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World Leaders Pledge to Cut Carbon Emission; Activist Greta Thunberg Wants to See Action; Rising Sea Level Wiping Small Islands; Building Collapse Killed Five in Lagos; South Africa Dependent on Coal Mining. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired November 02, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, making promises in urging action, world leaders are set to announce their first substantial deal of the COP26 climate summit.
At least five people are dead after a building collapsed in Nigeria. Rescue efforts are ongoing. And officials fear dozens more could be trapped under the rubble.
Plus, a disturbing CNN exclusive report on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Desperate families say they are being forced to sell their daughters just to survive.
Well, the second day of a crucial climate summit gets underway in Glasgow, in the coming hours and dozens of world leaders are set to speak about the urgent challenges facing the planet. We could also be hours away from the first substantial deal at COP26, according to the British government. More than 100 world leaders representing over 85 percent of the world's forests, will commit to ending and reversing deforestation by 2030.
Meantime, Downing Street is defending the prime minister's decision to fly back to London instead of cutting emissions by taking the train. A spokesperson said Boris Johnson's plane is one of the most carbon efficient aircraft flying today. Mr. Johnson, and U.S. President Joe Biden, were among the leaders who spoke on the first day of the summit urging immediate action on climate change.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Glasgow must be the kickoff of a decade -- a decade of ambition and innovation to preserve our shared future.
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: That's my clear plea in the decade of action in the decade we are living in now to be more ambitious nationally but to find instruments globally. ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS: Either we
stop, it or it stops us.
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CHURCH: CNN's Max Foster has more on the start of the climate summit.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: World leaders are bumping wrists and rubbing shoulders in the Scottish city of Glasgow. But success here will mean difficult and painful compromise if they are to agree a deal to curb global greenhouse gas emissions. The host, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson open the COP26 climate summit with a stark message. There is no time to lose.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock, and we need to act now. If we don't get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow.
FOXTER: The nations represented here have been given an ultimatum. Agree and execute concrete measures to stop global temperatures rising more than 1.5-degree Celsius or face grave consequences.
GUTERRES: Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of treating nature like a toilet. Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves.
FOSTER: After years of failing to tackle global warming, climate campaigners calling for changing Glasgow are angry and skeptical. Some asking whether the promises made here will be hot air. U.S. President Joe Biden pledge America, one of the world's biggest carbon emitters would lead the way.
BIDEN: We demonstrate to the world the United States is not only back at the table, but hopefully leading by the power of our example. That's why my administration is working overtime to show that our climate commitment is action, not words.
FOSTER: This is the moment of truth. But expectations are low, and some key global figures are absent. The president of China, the world's biggest carbon emitter sent only a written statement saying, quote, "his country would rein in the irrational development of energy- intensive and high-emission projects."
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: By 2070, India will achieve the target of net zero.
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FOSTER: A sobering wakeup call came from the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who set 2070 as India's target to reach zero carbon emissions. That's decades later than other polluters. Pointing to how difficult the process would be for developing nations. The first full day close with a royal reception. The queen seen here
at home in Windsor, didn't attend on instruction from her doctor sending this video message.
QUEEN ELIZABETH: I, for one, hope that this conference will be one of those rare occasions where everyone will have the chance to rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship.
FOSTER: It's billed as the last big chance to address the climate crisis. Whether leaders will meet the challenge, though, is yet to be seen.
Max Foster, CNN, Edinburgh, Scotland.
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CHURCH (on camera): CNN's Phil Black is following developments and joins us now from Edinburgh, Scotland. Good to see you, Phil.
So the British government has built up expectations for this imminent agreement on ending deforestation by 2030. But are all leaders fully on board with this? Particularly Brazil? And do they all have the political will to commit to this?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's described by the British government, Rosemary, as an unprecedented arrangement. It's going to be announced later today with a key group of world leaders. This is something they've been obviously working on in the buildup to this conference, it sits aside as a separate political deal from the ongoing process of the Paris agreement where all the other -- where countries are directed to present emissions cuts.
This is separate and of itself, but potentially significant, it would seem. We're talking about more than 100 countries, yes, including Brazil so it would protect the Amazon, it includes countries that have big industries which drive deforestation. The deal is set to cover 85 percent of the world's forest.
