♪ amy: from the un climate summit in sharm el sheikh, egypt this is democracy now. >> we have seen so much backsliding of climate action and so much focus on energy security which has driven investments particularly in africa.

europe is treating africa as a gas station. it is absolutely unacceptable. amy: a major split between wealthy nations and the global sound on whether large including nations should be held responsible for causing the climate crisis. we will look at the debate over damage and the state of the cost so far. then, climate collateral. how military spending accelerates climate breakdown. >> they spend 30 times as much on military as they do on climate. rather than providing aid, they are providing weapons and arms to countries like egypt. amy: plus, of the movement to stop a major oil pipeline in

east africa stretching from uganda to tanzania. >> my name is omar elmawi and today i will be speaking about a pipeline that will be impacting people, nature and the climate. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the un climate summit in sharm el-sheikh, egypt. nato representatives held an emergency meeting in brussels today following a deadly blast tuesday on the border with ukraine. ukrainian president volodymyr

zelenskyy initially blamed russia for the missile strike. this is the polis president duda . >> nothing indicates that this was an intentional attack. it was not intentional. it was not a missile targeted at poland. it was not an attack on poland. amy: on tuesday russian forces pounded ukrainian cities and energy facilities causing widespread blackouts in what kyiv reported was the largest missile attack since the start of the nine-month old invasion. earlier in the day, president volodymr zelensky asked g20 members to suprt his peace plan to bring the war to an end. the white house said cia director william burns met with the russian head of foreign intelligence earlier this week and warned against using nuclear weapons, in the highest-level in-person meetings yet between the u.s. and russia.

burns then traveled to kyiv to reaffirm u.s. support for ukraine. meanwhile biden asked congress on tuesday to approve an additional $37.7 billion for ukraine, including for the purchase of weapons. a georgia judge overturned the state's six-week abortion ban tuesday, in a major victory for reproductive justice. the law had previously been blocked in 2019 but went into effect in july after the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. fulton county judge robert burney found the ban was violating the u.s. constitution and supreme court precedent when it was originally enacted in 2019. donald trump announced he will run for president in 2024. he spoke from his mar-a-lago estate in florida. >> in order to make america great again i am announcing my candidacy for president of the

united states. amy: the announcement followed a lackluster performance by republicans in the midterms, including by many high profile candidates trump endorsed. it also comes as the former president is embroiled in multiple investigations. the house committee investigating the january 6 insurrection is considering issuing a contempt of congress referral after trump skipped his deposition monday. meanwhile in new york city, former trump organization cfo allen weisselberg testified tuesday against his former boss. weisselberg said he didn't pay taxes on $1.76 million of personal expenses and received many perks including access to a luxury apartment. trump's businesses are accused of over a dozen counts of fraud and tax evasion by the manhattan district attorney's office.

in washington, d.c. house minority leader kevin mccarthy won the republican nomination for speaker with 188 votes. he will need though to secure a majority, at least 218 votes, in january to become speaker. republicans lack just one seat to take control of the house with gop candidates leading in four of the nine races yet to be called. in other midterm news, senator raphael warnock has sued his home state georgia for forbidding early voting on the saturday before his december 6 runoff with republican challenger herschel walker. in immigration news, a federal judge on tuesday blocked the biden administration from continuing to enforce the trump-era title 42 policy to expel migrants at the u.s.-mexico border without due process. over 2 million migrants have been expelled to mexico since title 42 was first enacted in march 2020. biden officials repeatedly extended the policy even as migrants and advocates

denounced deadly conditions and human rights violations in mexico. tuesday's ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the aclu. in more immigration news, immigrant rights activists in philadelphia are prepared to welcome a group of asylum seekers arriving today on the latest bus sent by republican texas governor greg abbott to sanctuary cities. texas has spent some $20 million to bus over 13,200 asylum seekers to democratic-led cities like chicago and new york, with abbott raising $400,000 in private donations to pay for his anti-immigrant effort. a new classified report by u.s. intelligence officials finds the united arab emirates sought to influence u.s. foreign policy through a variety of legal and illegal means. the revelations, detailed in the washington post, are unusual since investigations of this kind do not typically focus on

