnergy.es such a ideal coitions f e-mobilit and ye there areust 300 electric mopeds on the busy streets of the kenyan capital. the in obstaclto emobili in ken is inadeqte infrastructure. and for car drivers, the battery rangis too limited plus, ere are haly any

arging stions. >> f electricars to be mastream, peopleay, we nee arge, fast chaers. but r fast crgers toe established, we need electric cars. so there must be that group of people that is willing to take this firstisk. >> kenyan company knights energy sells imported electric cars and also installs solar charging stions. thbattery nge of 1 kiloters is ough to t arou nairobi long journeyin ruralreas would be another matter. there is demand for electric vehicles in conservation areas, for exple, and wdlife rerves such ol pajetafour hours north of nairobi. this land cruiser used to be gas driven, but it's been retrofitted with an super quiet electric engine, a major

advantage here in the savannah. >> what i like about it is the silence. when you are driving close to the animals, animals don't hear it, so they don't get disturbed. we can approach the animals and we can stop, observe the animals, you move without stting unlike the other vehies that usfuel. u have to rn the enge on, turn o, and that disturbs the animals. kenya with 40 employees ands tinstalls electric engines inps rs and motorbikes and soon, buses too. electrobility habenefi not on for the eironment, t also f the ecomy here cording opibus coounder lip lövsom.

>>oing forward, we will more a more tords manufacting in deer and make kenyanto the acal epercentl hub for eltrican vehiclesn this rion and can ve away om importing these vecles. ving theehicles manufacted he makes se we canave an easier w of acceptinthe vehicles that means we have aigger spreadf these hies and that mea we can ve fastea sustnable trsport syem. for the te being ateast thou, electricehicles rein something of a niche market in kenya. a lot of ground will have to be coverebefore thego mainstream and the air quality in nairobi improves. >> that's it for this week. thanks for joining us.

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11/20/20 11/20/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> because you all have done the work, you got us a seat at the table. we have worked with the biden administration to secure commitment on a $2 trillion climate plan. $2 trillion. but we are not going to stop there. we are not going to stop with a piece of paper. that is