12/05/23 12/05/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from the u.n. climate summit in dubai in the united arab emirates, this is democracy now! >> the wounded and patients are on the floor. there is no lifesaving health service in the hospitals in the southern gaza strip.

hospitals have totally collapsed. amy: the death toll in gaza is nearing 16,000 as israel intensifies its ground and air assault. the world health organization is warning there are no safe zones left in gaza. we will get the latest then look at the link between war and the climate crisis. >> there is a correlation between militaries ending ammunitions, the more you spend on the big-ticket military equipment, the more military emissions. amy: then for the 2500 fossil fuel lobbyists here at the u.n. climate summit in dubai, that is almost more than any other delegation. >> fossil fuel lobbyists should not be here. >> the presence of the fossil fuel industry at the negotiations shows the moral bankruptcy of the fossil fuel industry.

>> there is more of them here because they know the age of coming to an end. it must come to an end. 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 u.n. climate summit here in dubai in the united arab emirates. the world health organization says the situation in gaza is worsening by the hour as israel's military lays siege to hospitals and intensifies its assault on areas it previously ordered civilians to flee to. the death toll from the israeli bombardment is approaching 16,000, with thousands more

believed to be trapped under the rubble. 26 of gaza's 35 hospitals are now out of service. in the north, israeli tanks encircled kamal adwan hospital and began shelling the medical complex. doctors say israeli snipers are firing on anyone attempting to leave. images from the hospital's courtyard show bodies swaddled in white sheets lined up in rows after medical staff were unable to bury the dead. in southern gaza, an intense israeli assault on the city of khan younis has left hospitals overrun. this is ibrahim esbeitan, whose two-month-old son was injured in an israeli airstrike monday. >> they told us to leave gaza city. so we left the north and came to the south like they asked. this is what we found in the south. this is my son.

he was born on the second day of the war and we have not been able to register his birth yet. amy: as he spoke, ibrahim esbeitan gestured to his infant son, who lay motionless while medical workers connected him to an oxygen supply. unicef, the united nations children's fund, has called gaza the "most dangerous place in the world to be a child." more than three-quarters of gaza's population is displaced with some 2 million people forced into a 90 square mile area in the south, which israel is actively bombing. among the dead is sofyan taya, president of the islamic university of gaza and a renowned researcher in physics and applied mathematics. taya was killed along with his family in an israeli airstrike saturday in jabalia, just north of gaza city. on monday, israel cut phone and internet access across gaza for the fourth time, plunging most of gaza's residents into another

total communications blackout. this comes as israeli attacks continue to kill journalists at an unprecedented pace. on friday, montaser al-sawaf, a freelance journalist working for the turkish andalou agency, was killed along with his brother and other relatives in an israeli air strike on his home. al-sawaf reportedly bled to death after no ambulances were available to save him. the committee to protect journalists says at least 56 palestinian media workers have been killed by israeli forces since october 7. in washington, d.c., state department spokesperson matthew miller said monday it was too soon to judge whether israel has been doing enough to protect civilians in gaza. miller was challenged by veteran palestinian journalist said arikat. >> you don't think israel intentionally -- >> i've not seen evidence they

are intentionally -- we believe are too many civilians have been killed. again, this goes back to the underlying problem of this entire situation which is hamas has embedded itself inside civilian homes, mosques, schools, churches. it is hamas putting these civilians in harm's way. amy: a court in the netherlands has heard a lawsuit brought by human rights groups challenging the government's export of f35 fighter jet parts to israel. oxfam and amnesty international argue the arms transfer violates the netherlands' obligations under international law to prevent war crimes, citing israel's wide-scale and serious violations of humanitarian law in gaza. dutch human rights lawyer liesbeth zegveld argued the case. >> the state must immediately stop its deliveries of f35 parts to israel.