allied nations. according to the report, the uae spent more than $154 million on lobbyists since 2016; as well as hundreds of millions on donations to american universities and think tanks that produce policy papers favorable to the emirates. in one of the more damning exposes, the uae hired three former u.s. intelligence and military officials to spy on political dissidents, journalists, and companies, and hack into computers. brazilian president-elect luiz inácio lula da silva addressed cop27 today, declaring, "brazil is back on the world stage". lula called for next year's cop to be held in the amazon, which under the rural of far-right government of jair bolsonaro suffered major deforestation and deregulation of extractive industries as indigenous and environmental leaders were systematically killed and attacked.

meanwhile as high level climate talks continue here at cop27 in sharm el sheikh, egypt, young activists are demanding decisive action from government. this is 11 year-old indian climate activist licypriya kangujam who has been demanding the u.s. and other wealthy nations compensate poorer countries that bear the brunt of the climate crisis. on monday she confronted british environment minister zac goldsmith on the uk government arresting climate activists from just stop oil and other groups as they carry out daily acts of civil disobedience. listen carefully. >> [inaudible] amy: "when are you going to release the climate activists?"

the 11 year-old climate activist licypriya kangujam asks the uk environment minister who then walks away to evade her questions. she later explained why she confronted goldsmith. >> i wish to not be arrested for peaceful protest but also he cannot do anything but i want to ask him why is he a minister if he cannot do anything? why is he in cop27? amy: after our headlines we will spend the rest of the show on the u.n. climate summit. in los angeles, jennifer siebel newsom took to the stand monday and tuesday in harvey weinstein's rape trail. siebel newson, who is a documentary filmmaker and the wife of california governor gavin newsom , says weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005 where he had lured her under the guise of a business meeting. she is the fourth survivor to testify at weinstein's los angeles trial. he was already convicted of rape and criminal

sexual assault in new york in 2020 though he is appealing that case. construction workers at a tesla auto "gigafactory" in austin, texas filed a complaint with the department of labor tuesday, describing unsafe working conditions and wage theft. one whistleblower says their employer provided fake credentials in lieu of giving workers essential training about the job. others say they were not compensated at all or did not receiver earned over time. a worker simply identified as victor told the guardian he and his colleagues were ordered to to keep working in a flooded area that was covered in live wiring, prompting victor to tell his wife, "i'm going to die in this factory." other locations of elon musk's tesla factories have been repeatedly cited for worker rights violations and hazardous conditions. the u.s. labor department has accused a major cleaning company of using child labor on graveyard shifts at

slaughterhouses. the federal agency says packers sanitation services, inc employed at least 31 children, the youngest just 13 years old, at three jbs meat plants in nebraska and minnesota, and that the company likely employs far more children across its 400 other locations. walmart has agreed to a $3.1 billion settlement with state and local governments nationwide, over its role in the devastating opioid epidemic. the deal will need to be approved by 43 states before it can be finalized. as part of the agreement, walmart will have to submit to oversight measures, work to prevent fraudulent prescriptions and flag suspicious ones. earlier this month, cvs and walgreens proposed similar settlements for roughly $5 billion each. over half a million deaths in the u.s. over the past two decades have been linked to opioids, both prescription and illicit. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the u.n. climate summit in sharm el-sheikh, egypt. a major sprint remains between wealthy nations and the global south on what financial responsibility large polluters should take for causing the climate crisis. a group of more than 130 developing nations in china have proposed establishing a loss and damage fund to provide money to countries impacted by the climate crisis but the united states has said it would not support a legal structure that is tied to compensation or liability. to talk more about this we are joined by harjeet singh, head of global political strategy, a global initiative to phase out fossil fuels and support a just transition. we will talk to him in a moment. first i had a chance to walk through the u.n. climate summit

earlier today to get his observations on what is happening. if you can take us into the pavilions where there used to be so many groups set up. this is an expo for the fossil fuel philosophy and companies that climate justice groups are taking on. harjeet: absolutely. we have been coming to the space to fight for climate justice. it is such an important concept. it is a space where we demand that we need to be reducing our consumption. we need to make sure that climate companies do their part. we find it has been turned into an expo and that are more than 600 fossil fuels and's who are selling their products which are fossil fuels will come look at the problem.

