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Could New York be a catalyst in the global climate action movement? Shonagh travels to New York for Climate Week to join global voices urging commitment and collective action towards COP26.
About The Road to Glasgow:
The Road to Glasgow is a docuseries explaining the major events leading to COP26, the United Nations Climate Conference and the world's largest climate event. This series will focus on climate and biodiversity events planned throughout 2021.
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EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
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Could New York be a catalyst in the global climate action movement? Shonagh travels to New York for Climate Week to join global voices urging commitment and collective action towards COP26.
About The Road to Glasgow:
The Road to Glasgow is a docuseries explaining the major events leading to COP26, the United Nations Climate Conference and the world's largest climate event. This series will focus on climate and biodiversity events planned throughout 2021.
EarthX
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
Follow Us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxmedia/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxmedia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthXMedia/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthxmedia
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthXMedia
How to watch:
United States:
- Spectrum
- AT&T U-verse (1267)
- DIRECTV (267)
- Philo
- FuboTV
- Plex
- Fire TV
#EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #Ecofriendly #Conservation #EarthX
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TVTranscript
00:00New York City is home to the United Nations,
00:04where the countries of the world come to meet
00:06and discuss global issues.
00:08With recent reports pointing to the climate
00:10becoming more and more dire,
00:12can New York be a catalyst
00:14in the global climate action movement?
00:17I'm here in the city for Climate Week,
00:19and I want to know if it's just empty conversations
00:22and pep rallies, or if there's empowering progress
00:25that comes out on this Road to Glasgow.
00:28Hi, I'm Shauna Smith, and every year climate activists
00:57come to New York City as autumn begins,
00:59coinciding roughly with the UN General Assembly meetings.
01:03Organized by Climate Group, Climate Week NYC
01:06is a series of events, meetings, conferences, and rallies
01:10that bring focus to the climate issues the world is facing.
01:14I started this road to Glasgow last spring in New York City
01:17when I learned about the importance
01:19nature has on the climate,
01:21that it's not just about carbon emissions.
01:23And I got to talk with Dr. Christian Samper,
01:26head of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
01:29In D.C. for the U.S. Leaders' Summit on Climate,
01:32I talked to experts who stressed the importance
01:34of the public and private sectors
01:36both working on lowering carbon emissions.
01:39And just recently, I visited Marseilles, France,
01:42where the IUCN World Congress was being held.
01:45Honestly, I left France feeling a little puzzled.
01:49There seemed to be a lot of effort, talks, and voting
01:52on what I consider to be extremely minor things.
01:56But is that what needs to happen?
01:58Does it take tiny, insignificant steps
02:01in order to get further down the road
02:02to a cleaner climate and a healthier Earth?
02:05That's one of the answers I'll be seeking
02:07during Climate Week in New York City.
02:10The road to Glasgow is the path
02:12to the UN Council of the Parties, or COP,
02:15that happens annually, this year hosted by the UK and Italy
02:19and held in Glasgow, Scotland.
02:21A few times over the last 25 years,
02:23significant action has come out of the COP,
02:26like the Kyoto Protocols and the Paris Agreement.
02:29The Paris Agreement is what is really the foundation
02:32of what will happen in Glasgow this year.
02:35It was just over five years ago
02:37and had five-year commitments.
02:39Glasgow will be a reporting point
02:41of how the nations are doing.
02:43As I've walked around in New York City,
02:45it's apparent the security here is very tight.
02:48This week, many heads of state
02:50have visited the United Nations
02:51because the General Assembly is meeting.
02:54One of the first people I ran into was Nina Koncheva,
02:57who works for the United Nations Development Programme,
03:00specifically helping Indigenous peoples
03:02throughout the world.
03:03She was able to give me some insight
03:05on some key points to come out of the IUCN in Marseille.
03:09At IUCN, Indigenous peoples
03:11achieved some important victories.
03:14One was to pass a resolution
03:16to protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025.
03:21This is very, very important
03:23because it now gives Indigenous peoples
03:26an actual signed document
03:28that they can use for their advocacy
03:31and to negotiate and to keep pushing
03:34for this very important goal.
03:36Another resolution and another topic
03:39that had a lot of attention
03:41was something called the Sacred Headwaters Initiative.
03:44The Sacred Headwaters Initiative
03:46proposes to protect the territory,
03:49the very large territory between Ecuador and Peru
03:52at the source of the Amazon River
03:55that is a very sacred territory for Indigenous peoples.
