How climate activists adapted to a repressive regime at COP27

difficult to get. If you're young, if you're from the global South, you cannot rule a dead planet. The second week of COP is underway. Negotiations on loss and damage and climate financing are going to heat up. Whether the so called implementation COP will live up to its promise

will be answered this week. Over the past few days, though, I've been talking to youth activists about how they are engaging with this COP which is happening in a repressive country, how that reflects the broader challenge of activism, and what they are doing to make changes in their own countries. But first I'm talking with my bloom Book colleagues John Ainger and Jenda Louis about what's happening on the ground. Jen, John, welcome, thank you, Thank you. Now, Jen, you've been the reporter

who's taken the hardest hits from Charmel Shake. You've had food poisoning, you've had mosquito bites. Now you're getting a little bit of a cold. Asking you how cops going is going to be a hard question. You can't complain too much being in a seaside resort town. But I will say that the mosquitoes have been pretty pesky. I've counted one hundred thirty three bites and I'm hoping I don't reach higher levels today, but you know it's taken

its toll. Yeah, John, you've had a better time. I think, yes, for sure. I mean you couldn't get a much more different location from Glasgow. There's definitely an increase in temperature of about twenty degrees CE. So can't complain too much on that front. Now, let's talk news because there's been quite a bit today. Jen. There was a large announcement of twenty billion dollars going to Indonesia under this so

called just Energy Transition partnership. You already had the news last week, we did, and we had that affirm today. I mean, this is a big, big deal. It's the largest international climate finance package of its kind, twenty billion dollars going to Indonesia to help them get rid of coal plants and bring on renewable power. You know, the US and Japan really were the core countries developing this project with the Indonesia over the last year, but they're

nine countries and the UK involved in total. And it also is going to bring in private finance. So basically it's twenty billion dollars split ten billion by the government partners and ten billion from members of g fans the banks and asset managers that are part of that, and they're they're pledging to really work hard and work fast. The hope here is that this will be off the ground in the next six months. And the theme of this cop has been show me the money, and so

there's real money this time. And if Indonesia gets it right, they will bring forward the peak of their emissions from twenty thirty eight to twenty thirty That would be quite the win. Now, talking of peaking emissions or reducing emissions, we also got a commitment from the EU. John, what

was that? Yeah, So the EU today, Franz Timmermans, the EU's climate chief, came here today with a big announcement, or what he said was a big announcement that the EU will be able to cut emissions by fifty seven percent by the end of this decade. And that's an increase from fifty five percent. So it doesn't sound a lot, but for them, it's evidence that they're actually implementing their climate plans. So the key element of this particular thing

is the carbon sinks. They've agreed to boost carbon sinks nature based solutions in the EU, and that means they can put forward a slightly higher target. And what did

other delegations make off the EU's commitment. Well, I think the EU is in a very interesting role at this year's cop because is a continent that will be the first to reach climate neutrality by the middle of the century, but at the same time it finds itself mired in an energy crisis that's forcing it to go on a hunt for gas, a dash for gas, as some people

like to say. So we saw our activists last week say that the EU and Germany in particular is using Africa as its gas station, so that's putting the EU in a bit of a difficult position. So for the EU, this is their chance to show that they are implementing their green goals. Whether it will move the needle match and negotiations, I don't think it will. And overnight we had a draft text on loss and damage, the big topic about how to get developed countries to provide money

to developing countries as a compensation for climate impacts. That draft was met with quite a lot of skepticism. Greenpeace said it is a skeleton draft, but without a backbone, what do you make up that gem? Well, there's quite a lot to be filled in here. I mean, we're, you know, in the end game and I mix it metaphors, but there's a lot to be filled in in this skeleton,

and you know, there's quite a lot of disagreement. We've seen some movement in just the recent days from the EU and some other parties suggesting that maybe a facility could be set up for loss and damage, but the US is still very much dug in. They are resistant to the idea of a new facility and a new funding stream to be resolved by the end of the Cup. Again, four days out from the end. We're at a tough

place talking of not going in the right direction. We are in Egypt in a repressive regime and it has been a difficult time for activists. John, you've heard some stories directly from activists. What would they like? Yeah, So I think firstly it's important to set out why activism is so important at COP summits, and that's because they really are a driver of more ambition when it comes