There's finance included around $20 billion both public and private, and it includes commitments from major financial institutions not to invest in projects that are linked to deforestation. So, potentially significant. There is no doubt, I think that saving trees, saving forests is very much been an iconic cause for climate and environmental activists for a long time.
We will hear their response I think with the formal announcements. It is likely to be cautious because there has been attempt -- progress has been attempted on this before and it has been disappointment.
But the reason why it is important to make progress on deforestation is because deforestation itself is responsible for around 11 percent of annual global emissions. And forest cover represents an important part, an important natural solution in the world's efforts to achieve carbon neutrality through its role in actually sucking carbon out of the atmosphere acting as a carbon sink. So, for all of these reasons it is an important point, it is something
that the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has been talking about for some months something that he very much wants to make progress on at these talks. And in announcing this deal, that is the way he will no doubt sell it. As an important big development in the early days of this climate conference.
CHURCH: All right. Phil Black joining us live from Edinburgh. Many thanks.
Well, outside the conference climate activist Greta Thunberg gathered with a crowd of protesters, she slammed world leaders for not doing enough to address the crisis and she told the crowd, it will be up to individuals to make change happen.
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GRETA THUNBERG, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: This COP26 is so far just like the previous COPS. And that has let us nowhere, they have led us nowhere. Inside COP they are just politicians and people in power pretending to take our future seriously. Pretending to take the present seriously of the people who are being affected already today by the climate crisis.
Change is not going to come from inside there. That is not leadership. This is leadership. This is leadership.
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THUNBERG: We say no more blah, blah, blah. No more exploitation of people and nature and the planets.
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CHURCH: Asad Rehman is the director of War on Want and the spokesperson for the COP26 coalition, he joins us now from Glasgow. Good to have you with us.
ASAD REHMAN, DIRECTOR, WAR ON WANT: Hi.
CHURCH: So we just heard Greta Thunberg and other climate activists clearly not impressed with what they see is all talk and no action at this and many other COP climate summit next. Why don't all world leaders fully grasp that we are facing a climate emergency and real action is needed now?
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REHMAN: Well, I share the frustration of Greta and of the millions of people around the world and the countless people represented civil society here at this U.N. Summit. Well, yesterday we had plenty of tough talk on climate. But tough talk by itself is not enough. What we need is concrete plans, policies and the money that goes behind them. And we really need to turn these countless statements yesterday of we should, we must, into we will.
So the prime minister of the U.K. is the host of the climate summit yesterday, said we're one minute to midnight. But at the same time, the U.K. is expanding fossil fuels, it's expanding its aviation. It's continued taxpayer handouts to dirty energy companies. It's locking in trade agreements that will lock in dirty energy expansion. It's cutting international aide.
So, the very things that are needed that's not what they're doing. So we all know that the promises to act are not going to keep us to 1.5. We are heading to at least 2.7 degrees warming with catastrophic impacts all around the world. So, this is not the one and a half- degree cap, it's the three-degree cap.
Look, the plans are there, the policies are there, we just need the political will of our leaders to act, and unfortunately, we are still seeing that in the corridors of the climate summit there is too much influence of big business, multinational saying, slow down, slow down, we are going to be the solution.
CHURCH: So saying one thing doing another. In a statement the British government said, today's unprecedented pledges quote, "will have a chance to end humanities long history as nature's conqueror. And instead become its custody." Which suggests the potential for a significant change, of course here, but the presidents of two of the world's biggest carbon polluters, China and Russia are not even at this COP26 summit. So how big a shift can there truly be?
And if as you, say even the host, Britain, the British prime minister saying, you know, this is a disaster that we're confronting, but doing the complete opposite behind the scenes. What hope could there possibly be?
REHMAN: Well, the only hope is for every country to do its fair share. Look, this is a problem but of course that's global. But there's been different countries, they have a different set of responsibilities. That's written into the climate convention into the Paris agreement, those who cause the most damage have to take the deepest cuts and got to provide support.
We've got to remember for many countries, particularly developing countries, you know, they are not just faced with the climate crisis, there are killer fires, floods, famines that we can all see all around the world, they're faced there in the midst of a COVID pandemic.
And again, the decisions by rich countries to not make vaccines available freely, accessible to all the developing countries means that many of them are still facing a huge health crisis. And of course, they're locked into a debt crisis. Many of them are paying more money out in terms of unsustainable debt repayments than there are to protect their own citizens or into their health systems.
