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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo

COP2: Follow The Climate Money; Rebels Threaten Ethiopia Capital; Ukraine Town In COVID Spotlight. Aired 6-6:30p ET

Aired November 03, 2021 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BIANCA NOBILO, CNN HOST: Hello, and welcome. This is THE GLOBAL BRIEF. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London.

Tonight, follow the climate money. As countries and companies make big promises, will it trickle down to the communities that need it most?

Then, the capital of Africa's second most populous nation is under threat as the U.S. warns of violations of human rights from all sides in Ethiopia.

[18:00:03]

And how one Ukrainian town became an exemption for a country gripped by vaccine hesitancy.

It's finance day in the COP26 climate summit. U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders are back home. So, now, their negotiators are in charge

of hashing out who is paying what.

Governments aren't the only ones making big promises in Glasgow. The financial industry today made a historic pledge, $130 trillion in assets to

carbon emissions, hundreds of banks, investors, insurers and more are joining forces to align themselves with the Paris agreement and its 1.5

degree Celsius global warming limit.

The Glasgow financial alliance for net zero as it's called controls about 40 percent of the world's capital and it's managed to bring all major

western banks onboard. That includes big Wall Street names like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.

But the plan is far from perfect. It's already coming under fire for not stopping these firms investing in fossil fuels, the primary reason why

global warming is happening in the first place. Activists are also criticizing the pledge for not aiming to lower the total amount of

emissions.

A big question when looking at all of these pledges, will the people making them actually deliver? And will the money actually go to those who need it

most?

CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir breaks it all down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: The four main themes laid out by COP26 host Boris Johnson, coal, cars, cash and trees, probably it's

going to be cash that provides the biggest challenge, because unlike any other thing, money represents human wants and needs and systems, and

they're entrenched in so many ways, so many factors of the economy. The U.K. tried to set the tone this morning by announcing a landmark pledge

from 450 different corporations, insurance companies, pensions, to go green essentially by 2023. They have $130 trillion under management, but like

most things in finance, there's a lot of fine print. Only about a third of that money will actually go into green projects and ultimately the goal is

to reach net zero.

And Greta Thunberg, the youth activist, really put a fine point on what that meant this week when she went viral for leading a profane chant. She

tweeted today, I'm pleased to announce that I decided to go net-zero on swear words. For every profanity, I promise to saying nice.

The head of U.K. Greenpeace responded by saying, or you can offset it by paying someone else to say something nice in a few years.

Also on the financial conversation is the promise to start giving developing nations $100 billion a year from richer nations to help them

adapt and mitigate. But again, the fine print shows us this promise was first made in 2009 and payments were supposed to start in 2020. That didn't

happen. But now, they say the check is in the mail for 2023.

Again, a really complicated thicket of financial ideas, how best to spend the money, how best to monitor it, how best to protect against graft and

corruption and corruption, and waste. What about loss in damages? Could that end up being a major lever in the future here as well?

But the developing countries here and making the fine point that if the bills are not paid now, there will be much billet bigger in the future. If

you look at the climate caused famine happening in Madagascar right now, there's 1 million people starving, children eating insects to survive. If

and when that happens in other parts of the world, where migrants can move across borders, the bill was coming due in a much more dramatic way, they

say.

Bill Weir, CNN in Glasgow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Even if that $100 billion pledge Bill Weir mentioned was met, no one agrees on how to actually spend it. In this urgency, that money is

needed now because the damage already here. Children in Madagascar are having to inspect like locust is just one example, droughts are coming back

year after year, and many are having to leave home not knowing where their next meal would be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This is what we eat, this is all the people in the village eat because it's been 5 years since there was any

rain. Those who had herds of -- have no more because they have sold all their cattle. Look at our crops, there are leaves growing, not even one.

When you pass on the road, you can see that it's dry. There are only sandy lands.

