That matter how does iraq. This year millions hit the streets across the world to protest the Climate Crisis in this op from special ops 2 prominent activists from indigenous communities around the developing world whether were winning or losing the battle against Climate Change. Its an issue often overlooked by politicians in the media but the United Nations says Climate Change poses a potential threat to the very existence of Indigenous Peoples well indigenous Mexican American activist tina as has been campaigning against Climate Change since he was 6 years old as a teenager hes given speeches at the un and headlined the town hall with senator Bernie Sanders and is even suing the u. S. Government over it in action on Climate Change he also helped organize the september 2900. 00 Global Climate strikes which brought together almost 8000000. 00 people and he joins me now from boulder colorado she does come on t. V. Thanks for joining me on the front youve called the Climate Crisis the bottle of our generations lifetime and you also say its disproportionately impacting poor black and brown communities how so. So if you look at a very simple. Literal experience for many communities of color in addition to communities across the planet everything from the extraction to the transportation of fossil fuels to the impacts of flooding to rouse displacement from our homelands super storms all of those impacts are more likely to be found in marginalized communities import communities because at the root of the Climate Crisis its about a lot more than just the environment or energy its actually about many of these systems of oppression that date back to colonization that have created the same space from which this crisis has grown so really every part of the crisis is directly connected to social justice to Racial Justice to the Human Rights Violations that are happening and given all the do you think voices from indigenous communities have been fully heard on this most important issue of our lifetime is crazy because the popularization of the conversation around climate has reached a place that ive never seen in the last 13 years of my work in this movement and now more than ever there is a recognition of the need of indigenous communities voices being at the forefront i dont see a holistic representation yet because for us its a lot about a lot more than just being recognized as victims of the crisis but more so as proponents in this pieces that are going to bring integral knowledge that is going to guide us into the future indigenous communities have carried the knowledge and wisdom of living in balance with the planet with nature for generations and so for us its not just being acknowledged as the victims but also seriously a part of the conversation of how are we going to get through this how are we going to build the future that we know is possible and i think we have to do a lot better job of ensuring that representation in terms of young activists a lot of people especially in the west have given a lot of credit to grettir thin bug the 16 year old swedish activist who spoke at the u. N. In new york recently has she become the face of your movement. Yeah i believe that in a lot of ways from the media to the Public Perception that is definitely the person i say with the highest profile on the planet that focus is on climate work Climate Justice. And as done a lot of good you know its certainly done a lot of good in the projects in the fight a future of the mobilization of millions of young people and happens at a very necessary time where we are very quickly running out of time her voice is incredibly powerful and unnecessary and at the same thomas is needed for her to give space as well to Young Leaders on the front lines even more so than me that have on the front lines putting their lives in their bodies on the line every single day to protect their communities from fossil fuel expansion because what you said about Climate Change disproportionately impacting poor black and brown communities given that does it make sense for a white european kid to be leading the charge on this. Yeah a lot of people are happy about it and you know a lot of people in our communities in different communities in organizing communities are you know frustrated that it is taking you know. Away you know european girl from a very rich scandinavian country to get the attention that we so deserve on these issues that our people have been speaking up and fighting against for. Dozens of years for generations honestly and so there is i think that theres a problem i think with with where she comes from but i do believe that she is very humble and my connection with her when we were together in new york she is very humble and i think she does understand her place in this work so i think its also lending that opportunity in that platform to other youth as well a lot of right wing critics have accused kids like growth of being puppets who are too young to know what theyre talking about some of even accused parents of child abuse and using her as a tool to promote fear youve been campaigning with your parents on this issue since you were 6 how do you respond to this argument children being used as polled in this struggle i mean these critics must not talk to young people often or must not engage with youth because we are far more intelligent aware educated then most people are giving this credit for we are the most diverse generation in history the most educated generation in history for us this is a matter of survival not just 100 years down the road but this is really we are understanding that this is what the next 10 years are going to look like for High School New versity students this is us understanding that the Climate Crisis is going to shape the job markets were going to be answering and its going to shape the way that our economics will be functioning so we have i think a very holistic understanding that many of these conservative critics are failing to see this is not you know taking cues from our past to say certain things on areas that get attention now this is truly about one of the most defining issues of our time and if you look back at different areas of the Civil Rights Movement of different social Justice Movements people fighting