So what really needs to happen is countries like the United States. The United States is responsible for about 25 percent of all of the emissions that are in the atmosphere. And what matters is all of the emissions, not just what you're doing today or what you've done in the past or what you're likely to do in the future.
The European Union is about 22 percent, and when they tell other developing countries, including big developing countries, we all need to do their share. But India, for example, is only responsible for about 3 percent. So India quite rightly says, well hold on a minute, when you are doing your fair share, when you step up to, when you're not doing the very things that you're telling us not to do, then that's real leadership, and then we will follow.
So, the way to build that trust is for rich countries to meet, for example, they're unmet promise of the hundred billion. This was made over a decade ago, and yet it still has been unfulfilled. In fact, some estimates say that only 20 percent of the finances real. It's not double counted from other financial sources, and most of that is in debt creating loans.
CHURCH: Yes.
REHMAN: Look, we have no problem finding huge amounts of money, for example, when we respond to the financial crisis or when the pandemic hits our economies in the global north, but they're telling poorer countries, we can't even find 100 billion for you. That doesn't build the trust, it doesn't make other countries believe that rich countries are serious about tackling the climate crisis.
CHURCH: Asad Rehman, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it.
REHMAN: A pleasure.
CHURCH: And now to the corner of West Africa where climate change is no longer a looming threat, it's already harming people and their way of life. Residents of Saint-Louis in Senegal are turning into climate refugees as rising sea levels eat away at their homes. The area known as the Venice of Africa has found itself on the front line of the fight against global warming.
And I want to bring in CNN's Frederik Pleitgen who joins us live from Saint-Louis.
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So, Fred, this is clearly a wakeup call for the rest of the world and for COP26 as it tackles this sort of problem. How bad is the situation there?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is certainly really dire. And I think you're absolutely right, Rosemary. It should be a wakeup call certainly to a lot of developed nations as they look into what they need to do to curb emissions.
Because one of the things that we see on the ground in Saint-Louis which as you've noted, is a beautiful town, it's known as the Venice of Africa. It's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Is that all of those dire predictions that we hear at summits like at COP26, but also from climate scientists really year-round, all of that is grim reality here on the ground in Saint-Louis. Where you have whole communities whose houses, whose buildings are being eaten away by rising sea levels which, of course, leads to further storm surges. All of that, of course has to deal with global warming.
And you have people who are living in half destroyed houses and they say they have nowhere to go. But you also have many people who have been displaced, and many more who have been turned into climate refugees. Here is what we saw.
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PLEITGEN: The fisherman's lives have always been tough here in Saint- Louis in northern Senegal fighting for survival on the harsh Atlantic Ocean. Now, because of climate change the sea that has always provided for their livelihood is destroying their existence.
Sheikh Czar (Ph) and his family live in what's left of their house half destroyed by a storm surge knowing full well the rest of the building could be washed away anytime.
"We don't have anywhere to go," he says. "If we had the means we would move, where we are living, it's not safe. We are powerless."
Because of its geography, Saint-Louis is known as the Venice of Africa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, once the capital of Senegal, now facing attrition due to the global climate emergency as erosion takes its toll on the historic buildings and the people dwelling in them.
PLEITGEN (on camera): Fishing is a profession that spans generations here in Saint-Louis, but thousands of fishermen and their families have already been displaced by global warming as rising sea levels have destroyed many houses here on the coastline.
There is nothing left of where fishermen Abdulah al-Turai (Ph) house once stood. He says many who lost their homes have become climate refugees.
"There are many young people who have already fled to Spain because they are homeless," he says. They have lost their jobs, and many of them are going. Others have had to move to this tent camp miles away from the ocean. Living in poverty with little hope for improvement.
Rising sea levels are a threat to coastal areas around the world, already causing an increase in severe flash flooding and storm surges like in the New York and new Jersey after hurricane Ida in September. The world needs to act fast or risk having to completely, abandoned some coastal regions in the future especially in the U.S. says climate Anders Levermann.
ANDERS LEVERMANN, PROFESSOR, POTSDAM INSTITUTE FOR CLIMATE IMPACT RESEARCH: The entire East Coast of the U.S. because of changes in the Ocean Cannes, sea level is rising thrice as fast the East Coast of the U.S. than globally.
PLEITGEN: What is a dangerous projection for the world is already grim reality here in Senegal where the ocean that has define the lives in this community for so long is now drifting them into an uncertain future.
