Welcome to bbc news im aaron safir. Our top stories our top stories. Britains prime minister, britains prime minister, borisjohnson tells the bbc, borisjohnson tells the bbc, his government didnt his government didnt understand coronavirus at the start and could have understand coronavirus handled things differently. Speaking exclusively to the bbc said there were open questions about whether the lot and had us federal officials repossess the chinese consulate in been imposed too late. Us houston after President Trump ordered its closure in the officials have repossessed the escalating diplomatic row. We chinese consulate in houston will consider what next for us days after President Trump ordered its closure, as china relations. Iraq creates a city in the desert to bury its coronavirus dead. Relations between the two we report on the scale largest economies in the world of the outbreak there. Black lives matter in brazil. Continue to deteriorate. And we have a special report from the country where Police Killed nearly six times as many people as in the us last year. Authorities in iraq have created a city in the desert to bury the number Record Number of people who have died there from coronavirus. Doctors haveissued there from coronavirus. Doctors have issued a stark warning that a return to normal life would be premature, as cases continue to soar. Right now on
bbc news, it is time for global christians. Global questions. Hello and welcome to london for this edition of global questions, with me zeinab badawi. Could we have a cleaner world after covid i9 . National lock downs has led to reduced Economic Activity and affected livelihoods across the world. But, despite the pain, this has resulted in lower levels of Carbon Emissions and better air quality. So, many believe the time is now right for greater action on Climate Change. Thats coronavirus a better environment for the earth . Well, im now inside the bbc headquarters here in central london. And to bring you this edition
of global questions, as always, our two panellists and our audience who are going to be asking questions, joining us via video link. So, let me tell you who is in the hot seat this week. Inge andersson is executive director of the United Nations environment programme. Before that she ran the International Union for conservation of nature. She has more than 30 Years Experience in sustainable and international development. And lily cole is the british actress, writer and climate activist. Her new book, who cares wins, reasons for optimism in ourchanging world, examines different approaches to the environment crisis. Welcome to you both, and to our audience. You join us from all over the world, and a solitary round of applause from me, and remember you, too, can join the conversation. It is bbcglobalquestions. Lets get down to our first question straightaway. We are going to just outside cairo in egypt,
to amira zanoun amira, fire away. Although the proportion of pollution has been decreased, during the coronavirus pandemic, but also we witnessed a significant increase in using disposable tools such as face coverings and other things which are used in restaurants and in takeaway meals, so how is the government limiting these and producing reusable and affordable alternatives . Lily cole, a lot of people worried about all that plastic that is being used in the personal protection and all the rest of it. In the book i have a whole chapter where i look at plastic and waste specifically. There are lots of interesting things happening, especially from the technology sector, that suggest we are finding ways to build plastics and more environmentally friendly ways, like bioplastics. But also we are building Waste Systems that are more sensible, and there have been some really
ambitious policies, maybe inge can speak more about that, from the eu, for example, and Different Countries around the world, banning certain types of Single Use Plastics and i would hope that we dont take a step backwards and we keep moving forward in terms of how we bring together the contradictions of needing single use, needing Hygienic Products but also needing to think about Long Term Health not just short term health. Inge, it is a race against time for so many governments trying to tackle covid i9. They need all that plastic for the coverings and so on. Lives are endangered. But it is polluting the oceans. What can we do, and can we do it quickly enough . Who says that about 89 Million Masks will be required every month, sojust think about those numbers. Thats plastic masks. Then you add the cloth masks that are used by every other person nowadays. So, the issue here is getting the investment in for the poorer countries so that they can incinerate,
and also, frankly, getting plastic out of the supply chain, and here, a big shout out to africa. Africa was the first one stepping in to ban Single Use Plastics, single use bags, either in kenya although now i am not in kenya, but kenya, rwanda, 3a countries have banned single use, and more, and you can take lessons from that because it is entirely possible. Of course it is entirely possible, but is it going to happen, and quickly enough . Well, right now, no, because many countries dont have incineration facilities. Many small village hospitals all through the developing world, dont even have this. We have this open burning, where people are breathing in these fumes, it is double, triple, quadruple bad for the soil, the people, the oceans etc. But we need to get there, and thats why investing in circularity, first of all, and first of all, getting it out of the supply chain, to circularity,
and through Waste Management and separation. So entirely possible but still some question marks i think about whether it can be achieved or not. 0k, amira in egypt, i hope thats answers your question. Let us now go to brazil, to leon hendrix. Your question please, leon. Giving the Socioeconomic Impact of covid 19, how much will sustainability feature as part of the recovery . Will governments be more focused on creating jobs or the environment . Is it an either or situation, inger . It is both. This is not an either or situation. There was a time when people thought that, you know, you could pollute your way to wealth, you could dispose into the environment, stuff, and become wealthy and then you could clean up later with the wealth that you have, and some countries did, and they exported their dirt to other countries. Thats no longer really