for the survival of young people fighting for their survival for their rights that was never a question. You know and now for us that is that same struggle in a much larger way because it is so global so many of these critics i mean how of hard time understanding the crisis at all you know understanding what Climate Change is but for us this is about our world is about not just our future but you know what our impact is going to be today you talk about your future oh gee you agree with grettir and others when they say that for young people your childhood is being stolen its being taken away from you and you feel an extra burden that you have to bear an unfair burden that you have to bear for raising this issue that affects your generation more than it does other generations. Thats why we do this we take up the sacrifice so that generations in the future will not have to suffer the way that we have will not have to hustle and struggle in you know is going to you know me looking i go to when i 1st met her a siren i had such a big brother vibes wanted to protect her energy because of how already her being very weighed down by this work and ive been there ive been burned out of bed exhausted ive been depressed and apathetic because of these issues because of the impending disaster that is like hanging over our heads every single day many young people of my generation are experiencing that climate. And it is taking away so much of what our time and energy is but it is it is absolutely necessary so that generations in the future have the opportunity to live lives that are equitable and just as sustainable youve taken legal action against the u. S. Government on Climate Change which i want to discuss in a moment before i get to the legal action whats your view on civil disobedience on breaking the law to draw attention to Climate Change because the Extinction Rebellion movement for example in the u. K. Even in the u. S. Has taken nonviolent action to disrupt peoples daily lives theyve been willing to be arrested and jailed but theyve also upset a lot of the public who dont necessarily agree with those tactics. I think anybody who is coming from a place of dismissing other peoples tactics saying that their way is the only right way i think is a foolish narrow sighted approach to this word is not just about going and its not just about demanding political actions not just about marching in the streets i think the solution that we need a very holistic and i think more so than extinction of alien which is rather new i look to different movements of nonviolent civil disobedience like movements that Standing Rock like movements to resist the keystone x. L. Pipeline like indigenous communities that have been practicing civil disobedience long before the existence of Extinction Rebellion acts as a successful tactic to defend our communities at the frontlines of climate impacts i believe it is an absolutely necessary piece of the puzzle is not everybodys way not everybody has to engage in this movement in the same way but we do have to support those who do in their the way that they know best and herbivores wrong unities civil disobedience. Skeptical of Extinction Rebellion. Not skeptical i dislike to give credit where credit is due and acknowledge the nonviolent civil disobedience tactic 7 have been in for generations i support it its nice rebellion what theyre doing as well but i believe that this is a lot deeper than just the work that theyre doing in the closet space in terms of legal action back in 2015 you and 20 other youth activists sued the u. S. Federal government in a landmark Climate Change case for their inaction on Climate Change what would winning this case in a court of law actually achieve in concrete practical terms what would change if you won. So its been wildly been pushing this case through that sense it is a trial for 4 years now. The demand what were asking is that the courts enforce a. Prescription for a climate Recovery Plan to be implemented a National Level to reverse the Climate Crisis to the point to remove carbon the atmosphere to the point of returning back to 350. 00 parts per 1000000 of c o 2 in the atmosphere so it would be a very long procedure in process of working with the courts to enforce a climber Recovery Plan that would be drawn up by a team of the worlds leading climatologists and climate scientists. To restore the balance of the atmospheric composition to that would be that i mean everything from changing Energy Infrastructure to massive reforestation and Carbon Sequestration you fall another lawsuit when youre only 13 years old against the fracking industry in your home state of colorado but you lost that case earlier this year isnt the problem for movements like yours especially from a marginalized Community Like your own that its near impossible to go up against the power of the well the lawyers of the oil and gas industry. Yeah we lost this case but honestly even seeing the federal suit and seeing how we have endured 4 years of trials and tribulations where the time the ministrations doing everything in their power to throw. You know legal loopholes in a way to keep us from going to trial we have overcome every single time we are continuing to see the support from the Justice System of the law in this case to move forward and get closer and closer and closer to trial so yes we are again some of the most powerful entities on the face of the planet but now is a time where i think the power of people is being recognized is an Unstoppable Force both with the mobilization of bodies on the streets the mobilization in our courts the way that we are taking to the polls theres a lot of momentum i feel that that is going to change the landscape of what we have seen possible because for us this is such a monumental Tipping Point that its the masses are going to need to be activated in be involved in really shaping the future and not allow it to be remembered by you know lobbyists in politicians and so on. Do you feel like youre winning or losing this battle because on the one hand the head of opec has woman climb activists like yourself a quote the greatest threat to the oil industry Going Forward on the other hand you yourself of that i hope i dont have to do this for a i mean in my