this has turned into a place where the problem will get more worse. amy: that was harjeet singh, head of global political strategy at climate action network. he joins us now on our set inside cop27. welcome back to democracynow. before we talk about the corporate capture, give us the latest on the negotiations taking place. it is wednesday. the talks end friday. they often go an extra day. what is happening here? harjeet: thank you so much for having me. always a pleasure to join you here. it is something that developing countries have been demanding. the impacts are everywhere and it is poor and vulnerable people who are seeing their homes being washed away, crops being

destroyed but they are not getting any support from the u.n. climate system and there is no mention of fossil fuels in the text which will come out of this cop which is worrying because after 30 years of fighting, we got fossil fuels mention for the first time in glasgow at cop 26 and now it is a fight to have them back again and many developing countries and some developed countries are demanding mention of all fossil fuels, all oil and gas because the cost of coal which was the case in cop 26 and we have to talk about phasing out in a manner that is fair and finance provided what we have seen climate issues not making progress at all. amy: many people around the world listening to you right now would be very shocked that in

the draft of the final statement of the u.n. climate summit there is no mention of fossil fuels? harjeet: absolutely. when i talk about 600 lobbies moving around in the interest of fossil fuel and government, that is the result. imagine the global energy depend on fossil fuels by 80%. that is not by accident because we did not do enough to move away from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy. they did not even mention oil and gas and that is the reason we are demanding a global framework to fix that big hole in climate policy. that is why the demand for the fossil fuel. if you keep that issue on the sidelines, it will fall off of the table. amy: i want to talk about the fossil fuels treaty. but i want to first turn to the u.s. presidential climate envoy,

john kerry. in september he spoke at a new york times event where he was questioned by a member of the office who happened to be a leading environmental lawyer who helped negotiate the landmark 2015 paris agreement. >> what will you be doing to step up and put money into loss of damage and what will you be doing to stop the inaction on procedural wrangling which the u.s. is at the heart of? you can remove that and established a facility of loss and damage at cop27. the vast majority of developing countries and all i can say is you are bringing a lot to the table and we applaud that but the most important thing is honesty to cop27. mr. kerry: in all honesty the most important thing that we can do is stop and mitigate enough

that we prevent loss and damage. the next thing we can do is help people adapt to the damage already there. you tell me the government and the world that has trillions of dollars because that is what it costs. we are now trying to mobilize the trillions of dollars. i will not take to feeling guilty. amy: that is the u.s. climate envoy john kerry being questioned by her. your response because his position has changed. harjeet: this kind of pressure we have been mounting on the u.s. being the biggest historical emitter and the biggest blocker of loss and damage finance. the reason we are facing loss and damage right now is because of the inaction of the last 30 years led by the united states. the u.s. has blocked every discussion on loss and damage finance which means helping people recover from climate

impacts. the secretary says we cannot achieve it in six weeks and we do not have billions and see billions going to military. we see billions going to bail out banks. we also see billions be made available to fight the covid crisis or even now for the russian war in ukraine. money is available but the u.s. has always blocked money going to people who are suffering from climate change. amy: explain why. explain the difference between loss and damage and john kerry's concerned that that would lead to liability and compensation. harjeet: it is an issue of compensation and liability. at the first of all level, it is. but we come to this phase to have a more cooperative mechanism and heavy principle of solidarity in this space. but the u.s. blocked the mechanism in 2013 for loss

and damage which does mention loss and damage finance but they did not allow the discussion to move forward. they fear that any progress means more litigation. i would argue that if you do not cooperate in the space, you will see more litigation going up. it is like a seesaw. if you provide support, litigation will go down. in any case, they have multiplied because they have not seen sufficient action from the u.s. and developed countries. amy: you have made the argument that if the u.s. got involved with loss and damage, they would be less liable. talk about the lawsuits being brought around the world, sometimes one form or a whole corporation -- one farmer against one corporation.

