tonight on "worldfocus" -- >> an in-depth look at climate change and its impact. after a visit to the arctic, the united nations' secretary general says we are heading toward an abyss. in another corner of the world, the battle over protecting or profiting from the rain forest. we will take you to borneo. in south asia, how drought is one factor causing a poor harvest of sugar cane, soaring prices and even sugar rationing. and we will visit a pristine place in southern africa described as a lost eden, untouched for now by destructive

forces. >> from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here's what's happening from around the world, this is "worldfocus." made possible in part by the f5 following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. >> good evening. i'm daljit dhaliwal. we are going to do something a little different tonight by taking a broad look at one subject that is in the news this week, the global environment. in just a few months, the united nations is going to hold a major conference on climate change in copenhagen to try to reach a new agreement to cut greenhouse gases. it would replace the current treaty, the kyoto protocol,

which expires in 2012. and it is in that context that the united nations secretary general ban ki-moon sounded an alarm today, saying the talks leading up to that conference are dragging and that climate change is advancing. >> our foot is stuck on the accelerator and we are heading toward an abyss. >> he made those comments at a conference in geneva one day after seeing up close the effects of climate change in the arctic. his visit is our lead focus tonight. lawrence mcginty traveled with the secretary general. >> reporter: the u.n. secretary general, ban ki-moon, came face to face with global warming today at one of the world's most nç i'm very alarmed and surprised to have seen the glaciers are gone. you see the background? used to be many glaciers.

they are gone. >> reporter: in only the last couple of years, the glacier behind him has collapsed so that the ground beneath it now shows through. the norwegian research station here measures not only glaciers but 130 manmade pollutants, including the main cause of global warming,arbon dioxide. scientists have been measuring carbon dioxide for 30 years. for all that period, levels have been rising. but in the last couple of years, the increase has become dramatic and alarming. the head of research here told me co2 levels are now rising three times faster than they were a decade ago. >> mankind is changing the entire world's atmosphere. mankind has a profound influence on the world's atmosphere. and the increase rates during the past few years surpass the

worst case scenarios. >> we traveled across the field to see even more evidence of global warming. this glacier once covered these waters but has retreated over a mile in a decade. all the glaciers around the research station are melting. to the u.n., the evidence is clear. but for ban ki-moon, the world's leaders haven't yet taken decisive enough action. evidence of global warming is all around us here in spitsbergen. the question now is can ban ki-moon produce a deal at the climate change summit in december in copenhagen that will halt and perhaps even reverse a trend which is accelerating with every passing year? lawrence mcginty in spitsbergen. >> joining us for a look ahead at the u.n.'s climate conference in copenhagen later this year is michael allegretti, he's a senior adviser to the climate

group, an organization of businesses and governments trying to promote an international agreement on curbing greenhouse gases. welcome to the program. >> thank you. >> developing nations like china and india have long argued that trying to limit greenhouse gases is going to hurt their economies and some have even come to sort of resent this pressure being put on them. how are we going to navigate this critical issue at copenhagen? >> well, ultimately what's going to take place in copenhagen will be a deal. and a deal is a negotiation between a few sides. so everyone's going to have to give a little but they all have to see themselves as winners in the end and able to get a piece of the pie and the economic opportunity associated with this. with the climate group, our work is focused on demonstrating what are the economic opportunities in the u.s., in europe, in china and india? and ultimately, that's how we'll navigate it is to continue to put out the positive aspects of what taking action on this global environmental issue

will mean. >> if these limits are accepted whatever they turn out to be by china, india and other developing nations, what kind of concessions would the west have to make, here in the united states and in europe as well? >> it's not so much having to make concessions as having to figure out new ways to move the economies forward in each of these countries. the u.s. has tremendous opportunities in its midwest manufacturing sector and in the finance sector and china does as well in its new economies that it's developing. as to what the concessions are, it's unclear right now. only the negotiators really know th >> how might the new administration in washington, president obama talked about the greening of industry, about climate change and the environment in general? will that make a difference to what kind of deal is reached in copenhagen? >> absoluty. the president and his administration and republicans and democrats in various parts of the parties are trying to advance a new greener agenda for business.