it is its obligation under carter -- common article i of the geneva convention. it is its obligation under export law. the position of the state that we can confidently establish whether violations are taking place is a charade. amy: a ruling in the case is expected in two weeks. in tanzania, at least 63 people have been killed since torrential rains over the weekend triggered flooding and mudslides. on monday, tanzania's president samia suluhu hassan cut short her trip to the cop28 climate talks to oversee her government's response to the disaster. since october, persistent heavy rains across east africa have killed at least 350 people and displaced about a million residents of ethiopia, kenya, somalia, and tanzania. a new report by the global carbon project finds greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels soared to a new record high in

2023, with carbon dioxide releases approaching nearly 41 billion metric tons. despite dire warnings over the rapid acceleration of the climate crisis, humanity has burned coal, oil, and gas at a faster pace this year than it did last year. here in dubai, an analysis by nearly fossil fuel lobbyists 2500 have been credentialed to attend this year's cop28 united nations climate summit. that's nearly four times as many industry lobbyists as attended last year's cop27 summit in sharm el-sheikh. this is drue slatter of the group pacific climate warrior speaking during a cop28 event on monday. >> we can achieve a phaseout of fossil fuels, 100% renewable energy, a fair and efficient climate package for the energy transition in the pacific. but the obscene number of big polluters at these climate

negotiations threatens that. fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbered delegates 12 to one. last year's number was 15 to one. the number this year is expected to be even higher. amy: later in the broadcast, we'll speak with rachel rose jackson, the director of climate research and policy at corporate accountability,, which authored the report "record number of fossil fuel lobbyists at cop28." in aurora, colorado, a trial is underway of two paramedics who face criminal charges over the 2021 death of elijah mcclain. police videos show jeremy cooper and peter cichuniec injected mcclain with the powerful sedative ketamine after police arrested him and placed him in a dangerous carotid hold as he was walking home from a grocery store.

mcclain suffered a cardiac arrest within minutes of being injected and died days later. a pulmonary critical care specialist testified there was no reason to give mcclain ketamine. elijah mcclain was in his 20's. prosecutors also accuse the paramedics of neglecting to assist mcclain after they drugged him and he lay dying on the ground. meanwhile, aurora police officer nathan woodyard, who was acquitted last month of homicide and manslaughter charges in mcclain's death, returned to work after a two-year suspension, receiving over $200,000 in back pay. federal agents in miami, florida, have arrested a former state department official who once served as u.s. ambassador to bolivia, accusing him of working as an agent of the cuban government for more than four decades. on monday, justice department officials said victor manuel rocha sought out and obtained positions within the united states government that would provide him with access to

non-public information to pass along to havana. however, the charging document reveals few details about what information rocha might have shared with cuba's government. the u.s. supreme court heard arguments monday in a case challenging purdue pharma's bankruptcy plan, which shields members of the billionaire sackler family from civil liability over their role in creating and fueling the opioid epidemic. in 2019, purdue filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it faced thousands of lawsuits seeking trillions of dollars in compensation from the sacklers, who profited from selling the highly addictive drug oxycontin while fully aware it was directly fueling the opioid epidemic in america. according to the cdc, opioid overdoses have killed over half a million people in the united states over the past 20 years. outside the supreme court monday, family members held photos of loved ones lost to the opioid crisis.

this is rebecca finnerty, whose son died of an overdose in 2016. >> they were all little slaps on the wrist, little financial fines. if that continues, there is real no justice here for what has happened in this country. there were hundreds of thousands of lives that are gone and a fine does not do it. hiding behind bankruptcy protection because you are a billionaire, they are worth $11 million. it is ridiculous that profit off the debts of our children and are walking away with that. amy: 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 dubai in the united arab emirates at the u.n. climate summit. the world health organization is warning the crisis in gaza is getting worse by the hour as israel intensifies its ground and air assault across all parts

of the gaza strip. unicef says there are "no safe zones" remaining in any part of gaza, where the death toll from the israeli bombardment is approaching 16,000. israeli troops have reportedly encircled jabalia, the largest refugee camp in gaza. a spokesperson for the gaza health ministry said hospitals are struggling to cope with the surge of patients. >> the wounded and patients are on the floor. there is no life-saving health service and hospitals in the southern gaza strip. hospitals in southern gaza have totally collapsed. they could not deal with the quantity and quality of injuries that arrive in the hospitals. it is difficult for the ambulances to reach the injured in the targeted areas. they target the ambulances in the southern gaza strip. amy: on monday, the president of