harjeet: we have seen even the german government taken to court by young activists. we have seen a german company being sued by a peruvian farmer. these cases have multiplied because nothing has progressed in the climate space that is responding to the scale of the crisis. we need the u.s. to be on the table so that we can actually have a more cooperative mechanism to help people who are facing climate emergencies. amy: you represent the fossil fuels nonproliferation treaty. there is a country that has demanded an international treaty like this which would gradually eliminate the use of coal, oil and gas. explain what this is about and how countries are responding from the global south and the biggest polluters like the united states and china.

harjeet: the biggest challenge that we have not mentioned fossil fuels in the paris agreement. no reference to coal, oil and gas. the major cause of the climate crisis we are facing right now is because of the influence of the industry. there is the reality that many developing countries are dependent on fossil fuels. there are millions of workers involved. we need a global plan to phase out fossil fuels in a just and equitable manner. this system is not talking about fossil fuels the way it should be. so we need a global framework in the form of a treaty that complements the pairs agreement and helps people and economies move away from fossil fuels, which are causing multiple crisis, climate crisis, health crisis, even the global energy crisis which is not an energy crisis. it is a fossil fuel crisis.

amy: earlier you took me on a tour of the pavilions. these are places where often you have climate justice groups using stalls as spaces to have conversations about how we move forward with sustainability. she decided that she would not come to the summit because of brainwashing. explain what this pavilion or pavilions all over have become. harjeet: it is painful to see this turning into an expo. that is not the purpose of this conference. we come here to fight for climate justice. there are activists who raise resources to hold polluters to account. you see polluters setting up shops to sell more fossil fuel products. you can see ngo's being squeezed into tiny boxes where they can

talk about the amazing work that they are doing on the ground. you see massive pavilions from government and private companies. amy: we are talking about the large pavilions of opec. harjeet: exactly. civil society does not have those resources to present their work and to make their demands heard. this is where the u.n. secretary general must step in and decide how this place is going to be run. is it going to become an expo? the next cop will happen in dubai which is an expo city. amy: because of the thousands of lobbyists, representatives, the government from the uae to the united states to saudi arabia, the crisis for climate activists

to be here, do you think these cops are absolute -- obsolete or is there even a value no matter how much the fuel costs to get here? harjeet: this space is the only space where we see all countries equal. malawi is as powerful as the you european union. we cannot depend on the seven countries. this is the place where we fight for global justice but this space is being turned into a commercial space and not a space where civil society organizations and developing countries can equally demand human rights and justice and we need to reboot the system to make sure that the u.n. sticks to purpose to march through the

challenges we are facing right now. climate crisis is one of the biggest we are facing at this moment. amy: too low is the only country calling for this fossil fuels nonproliferation treaty. talk about what is happening to these island nations. you have the latest news that they are makina digital rendition of their island relating -- replicating landmarks with rising sea levels threatening to submerge the entire pacific nation. harjeet: they raise their concerns 30 years ago that they need a global response to the crisis but nobody listened to them and when we talk about the

issue of loss and damage, it is exactly that. it is about helping them with those climate impacts. it is because of the desperation that they have seen in the last 30 years. they are doing anything and everything possible to demand justice and climate action and they are not getting adequate support. amy: thank you for being with us, head of global political strategy with climate action network and global initiative to phase out fossil fuels and support a just transition. usually he is in india but today in sharm el-sheikh, egypt where the u.n. climate summit is taking place. next up, climate collateral. how military spending accelerates climate breakdown. stay with us. ♪

amy: the egyptian libyan musician. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we are broadcasting from the u.n. climate summit in sharm el-sheikh, egypt. we turn now to talk about the link between military spending and the climate crisis. a new report by the transnational institute examines how military spending and arms sales not only increase greenhouse gas emissions, but also divert financial resources and attention away from tackling the climate emergency. in a moment we will be joined by two co-authors of the report but

first is a short video produced by the transnational institute. >> i left the cntry in 2017 because the threats faced because of my activism. when i left egypt and came an exil i ft like a tree that you pulled out of the soil. egypt is hosting the world's most important climate hoax. it says a lot about the world's most powerful natio main prioties. thank two huge -- thanks to huge flows of oil, they spent 30 times as much military as