03:58And that movement there
04:00to protect hundreds of thousands of hectares
04:04has also surfaced something important
04:06called the rights to nature.
04:08And that's something that Indigenous peoples
04:09have been talking about as well.
04:11It's the idea that nature has rights as well,
04:14that rivers and mountains have rights as well.
04:17So that's a very interesting topic of conversation
04:20that Indigenous peoples have helped surface as well.
04:24Well, I'm here for Climate Week NYC,
04:27but what exactly is it?
04:29When the first one was held in 2009,
04:31it was a special event,
04:33a time to come together and stand out,
04:35to let the world know that there's a real problem
04:38and we need real solutions.
04:40And every year since, the event has continued.
04:43Climate Week NYC is run by Climate Group
04:46and I got a chance to sit down with CEO Helen Clarkson
04:50to talk about its history.
04:51So Climate Group is an international non-profit organisation
04:55so a mission driven
04:56and our mission is to drive climate action fast.
04:59When it was founded,
05:01it was all about making the case for climate action,
05:03persuading businesses and governments
05:05that there was a business case,
05:06that it wasn't something that was just about hippies,
05:09it was actually something businesses need to take seriously.
05:11And over the years, we've evolved quite a lot.
05:13So now we work with campaigns
05:15which are really about bringing together
05:17groups of businesses or governments
05:19with a commitment at the centre,
05:21working with them individually to deliver their goals,
05:23but also looking at the power of collective action.
05:25So if you've got 300 companies
05:27all with a commitment to renewable energy,
05:29that allows you to interact with policy makers
05:31and suppliers to really shift markets.
05:34Where we are with Climate Week NYC
05:35is it's vital to have it every year.
05:37There isn't enough attention,
05:38there isn't enough urgency in the world
05:40around Climate Week
05:41and we try and make sure
05:42the theme is different every year.
05:43This year, we're talking about getting it done
05:45and the need for action now on the climate.
05:48In the NGO world, I always think
05:50you should be trying to put yourself out of business
05:51because if you're mission-driven,
05:53you want to solve problems.
05:55And so we'd look forward to the time
05:56when we don't need to have a Climate Week NYC,
05:58but at the moment, it's still really vital
06:00to bring people together
06:01and to share that imperative action and the urgency.
06:05This is my first Climate Week NYC
06:07and I really didn't know what to expect.
06:09But as I've looked over the events, talks and gatherings,
06:12many of them have virtual listed to the side.
06:16The pandemic is still a huge factor to overcome
06:18in getting people together for any global action.
06:22But is it all bad?
06:23Do people who might not have been able to attend
06:25now have the chance to log in and speak up?
06:28I got differing thoughts on this one.
06:31It's a real mix.
06:32So last year was the first year
06:34we had to move the whole event online
06:36and we hadn't done something like that.
06:37We knew we had to go early
06:38because we wanted it to look really good,
06:40we wanted it to be really engaging.
06:42And while we all miss the in-person networking
06:45and that thing of being in the room with other people,
06:47what we found is we could bring in more voices
06:49from around the world.
06:50And so that global element of participation
06:52was much stronger.
06:53And so where that's left us
06:54is we want Climate Week NYC going forward
06:57to still have its roots in New York.
06:59We still wanna be there alongside UNGA,
07:00but we want to have more of this hybrid of global voices,
07:04that element of New York,
07:05and it's gonna be a mixture going forward.
07:06And this year, the opening ceremony was a mixture
07:09of people on stage and people we were beaming in.
07:12We have a hub, a place virtually,
07:14and in future, I think we'll see a mix of events
07:17in the week.
07:18Do you think the virtual events helped with inclusivity
07:20since they weren't able to be here in person?
07:23I don't think they hurt.
07:25I just don't know if they helped as much.
07:27From what I've heard from Indigenous leaders,
07:29there's nothing like being there in person.
07:31And I know this from my own experience as well.
07:34There's nothing like bumping into that government representative
07:37and having a quick word with them
07:38about this issue that we have to work on.
07:42So the kind of serendipity that happens
07:45when people are in person is not there with virtual events.
07:49But virtual events are better than nothing.
07:51Of course, they do encourage people can participate
07:55as long as they have internet connection,
07:56which is not a guaranteed thing for Indigenous peoples.