but what's needed right now is political will and momentum. the idea is to create momentum for the u.n. process, for business to take action and for national governments to start to cut emissions in a way that makes sense for the economy. >> by political will, do you mean that certain nations or their leaders are laggards in this and they don't want to come along and don't want to have any kind of limits imposed on their ability to do whatever they want with the environment or -- >> i think ultimately all countries in the world want to address climate change in a smart way. they need to see a path forward that makes sense for their economies. so that's incumbent on us in the ngo community and those concerned about this issue to make that case for them. >> very briefly, do you think that we're going to get a truly workable deal in copenhagen? >> i'm not sure the answer of that. most folks aren't. but what is evident is that negotiators who have been at this for decades need an injection of will from the top, from their prime ministers and their presidents. and that's what we're committed to help doing. >> thank you, michael, very

much. >> thank you. >> as we continue our coverage of the environment, we want to draw on our "worldfocus" partners to look at the causes of climate change and its impact. environmental concerns are often in conflict with economic interests. we found a dramatic example of that on the island of borneo in the south pacific. tony birtley of al jazeera english takes us to sarawak in the malaysian part of borneo. >> the death of a forest, the the birth of big profits, dreaded by conservationists but treasured by boardrooms. sarawak in malaysian borneo is the world's biggest exporter of tropical timber. this is an industry worth $2 billion a year and according to some, profit has taken the place of protection as the rain forests have virtually disappeared. it's made fortunes for some and led to widespread allegations of corruption. >> it is in fact public

knowledge, i mean in sarawak mber concession or a parcel of land for oil palm plantation, money has to exchange hands, you know? the so-called undertable money. >> without transparency, it's difficult to know for sure. sarawak doesn't reveal details of the concessions given or revenue generated. it all comes under the leadership of the state's powerful chief minister, abdul taib bin mahmud. >> he's the only one who give licenses so in that nse of course even from the concessions that we can see. >> the government he making money carving sarawak into lucrative logging concession. they maintain most of this region, 70% of it, are still forests and most of it is primary rain forests. but according to conservationists, they say less than 20% of virgin rain forests remain standing.

sarawak is largely left to manage its own affairs by federal government, providing 30 m.p.s who all support the government, they are known as a fixed deposit. the reason why is to consolidate power. many have begun to question the role of the chief minister and his family business is playing in the progress of sarawak and exactly who is benefiting. >> actually sleeping on goal in sarawak. but how come we, the natives are still suffering one of the highest rates of poverty in the country? >> these people are the indigenous iban. they can't buy support and are now locked in a fight for land they say is theirs but which the government sold to a palm oil company. they don't have title deeds. they come from an era where land was designated by how far you could walk. they've been fighting in court for 12 years for the have been waiting for a verdict for the last three. the sarawak chief minister failed to respond to our request

for an interview, but the state maintains land follows legal process. big money earnings from timber with beginning to decrease as the forests disappear. now the state govement is looking to build 12 hydroelectric dams, even though the state already has an overcapacity of electricity. for the iban, the prospect of life without their land is a bleak one. >> if we lose, it's better we die, not to live. >> to companies, to the tribes of borneo, they represent life and a traditional past. without their land, the future is far from certain. tony birtley, al jazeera, sarawak, northern borneo. we will have more on the global environment in just a few minutes. but first some other news,

starting with afghanistan. military officials said two more u.s. servicemen were killed today when a bomb went off as they patrolled an area of southern afghanistan where there has been intense fighting. and defense officials in britain said that two of their soldiers had been killed also in southern afghanistan. there is continuing political uncertainty in afghanistan two weeks after its presidential election. while president hamid karzai inches his way up in the vote count, he still doesn't have the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. claims of election fraud continue to cloud the process. as we hear in this report from deutsch welle. >> there are pictures of hamid karzai everywhere on the streets in eastern afghanistan. but no one here know ifs he's succeeded at his bid to be re-elected as president.