possible, thankfully, exporting your garbage to other countries. So then what we need to do is, we need to invest investing in green opportunities, investing in opportunities, investing in opportunities and understanding about how this is dependent on nature, our health, our well being and happiness, all of that is important. So maybe also see that it is no longer just people like lily who say that, the World Economic forum injanuary, that, the World Economic forum in january, Business Leaders that, the World Economic forum injanuary, Business Leaders of the five of the top ten risks they see to future profits and growth, are around nature, so thatis growth, are around nature, so that is what we understand, you have to do both and that is where the opportunities lie. Lily cole, are you worried that
Climate Change agenda will be put on the back burner as people raise to try to recover their economies . Im in a strange limbo between amazing hope, possibility, optimism and iieivousiiess hope, possibility, optimism and nervousness and fear because i think we are in a Pivotal Moment where anything is possible. The fact that a policy idea like universal basic income which a year ago felt like a radical idea is being experimented with communities around the world, the fact that spain will potentially adopt that as a whole country is extraordinary. I give that as an example just to say i think theres the potential for political ambition that we havent seen in the past, and it would be insane given all the scientific warnings if we didnt use this moment to mitigate against the bigger crises on the horizon, the environmental Climate Change and biodiversity crisis, if we listen to the warning
around the risks of pandemics we wouldnt have got into this situation and i agree with inger it is fundamentally financially unviable do not listen to science and take into consideration risk management. Whether that actually happens, and whether the politicians in power right now make those choices, im not going to pretend i know or be a profit of that, but im hopeful that some sense will come into guiding the decisions that we make now. Leon, do you share any optimism on the question you have asked . There needs to bea you have asked . There needs to be a focus on the environment and the economy and understand that post covid 19 there will bea that post covid 19 there will be a lot of people that must go you back to work and rebuilding the economy, but for me, i agree with you guys, that it has got to be alongside the environment. Thanks very much indeed. Let is go to the capital of slovakia, bratislava
and you stella. I got that right . Yes, you did. Do you think the pandemic will make countries more likely to adopt the European Green deal not just in europe but around the world . Just in europe but around the world . Bank you very much indeed stella, referring to the European Green deal that the eu has brought about to pursue Economic Growth in a way that is clean and sustainable and to create jobs, is this something that will catch fire in other parts of the world . Your response, inger . Ithink parts of the world . Your response, inger . I think it is and it already has. We have seen the approval of this massive new budget at european level which has about 30 of that goes to Climate Change so in europe, it is a done deal, i think it will then slowly work and to trade and consumer demands in manufactured goods and what you and i buy off the shelf, and what we
would want to buy in terms of its footprint, its carbon footprint, so this idea of investing in clean energy and different types of refurbishing of housing, investing in public transport, investing in greener and betterfarming, transport, investing in greener and better farming, and obviously Climate Action is huge. Before i come to lily, you say that it has got traction in other parts of the world. We have seen for example the french government tying its bailouts to green goals, it gave a lot of money to matter when i said you have to meet these new carbon targets. Do you want to see that principle applied in other parts of the world . We applied in other parts of the world . We are not necessarily seeing that. In the us, for instance. Look, not every country and certainly developing countries have had to do more modest stimulus packages but even there, let me ta ke packages but even there, let me
take pakistan as an example. They have this Tree Planting programme. They have repurposed around 100 million, into creating green jobs for planting trees, right now, this april and may. New zealand, not a poor country, has pushed out about 3 billion that includes Climate Resilience etc. It is catching on and there is an understanding that, in countries that have a great economy already, that have dirty manufacturing, that they need to leapfrog, and those that dont they want to jump right over that polluting age. You are very optimistic, inger lets see if lily cole shares that optimism. Has the idea of a green deal got universal appeal, in your opinion . think its super exciting that it is coming this high up into the political agenda. The green
new deal has been bandied around for some time with different incarnations of it, whether it is slightly to the left or to the right, and it is a fundamentally simple and important idea. If you are going to rebuild the economy which we need to do to stay within climate agreements and try to control the environment for the next generation then we need to do that in a green way, andl need to do that in a green way, and i think the fact that what the eu are doing is super inspiring and encouraging and hopefully will set up a precedent for the rest of the world. That said, there has been criticism around whether it is ambitious enough, i co signed a letter the week before written by four youth climate activists demanding ambitious actions from eu leaders, and i dont think it would probably meet that level of ambition but it feels like a promising, sincerely promising step in the right direction and hopefully a signal to the rest of the world. Lets go back to
stella who asked the question to see what she thinks. stella who asked the question to see what she thinks. I hope you will be right, and i hope that the green deal is going to win. She said that with a big smile. So there we go. Lets go to india, and to mania kumar, what do you want to ask our panellists . My question is when the transmission to Renewable Energy is halted because of rock put on oil prices and the need to get economies up and running after the covid 19 related shutdowns . Lily cole . Everyone of us has choices to make right now in terms of how this is played out. We know we need to minimise fossil fuels, to move towards renewables, because the science is very clear that we will run into more of these crises if we dont make those transitions. And i think that there are encouraging signs that that