the international committee of the red cross mirjana spoljaric traveled to gaza. >> i visited the european gaza hospital and the things i saw there, it is beyond anything that anyone should be in a position to describe. what shocked me the most were the children. atrocious injuries. at the same time, having lost their parents with no one looking after them. we are facing a situation here that will not be healed by sending in more trucks. we need to provide protection to the civilians in gaza. to the women and children, the elderly people that i saw today that have nowhere to go. the majority people i met today have been displaced several times. i met people who have lost limbs because they needed to evacuate between treatments. they lost a hand or foot because

they could not be treated in the hospital when they arrived first. i was told today the north has lost its entire surgical capacity. a make out that is the icrc president. we begin today's show in jerusalem where we're joined by shaina low. she is a communications advisor in palestine for the norwegian refugee council. she has spent much of the last 15 years working in palestine. thank you for joining us in this very desperate time in gaza. can you describe the overall situation to us? >> what we're hearing from our staff on the ground in gaza is just that day after day things are getting more and more hectic, chaotic, desperate. we are hearing about massive influxes of people fleeing khan

younis, fleeing south and west to barren areas of land where there are no facilities able to accommodate them. we are hearing about shelters that are overwhelmed and bursting at the seams and cannot house any additional people. we are hearing about people being so desperate that they are sleeping on the street trying to salvage whatever materials they can find in order to build a makeshift shelter. yesterday we lost internet connection because people had cut the internet cables in order to use that to help make a shelter. this is the level of desperation we are getting at. stores have shut down because there is no food available. yesterday our staff survived on eating crackers because there is nothing else available. day after day come this situation is getting more and more desperate. about 1.9 million people out of 2.3 million, over 80% of gaza's

population, is internally displaced with nowhere to go. we desperately need a cease-fire in order to be able to finally address these dire needs. because we cannot address them while there are ongoing hostilities. it is simply impossible. amy: so much of the population has moved from the north to the south. khan younis and even more south. these are places they went to because the israeli a said they would be say. now they are saying in order to destroy hamas, they must bomb those places as well. where are they telling them to go? >> air telling people to go not to say places but to so-called safer places but what we have been saying for the last eight weeks in gaza is there simply is no safe ways in gaza. there is no safe place from bombardment, from land, air come and see. we are saying there is no safe

place for people to seek shelter not only because of the ongoing bombardment, simply because there are so these able to accommodate so many people. people are being exposed to the elements. they are in overcrowded shelters where there is disease spreading. we are already hearing about hepatitis a being detected inside some of the u.n. shelters. we have been calling on israel to stop these directives, calling on people to flee. these directives are violation of international humanitarian law because israel is neither guaranteeing the safe passage of people to reach areas of safety, not guaranteeing safety in those areas, and not guaranteeing people the right to return home was hostilities have ended -- once hostilities have ended. amy: can you talk about what is happening in the hospitals? how many staff do you have in

gaza? what is happening to their families? >> what we're hearing about the situation and hospitals is there's a desperate need for additional beds. there are about 1500 beds i heard from the world health organization yesterday during a briefing. there is an estimated need of around 5000 beds. there used to be 3500 beds in gaza, so we're seeing as needs increase, the number of beds are decreasing. of course there's a shortage of medical supplies, medicines, clean water just to make sure places are sterile and patients can be treated safely. we been hearing maggots coming out of peoples wounds because they cannot be properly cared for and treated. we have a staff of 54 currently inside gaza. thankfully, all of our staff has stayed alive, but i cannot say they are safe or unharmed.