karzai firmly denies the accusations of election fraud. no one can commit fraud here. in nangarhar province, he says. but that's not the opinion of the man who runs the store next door. he says he saw people take ballot boxes home. they stuffed them with ballots and then brought them back, he says.4 in nangarhar province, 20 alleged cases of fraud are being investigated by officials. karzai has a commanding majority across the country with 60% of the votes counted so far. in the capital of kabul, the electoral fraud commission said it would review the most serious allegations. it has refused to rule out changes to the results. >> our mandate is to investigate and adjudicate all priority aid complaints as thoroughly and as timely as possible. these complaints must be adjudicated before the i.e.c.

can certify the final results. >> nearby, hundreds of tribal elders met with karzai's main challenger, abdullah abdullah. he's in second place and considering his options. his supporters fear he may be cheated out of victory. >> that was deutsch welle reporting. in iran tonight, president mahmoud ahmadinejad said that he won't bend to western deadlines of later this month for talks on iran's nuclear program. he said iran had given its package of proposals on the issue and was defiant saying we welcome sanctions. we can manage ourselves. at the same time, iran's parliament approved most of president ahmadinejad's choices. his cabinet today, including its health minister, she is marzie vahid dastjerdi, a doctor and the first female cabinet minister in iran in 30 years. she said it was an important moment for women in iran and declared, i hold my head high.

in this country, the obama administraut off all non-humanitarian aid to honduras, making permanent a temporary suspension after president manuel zelaya was ousted in june. officials have said that as much as $200 million in aid is involved. the decision was announced by secretary of state hillary clinton after she met with zelaya. it was made after his replacement refused to accept a compromise under which zelaya would return to power with limited authority until elections in november. continuing now with our look at the global environment and climate change, the asian development bank said today that melting himalayan glaciers and other effects of climate change pose a direct threat to water

and food security for more than 1.5 billion people in south asia. it says that afghanistan, bangladesh, india and nepal are especially vulnerable to falling crop yields, floods and droughts. there has been a long drought in india. one factor that has led to a crisis in the sugar cane industry as we hear in this report from vikas bajaj of "the new york times." >> the monsoon rains have finally started here. but it might be too late for a good sugar cane harvest. this region in the western indian state is known as the country's sugar bowl. india's goal is self-sufficiency. but with sugar production here down sharply and remained ste y steady, india could have to export almost one-third of the

sweet stuff it produces. and that's a big change, given that two years ago, india was exporting as much as 20% of its production. the lack of good rains are just one of the many challenges indian farmers faces over their counterparts in other countries. >> the indian farmer has about three acres. an international farmer would have 1,000 acres of farm size. they have mechanical equipment, they have larger irrigation systems and makes it economical for him to grow sugar cane. >> due to the shortfall of sugar caneroduction, the price of nñ raw sugar on the international markets is now about 50% higher than it was at the end of last year. that's had an impact on the indian consumer. from syrupy tea to dense sweets, sugar is a common ingredient in the indian diet.

>> the customer felt the pain of the price hikes and we felt the pain, too. we are getting the sugar cane for a higher price now. if it continues like this, we won't be able to afford it anymore. >> politicians fear being voted out of office. they support policies that appear to increase prices. and therefore, they try to regulate the price in many ways, including dictating how much sugar can be released into the market every month. >> as a producer of sugar, i cannot sell the sugar that i have produced at will. i can only sell as much as the government permits me to sell every month. >> but with no deregulation on the horizon, mill owners are developing other ways to produce sugar cane. this is burned to produce electricities and sold to the state. and distilleries have been created.

when the rest of the world fretted over high oil prices, brazilian companies profited by turning bountiful sugar cane harvests into ethanol. since fuel prices have come down, they're expected to divert more of their attention towards the production of sugar. the indian sugar market is not yet that flexible. while policy-makers have discussed reducing subsidiaries and remove controls over commodities like sugar, the government has made few major changes so far. >> this sugar shortage combined with politics is also having a big impact across the border in pakistan. especially because sugar and sweets are such an important part of life during this muslim holy month of ramadan. we take a look at that tonight with anita mcnaught of al jazeera english. >> it's a raid. police seize illegally concealed sacks of white powder. this is not a drug bust. they're after the sugar.