ARDUINO MANGONI, DEPUTY COUNTY DIRECTOR, WFP MADAGASCAR: These people have not complete can touch climate change, but they are paying the highest

price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: The World Carbon Projects says Madagascar is responsible for less than 0.01 percent of the world's carbon emissions.

[18:05:05]

And yet, it's on the front line of the crisis.

We're seeing another huge gap in between rhetoric and reality. Yesterday, 100 nations pledged to stop deforestation by the end of the decade, but

indigenous people, many of whom live in those threatened lands are sharing their concerns about was agreed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TELMA TAUREPANG, LEADER, INDIGENOUS WOMEN OF THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON UNION (through translator): The deforestation plan won't work because there

isn't, there wasn't any prior consultation that was informed. How they ensure our resources that will not reach into this lands? It does not reach

indigenous organizations to curb deforestation. We still don't have a public policy aimed at indigenous people in Brazil which really protects

them. It will only be secure in insuring non-deforestation if there are demarcations of our indigenous lands. If there is no demarcation, there's

no way that deforestation will stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: As ever accountability is key, and that's what we will continue to focus on on our COP26 average over the next couple of weeks.

The brutal conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region could be moving closer to an all out war. A diplomatic source tells CNN that Tigrean rebel

troops are outside of the capital of Addis Ababa, with enough firepower to be inside the city within hours, if they so choose.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed isn't backing down. Today, the government launched another airstrike on Tigray. This escalation is happening as the

U.N. releases a long awaited report outlining human rights violations in the conflict, coming from all sides, saying some of the atrocities amount

to crimes against humanity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE BACHELET, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: The joint investigation team uncovered numerous violations and abuses, including

unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions, torture, sexual and gender- based violence, violations against refugees and forces displacement of civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: CNN correspondent Larry Madowo is closely monitoring the situation, and tells us how this conflict has wider implications for Africa

as a whole.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianca, we don't know how much of a threat there is to Addis Ababa itself at the moment. What we do know is

that the Tigray defense forces and their accomplices at the Oromo liberation army say and have threatened before, that they could take the

capitol at anytime. Does that mean a couple of days, a couple of weeks, a couple of months? We can't tell.

All the sides to this conflict have been given some degree of hyperbole. We are at the one year mark since the conflict of the north. Again, 200

million people displaced, thousands killed, and now extraordinary that the capital of Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, could be a

threat, it's just extraordinary. That's why the African Union is warning about the possibility of a military confrontation. Addis Ababa, it's all to

the seat of the African Union, so it's strategically important not just for the country, but to the entire African continent.

That may explain while the U.S. envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, is heading back to Addis Ababa on Thursday and Friday. We do not

know if he will be meeting with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, or any senior members of his government, especially because he has previously been denied

permission from the government to come in. So, we will have to wait until the readout of that comes out.

But the state of emergency in place in Addis Ababa, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a former Nobel Peace Prize winner, has told Ethiopians to take up

arms, and be prepared if they have to defend the neighborhood, to defend the country. That is where this development has led to -- Bianca.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Larry Madowo, reporting for us there.

Facebook has removed the post from Ethiopia's prime minister, which urged people to use any weapon to fight back against the troops advancing on the

capital. Facebook's parent company, Meta, says the post was removed for violating policies against inciting and supporting violence. We will keep

you updated on this developing story.

France is furious at Australia over its submarine deal with the U.S. and Britain has erupted into outright hostility. The French ambassador to

Australia unleashed a torrent of accusations today, about that sub snub that cost France it's multi-billion dollar deal to provide submarines of

its own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN-PIERRE THEBAULT, FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRALIA: The deceit was intentional because it was far more at stake then providing submarines,

because it was a common agreement on sovereignty, sealed with the transmission of highly classified datas, the way it was handled was plainly

a stab in the back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: And, after a meeting at the G20, France's President Emmanuel Macron said this of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: You think he lied to you?