movement as possible. Both from the political level but also from an individual level where you see decentralisation of energy, and there has been Movement Towards decentralisation in covid generally where people focus more on local economies, on growing their own vegetable patch,if growing their own vegetable patch, if you think about that when it comes to build local Energy Cooperatives and take local energy, then wed be proactive players in the move towards renewable. Inger, weve seen a reduction in the demand for oil which has made prices plummet and fossil fuels, do you think this will assist the transition to Renewable Energy . I was too optimistic so i am afraid to continue but yes i do, and here is the reason why. Who invest in these . Right now it is rock bottom, yes. Bp has had to do a massive download evaluation of their company assets, when they are into the future, and why . Because they
know that the days are coming for the end of hydrocarbons. And when we look at institutional investors, those who help us get a pension, they are beginning to disinvest in hydrocarbon, in oil and coal, why . Because if you are 22 today and you begin to take out a pension scheme, you want to be able to draw that when youre 80, and maybe that not whether you will have a profit at that time so we have seen market shift, about 5 trillion of pension money has moved out of pension money has moved out of hydrocarbons and we have seen for example fracking is down by one third, the fracking industry in north america, so there are some movements. 0bviously part of that is to do with what we are seeing in the lack of demand, back another thing is Consumer Choices and market futures, so, yes, i remain optimistic. You do. Im going to have to puncture that
optimism a little bit, to say that a lot of the people who contacted us on social media say actually, you know, there is not going to be that much of a difference in their opinion. There seems to be more scepticism that, you know, what has gone on, the plummeting Carbon Emissions we have seen during the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown is, is going to be permanent. Every nation is going on a different direction, so it depends on what nations do, and so i think theres more scepticism although there seems to be an acknowledgement that air travel is going to remain depressed. Lets go to our next question, david scott in new york, new york. David, your question. Why does it appear that the voices of Indigenous People and people of Indigenous People and people of colour are always relegated to the margins on climate
change . Lily cole, is it all a bit too western centric . It is an important question, thank you. Climate change is not white. There have been people for hundreds of years trying to protect their water, their land, indigenous communities and those are not seen as environmental activist but i have been at the forefront of Environmental Activism and they still are today. There is a different question. You could say that the communities first being heavily impacted by Climate Change are often developing world countries, people of colour, etc, marginalised communities. Now, why does Climate Change appear asa why does Climate Change appear as a White Campaign . Is it slightly different question which i think takes us to the media and to our own biases in society which covid has been showing up. Why do we celebrate
white activists, focus on white activists, over and above the voices of other activists that do exist and have existed . That is an important question to ask. I think the last few months as we have seen with a different protest movements are making maybe more awareness of how interconnected these are, intersected with issues of socialjustice, the intersected with issues of social justice, the environment and history of racial injustice, and so, we went out that that narrative will evolve. Inger, david scott asks why Climate Change is so white . The answer that lily gave his right, theres a degree of White Privilege to asking these questions, but i also want to say this. In africa, and this is building on this question, Climate Change is very much a real issue to the folks who live there. And nelson mandela
was one of the first together with ellenjohnson, who was the president of liberia, the first female president and others, to actually talk about Climate Justice, and they found it something called the elders and together with jimmy carter and others, they focused on Climate Justice and Environmental Justice and Environmental Justice and Environmental Justice and there, professor volla rd, justice and there, professor vollard, a justice and there, professor volla rd, a well known African American scholar, often considered the father of Environmental Justice, considered the father of environmentaljustice, is precisely spot on. This is his issue that it is these who are most marginalised are likely to have the least voice you are getting hit the hardest, and thatis getting hit the hardest, and that is the thing with Climate Change. It is also the thing with pollution, and with dirty water and also the thing with etc etc, so we have to hear all of these voices, and ensure that they come through mainstream media, but that they come through mainstream media, but i will say where i live, Climate Change, the politicians in
kenya are deeply concerned about this, placing this as a high priority because they are seeing locusts and rainfall changing and the circumstances, and they become the victim of other peoples emissions and therefore speak out on change. 0ur therefore speak out on change. Our final question therefore speak out on change. 0urfinal question is therefore speak out on change. Our final question is from india and akash choudry. Does the way that communities have joined the world around the world make you optimistic enough to believe that we are in fora enough to believe that we are in for a radical change enough to believe that we are in fora radical change in enough to believe that we are in for a radical change in the way that the political environment will change once the pandemic is over or will it go back to the way it was before all of this really started . Inger, is this going to bring about change or is it going to be back to business as usual . There will be those who deny what has happened and you