in islamabad, people queue for their sugar allocation, prices fixed to protect the poorest. across pakistan, these stores have been running out of stock. sugar costs twice as much as this holy time last year. pakistan is a million tons short. that's led to panic buying, rationing and hoarding. sweetmakers. snack sellers. everyone's bottom line has been affected. by the ramadan sugar crisis. >> responsible, sugar owners, sugar mill owners. >> they are just serving the pockets. they are making big bellies. >> the suspicion is that there is something deeply wrong with the sugar industry in pakistan. what these pakistanis know is that most of their country's sugar, from crop to table, is in the hands of pakistan's ruling elite and its most powerful families. >> there are many top-ranking politicians of this country who matter. they are in the business of sugar industry.

so that is why people call sugar cane as particular crop and sugar industry as particular industry. >> dr. kahn advised the finance ministry. he warned imports were needed. the government decided not to, to protect growers from cheap foreign sugar. >> the higher you fix the price, the more money you give to your members of parliament. >> poor harvests around the world pushed global prices to a 28-year high. mill owners refused to bring prices down. vested interests were making serious money. this week, the government talked tough. >> i'm warning the mill owners and distributors that if they don't hand over their sugar, we will take action against them. >> but this terrified some shopkeepers, who feared their stocks might get them arrested. sugar went deeper underground. prices spiraled. the black market boomed.

pakistanis break the fast at iftar with a fruity, herbal and very sweet drink, rooh afza. every year at ramadan the prices of basic foods go up. pakistanis ask why at this time of charity and goodwill, their own fellow citizens cheat and exploit them. but it's a question none of the country's past or present leaders can tackle because, say many pakistanis, they are part of the problem. anita mcnaught, al jazeera, islamabad. finally tonight, we have seen what's at stake and some of the harm that has already been done from our damage to the environment and by climate change.

that got us thinking about a story from our partner, global post, which seems to put it all in perspective. it is about a recently discovered world, a pristine rain forest on a mountain in the south african nation of mozambique. jeffrey barbee of global post went with a scientific team to explore the wonders of a land untouched. >> this is mt. mabu, an isolated mountain that rises 5,500 feet above sea level in mozambique's remote north. discovered only four years ago, mt. mabu is home to the largest rain forest in southern africa. and hidden in this forest are plants and animals completely unknown to science. the darwin initiative team in partnership with mozambique's department of agricultural research returned to mt. mabu in june 2009 for their last research trip. >> we're on the top of mt. mabu in northern mozambique

looking down over the mabu forest. what is so special about mabu is opportunistically collecting the animals that i come across in the forest. it's what is -- what is remarkable is a high majority of these are turning out to be new species. >> i came here specifically because -- on this trip, because i was hunting for a new species of chameleon. there are two chameleons that we know of in the forest. one is a small pygmy chameleon, which is, again, possibly a new species, but it is locally very common. >> that's a new species. >> this is probably a new species. see that long tail all wound up? have these lovely rose coils.

>> finding new species is very important tort the conservation of mabu. the more new species you can find and that are only found on mt. mabu and in the forest of mabu, basically all add towards the justification for the conservation of this area. >> some people take years, maybe a lifetime, to find one new species and describe that. the young scientists, it's a dream to find a new species. >> i suppose every scientist has a eureka moment. i came up as a scientist with my scientist hat on, this is, wow. >> this is jeffrey barbee reporting for "global post" from the forest of mt. mabu. >> the global environment tonight. and that is "worldfocus" for this thursday evening.

be sure to check out our website, worldfocus.org. you can find much more news and analysis. i'm daljit dhaliwal in new york. thank you for joining us. we hope to see you back here at the same time tomorrow night. until then, have a great evening the same time tomorrow night. until then, have a great evening and good-bye. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "worldfocus" is made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future.