multiple members of our staff have lost family members. we have one step member who fled her home in northern gaza and ended up in rafah where the home she was seeking shelter in was bombed, killing her seven-year-old son and 10 other members of her family. just this week, we had another colleague who was injured in an airstrike on rafah, allegedly one of those safer places, and two of her family members were killed. we have staff who are sleeping on the streets because they have no place to go, including one staff member who has a two-month-old baby. they are unable to find shelter. people are desperate. we are doing the best we can not just to support ordinary people in gaza, but to support our staff. but we are increasingly finding her hands tied and are unable to do things because it is not safe for us to operate.

we cannot reach the aid that we have stored in warehouses in gaza either because the roads are cut off or because it simply is not safe for us to access them. amy: have you been able to reach people in gaza? we have been trying all morning. people have been able to reach in the past, we cannot reach today. >> i was able to be in touch with mike colleague yousef this morning. he told me he was on his way to go and check on the rest of his family who were staying in khan younis. unfortunately, because connectivity is difficult, i had not been able to get in touch with him since the early morning. i reached out to one of our security managers because i was concerned i had not heard from him. thankfully, about 10 minutes before air, i got notice that he was safe and had reached our office, returned to our office. but this is the difficulties and challenges that we are living with where we are wondering not

just if our staff is ok, but wondering if we will be able to connect with them. it is not just worrying on a personal level because these are not just our colleagues, these are our friends, people we work with day after day. but also it is impossible for us to have any type of humanitarian response without being able to coordinate that. neither coordinate between our office in jerusalem and gaza, but also with our staff in gaza who are trying to manage this response. if they can't get in touch with each other, our operations come to a standstill. amy: i want to ask about a comment of state department spokesperson matthew miller who said it is too soon to judge whether israel has been doing enough to protect civilians in gaza. he was challenged by veteran palestinian journalist. this is a clip. >> you don't think israel intentionally kills -- >> i have not seen evidence they

are intentionally killing civilians. we believe are too many civilians have been killed. but again, this goes back to the underlying problem of this entire situation which is that hamas has embedded itself inside civilian homes, mosques, schools, churches. it is hamas putting the civilians in harm's way. amy: can you respond to what state department spokesperson matthew miller said? >> from what we have been seeing and hearing, it seems israel is not proportionate in its response, not adhering to international humanitarian law. while there may be legitimate military targets, the principles of humanitarian law, a distinction, proportionality, and precaution still apply. when 70% of those who are killed are women and children, it seems that proportionality is not being taken into consideration. just yesterday, it was reported

israeli military officials said they would start employing technology to try to lower the number of civilian deaths. the fact there realizing they need to lower and have the ability to lower the number of civilian deaths would indicate that prior to that, they were not taking those appropriate precautions. they were not making sure their acts were proportionate according to international and humanitarian law. and it seems with the indiscriminate bombardments happening, it is impossible to distinguish between civilian and military objectives. amy: shaina low, we want to thank you for being with us communications advisor in , palestine for the norwegian refugee council. has been an daily touch with her colleagues in gaza. usually several times a day when connectivity allows. has spent much of the last 15 years working in palestine. when we come back, we look at

the link between war, militarism, and the climate crisis. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from cop28, the u.n. climate summit in dubai as israel continues its bombardment of gaza, we turn now to look at how militarism and war fuels the climate crisis. a new report warns that increased spending by nato nations will divert millions of dollars from climate finance

while increasing greenhouse gas emissions. we're joined now by two guests. shirine jurdi is a women, peace, and security expert from lebanon. member of the mena/middle east north africa task force with the women and gender constituency at cop28. she's also a member of the women's international league for peace and freedom in lebanon and the mena regional liaison officer at the middle east and north africa partnership for the prevention of armed conflict. and deborah burton is the co-founder of tipping point north-south. she leads their transform defense project, focused on military emissions and spending, climate change and climate finance. co-author of the report "climate crossfire: how nato's 2% military spending targets contribute to climate breakdown" published with the transnational institute. we welcome you both to democracy now! deborah burton, talk about what