lifetime i would like to see. The tide change and i dont have the rest of my lifetime to ensure that the hobbit we dont have the next 80 years to slowly make incremental changes and slowly change policy at a smaller level this is going to really require a massive amounts of very Quick Mobilization from governments from corporations from you know everybody in the next 10 years so i think the next 510 years are going to determine a lot as far as our involvement and what we fight for whether its reversing the Climate Crisis or surviving it. And we shall see where that takes us im optimistic and i believe we have a lot of power i believe that our generation has a lot more power than then these corporations would like us to believe and we are we are scaring them and we are showing that we are not just industries but we are also changing the Political Landscape of the conversation around climate every single year were seeing more and more people stepping up to manning action on Climate Change in the political space as well as as individuals and corporations so things are changing very quickly theyre going to need to amplify wrapped up those efforts i believe that our generation has the power to ensure that our voices are included in the way that the future is the time in the questions will happen quick enough and im hopeful i think were here for a reason i think that everything our ancestors sacrifice and fought for for us to be here today were here to do this work. To leave something really powerful behind she says come on tinas thank you so much for joining me. Much percentage. Born in the foothills of the himalayas to a forest conservationist indian environmentalist fund donnish even as one of the worlds most renowned activists taking on big multinationals like monsanto and cargill and championing the idea that our planets future depends on farming systems that are focused around women originally trained as a physicist Vandana Shiva has written over 20 books and serves as an advisor to both n. G. O. S and the Indian Government shes been described as a rock star in the global movements against Climate Change and genetically modified organisms and she joins me now from new delhi Vandana Shiva thank you for joining me on the front and maybe when it comes to Climate Change today who all watched is enemy number one in your view Climate Change of course isnt a person its the result of actions of a responsible actor. Primarily the fossil fuel industry and fossil fuel or derived industrial agriculture including the Poison Cartel they created a handful of companies that started in germany moved on to sell chemicals the pesticides the fertilizer so i want to say the problem is Chemical Industrial fossil fuels this farming and the solution is ecological by davis coming in than the small farmer given the india is the worlds 3rd largest emitter now of Greenhouse Gases after china in the United States how much support do you think there is in your country to take on Climate Change and make the kinds of sacrifices and cuts to emissions that are absolutely urgently required to avoid a climate catastrophe. Well for the tribal who is fighting against big corporations to stop coal mining its not a sacrifice to not have more coal yes fault the 2 peasants fighting against monsanto their g. M. O. Seeds the trek to rise ation of this land the debt that has resulted in 300000 suicide its not a sacrifice its a defense of their life what the young people on the streets are talking about every indian tribal peasant woman is talking about so the rush folk old and fossil fuel is really a corporate enterprise but the people the gallup poll last year reported that 77 percent of indians are satisfied with environmental efforts are they wrong to think the government is doing a good job when i think we need to be looking at the movements that are growing around the country this urban forest what which people have been fighting in mumbai the people fighting against the destruction of catchment forests everywhere and against the destruction a wildlife and forests the huge movements that realize theres a link between the biosphere and Climate Change and theyre defending the earth the saw the trees and the animals including human being just from a global perspective some indian environmental activists have called the landmark 2015 paris climate agreement a quote copout because it quote it raises the historical burden of the rich countries and its bad for india bad for the world would you agree with those statements. Well it was in copenhagen that the binding a mission for the rich countries was dismantled and president obama got together of 5 countries and said lets have voluntary commitments so paris really was speaking of the ruins of copenhagen and that is why a memorial this said im going to defend the rights of mother not the rights of the polluters and created a group on the rights of mother earth that really is the future thats the green you deem a new pact with a new pact to live better without fossil fuels without chemicals without poisons so from an Indian Perspective though is paris bob for india from the point of view from that world when it is bad for india only in the sense that it equates all pollutants the historic polluters who for 200 years have been pumping govern dioxide into the at the ca next s. Up its recycling capacity. But one of the commitments on environmental climbs are wrong in any case for everyone these environmental crimes and we had a treaty that created structures to regulate a mission in a legally binding way we have to come back to the issue of legal obligations to protect the environment by diversity that yeah im at the water the old and should those legal obligation reflect what you just mentioned a moment ago which is the historic responsibility of certain countries industrialize western countries for those emissions i mean not all countries were created equal when it comes to carbon emissions. Well you know the industrialized nation which was based on colonize a sion of course has a historical burden in terms of the damage being caused by the colonizing countries but i am among those who believe that we dont have to follow follow that path because as gandhi said god forbid that india should take to industrialisation after the manner of the west the economic imperialism of a single tiny island kingdom england is today keeping the was in chains its an entire nation of 300000000. 