they do on climate finance for the world most climate affected people. rather than providing aid, they are providing weapons and arms to countries like egypt and ever dollar of military ending is also worsening the climate crisis. a militazed nation like egypt and an excavated arms race globally is the objec of climate justice. we cannot allow the experience of egyptians to become the model for how we respond to this climaterisis. climate justi requires democracy, human rights, dignity and de-militarization. requires a world thaputs people before profits and peace before war. amy: that is a video produced by

the transnational institute which has just published the new report "climate collateral: how military spending accelerates climate breakdown." we are joined now by two guests. nick buxton is a researcher at the transnational institute and muhammad al-kashef is an attorney and migration activist living in germany. nick, let's begin with you. lay out the findings of your report that looks into military spending, arms and weapons sales from the world's richest nations and the deep impacts that it has on a countries capacities to address the climate catastrophe the world is facing. nick: thanks for the invitation to be on your show. this report is coming on the back of big discussions at this cop which we just heard about, about the need of thpoorest countries most impacted by climate change thing that we

need finance to adapt to climate change and to deal with the loss and damage. john kerry just kept saying naming me a nation that has trillions of dollars to deal with this. it is basically saying washington is refusing to accept responsibility. what this report shows is that there is trillions of dollars. the richest countries have dedicated $9.45 trillion to military spending in the last eight years between 2013 and 2021. thats 30 times more than they have dedicated to climate finance and they are still not delivering on their promises that were promised way back in 2009. what we are seeing in this

report is that there are resources. the second main finding is that of this military spending, it is tied to a situation that we are creating greenhouse gases with every dollar we spend on the military. that is because the military depends on high levels of use of fossil fuels. the s35 jet, the main fighter jet, uses 500,000 liters of gas per hour. these reports have weapons usually in operation for years. we are creating a situation where the military is contributing to the crisis. the third main finding of the report was looking at what the richest countries are doing in terms of arms sales.

we have found that the richest countries are supplying arms to all 40 of the most climate countries. we are not providing finance for the poorest countries but we are providing arms. the situation of climate instability and in terms of poverty, pple really on the front lines of climate change are providing fuel to the fire providing arms that can lead to conflict. this is the complete opposite of climate justice. amy: can you talk about the armed forces and fuel consumption? nick: every report just came out a couple of days ago which has been estimating how much the military contributes toward emissions. the world's military contributes

5.5% of the total emissions of greenhouse gas emissions. it was considered -- if it were considered a country, it would come fourth after russia in terms of how much emissions it produces. it is a substantial contribution to the problem. the 5.5% is double what is produced by aviation. what is really shocking is that within the u.n. system it not properly counted. it is one of the few bodies and organs that does not have to report all of its emissions. that was because the u.s. under the clinton administration carved out an exemption for the pentagon. in 2015 it was watered down so they can report it but it is

still voluntary and we still have a very incomplete picture of how many emissions are produced. this is one of the key demand that is being raised at cop 26. we were doing estimates that it is a really significant player but it is crucial that it becomes mandatory for the military to provide and to show all of their emissions, not just of their equipment, but the supply chains, the arms sales because we know that these systems are high users of fossil fuels and embedded in the system that is protecting the fossil fuel economy globally for a long time. amy: i want to bring muhammad al-kashef into this conversation. egypt is the third largest importer of weapons in the world. one of dozens of countries that

has received more and more military aid, arms, and weapons from the united states, from the european union, as well as other rich nations. how much has this contribute not only to pollution and the climate crisis in the country and the world, but also to serious human rights violations committed by the egyptian military? muhammad: thank you. actually, egypt has spent nearly $50 billion on weapons since 2014 soon after the military returned to power. since 2017 it has been one of the top five arms importing countries. in the last three years it has rained as the third -- it has ranked as the third.