you have found in this report. we're going to go specifically to the conflict just hours from us right now in gaza, what that means. but broadly, talked about the link between nato, war, and climate change. >> the first thing i want to say sitting here alongside shirine, i don't think we could see more of an extreme example of war machine in operation then what we are seeing and hearing from gaza. israel is the 15th largest military center in the world. it is spending $24 billion a year on its military and you are seeing this let rip on a population that really cannot defend themselves. what we have been working on with transnational institute is this report, the companion piece that we wrote last year before cop and it was looking generally at how military spending

accelerates climate breakdown. that is the general picture. this year we are focusing on nato. nato is the 31 member strong military alliance. just to get people a little context to help understand, global military spending now is $2.2 trillion. it is rising, has risen something like 20% the last 10 years. nato accounts for half of that. the $1.1 trillion -- nato. this is before ukraine and gaza. this is all going to start taking a shot most generally in terms of emissions, the global military are estimated on patchy data because they don't fully report, something in the order of 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

to put that in context, that is more than the 52 countries of the african continent that come into 3.4%. total greenhouse gas emissions of 52 countries, global military coming in at 5.5%. look at nato, which is 31 member military alliance, accounts for half a military spending, in terms of emissions are currently would rank if it were a country, nato would come in at 40, the equivalent of the netherlands, for example, and with 2% of gdp request, what nato are asking the 31 members to do is to increase on what they're spending now and get their military spending come angle military spending up to 2% or more of gdp. what we worked on, we asked the

question, what would that mean for greenhouse gas emissions? what would it mean for military spending? we worked over this eight year period of 2021-20 28. in the case of military spending, it would be over the eight year period accruing another $2.57 trillion over that eight year period. that would get you come as an example, 118 years of that 100 lean climate finance figure that we agreed in the paris meeting in 2015. amy: what you mean by climate finance? >> this is 100 lean dollars that was agreed in 2015 -- amy: announced in paris. >> climate finance support for the world's most vulnerable countries. with a rich countries are legally bound to deliver that.

what we're trying to do with the scale of military spending which is in the trillions, is to put that alongside on the one hand pledges and the other hand caps. there are so many climate finance gaps. the 2% gdp target for nato members in terms of emissions -- there is an emissions burden to this -- currently nato is sitting, again, something in the order of the netherlands emissions -- in terms of emissions, 2% increase over that eight year period. again, bring it closer to russia, russia's mission burdens. amy: president putin is expected to be here in dubai tomorrow. >> what can we say.

the military mission story and primarily because of ukraine now with gaza, suddenly, we are able to get publicity -- we're here now talking about this because of this collision between conflict, wars, comput-related missions -- which is not in that 5.5% estimate. that is global greenhouse gas emissions according to the military does not include conflict. so with ukraine and now gaza, we able to illustrate to the factor is an absolute correlation between military spending -- so the more you spent on your big-ticket gas guzzling fossil fuel-reliant hardware -- the jets, the tanks, the bombs, the missiles. all of the things we're seeing raining down on people are all

fossil fuel dependent. there is a correlation between military spending and the emissions that come from that hardware. and we are going in the wrong direction. we are absolutely going in the wrong direction. the target is completely counter to all climate. target amy: 2% target? >> of gdp. they're asking the 31 members to spend -- amy: president trump kept saying you're not paying your fair share. >> we need you to spend more. this 2% of gdp, just not sound like very much but it is significant because you're talking about billions over a period of time. amy: i want to turn to shirine jurdi. we just came in on saturday

night. sunday there was a major protest against what is happening in gaza, calling for a cease-fire. there were at least 100 people protesting, holding a sign that said "cease-fire." you were there. the names of the dead were being intoned throughout the protest. you just heard our last segment talking about what is happening in gaza. can you talk about the connection between war, weapons, and militarism directly what is happening in gaza? >> you can see the gloomy picture. the numbers that she gave. this is a gloomy picture that we have. and definitely what we see and what we know is women artists fortunately impacted by conflict -- women are disproportionately impacted by conflict.