07:59I sat down with the ambassador from Tonga
08:02about the challenges that the pandemic is causing
08:05for COP26.
08:06For us in the Pacific, there is a predicament.
08:10Judging by my interaction with my capital,
08:13there is not a whole lot of optimism about
08:15them sending a delegation from capital
08:18to because of the COVID-19.
08:20So we are the ones, we are the underdogs.
08:24We are the ones who really be there
08:26barking the moral voice.
08:28I don't know whether all of them will go to Glasgow.
08:31So it's a kind of an irony
08:34that it's the very meeting that we need to be there
08:36to make the moral voice be heard.
08:39And yet, the way I feel just by talking to some of my
08:42colleagues with respect to COP26,
08:46it's a big meeting, but I fear that
08:49maybe not all of the island countries will be there.
08:55What is the IPCC report and how does that document
08:59impact the global climate efforts?
09:01And what role do small island states play in all this?
09:04We'll find out when we return to the road to Glasgow.
09:10Is the climate really changing?
09:12Are our concerns for real?
09:14The United Nations set up a body to research this,
09:18to be able to give a scientific assessment
09:20on climate change, to tell us where we are,
09:23where we need to be and how we might get there.
09:26The body is called the Intergovernmental Panel
09:29on Climate Change, or IPCC,
09:32and they've created six comprehensive reports
09:34since their creation in 1988.
09:38The IPCC came out with a big report in October of 2019.
09:42What were your thoughts on that?
09:43That was a really important report.
09:45And the report they did in 2019 was specifically requested
09:50by the UN and they wanted to know what's the difference
09:52between two degrees of warming and 1.5 degrees C of warming.
09:56And the reason that's important is that
09:57the Paris Agreement said that all the world's governments
09:59would aim for under two, but efforts towards 1.5.
10:03And so they were asking the scientists,
10:04okay, is there really a difference?
10:06What that report said is yes,
10:07there's a huge difference between those two.
10:10And I think the way I always talk about it is,
10:12you know, if you look at the weather forecast for tomorrow
10:14and it was half a degree hotter,
10:15you'd wear the same clothing, right?
10:18But actually all the world's systems that they looked at
10:21and they looked at things like the coral reefs,
10:23they looked at, you know, where can crops grow?
10:26What's happening?
10:26Actually, they even looked at things like tourism
10:28and you could just see this fundamental difference
10:31to livelihoods, to all the things that could grow
10:33on the planet between 1.5 and two.
10:35And it was this real wake-up call
10:36that we couldn't just aim for two degrees of warming,
10:39we needed to get as close to 1.5 degrees C as possible.
10:42And you saw that being built into everyone's targets.
10:45They also produced regular reports
10:47and they did their most,
10:49one of their regular reports this summer
10:51that came out a month or two ago
10:53and they talked about Code Red for Humanity.
10:55So again, the IPCC really sounding alarm
10:58about the latest climate science.
11:00And it's worth remembering
11:01that as they go through the process
11:03of putting that report together,
11:04they debate every single line individually.
11:06And so in a way that's, you know,
11:09they're not being alarmist there,
11:10they're kind of being minimalist in a funny way.
11:12And so it's really important to look at that report
11:14and take it very seriously.
11:16With over 200 scientists,
11:18the data can be interpreted potentially 200 different ways.
11:22My takeaway from the IPCC reports
11:25is that these scientists are trying to reach a consensus
11:28to be able to give us the most accurate reading
11:30of where the world is
11:31and what the short-term future might hold.
11:34While politics is certainly frustrating to me,
11:36I am beginning to see why it's an important step
11:39towards achieving action.
11:41And speaking of politics,
11:43I've been surprised to learn here
11:44that an important group is the Alliance
11:47of Small Island States as a voting bloc
11:50in organisations like IUCN and the United Nations.
11:54This has led me back to Ambassador Tone of Tonga
11:57to find out more about the role small island states play
12:01on the front lines of climate change.
12:03IUCN is an acronym that stands for
12:05Alliance of Small Island Developing States.
12:08It's one of the groups here at the event,
12:11one of our strengths to be in a group
12:14because on your own, you're just an island in the ocean
12:19and you won't be able to do much.
12:21But member states come in,
12:23they congregate and work in groups.
12:27And IUCN is one of those groups
12:29and they have common issues
12:32and that makes it very good for them to work together
12:36and push their agenda.