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PLEITGEN (on camera): And essentially, Rosemary, what climate scientist are telling us is exactly what your guest said before, is that the main thing that developed nations needs to do, but really the entire world needs to do, is try to prevent global warming from going any further, which means curbing emissions, but then also really start building infrastructure to make climate change proof.
And we saw that seawall in our report there that's being built right here. That's partially funded by the European Union, but there is very few people who believe that that can be a long term solution. That that's going to stop the problem in the long term and there are actually quite a few who do believe that perhaps the city could become uninhabitable in the not too distant future. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Fred Pleitgen joining us live from Saint-Louis in Senegal. Incredible report there, many thanks.
Well, small island nations are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and their leaders have been sounding the alarm at COP26. Delegates are imploring the developed world to take action and provides smaller nations with the resources to fight global warming.
The prime minister of Barbados, an island already threatened by rising sea levels warned that countries like hers are in a perilous situation.
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MIA AMOR MOTTLEY, BARBADOS PRIME MINISTER: One-point-five is what we need to survive. Two degrees, yes, is a death sentence for the people of Antigua and Barbuda. For the people of the Maldives, for the people of Dominika, and Fiji. For the people of Kenya and Mozambique. And, yes, for the people of Samoa and Barbados. We do not want that death sentence.
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CHURCH (on camera): Still ahead on CNN Newsroom, how do you get countries dependent on coal to move away from it? Why what happens in South Africa could be a critical test for the planet.
And Nigerian rescue workers combing through rubble after a deadly building collapse in Lagos. The race to save lives that's ahead.
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CHURCH (on camera): Many leaders at the climate summit want to win the world off of its addiction to coal which is still one of the biggest obstacles to reducing carbon emissions. South Africa remains heavily dependent on coal but the E.U., U.S., and the U.K. have been working with South African officials to finance a transition away from it. CNN's David McKenzie is covering this live for us from Johannesburg.
He joins me now. Good to see you, David. So, let's talk about the main obstacles right now preventing South Africa from moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy instead.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, South Africa, in South Africa coal is king. And the main obstacle I would say is money. And lots of it. Billions of dollars are needed to transition South Africa away from its addiction to coal. There are very significant talks underway between those wealthy nations and regional blocks and South Africa to help fund South Africa's move away from coal.
And this is hugely significant, because it is a bellwether for other developing nations that are key to stopping as well as the richest nations, the climate crisis.
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MCKENZIE (voice over): Treacherous steps into the blackness with illegal miners.
We are going deep into this mine to disused mine, but coal is so important in this country that even the old mines people will go down like this in dangerous conditions and get what they can.
What Anthony Bongingkosi can get just $3 for a bag of coal to support his grandmother and sister. Here they work with little ventilation or light, if they get trapped, no one will come to help.
ANTHONY BONGINGKOSI, ARTISANAL MINER: We have lost a lot of them, others with the collapse of the mine, others with the gas that came underground.
MCKENZIE: It's dangerous work.
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BONGINGKOSI: Yes, it is. When you inhale that gas, you won't move and give 50 or 10 steps you just collapse. You are knocked out.
MCKENZIE: So why do you still do it?
BONGINGKOSI: I don't have a choice, because I have to save my hunger. And not only me, those who follow me. I may die alone here, but what about those who are depending on me?
MCKENZIE: South Africa is a country dependent on coal. With hundreds of thousands of jobs linked to these mines and its monopoly power utility and shaky economy almost entirely anchored on coal-fired plants. ESKOM is one of Africa's biggest polluters but it's all relative.
South Africa has contributed very little historically to emissions that have caused climate change. Why move away from coal at all?
ANDRE DE RUYTER, GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ESKOM: You know, there is this saying that the stone age didn't end because of a lack of stones. I'm convinced that given current technological trends, the coal age won't end because of a lack of coal.
MCKENZIE: To avoid a climate catastrophe, climate scientists say the renewable age needs to be pushed by the entire world even by countries like South Africa that contributes around just 1 percent of annual missions globally.
UNKNOWN: ESKOM has made a decision, not anymore.
MCKENZIE: To commit to the transition ESKOM say it will shut down aging coal plants like Komati.
What will it mean when the last monitor goes off for you?
MARCUS NEMADODZI, GENERAL MANAGER, KOMATI: Man, it's said, and also an opportunity but I will be ready when that happened.