only talk about conflict, it means we're talking about lack of infrastructure and lack of the rule of law. unfortunately, this is all unfolding and gaza and other conflict areas as well but now maybe we're talking about palestine per se and what is happening in gaza. what is happening is tremendous -- i mean, i cannot even believe that we are living this at this moment in our history. this is too hard even to believe that we are witnessing that. we are witnessing that with our own eyes. i think it is obvious. like the impact of militarization on women. we have seen it in different spaces. we have seen it now like and hospitals. we have seen it with mothers. we have seen it at the grassroots. amy: how many women were pregnant in gaza? >> must 15,000 women were

pregnant at that time. with the lack of electricity, we saw even infants struggling to breathe, to continue living. unfortunately, lots of these newborn kids were also killed. this is not only a genocide, this goes beyond humanity. the nexus between climate, militarization, gender is highly now needed, especially now that we are in the cop and if militarization is not put on the agenda. and at times we see the circle -- if you really want to talk about emissions, if we really want to talk about fossil fuel phaseout, talk about real impact out of this cop, we need to look

at militarization. we need to look at first the resources, the production, exports, imports and how -- like in gaza and lebanon, the what phosphorus. i don't know if you saw on tiktok that went viral how they are people how to remove the white phosphorus bombs. amy: what phosphorus from their skin. >> yes, because it will keep on going into your skin. what about the implications this has on the soul? -- on the soil, the water and earth? amy: i want to read something from al jazeera from polluted water supplies to toxic smoke-filled air, from burning buildings and bodies, every aspect of life in gaza is now filled with some form of pollution. there is evidence of is roy using white phosphorus weapons both in gaza and south lebanon. this has disastrous effects on both the environment and

people's health. focusing -- you are from lebanon. >> in palestine, we saw it their own eyes. we saw because of the many journalists there risking their lives and many who lost their lives as well, risking to take photos and document what is being done. and lebanon as well, we have seen also how phosphorus weapons were used. we saw also how this huge area of all of trees were burned -- olive trees were burned. it is a huge catastrophe weather the force level or human level. it is beyond direct impact -- the trauma that everyone is living. amy: this is from human rights monitor, due to technological develop it's affecting the potency of bombs, the explosives

dropped on gaza may be twice as powerful as a nuclear bomb. >> that was like two weeks ago before the cease-fire. so i could see like now i was even scared to see because, i mean, it is -- you cannot even watch these bombs. yesterday i was walking -- i follow several journalists and i was watching and she was saying, now this is a massacre. these bombs being used what we are told to go to the south, safe space but there is no safe space. this is meant to terminate us. >> absently can't talk about this without talking about the arms industry. -- absolutely can't talk about this without talking about the arms industry. the supply chain for militaries are more polluting than the militaries themselves.

may come as a surprise. the arms industry just in the way you can track oil to the militaries of oil through war, oil usage goes up. you can track profits, war profits to the arms industry. there is no story without addressing the culpability of the arms trade. i write something on to read because it will apply to gaza. shares are going up. structures are going up. they are making profits. it is a very nice life as it is. when conflict kicks in, it is not the skill. this is the ceo of raytheon. everything that is being shipped into ukraine today, of course is coming out of stockpiles. by the dod or from nato allies. that is all great news.

eventually we will have to replenish it. we will see a benefit to the benefit over the coming years. that is from the ceo of raytheon. israel suppliers come everybody involved in the food chain allowing israel to do what it is doing on gaza will be making money. they will be going home very happy with their profits in the back pockets. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. we will link to your report. deborah burton is the cofounder of tipping point north-south. she leads their transform defense project, focused on military missions and spending, making the link between climate change and militarism. and shirine jurdi is a women, peace, and security expert from lebanon. thank you both for being with us. when we come back, we're going to talk about the record number

of fossil fuel lobbyists here at the u.n. climate summit in dubai. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from cop28, the u.n. climate summit in dubai in the united arab emirates where a record 2500 lobbyists are rendered to attend this year. nearly four times as many as last year. they are from companies like shell, total, and exxonmobil. they outnumber the delegations of every country except brazil, which is set to host in 2025, and united arab emirates. the summit is presided over by the ceo of the uae's national oil company sultan al jaber, who has said there is "no science" behind demands for the phase out a fossil fuels to address the climate crisis.