to cutting emissions. Historically, the Middle Saturday has been where we've seen thousands of protesters marched through the streets in order to call for countries to do more. But what we've seen at this year's COP is happening in Charmel Shaik, which is sandwich between the desert and the sea. There's a wall around the city, there's a number of guards in suits looking out over the city, and we've seen NGO's. I've found it really really difficult to do what they

normally do. That started weeks ago when hotels were already canceling and hiking prices for NGO's in particular, but we've seen that continue once this COP has started. So hotels have really started to price gouge, is what we've heard from a number of Joe sources. Room rates have tripled, leaving njo's in some cases out on the streets or trying to find rooms. But we've also seen other crackdowns on activities. The Middle Saturday protest, as I mentioned, normally

ten thousand people on the streets. That's not been possible. At this year's conference, we saw a small protest, probably between five hundred and eight hundred protesters within the un venue. And because it's in the un venue, it takes on different rules and they're not allowed to cool people out by name or companies by name. So I think that's really stifled a lot of the NGO activism that we

we've typically seen. Well, it's going to be a long few days and nights before there is an agreement among two hundred nations if there is one. Good luck for the remainder of the time, and thanks for coming on the show, Thank you, good luck to you. Actually, after the break, I speak to youth activists from Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Burundi and Uganda about how they

are working to make change happen. Earlier this week, Bloomberg Quick Take reporter Jennifer Zaba Saja and I spoke with Vanessa Nakati, a climate activist from Uganda who was recently appointed a Goodwill ambassador for UNI SEF. Vanessa nakatak climate activist, thank you so much for joining us here on Bloomberg. Happy to be here. So, Vanessa, I mean it now we're a weekend to cart talk to us about what it's been like. This is a different COP than you've

been to before. You know, what I can say is that young people are not allowing you know, our leaders known to take action. We are demanding for climate justice and especially for the communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. Now Egypt. It was an African cop right, This is supposed to be where African issues are highlighted. Many many African leaders came and spoke. Do you think, as somebody from Uganda, that issues that are affecting Africa

have been well represented? Well. Many people have been calling this an African cop and we really hope that it leaves up to that name. And one of the things that has been on their agenda or that has put on their agenda is the issue of loss and damage, and we know that the climate crisis is pushing so many communities beyond adaptation and that is where loss and damage comes in. And different activist groups and civil society has been calling for a loss and damage finance facility.

So we really do hope that there is progress made on a loss and damage finance facility on this scope so that it can live up to you know, the name that it has been given, the African Cope, Well,

what does that look like? The Overnessa? Because for a lot, I mean, depending on which country you're talking about, some leaders are not even really engaging with the way lost and damage is sort of being discussed here, and others are saying, you know, liability is not on the table and so like in the next few days, what does an adequate loss and damage you know, cop and agenda

look like in your mind? Well, um, for so many you know, activists, many of us are not like loss and damage experts, We are not finance experts, but we know what is happening in our communities. We know what is happening, you know, in our countries, and we are using our voices and our platforms to talk about what we are doing or what we are seeing in our communities. For example, the you know, the flooding in Uganda, the flooding in Nigeria, in Pakistan, the cyclones that affect the

southern part of the African continent. So that is what we are talking about, what we know and also you know what we've seen happen in our communities, and we hope that in these remaining days we can have something that can give us hope, you know, for addressing the loss and damage that is happening in communities right now. Many of the African leaders we spoke to the president of Mozambique, the president of Senegal, are continuing with building

out fossil fuel projects. Senegal is going to get a gas projects is Muzambique. Same thing is happening in Uganda where they're building oil extraction and then a pipeline going through Tanzania. That's what your leaders are doing, That's what African country leaders are doing. They're saying, we need to develop our fossil fuels because it was the rich countries, the developed countries that polluted. You should allow us to pollude.