MCKENZIE: But the move to renewables takes time and cost money 50 to $60 billion in South Africa alone says ESKOM.
NEMADODZI: So, this will become useless
MCKENZIE: So rich countries will need to finance the transition as part of their climate commitments. Despite ESKOM's mountains of debt and history of corruption allegations.
DE RUYTER: I think it's not only realistic, it's imperative. If you look at the position that South Africa unfortunately occupies, given our size for South Africa to be the 12th largest carbon emitter in the world, we, I think, are a poster child of what needs to be done in order to transition away from coal to more sustainable forms of electricity generation.
MCKENZIE: They are saying that maybe South Africa needs to stop using coal.
BONGINGKOSI: Yes.
MCKENZIE: Because of climate change.
BONGINGKOSI: Yes.
MCKENZIE: What do you think about that?
BONGINGKOSI: Sure. Sure. What can I say about that? It makes me scared just because we have a lot of people who depend on the coal. So, we kind of can't live without it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE (on camera): Tens of thousands of jobs at the very least, maybe up to nearly half a million people depend on coal in South Africa for their livelihoods, Rosemary. Those practical difficult discussions and deals and negotiations between rich countries, the U.S., the U.K., and European Union and South Africa are the key elements into actually stopping climate change.
These are very difficult thing to put through. And if they can manage to pull off this deal in the coming days hopefully, then it will show that what is possible in terms of a country like South Africa, which as you saw there, really uses coal like fewer other countries. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. Absolutely. David McKenzie joining us live in Johannesburg. Many thanks for that report.
Rescue efforts are still underway in Lagos, Nigeria after Monday's deadly building collapse. At least five people are now confirmed dead, and there are fears many more may be trapped in the debris. Rescue workers have been racing to cut through the rubble looking for any sign of life.
The government says an investigation into the cause of the collapse is ongoing, but as Stephanie Busari reports incidents like this are becoming all too common in Nigeria.
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STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN AFRICA SUPERVISING EDITOR (voice over): Anger and confusion in Lagos' affluent Ikoyi neighborhood after a luxury apartment building under construction for the past two years, collapsed. Trapping an unknown number of people beneath the wreckage.
Locals are upset with what they say was a slow response by authorities. Digging in the ruble by hand to find survivors. Telling CNN, they pulled at least three people from the rubble before rescue teams arrived. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency says it activated its emergency response plan, sending excavation equipment to the scene.
[03:29:57]
The Nigerian Red Cross now on site assistant authorities and rescue teams in the search for more survivors. But so far only the death toll is rising. But authorities say they are not giving up hope.
[03:30:00]
UNKNOWN: (Inaudible) ground zero.
BUSARI: Building collapses in Nigeria have increased in recent years. Often due to lack of adherence to regulatory controls, poor knowledge of construction, and substandard building materials. The cause of this incident is so far unknown.
UNKNOWN: (Inaudible) engineers, will now meet (inaudible) what is the cause. Therefor now, what you have to have is rescue lives that are there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And Stephanie Busari with that report from Lagos.
Well, as a humanitarian crisis unfolds in Afghanistan some desperate parents there are being forced to sell their daughters in order to survive. Our exclusive report after this short break.
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CHURCH: A distressing story out of Afghanistan is showing the harsh reality of the humanitarian crisis engulfing that country. (Inaudible) family say they are being forced to sell their young daughters in order to survive.
CNN's Anna Coren, joins me now from Hong Kong with her exclusive report. Anna, there are simply no words to describe the horror of this desperate situation for these young girls.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yeah, that's right, Rosemary. This is really a difficult story to watch. But we think it is very important for the world to know what is happening in Afghanistan right now.
In our exclusive report CNN witnesses the tragic fate facing these helpless little girls. It is important to note the parents gave us full access and permission to speak to the children and show their faces. Because they say they cannot change the practice themselves.
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COREN (voice over): In this area desolate landscape not a scrap of vegetation insight. Plus a makeshift camp for some of Afghanistan's internally displaced.
Among its residents, nine-year-old Parwana. Her bright pink dress squeals of laughter and childhood games. A ruse to the horrors unfolding in this unhospitable inbound. Parwana's family moved to this camp in Badghis province four years ago after her father lost his job. Humanitarian aid and menial work earning $3 a day providing the basic staples to survive.