12:38One issue facing the climate change efforts
12:41has been the blocking in the UN
12:43of the IPCC 1.5 degree report.
12:46A new movement has been started to push the report,
12:49science, not silence.
12:52Gearing to going to Glasgow,
12:54we don't want to see that happen again.
12:56And of course, the latest report really shows
13:00a lot of negative impacts on the ocean
13:02and sea level rise and so forth.
13:04So we want that report to be welcomed and widely accepted,
13:08not to go below two degrees, no, 1.5 degrees or less.
13:12Keep with that.
13:13So that's one thing, to make sure that there is support
13:15for that special report of the IPCC.
13:19And second is to encourage countries
13:24to submit new or revised indices
13:28to meet with the 1.5 degrees centigrade.
13:35I learned a little bit about the struggles
13:37and challenges of indigenous peoples
13:39at the IUCN meeting in Marseille.
13:41But what I'm finding here in New York City
13:43is even more buzz.
13:45How indigenous peoples are examples
13:47of how to treat the earth and its resources
13:50and how they've been taken advantage of
13:52by their own governments and need protection.
13:55A big focus of the UN right now.
13:58Indigenous peoples' rights are not secure yet.
14:00Indigenous peoples' rights to self-determination
14:03or to land tenure,
14:06or to have free prior and informed consent.
14:10So all in all, you might know that in 2007,
14:13indigenous peoples fought very hard
14:15to make sure that there's a declaration
14:18that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
14:20is adopted at the UN.
14:21And the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
14:25doesn't spell out any new rights.
14:27It compiles all the different rights
14:30that indigenous peoples have.
14:32And it's a really incredible tool
14:35for indigenous peoples to be able to negotiate
14:37at the global level with their governments
14:40to make sure that those rights are implemented
14:43on the ground level.
14:45What's Climate Week NYC and the UN General Assembly
14:48without protests and marches?
14:50Even in the face of a worldwide pandemic,
14:53COVID-19 has not slowed down a lot of people
14:56from demonstrating their thoughts and ideas
14:58on the streets of New York City.
15:00More when we come back on the road to Glasgow.
15:06I'm here at the Climate March during Climate Week NYC.
15:11I'm encouraged to see all the young people
15:13getting involved.
15:14It's interesting to see the signs and the different issues
15:16and the incredible diversity,
15:18not just in people, but in ideas.
15:21But does some of the extreme positions
15:23help or hurt climate action?
15:25I'm trying to find out.
15:28We need to respect indigenous peoples' rights.
15:32We need to respect their land
15:33and respect the water that all of us need.
15:36We need a governmental shift.
15:37We need some sort of thing to go out.
15:40We need some sort of legal law to go out
15:42that's getting us what we need.
15:44We need to lower our overall carbon emissions.
15:47We need to regulate a lot of different things
15:49that are regarding this.
15:51And frankly, what we're doing now isn't enough.
15:53And what's legal now isn't enough.
15:54We need more and we need to push that.
15:56And that's why we're here today.
15:58With the focus on indigenous peoples,
16:00Manaria Suga caught my attention at the march.
16:03I wanted to know why he was marching
16:05and what his message to us is.
16:12To see the jungle.
16:16Until now, the modern world, the jungle,
16:19has been seen as a natural resource.
16:22But we want to change that this natural resource
16:25is not a natural resource,
16:26but rather a living being just like us.
16:31So we have to understand that
16:32to start living together.
16:35All the energy and passion is great, no doubt.
16:38For me personally, I want to make sure
16:40all the effort leads to real change.
16:43The emergency is too close
16:45to be spinning our wheels on this world.
16:53The UN scans the whole world
16:55to find young leaders to represent
16:57the 17 global goals.
16:59The representative for the youth of the US
17:01is A.Y. Young, the first musician ever chosen.
17:05It's easy to see why the UN selected A.Y.
17:08for global goal number seven,
17:10sustainable energy and access to it.
17:12This guy is full of energy.
17:15I started to use my passion, my music.
17:18The Battery Tour is a way to raise money
17:20to send one person, one village, access to energy.
17:24Because I had actually learned through traveling America
17:26that oh shoot, a billion people
17:29don't have access to energy.
17:30And that's actually one of the sustainable
17:34development goals, is goal number seven.