How do you address this tension between needing energy even if it's fossil fuel energy by our own country leaders versus having to not allow these projects because that's what the climate demands. Yeah, you know, about six hundred million people in Sub Saharan Africa don't have access to basic electricity. But I also know that you know, for stale fuel corporations have for the kids promised that fosil fuel investments

in Africa will lead to economic progress and development. But you can agree with me that we haven't seen that in some of the African countries where we've seen so few well investments. So it's obvious that this has been a lie from the fossil fuel companies that has been going gone for decades, and it is the same situation

happening right now. Fosil fuel companies are promising jobs, they're promising development, but we carry no testimony of the investments that I've already done in the past decades on the African continent. That's why I believe that what African needs is renewable energy. When you see the fosil fuel investment or infrastructure, they never reached the person at the last mile. And of course, you know, some of the investments are coming because of the you know, the energy crisis in

Europe or in the West. But then people only recognize an energy crisis because it's happening in Europe. But they never recognized an energy crisis when six hundred million people in Africa didn't have access to electricity, that was never

referred to as an energy crisis. So I hope that people can understand that Europe deciding to come for gas in Senegal or you know, any other infrastructure on the African continent, it is for the interests of Europe and it's not for the interest of the people in Africa.

Before coming to this COP, some activist Greater Tunberg included call it a green washing cop Why do you think that's the way to describe what is happening here, because a lot of people are coming here from two hundred countries trying to make progress even though progress is quite slow, should be called greenwashing. I mean, I can say we can find ourselves in a system that is completely greenwashing, that is completely use washing, but then we have to

try and change that system and make it better. And you know, when you come from our community that is on the front lines of the clammate crisis, you have no other choice but to come and try and change the system. You have no other choice but to come and talk about what's happening in your community, but to speak from community that is on the front lines of the climmaate crisis. I think that it's not a matter

of choice. We have to be here. We have to try and make things better for our communities and for our future. And talking of next year, we are going from Egypt, which is a gas exporting country, to Ue, which is an oil exporting country. It also has some gas. What are your feelings about going to another CORP where fossil fields will be very much a strong part of the presentation. There is something that I read recently and he said, if you're going to discuss about malaria, don't

you invite the mosquitos. So yeah, I don't know who said that, but I've been hearing it even at the CORPS. So I don't think that it's very sad when we have like FORSU fuel corporations dominating the spaces in the corps, because you know, it's the very industry that is fueling the climate crisis. Thank you, a Essa, Thank you too. I also spoke to several activists at the Bloomberg Green

event at COP twenty seven. They aren't just campaigning, but are also working on other concrete ways to tackle climate change. Is shark Osman started a philanthropic organization to fund those affected by climate impacts in Sudan. Delphin Kazi started a company that's making clean cooking fuel in Burundi. And el Weinthrob is a climate activist from Argentina who also runs

climate education courses. I had the pleasure of being able to put together a book of edited essays of sixty activists from sixty different countries two years ago, and the most fascinating thing I found was they had such different stories, life stories to come to the point that they have. So Isha, can I start with you? What is it

that brought you to working on climate issues? So? I come from Sudan, but I am based in the UAE and growing up outside Sudan and as a diasporic community generally, I really felt this responsibility towards what I can provide back home, and my climate journey really started with my

bachelors and environmental sciences. I was very much aware of the situation in Sudan with regards to the flood crisis, and I wanted to know how much are people within the Sudanese context also trying to provide for themselves and how are they breaking barriers towards what the crisis that

they're facing. And then just like three months ago, I got the chance to go to the Greenpeace Climate Justice Camp and that's when we got this idea where we saw that there's a reason why we are in the stagnant stage, and it's because we're not getting any accessibility to the right funding, to the right resources that will help us reach our potential. And that's where we decided, you know, if no one's going to stand up for us,

will stand up for ourselves. We will try to change the philantropic pathway that is so inaccessible to many of us now. El we are in a country where protests are not impossible, and yet cup meetings, which are essentially synonymous with protests is happening here. What does it mean like for you to be able to make it to Channel Cheke? So it's been quite complicated. The first thing you need to solve if you want to participate in a conference like this to enter the blue zone is

accreditation and getting accreditation for youth can be quite difficult. Luckily, in my government this year from our Entina, they gave us badges as part of a party overflow credentials, and one solve the credentials comes the real complicated part, which is gathering the funding, especially if you're from the global

South and you're young. Less than one percent of climate funding from grants, from foundations and different initiatives go to youth lead initiatives, and most of that is concentrated in the US, so if you're from Martentina like me, it can be quite a hassle to gather the funding. To be able to come here, I had to basically get small pots of goals from different persons and one people who were able to buy the fights and another is able to help with the housing and specifically housing here.