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: I don't think, I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Not surprisingly, Morrison denied that, and said the two leaders are actually patching things up.

[18:10:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: He was pretty clear that you need to do something to prepare repair the relationship.

SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: We will work on that process.

REPORTER: He obviously doesn't feel that. Way

MORRISON: We'll, they'll be sometime to get on this process. But we've begun, we've spoken several times over the last couple of days. I'm sure

will speak a bit more before I head back to Australia.

But let me be very clear: the decision I have taken as prime minister, that my government is taking was in Australia's national interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Then, Australian media published leaked emails that suggested Macron knew the French deal might fail. Morrison hasn't said if that leak

came from his office. The ambassador is calling the leak and unprecedented new low, and he says now, it's up to Australia to undo all the damage.

Let's take a look at the other key stories making international impact today. Bangkok police have arrested the head of a tie company at the center

of the CNN investigation into fake and used medical gloves. Investigators say the company SkyMed took more than $6 million for clubs from the U.S.

customer but never delivered them. CNN found SkyMed's name on boxes of used or soil gloves that would be a path for export to the U.S. Another Thai

company has now been charged for allegedly exporting millions of those gloves.

Poland is blasting Belarus over the latest incident of the border between the two camp countries. Poland has accused Belarus of deliberately flooding

the border with migrants. It's now said that three unidentified uniformed Belarusian with long guns were spotted crossing the border.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is trying to reassure Ukraine amid reports that Russia is building up troops are along Ukraine's border. He

told the president that they have unwavering support for its marlin tag ready, but curiously, Ukraine says it hasn't seen any side of this Russian

buildup.

The U.S. believes the China is trying to secure his influence on the world stage by building up its nuclear arsenal. China has historically focused on

a deterrent approach to nuclear weapons, but U.S. officials believe that may be changing.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann tells us why that's so remarkable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Bianca, in the latest China military power report from the Pentagon, the focus is on how rapidly the

Chinese military is modernizing. Not only its overall force, but specifically what is called it nascent nuclear triad, the speed at which it

is building nuclear warheads already an increase over the estimates from the previous military power report last year. The Defense Department says

the China could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by the end of this decade, by 2030, and that as it pursues its larger goal by 2049, the midpoint of the

century, of supplanting U.S. influence and replacing U.S. alliances in the region with its own alliances and effectively its own system conducive to

its own authoritarian government.

Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Mark Milley, says this is a fundamental change that China is pursuing in the way the businesses that not only in

the region, but around the world. Senior defense officials saying this is very concerning, of course, to the United States -- Bianca.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Oren Liebermann there for us.

Now, some really good news. A youngest Australian girl missing for nearly three weeks is safe and back with her family and a happy ending the few

expected. This is video of the 4-year-old Cleo Smith being rescued. Cleo had disappeared from her tent during the family camping trip, and was found

in a locked house 18 days later, following a massive police search.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMERON BLAINE, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN POLICE DETECTIVE SENIOR SERGEANT: Well, I asked her what her name was, one of the guys jumped in front of me a

picture up. I just wanted to be absolutely sure, I assumed it looked like Cleo, I wanted to be absolutely sure it was her. I said what's your name,

she didn't answer. I said what's your name? She didn't answer again. So I asked her third time and she looked at me and she said my name is Cleo. And

that was it. So, we turned around and we walked out of the house.

MORRISON: This is every parent's worst nightmare. The fact that nightmare has come to an end, and our worst fears were not realized, it is just a

huge relief, and a moment for a great joy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Cleo's mother took to Twitter to celebrate the news, saying the Smith family is now hole again.

Police say a 36-year-old local man with no family connection is in custody, the man was not in the house of the time of the raid.

The well-being of children is making other headlines as well. Ahead, COVID vaccinations are now underway for the youngest age group yet in the United

States. And she talked about it before it was cool to talk about it.

Now, Stella McCartney tells leaders to get serious about cleaning up the world's biggest industries, the fashion industry.