in two major deals egypt made around 5.2 billion euros in 2015 and 4.4 billion euros in 2021. it is a situation that egypt is facing and the egyptian people struggle with since 2015 but also we talk about the human rights situation and the situation inside the country itself, this country is shaped and controlled by every level of the military. it also controls a large sector of the economy and the open spaces. i am sure now that cop27 should

not rely on egypt and luckily there is a civic space that the people are still leaving in egypt can speak loudly to the outer world. unfortunately, arms deals and all of the money info, if egypt can get the international support that gives them the power to crack down on civil society to give over reports, more than 60,000 prisoners being detained, we have seen just one figure, one political prisoner who got support and who is lucky to have some people talking for him and we see how the egyptian

state actually response to such demands. that is what we are seeing. the war and european member states, the usa and even russia, all of them closing their eyes of the violations happening inside egypt because of all of the interest. amy: kashef, if you can talk more about where we are right now, you are in germany, we are in egypt, and about what this place represents. for many, they do not even have a sense that they are in egypt. it is such a different place, so isolated. muhammad: egypt is not isolated.

egypt is in the middle of everything. amy: i am in sharm el-sheikh, egypt. muhammad: it does not reflect the situation in cairo. sharm el-sheikh is just a part of heaven if we want to discuss that. it is crazy because there is no transparency, no democratic process. to invite all of these people to sharm el-sheikh and let them enjoy their time in such, i would say this is not just green washing, but also a big lie. amy: you are also a major advocate for refugees. can you talk about climate refugees? the same rich nations that are

creating conditions that cause people to flee, preventing them from coming to the fossil fuel-emitting nations. muhammad: it is a closed-circuit. the big states are spending more money and too much dollars on arms and we see the military and how it affects the climate. refugees are leaving their home and their countries to find a better place to live, to find someplace that istillivable. the state's spending resources

to correct the situation and to fix the crisis, no. the states are spending more and more money o militarization and militarizing the border and border security and that is actually really sad because we see the crisis is kind of affecting us all. we need really to find a solution, to find a better solution. what we see in africa now is also going to the mediterranean because in the mediterranean, big sector of fishermen, a big sector of communities are losing their source of affordable living. what we are witnessing in pakistan and what is happening, this is all an impact ofur wrong policies. amy: i want to thank you both

for being with us. we will link your reports. muhammad al-kashef is an attorney and immigration activists speaking to us from germany. nick buxton from a researcher at the transnational institute. they are co-authors of "climate collateral: how military spending accelerates climate breakdown." also co-author of "the secure and dispossessed: how the military is shaping a climate change world." next, the movement to stop a major oil pipeline in east africa stretching from uganda to tanzania. back in 30 seconds. ♪

amy: this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we are broadcasting from the un climate summit in sharm el sheikh, egypt. we end today's show looking at a movement to stop a major oil pipeline in east africa to connect uganda's lake albert oilfields to the port of tanga

in tanzania. key financial backers of the 900-mile east african crude oil pipeline include french company total and the china national offshore oil company. environmental groups have fought the project for years warning it will have a devastating impact on the region and produce vast greenhouse gas emissions. one group recently described the project as a "mid-zed carbon bomb." to talk about eacop we are joined by omar elmawi. he is the leader of the campaign coordinator of the stop east african crude oil pipeline eacop campaign. talk about this pipeline. for a global audience, who is behind it? omar: thank you for inviting me.

this is a pipeline which will be the longest pipeline to be able to take the oil that was discovered in 2006 in uganda all the way to tanzania and taken to an international market to be utilized. it is a project that is strongly being opposed by people in uganda and the whole world because it is going to be displacing over 100,000 people in east africa and it is also going to be causing a lot of impacts to one of the biggest biodiversity sectors. it is also a carbon bomb because it will be emitting tons of fuel every year for the next 20 years that it will be operational. amy: how is total and this

chinese company having the authority to build this? omar: the way they proposed this project is is if uganda is coveg the oil, it is a costly process and they do not have the money to

welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. we begin with breaking news out of the united states. abc news is projecting republicans will take control of the house of representatives for the first time in four years. that means there will be a split congress. the senate has already been declared for joe biden's democrats. abc news says republicans will capture at least 218 seats in the house and regain control.