There you can see a very concrete way of how unequal the climate world is in terms of the differences between the global North from the global South. I'm staying in the Tulipin, which is the hotel that is subsidized by the Institution government. We arrived there and many of the places were overbooked, so people were literally being rejected there when they arrived after having spent thousands of dollars and lots of times and months of planning to be

able to get here. We're all from the global salth in that hotel, and so accessibility really for the financing and the credentials can be quite difficult at times. And how has it been the first few days in terms of being able to protest? They know, we've seen sporadic photos of some protests being allowed inside the blue zone. But compare your experience back in COP twenty six to what it is now in COP twenty seven, and how do you feel the difference beyond the logistical challenges of

getting here. So, in COP twenty six, I remember there being interventions and direct actions constantly, multiple times a day, and then of course a huge youth strike on Friday and an even bigger intersectional coalition led strike on Saturday, which in total mobilized between both I meanbe like three hundred four hundred thousand people. This time, there probably won't be any mobilization or any strike outside, if it is, will be very small. I haven't seen even one direct

action or protest inside the venue. I think I saw one outside. But this is also one of the contradictions that I've seen at cop in the sense of the things that we're usually protesting for is money for adaptation, money for loss and damages and trend set of reparations, and the Egyptian government, being part of Africa, being one of the countries that is suffering climate violence firsthand, has been pushing really hard for adaptation and loss and damages

to be in the negotiating tables. And so there's that contradiction in the sense of there's no protests and suddenly there's being advances in adaption and loss and damages. So that's been quite confusing to be honest. And Kasey, now, you started off as an activist, but very quickly through your experience in Burundi, you moved on to business as a solution. I started as a climate activist as I got the opportunity to be a student in environmental sciences

at university. At that time, I realized how we are facing an arming rate of deforestation where we were losing about between five thousand and seven thousand hectares of forest cover in our country. Peria. We organized some conferences, some campaigns in my community, but the question was, yes, you told us about we should change, what to use in cooking,

but where is the alternative? And I decide at the time that my activists should be accompanied by concrete actions, and then I founded Kaze Green Economy, which is a green cooking company. And indoor cooking, which is very common, kills four and a half million people annually and that's just because of all the films are generated from burning inefficiently the words. So wood burning is still a solution, but clear in cooking allows for those particular matter pollution

to not be affected and thus help with health. Not just access to energy. He told me that access to electricity in Burundy is still seven percent, which is only seven percent of the population has access to electricity. So energy access has been an issue that we've talked about here at cop quite a bit. You know. The numbers are something like half of the population in Africa doesn't

have access to electricity. Burundi is an extreme case. What is it that you have to when you go out and you talk about climate change in those circumstances, what kind of reactions do you get from community? Yeah, it's very complicated about universe access on energy. In Oma count three, as you said, just the seven percent of the population is access on electricity, and that is also what pushed us also to invest in a sora electrification, especially in a remote area, to see what we can bring as

a change in our community. We did some campaigns in the real area, but we find those people they don't know or really about crimate change, but there are other really issues they are facing their dairy life. So we decide, let's raising awareness in that community, but also bringing some concrete solutions. People should cook with some clean cooking energy solutions. People should have access on electricity, because those are some

pillars to baste golopment. Absolutely. Now it's you know, we're coming to the end of the first working week, it's been four or five days. Do you think the topics that you had in mind are being discussed and are being given the platform that they deserve. So obviously lost and damage was one of the most important points that needed to be I mean, if Carp didn't bring that up,

then we would have been just super disappointed. And I mean every year we hear about cop Okay and we want to have expectations, but at the same time, it's like we want to ensure that we are staying realistic regarding the situation. And that really it's us that has to fend for ourselves. Really, so I am kind of happy to hear that. I don't know if I should

celebrate it yet. Today I was attending this event with where the Climate Resilience Fund Climate Justice Resilience Funds were talking and they were also speaking about how we don't even have philanthropy for a loss and damage, so maybe we want to ensure that. So maybe Copton is seven did bring that kind of dialogue into our discourse and what's missing that you would like more conversations on transparency, how much we can actually see that this is happening.