[03:35:02]
But since the Taliban takeover 2.5 months ago, any money or assistance has dried up. And with eight mouths to feed, Parwana's father is now doing the unthinkable.
I have no work, no money, no food, I have to sell my daughter, he says. I have no other choice.
Parwana, who dreams of going to school and becoming a teacher applies makeup. A favorite pastime for little girls but Parwana knows she is preparing for what awaits her.
My father has sold me because we don't have bread rice or flower. He has sold me to an old man.
My father, who sold me because we don't have bread, rice and flour. He has sold me to an old man. The white bearded man who claims he is 55 years old comes to collect her. He has bought Parwana for 200,000 Afghanis, just over $2000. Covered up, Parwana whimpers as her mother holds her.
This is your bride please take care of her, says Parwana father.
Of course I will take care of her, replies the man. His large hands grab her small frame. Parwana tries to pull away.
As she carries her only bag of belongings she again resists. Digging her heels into the dirt, but it is futile. The fate of this small helpless child has been sealed.
Child marriage is nothing new in poor rural parts of Afghanistan. But human rights activists are reporting an increase in cases because of the economic and humanitarian crisis engulfing the country.
HEATHER BARR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: These are devastating decisions that no parent should ever have to make and it really speaks to what an extraordinary breakdown is happening in Afghanistan right now.
COREN: For months, the U.N. has been warning of a catastrophe. As Afghanistan, a war ravaged aid dependent country descends into a brutal winter. Billions of dollars in central bank assets were frozen after the Taliban swept to power in August. Banks are running out of money, wages haven't been paid for months while food prices soar.
According to the U.N., more than half the population doesn't know where their next meal is coming from. And more than 3 million children under the age of five face acute malnutrition in the coming months.
UNKNOWN: The people of Afghanistan need a lifeline.
COREN: And while a billion dollars has been pledged by U.N. donors to help the Afghan people, less than half of those funds had been received as the international community holds off recognizing the Taliban government.
UNKNOWN: The people of Afghanistan will be dying of hunger in the next couple of months, and not just a few. This is just making people more and more vulnerable and we can't accept that.
COREN: Sentiment shared by the Taliban.
MAWLAWI ABDUL HAI MOBASHER, TALIBAN OFFICIAL FOR REFUGEES: We are asking aid agencies to come back to Afghanistan and help these poor people. Otherwise the crisis will worsen.
COREN: For this family in the neighboring Ghor province, they are trying to sell two daughters, nine-year-old, Litan, and four-year-old, Zeton for a $1000 each.
Do you know why they are selling you, the journalist asks Zeton.
Because we are a poor family and don't have any food to eat she says.
Are you scared he asks?
Yes I am.
Another family in Ghor province borrowed money from their 70-year-old neighbor. Now he's demanding it back but they have nothing to give except for their 10-year-old daughter, Magul.
My daughter doesn't want to go and is crying all the time. I am so ashamed, he says. Terrified she threatens to take her life.
If they push me to marry the old man I will kill myself. I don't want to leave my parents.
Days later she discovers that the sale has been finalized. Another Afghan child sold into a life of misery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN (on camera): Rosemary, it is just harrowing knowing what this young girls will be subjected to. And just an update on 10-year-old, Magul, the last girl that we saw in the story, who threatened to take her own life. She will be handed over to the 70-year-old man who bought her in the coming days.
Now if the lack of aid is not adequately or urgently addressed, the United Nations projects that by the middle of next year, 97 percent of Afghans will be living below the poverty line. Meaning there will be even more girls who will end up like Magul and Parwana, Rosemary?
[03:40:07]
CHURCH: It is such a nightmare for those young girls. And for the parents. Anna Coren, many thanks for bringing us that exclusive report.
So let's bring in Joanna Rubinstein now from Stockholm Sweden. She is a child advocate and the former president and CEO of World Childhood Foundation, USA. Thank you so much for talking with us.
JOANNA RUBINSTEIN, FORMER PRESIDENT/ CEO, WORLD CHILDHOOD FOUNDATION, USA (on camera): Thank you so much, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, these Afghan parents are being forced to sell their very young daughters to very old men. What is your reaction to what is happening to these girls?