earlier this week, activists addressed the massive number of lobbyists at the cop during a side event. this is from eric njuguna from kenya with fridays for future mapa, brenna twobears with the indigenous environmental network, and drue slatter, a pacific climate warrior from fiji. but david tong with oil change first, international. >> you would not invite arms dealers to a conference. the oil lobbyist here at the climate conference must not top -- stop this conference from succeeding and delivering a phaseout of fossil fuels. >> the presence of the fossil fuel industry at the climate negotiations shows the moral bankruptcy of the fossil fuel industry. >> fossil fuel lobbyists should not be here. they weave a web of greed and sacrifice those like the dakota

access pipeline. they have received over $3 billion from bank of america, which is the same bank that also is interested in the energy transition accelerator and an vicious that was announced by the u.s. climate envoy a few days ago. we will not stand by while these false solutions are heralded as a solution to the climate crisis . there's only one solution to the climate crisis, decolonization and and indigenous just transition away from systems of extraction. >> before this press conference, i was speaking briefly with a few other climate worries about the sheer number of fossil fuel lobbyists present here. a well-known warrior spoke to us about it and she said it is because they are scared. there are more here because they know the age of fossil fuels is coming to an end. the people have spoken. the science has spoken. all that is left is to ensure these processes no longer allow

them so our negotiators khmer leaders can take the necessary steps to keep us below 1.5 degrees of heating. amy: that last voice you heard was drue slatter, pacific climate warrior from fiji. for more, we are joined by rachel rose jackson. she moderated that event. she is director of climate research and policy at corporate accountability, part of the kick big polluters out coalition that just released the report "record number of fossil fuel lobbyists at cop28." welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. >> thank you for having me. amy: we have just been talking about gaza. i'm wondering if you can talk about the israeli bombardment of gaza, this point nearly 16,000 people are dead. the connection, if you will, between that and lobbyists here at the u.n. climate summit? >> when it comes to the systemic

injustices in the world, we have to zoom out and looked globally. would we do that, we can see very clearly the same geopolitical powers, political elites, even corporations who are responsible for burning fossil fuels delaying action and fueling the climate crisis on one hand are the same political elite and corporations who are responsible for standing by and even enabling the genocide playing out in gaza. when it comes to genocide, there is not a side. there's only the 16,000 and counting lives that have been lost without any justification. it is the same thing with the climate crisis. there's no justification for the millions of lives that have already been lost and impacted simply because of the greed of the governments who have enabled this crisis to happen. the systemic injustices don't happen in a vacuum and they also have the same source which means they have the same solution. there is no climate justice

without human rights. there is also no climate justice on occupied lands. every thing we're seeing here is so relevant to everything playing out in gaza and other places were genocide is happening around the world. it is the same problem. we need to hold say people to account. amy: we asked people about the lobbyists here come everyone said you have to talk to rachel rose jackson. talk about this report you came up with. how you figured out there were thousands of lobbyists here. it was interesting here david tong when asked about lobbyists, why can't they be here like anyone else? he said if you're holding a priest, -- peace conference, would you invite arms manufacturers to that? >> it is not just me. we are 450 organizations and networks around the world representing millions of people who are all united and challenging what is happening in these halls and demanding an end of fossil fuel lobbyists and others to write --

david tong said if your house is on fire, do you hand the host to the arsonist? no. but that is what is happening here. amy: the number of lobbyists, nearly 2500, we said at the beginning it is larger than any delegation here except the host now, the uae, they have something like 3000, and the host going to be in two years, brazil. >> exactly. not like that, there's a record-breaking number of fossil fuel lobbyists who are here at this talk. last year in sharm el-sheikh, there were around 630 known fossil fuel lobbyists. the year before that, 500. this year, there's a four-time increase in the number of fossil fuel lobbyists promoting a deadly fossil fuel agenda. amy: do you think it is related to who is president of the summit? sultan al jaber?