They were also speaking in the Climate Finance meeting today where everyone's disappointed with the fact that there's no executive summary for this situation and the climate financing issue, and we need to know how is that funding going to take place. We need to know how is it going to reach the people that require it the most, and at the same time that they're not going to be facing a lot of barriers or obstacles on the way. And this is where you know, our grassroot movements need

to be at the front of this dialogue. They're the ones that should be leading this because it's them that we want to fund. Now, talking of governments, you said you got access to the blue Zone through the Argentinian government delegation, but have they been supportive of the work you've done in general? You know, is there a dialogue that you have with the government that is open and

clear and easy enough? Yes from you. For climate Argentina, we do have a dialogue with different areas of the government, to be at the National Argentinian or some local governments as well. But from that dialogue transforming into concrete climate action, it's very difficult. Argentina right now has a poverty rate close to fifty percent and inflation rate close to one hundred percent annually, so basically the agenda is somewhere else.

It's very hard to push through the message that it's impossible to solve poverty and achieve social justice without including a climate perspective and concrete solutions to environmental issues. And so in that sense, we have dialogue of summaries of the government. They're open many times to listen to what we have to say. We even have very decent environmental laws in Argentina, but it's an implementation where it becomes very difficult in terms of government penetration, it being able

to actually implement those laws that it passes. And so that's a lot with what we've been working on in the last few years of You for Climate is being able to develop local capabilities so that where the government doesn't reach, while local organizations and NGOs and advocacy organizations like You for Climate can help push that forward. Now

the UA is going to host COP twenty eight. What expectations do you have going into next to your scup, which is going to be where you live now, right, Yeah, So growing up in the UAE, I think in the past five to six years, the environment has become a really strong base and they've really involved the youth in that.

I could say the network that's found in the Arab Youth Council for instance, for a climate change, it has a potential to bring not just the capabilities, but the literacy to even speak about this, to even kind of indicate what sort of ways that we can help our impacted areas in the Mena region, And that obviously involves Dan and I would love to know, you know, how much our Pseudanese youth are going to be part of that, how much our ideas, our solutions, our research, also the

idea of because I come from a scientific background as well, I want to know how we can transform the science into policy, how it can be strengthened in its communication, because it's honestly what we have to study in the next few years and what we have to study now for sure, but there are coming years of inhabitable conditions, and our policies need to make sure that we are not doing anything to bring that closer to us now. It's there are lots of people here who've been hearing

from many, many different agenda and voices. If you were to leave them with one thing that they should remember, what is it that you would like them to know? I would say, kind of reflect in your human nature while you're here today, the situation that you've come from, and then compare that with people that are facing this issue in a thousand times worse, people that are displaced by situation that they didn't choose to be in, that situation,

didn't even contribute to that situation. Compare yourself and then you will feel that responsibility. Because that's how I felt. I lived my whole life in the UAE. I don't live in Sudan. But I did go to Sudan, and I had to shift to really see what's going on. And suddenly I'm so aware of that life that I'm not living, and that life that I should have the responsibility to support. Oh value, Yeah, we have seven years

to reduce greenhouse emissions in forty five. That means we need to accelerate processes as much as possible, and we need to help young people and young organizations develop the capability to be able to help push forward those transformations. And in that sense, we need you to champion us. We need you to open doors, We need a mentorship, We need you to be able to present us with the right connections in order for us to do the rest of the work. Because we know how to do it.

We know how to pitch, we know how to develop initiatives, we can make a beautiful deck. We just need a little bit of help helping to make those connections that it's really difficult to get if you're young, if you're from the global self, in order for us to be able to accelerate those processes and help make the world for us and for you a slightly better place, because for me, the green economy is the only opportunity that we have to survive is the opportunity to create jobs.

It's the opportunity we have to make this ords sustainable. So and the green economy start with changing our mindset with what we consume, what we produce, what we use in our daily life. Thank you, Erica, you Tat, Thanks so much for listening to Zero. If you like the show, please rate, review and subscribe, Tell a friend or tell someone who attracts mosquitoes. If you've got a suggestion for a guest or topic or something you just want us to look into, get in touch at zero pod at

Bloomberg dot net. Also, until November eighteenth, the Bloomberg Green paywall is down. Head to Bloomberg dot com slash green to read all our latest coverage and everything in the archives for absolutely free. Zero's producer is Oscar Boyd and senior producer is Christine riskoll. A. Theme music is composed by Wonderley Special thanks to Kira bin Rim, Emma Howard Boyd and Stacey Wong. I'm Akshardati back later this week with more from COP twenty seven