00 at that time and now 1300000000. 00 took to similar economic exploitation it would strip the was there of locusts its 150 years of gandhi its time to remember that other pot than the industrial pot there are other parts than the parts of the empire when you say there are other parts apart from the industrial part a lot of people in india will say to you its easy to say but this is a country india which should have massive growth over the last few decades has lifted millions of people out of poverty theyve done not through Economic Growth through industrialization through the missing carbons a name and say you know what a lot of people are alive today would be alive today had we not taken that Growth Strategy would you say to them well you know poverty and not country used to be measured in terms of how much do you eat. Today measure the issue of hunger and indias status in the hunger index we are not doing too well the indices of poverty measurement keep changing the changes from calories to consumption to spending money i think theres only one true measure of people eating are they not teaching and indians are not eating too well with the kind of growth that is being measured after all if you dont measure the production by people and you say and that measure of growth if you produce you dont produce if youre consuming what you produce that means everything circulate county every selfreliant economy every womens economy is ignored and countries 0 thats why we have a hunger crisis thats why we have a collage ical crisis its not enough to get your growth at the circulation of profits and the extraction from the a and from society you have a Prime Minister in india and there in the modi who was reelected this year who likes talking about growth and about profits do you think hes doing enough to take Climate Change seriously he wins lots of awards for his environmental record what do you think of his record well you know the ones who give awards are the ones who know why theyre giving a lot. I place nearly think thats a pound a shrill slow in growth it was a measure created for war it is not a measure for peacetime its not a measure for but well be thats why i work with the government a good son which says well measure growth yes will happen is so what great if you were marching there in the remote a what grade would you give a monk in terms of fighting Climate Change im not a schoolteacher i dont get grades i live my life ok let me rephrase the question how well do you think Prime Minister modi is doing in terms of fighting Climate Change when the measure is how much more solar and how much more. When you have grown. Of course india is making huge contribution but i think we have to reduce the infrastructure that was built for the fossil fuel empire weve got to learn how to have better lives with a lower ecological footprint what do you make of the Green New Deal thats been championed here in the us by the likes of senator Bernie Sanders and congresswoman alexander because youre cortez as a potential solution to the Climate Crisis is not something you think that can be replicated internationally even in countries like yours we need a Global Conservation corps we need livelihoods linked to regenerating the us not to destroying the earth and we dont need a Green New Deal with the earth remembering that the abcess alive and we have to work with helo its a process is to protect a species diversity avoid the 6 mass extinction and avoid climate catastrophe all this is doable all this is possible and the Green New Deal is a survival imperative on the show back in april i interviewed the famous nasa climate scientist james hansen whos a hero to many environmentalists and he said that the Green New Deal is quote nonsense that we need a real deal which understands how economics works what do you say to james hansen. Well i would say we need a new deal that is truly green and knows how ecology works and how nature works and economy is a subsidy of ecology both are derived from the same word only called the earth orm to do good economics it has to be economy of the art of living it has to be a dont know laws of nature thats the revolution that we need is the revolution im engaged in and one last question you were born in the foothills of the himalayas a report earlier this year found that at least a 3rd of the himalayan ice fields are on track to melt as a result of Climate Change that would impact almost 2000000000 people who rely on the mountains for water what is your message to countries that are on track to meet the bare minimum promises that they made in paris given that perspective glaciers mekong river perineal without glaciers what we will have is seasonal rivers and rivers in flood in the monsoon and dry in the rest of the season for those who are ignoring the crisis of the 3rd ball it is like the island issue islands submerging under sea level rice these are issues of Climate JusticeClimate Justice is the foundation of Climate Action and that is why the polluters must be known as she will have to leave it there thank you so much for joining me on the front. Thank you maybe thats our show up front will be back next year. January on aljazeera President Donald Trump is that that president in history to be impeached what does this mean for the future of the u. S. Leader on the brink of an election a form of chilean president ial candidate explores the defeat of left wing Political Parties across latin america and look at how this years World Economic forum to focus on ways to tackle the impact of Climate Change an expropriation of family links to the sudanese regime examines it italy may now be embracing fascist ideologies most believed gone forever with the general election out of the way brics it is now certain how will the u. K. Proceed with the transition in the coming months january on aljazeera. Legally prescribe for the pain relief of the sick but taken in life threatening doses by millions in search of a fix. Huge illegal shipments of the opioid tramadol are flooding the west africa. 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