[18:15:05]

My chat with the designer, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: The World Health Organization reports global COVID-19 cases and deaths have increased since last week. These numbers are largely being

driven by the situation in Europe. Germany says it is dealing with a pandemic of the unvaccinated. The Health minister is calling for more

places to require proof of vaccination. Ireland is recording its highest numbers since January, and officials are asking the public to limit face to

face contact.

Meantime, the Netherlands has introduced a mask mandate in some settings.

(BERGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, DUTCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): As of Saturday, face mask will also be mandatory at stations and platforms throughout the

airport. Furthermore, from then on, a mouth mask obligation will again apply to all publicly accessible indoor locations such as government

buildings, stores, libraries, hospitals, and nursing homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Across the U.S. now, where children 5 to 11 have their first chance to get a COVID vaccine. This, after the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention authorize the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for that age group. Shots are already underway in many locations. Shots are already underway in

many locations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I just want to be safe from COVID. And I got a COVID test. But I think I could do more, so I got the vaccine and it was really a

new choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Saudi Arabia is also allowing children 5 to 11 to get vaccinated. After its Food and Drug Authority approved Pfizer shots for those ages too.

In Ukraine, hundreds of people staged an anti vaccination protest in Kyiv. The country is facing an overwhelming number of infections and deaths, all

the while, lagging in its vaccination campaign due to misinformation and distrust in government. In fact, an October poll showed 43 percent of

Ukrainians were not ready to take a vaccine.

However, one town is racing ahead with vaccines. This far town of Morshyn, where the economy depends on tourism and has a 74 percent vaccination rate.

Local authorities have launched a campaign urging people to get vaccinated, and residents are helping to spread the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I would like this tendency to spread across all Ukraine, so that people who doubt will make a decision to

get vaccinated, and understand that it is now the only way to protect yourself and your relatives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: So, when it comes to the planet, few industries are more harmful than the fashion industry. The sector uses enormous quantities of fuel and

water, and every second, truck fills of textiles are dumped into landfills all burnt.

[18:20:01]

And when you add to that the rise of fast fashion, the demand for overnight shipping and unlimited returns, it's no surprise that the problem is

getting worse.

Designer Stella McCartney has long been ahead of the curve, when it comes to sustainable fashion. A luxury label strives to embed cruelty-free and

ethical practices into the brand. Some of her recent innovations include a mushroom based leather, and the world's first vegan football boots.

McCarthy is at COP26 pushing for industrial regulation and better practices. She told me that is not just about green initiatives and animal

rights, but human rights as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STELLA MCCARTNEY, DESIGNER: The ethical side to the fashion industry is not being talked out at all. It is the elephant in the room. And people

aren't connecting the dots between actually human life as well, the quality of life. People still work for a minimum, minimum wage, and an avatar in a

leather farm, skinning animals for a living, the pinnacles that you use tannery on leather, like creating cancerous issues, and putting people out

of work for these products.

We are here today, I brought also -- basically asking everyone at COP26 to sign a petition that I brought to the attention -- I'm trying to use this

platform for a positive change, and it's really to reduce the use of leather and fur in the fashion industry. And yeah, I mean, for me the

absolute biggest, biggest thing that is not being talked about is the hundreds and hundreds of millions of animals that are being killed every

year, and the deforestation that is attached to that. The grain is efficiently being used and fed to animal, the water, the energy -- for me,

that's the biggest issue.

NOBILO: And given that ethical choices are driving a lot of consumer trends at the moment, especially when we look at the younger generations,

what more can be done to make people more informed of their fashion purchases, and these elements to the supply chain and animal rights that

you are talking about? Because I think if they did know, the reality, they will be far less likely to purchase these goods.

MCCARTNEYH: I cannot agree more. And you know, the thing is the fashion industry is the most unfashionable. It is the most endanger of becoming

irrelevant if we don't stand up to the fight that we are basically killing the earth through fashion, we need policy, we need to have incentives. We

need to inform people.