>> it is impossible to of nor how print and centered the influences that this particular cop. it troubles all whip to the highest levels. but this problem is as old as the climate talks are. from the very inception, there been no measures to protect these talks from fossil fuel industry influence. amy: how do fossil fuel lobbyists affect the talks? where are they allowed and where are they not? >> they are allowed everywhere. but more than that, they're not even a places were civil society does not have access to. these fossil fuel lobbyists are often given country delegation badges so these pink edges you might see some wearing and that gets them into rooms that i and even you could never get into. that gives them direct access to the literal ears of the decision-makers who are writing the rules of climate action and a seat at the head of the table. it doesn't stop there. they are literally paying for

these talks to happen, signing the checks, signing the data line. -- the dotted line. the fingerprints are all over what is happening. amy: i want to turn to brenna twobears. you had a side panel this week that was really interestingb. brenna is with indigenous environmental network. >> we are here today to address the climate crisis. so why was there twice as many fossil fuel lobbyists at cop 26 then indigenous? why is we indigenous people only allowed to have server status fossil fuel lobbyists are allowed to have direct access to parties? the more lobbyists that are

here, the higher our emissions. in a report released last month, the biden administration has approved 17 massive fossil fuel projects, estimated to release the same amount of emissions as 440 coal-fired power plants. the reason why this is so important is because for those of us who grew up on the navajo rez, those who did not have paved roads in our homes, who did not have running water or access to electricity, but we had these coal-fired power plants in our backyard, that number is preposterous. it is awful. it breaks our heart. i used to haul water to my grandfather's house. that same clean access to

drinkable water would have been available to him if it had not been taken from the navajo up over, which is one of the most pristine sources of groundwater in the world. it transported the black mesa coal mine in order to slurry coal to the navajo generating station. not only was it wasting so much water, about 4400 acres -- feet of groundwater a year since 1971, but it wasn't going to any of the communities that were on the navajo reservation. thankfully, because of the grassroots movement for the hopi in arizona and the southwest united states, we were able to shut down the black mesa coal mine in 2019. and we were able

to stop the use of navajo generating station being able to slurry that coal in 2001. amy: that is brenna twobears of the indigenous environmental network. and this is pacific climate warrior drue slatter speaking at the side event here at the u.n. cop event monday. >> [indiscernible] that shot is possible. it often has like it is not, but we can achieve a phaseout of fossil fuels. 100% renewable energy. fair and efficient climate package for the energy transition in the pacific. but the obscene number of big polluters at these climate negotiations threatens that.

fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber delegates 12 to one. last year, 15 to one. the number this year is expected to be even higher. amy: drue slatter from fiji. is rachel rose jackson, who pulled everyone together to talk about the detrimental effect of the lobbyists here at the u.n. climate summit. right behind me, may hear the noise getting higher and higher, people are lining up because sultan al jaber is just about to hold a news conference -- or at least to speak. rachel? >> he is. as i alluded to earlier, it is for sure fair to say the fossil fuel influence cannot be more obvious at these talks. but we have to remember these talks haven't co-opted to start the fossil fuel agenda since they began. there been no measures since they want to protect these talks to ensure they deliver the

action people on the planet deserve. one of the cops is in poland or the united states, and i might add the world largest structure at these talks from government of the perspective, these cops are encrusted with fossil fuel inflows. amy: your specialist -- you are talking about climate. what was the model used? >> it is important to understand the u.n. climate talks are the exception, not the norm. other institutions around the world all begin with making sure there is insulation from keeping the source of the problem out of solving the problem. that happened with the tobacco control but has never happened here. so now we are so far into the process we are running out of time. we must kick big polluters out. we must end their ability to write the rules of climate action and the ability to

bankroll these talks and reset the system so we can finally end fossil fuels and save billions of lives that don't need to be lost. amy: rachel rose jackson, thank you for being with us, director of climate research and policy at corporate accountability and the kick big polluters out coalition that just came out with a report titled "record number of fossil fuel lobbyists