RUBINSTEIN: This story is a heartbreaking story. And it is not just the Afghan story it is actually happening all over the world, and especially in some of the poorest countries. We know what happens to these girls. Like one billion children in the world and we actually have two billion children under the age of 15 in the world, one billion of them experience violent (inaudible) every year. And probably between 10 percent and 12 percent of them are also exposed to sexual violence and exploitation.
So watching this story and seeing the pain of the parents and being in adult in a well off country and understanding that we are not doing enough is really something that is heartbreaking and we have to change that. These girls are sexually exploited, many of them they will -- your children, too young and many of them will die at (inaudible), and the children will be probably too small and will also be at risk of dying.
CHURCH: Yeah, I mean, it is horrifying when you consider. We are talking about a four-year-old here, a nine-year-old, 10-year-old but a four-year-old. It is just so hard to fathom. And this family say they are being forced to sell their daughters because their circumstances are so dire, brought on by a shortage of food. A humanitarian disaster there. What should the international community be doing about this?
RUBINSTEIN: I think the story really shows that we in the world are not taking our responsibility and making children one of the highest priorities in the world. As I mentioned, we have 2 billion children under the age of 15. We are not very high on the global agenda. They are one of the lowest priorities.
We have billionaires flying into space, we talk about climate, which is of course, incredibly important. But we forget that we also put millions and millions of children at risk of dying because we haven't invested in their well-being. And if we look at the development assistants, it is less than 1 percent that goes towards ending violence against children. So, obviously, we need to step up.
CHURCH: Yeah. I mean, you mentioned the billionaires flying into space, a very good point. Their money could be directed at this very cause. And of course if the international community fails to take action, what can aid groups do to help?
Because according to the U.N. half the population of Afghanistan doesn't know where their next meal will come from. We are talking about half of the population and this as the world refuses to recognize the Taliban and release the necessary funds for aid. Is it time for them to put that aside that problem with the Taliban, accept the Taliban are in control here and release those funds?
RUBINSTEIN: We cannot sacrifice children, we have to invest. We cannot let people die just because there is a wrong leadership in these countries. And apart from their global leadership and apart from the private sector leadership, I think it is like -- companies like CNN and media that help us to highlight and showcase what the reality is on the ground.
And now it is up to us the people to actually act. To talk to our leaders. To write and to make sure that the resources are directed to help these children. I'm a member of the board of the global partnership for violence against children and it is a very important initiative. It does a lot of great things, it engages governments, the private sector supports NGOs has a special fund.
But at the end of the day, unless there was enough money nothing will happen. So it is up to us, all of us and many of us who have children or grandchildren that are watching the story. I hope that it wakes up our feelings that we have to do something. [03:45:07]
CHURCH: Yeah. Money and, of course, making our children a priority. Joanna Rubenstein, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it.
RUBINSTEIN: Thank you so much, Rosemary, and thank you CNN.
CHURCH: Thank you. And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: The pandemic may be winding down but the latest numbers reflect the staggering toll it has taken worldwide. Johns Hopkins University reports the world has now surpassed 5 million COVID related deaths. And the World Health Organization says new cases and deaths are increasing for the first time in two months.
Meantime, Austria is mandating that the majority of its workers must be fully vaccinated after a rise in workplace infections. They also have the option of showing a recent negative COVID test or proof of recovery.
And Indonesia has become the first country to give emergency use authorization to the Novavax COVID vaccine. The company says these doses will be made in India and will ship out as soon as possible.
A CDC advisory committee is set to meet in the coming hours to vote on the use of the Pfizer, BioNTech COVID vaccine for children ages five to 11 in the U.S. It comes at a pivotal time as the American Academy of Pediatrics reports nearly 101,000 children tested positive for COVID last week.
CNN's Bianca Nobilo shows us how countries around the world are dealing with vaccinating children.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN PRODUCER (voice over): Brave faces for the most part of these three to 11 year old children in China getting their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
I feel more relieved once she gets the shot. It's always safer to vaccinate rather than not.
China targeting the young in its latest vaccination push as new outbreaks ripple through the country. Some of them spread by children in schools. Earlier this year it approved emergency use of its SinoVac and Sinopharm vaccines for children as young as three. Many countries around the world are facing similar challenges and grappling with a question of just how to ensure children safety.
The World Health Organization has only said the Pfizer vaccine is suitable for children 12 and up. Pending the availability of additional data or not the vaccines. And most countries have so far refrained from vaccinating children under 12. But some governments are aiming younger. The risks too great they say from unvaccinated children, of not only
getting sick themselves but spreading the virus in the community. In September, people began giving shots to children as young as two, using vaccines developed in country.