17:36So after connecting to the UN
17:40and I was nominated, I became one of these 17
17:43United Nations young leaders
17:45for the sustainable development goals.
17:47The only one from the US.
17:48And the only one from the US.
17:50So I mean, and these STDs are like these 17 things
17:53that the United Nations is like,
17:54hey, we have to do this by 2030.
17:57Everyone should have electricity,
17:58everyone should have water.
18:00We should all have food.
18:02There should be no poverty,
18:03which is something that Global Citizen is helping on.
18:06We should, and so there's the 17 things
18:10and they picked me to be one of the 17.
18:11So Project 17 came to me in like 30 seconds.
18:14Because I like looked at the goals
18:16and I was like, okay, shoot, water.
18:18And I'm like, and I'm thinking about my passion
18:19because I always talk about how everyone's an outlet, right?
18:22We're all outlets for change and plugged into each other.
18:25You know, we can power, we can do anything.
18:27You know, learn who you are, figure out your why.
18:30And then, then you'll make change, right?
18:34Then you'll do it.
18:36In looking for action, for solutions
18:38to the problem of a climate heading to the brink,
18:41I'm learning there are different ideas,
18:42different solutions being put forward.
18:45One of those solutions for keeping the temperature
18:47from rising more than two degrees Celsius
18:50is a carbon market.
18:51But what is a carbon market?
18:54Basically, if you set a cap on carbon emissions,
18:56then a country not emitting much carbon
18:59can sell their extra carbon credits under the cap
19:03to a country that is pushing up over the cap.
19:06Some see this as a way to keep the greenhouse gases
19:08from getting worse,
19:09while opponents claim it simply gives the big emitters
19:13a way to keep polluting.
19:14I'm finding more and more talk about this
19:16because it's the last part of the Paris Agreement
19:19still under negotiation.
19:21And another reason it's controversial
19:22is because some countries,
19:23especially some big carbon emitters,
19:26are pushing for lax rules
19:27about how carbon and credits are calculated.
19:30It will be interesting to see what, if anything,
19:33is determined at Glasgow
19:34concerning the carbon market solution.
19:38And do carbon markets put an undue strain
19:41on indigenous peoples?
19:43Already their land has been and is being taken away,
19:47resources removed, nature destroyed.
19:50Will carbon markets just be another way
19:52indigenous peoples are taken advantage of?
19:56It is a place where more polluting bodies,
20:00entities, countries, or private sector
20:03will be able to purchase carbon credits
20:05from less polluting countries or entities
20:09and be allowed to continue emitting
20:12because they own these credits.
20:15This has been seen as a solution
20:17to help us stay within the two degrees,
20:21or even the 1.5.
20:23From the perspective of indigenous peoples,
20:24I know they have issues with this solution
20:28because, one, on the one hand,
20:30this solution is within the capitalist market model
20:35and indigenous peoples in general
20:37have been left out of markets
20:40and haven't benefited.
20:42Not only have they not benefited,
20:43but markets have, in ways,
20:46the way they function,
20:46have taken advantage of indigenous peoples' territories
20:49and lands, even rights.
20:52The other thing is that some indigenous peoples
20:55believe that air has intrinsic value.
20:58It has spiritual value.
21:00It has value for everyone for life.
21:02So it's not something to be traded.
21:04It's not something to put a dollar value on.
21:07It should be valued for its intrinsic value for life.
21:11One thing I've learned here at Climate Week NYC
21:14that's really different from the IUCN in Marseille
21:17and the Leaders' Summit on Climate in DC,
21:20there's a lot more activists in New York than politicians.
21:24And I'm not necessarily saying politicians are a bad thing.
21:27One thing I'm starting to realize,
21:29in order for real action to take place,
21:31we're going to have to find a consensus.
21:34And for that, extremism won't get the job done.
21:37We're going to have to find a way to protect our earth.
21:40Instead of dividing, maybe a coming together of all people
21:44would be more productive.
21:46Easier said than done, I know.
21:48It's been an interesting Climate Week NYC.
21:51Carbon markets, UN meetings,
21:53and convergence of young people desiring real action.
21:57A strong step towards COP26.
22:00Next up, on our road to Glasgow,
22:02visiting the co-host country, Italy,
22:04for the pre-COP and Youth for Climate meetings.
22:09Thanks for joining us as we walk down
22:11this path to climate action, this road to Glasgow.