You know, it's critical, and that's why I'm here. I'm basically using my privilege as a platform to bring people's attention what's really going on

here. And this installation is really showcasing facts, like hard-hitting facts. And then, people can make conscious decisions on how they consume.

Every single little bit helps, I firmly believe that. And we have to remain positive.

NOBILO: And luxury, in particular obviously, it still seems a demand for leather. Now, you don't use it. When do you think the fashion industry

drops it? And you think it is paramount that the government starts to regulate?

MCCARTNEY: Yeah, I mean, it's critical that we have regulations. We are one of the million industries that has no kind of monitoring. We have no

measuring our harm, as a collective. We're not being told that we can't do anything by certain time when we'll be given a fine, like the automobile

industry.

Why do you think these things going electric? It's because they don't allow to keep guzzling gas. But for sure, there has to be laws and regulations.

There have, you know, taxes need to be in our favor. The subsidies -- trillions of pounds that are currently going into animal agriculture and

cofounding using chemicals.

It needs to come over into these amazing initiatives I'm showcasing here. The regenerator of cotton in Turkey that we're working on (ph), they need

those subsidies. These non-animal leather -- you know, young startup businesses need to be incentivized. Everything is topsy-turvy.

NOBILO: Just one final question to you, as you are at COP26, obviously, your mother Linda McCartney, were so ahead of her time when it comes to

animal rights. Do you remember the dawn of your green consciousness? Or when you realize the scale of the problem?

MCCARTNEY: Well, you know, I was so fortunate I was brought up with 2 incredibly inspiring parents, that embrace looking at life from a different

perspective. We were one of the first farms to be in (INAUDIBLE) association, and become organic in England, and first vegetarians.

I spent the majority of my life being ridiculed and made fun of in sick homes because of our way of life. And so, it was too early, really, on --

to have a noticeable moment of kind of epiphany. But I certainly when I went into the fashion industry, I can't be hypocrite. I can't use leather,

I can't use fur, I can't kill animals in the name of fashion.

And there was a U.N. report -- I think around 2012, and it highlighted that connection between animal agriculture and the demise of our rainforests and

how destructive that was to the environment.

[18:25:04]

And that was the moment where I suddenly connected the dots. So, I was like outside my ethics and animals, it became like, oh, this is having an impact

on the planet and climate change.

NOBILO: Stella McCartney, really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much for joining us, and for everything you do.

MCCARTNEY: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: And we'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: On Wednesday, an Israeli court suspended the auction of what's claim to be an Auschwitz tattoo kit after an outcry from Holocaust

survivors. Over 1.3 million people were murdered at Auschwitz. Most of them were Jews. Polls, Roma, disabled people and gay people as well. Prisoners

were branded with the number, and the tattoos became a symbol of the inhumanity of the Nazi concentration camp.

The Solomon's auction house touted the tattoo kit as the most shocking holocaust item. It is projected sale value is between $30,000 and $40,000.

The auction has now been halted for 2 weeks. When the auctioneer said he would take a 25 percent commission. An Auschwitz survivor called a

criminal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AVRAHAM HARSHALOM, SURVIVOR OF AUSCHWITZ (through translator): My opinion, it's a crime, if it is even real. The skin that was removed from my arm

with the original number.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Solomon said the sale was meant to increase awareness, and functioned as a means of ensuring the item reached quote, the right hands.

If you're worried about it going to the wrong hands, donate it to a museum. My grandfather had a tattoo, it was 1088. He was an Auschwitz prisoner for

4 years.

If this tattoo kit is real, it might put the ink in his arm. No one should make money from the site of the greatest mass murder in history, or

anything like it, ever. And evidence of those atrocities should never be auctioned.

As always, we're keen to hear your thoughts on Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks for joining us today. Good night.

END