[03:50:10]
Nicaragua is also (inaudible) out the Cuban shots to toddlers sometimes decorating vaccine stations with balloons and games to make the experience more child friendly.
EMMA BALTODANO, MOTHER (through translator): We've always been vaccinated since we were little. And we were not afraid. It's all about protecting ourselves and being healthy. That is the best thing we can do to take care of our children.
NOBILO: Other countries raising the cut off a little higher. Argentina giving doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to kids three and up. Just like the UAE is doing. And El Salvador using the same shots beginning at six years of age. The same age children in Cambodia are eligible to be vaccinated using the SinoVac vaccine.
A pediatric vaccine expert at the CDC in the U.S. sums up the benefits of vaccinating the young as the U.S. eyes rolling out the Pfizer vaccine to children as young as five.
AMANDA COHN, PEDIATRIC VACCINE EXPERT, U.S. CDC: The question is pretty clear. We don't want children to be dying of COVID even if it is far fewer children than adults and we don't want them in the ICU.
NOBILO: Bianca Nobilo, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And still to come, the head of Barclays bank abruptly resigns after an investigation into his ties to the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: A bombshell from Barclays bank. Its CEO, Jes Staley has resigned. It comes as British regulators finalize their investigation into his business ties to the late financier and convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
CNN's Anna Stewart has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN PRODUCER (voice over): Barclays says it is disappointed with the outcome and that Jes Staley has run the bank with commitment and skill over the last six years. But he has stepped down with immediate effect after the bank learned of the preliminary results of a regulatory probe on Friday evening.
The FCA and the PRA, two British financial regulators launched this investigation in February of last year. It's looking at how Jes Staley characterized his relationship with the disgraced financier, Jeffrey Epstein, to Barclays bank and how the bank then disclose that relationship to the regulators.
Now the relationship in question was a professional one and it relates to once Staley was the head of JPMorgan's private bank and Epstein was a client and this over two decades ago. Staley was asked about the relationship last year and he said obviously I thought I knew him well and I didn't. And for sure with hindsight of what we all know now, I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Well the preliminary inclusions haven't been made public but his house have said there has been no finding that Staley saw or was aware of any of Epstein's alleged crimes. Staley intends to contest the conclusions and he and the board had decided that it's best he steps down. The FCA and the PRA would not comment saying the investigation is ongoing.
As of today Barclays' former head of global markets, C.S. Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat is taking over as CEO subject to regulatory approval. As Staley is entitled to 12 months' notice, Barclays will be paying out his $3.3 million salary. No decision there has been made yet regarding the bonus pay.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[03:55:03]
CHURCH: Elon Musk has responded to an interview here on CNN with the Director of the World Food Programme, David Beasley. He directly challenged Musk and other multi billionaires like, Jeff Bezos, to save millions of people from starvation by giving up a fraction of their fortunes, specifically $6 billion.
Musk has now responded on Twitter saying this, if WFP can describe on these Twitter thread exactly how 6 billion dollars will solve world hunger I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it. Beasley replied that he never said it would solve world hunger but it could save 42 million people who are at risk right now of dying from starvation. He tweeted we could meet anywhere, earth or space, but I suggest in the field where you can see the WFP's people processes and technology at work.
Well, head scarf, sunglasses behind the wheel on a sunny day. That is Queen Elizabeth driving around her Windsor Estate on Wednesday despite recent health concerns after a brief hospital stay last month. Doctors advised the 95-year-old monarch to rest for at least two weeks. Buckingham Palace says, for now the queen is performing light duties. She was due to attend the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow. Instead she welcomed world leaders in a video message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEEN ELIZABETH: It is perhaps fitting that you have come together in Glasgow. Once the heartland of the industrial revolution but now a place to address climate change. This is a duty that I am especially happy to discharge. As the impact of the environment on human progress was a subject close to the heart of my dear late husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: One of the most popular reality series on the Bravo TV Network is heading overseas for the first time. The Real Housewives of Dubai is set to premiere sometime next year. While there are spinoffs of the franchise that air all over the globe this marks the first time Bravo will produce an international version of the show.
And we will leave you with that. Thanks for your company, I'm Rosemary Church, have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Isa Soares.