wa nt to deny what has happened and you want to flip back to what it was prior, and others who will see and understand the Science Behind what has happened and seek to move beyond. What i found remarkable about this is that people listened to the science. It wasnt about fake science, it was you need to stay at home, wash your hands. We saw that the three major religions essentially did not celebrate the way they normally do easter, ramadan and eid as well as the jewish do easter, ramadan and eid as well as thejewish holy days. So there was an understanding that science was speaking. On Climate Change, do you think people are going to say, we have seen cleaner air, we are connecting with nature, wildlife is re emerging, we wa nt to wildlife is re emerging, we want to keep it that way and hang on the gains. People saw
how easily nature forgives us our trespassers. You give nature half of a break and it will bounce back, the air will clea n will bounce back, the air will clean up, i think that was miraculous to many thought they would never see the clarity of vision that they saw in india or beijing etc. I hope that they will take that knowledge with them into their workplaces, into the discussions, into the voting booths, over the dinner table, to have these discussions about flicking that green switch and insisting that the only way that we can get Sustainable Futures for the next generation and the generation thereafter is to invest in a green future, and if we dont, then we can think about covid as an overture for what is to come because if we think covid was badly dont even want to begin to think about Climate Change, soi to think about Climate Change, so i hope this is the way that we will go, and the majority of people, there will always be
those who go in the other direction but the majority of nations and people will take that third, and go for sustainable and green. Lily cole. So, in the introduction to my book which was written before the crisis i use this metaphor, of how two football teams in the uk for example, arsenal and chelsea might be completely against each other, theirfans might be antagonistic to each other and when england another country like france those same fans willjoin together and like france those same fans will join together and stand side by side to try and beat the enemy. It is a metaphor for, what is the enemy would need, to come together as a Global Community and i was talking about it in terms of the climate crisis, which does impact every single human being living on this planet regardless of their situation, and hoping that that might be and hoping that that might be an enemy that we would band together to work against and i think covid has been that
enemy, and it has been extraordinary to see how the Global Community and local communities have worked together and how much kindness, solidarity and cooperation have emerged in response to the crisis. Whether we take that metaphor and apply it immediately, which would be my hopeis immediately, which would be my hope is questionable, but the reality is that we cannot avoid the crisis. Cannot avoid it. The size is very clear. The question is do you want to come together as a Global Community together as a Global Community to try to mitigate the risks now or do we want to wait until later down the line and give the crisis at that point, and hopefully at that point we will still be Community Spirited and cooperative but it will be harder to manage it. The very fa ct harder to manage it. The very fact that these International Agreements exist, that paris was signed, they do show that International Cooperation is happening. That is not to say that everything is going in the right direction, there is not enough ambition, certain
players are not acting in the way we would want or help them to be, but we can pat ourselves on the back and recognise we have built an International Framework that is trying to solve this crisis and work together. Lily cole and Inger Anderson and to my question, thatis anderson and to my question, that is over in this edition of global questions, i think we have brought you some thoughts on the unexpected positive benefits of the terrible covid crisis for our planet. Remember we have a programme that brings you the trend lines behind the headlines. Thank you wherever you are watching this programme, and if you want to be part of the programme, submita be part of the programme, submit a question to the panel, you can e mail us at. Until next time, from me, zeinab badawi, and the rest of the global questions team, goodbye. Hello again. I have been looking ahead to the weekend weather prospects. For saturday i dont like particularly what i see. A cloudy day for many, with outbreaks of rain at times. Looking at the satellite picture, to the west, you can see how extensive the cloud is, and it is a complex area of low pressure, bringing different zones pressure, bringing different zones of rain across the country, with a couple of weather fronts mixed in, pushing east. The first of those, bringing rain at the moment to scotland across wales and england. As that clears will be left with low cloud, drizzle for Northern Ireland and heavier burst of weather and heavier burst of weather and there is rather murky conditions will extend to scotland. It will be a humid night with temperatures around 17 the low for some. Tomorrow, a cloudy start with some drizzle. In the jet stream winds, you can see a dip,
responsible for this line of heavy showers extending in across the republic of ireland and Northern Ireland, so some heavy downpours around, and as that dip in thejet heavy downpours around, and as that dip in the jet stream, the trough hits over the English Channel echoes as a way to develop and there will be a zone of heavy rain across east anglia and the south east of england, and this rain could push into central and southern england, the midlands, lincolnshire and yorkshire, some of the wettest weather through the afternoon, but some areas will get pretty wet in the east. The cricket will see some interruptions to play for the third test on monday. Looks like being a complete wash out. That is one to watch, as well. Through saturday night, outbreaks of rain clearing from east anglia and the south east. Skies clearing for a time, and it will begin to start to turn less humid but temperatures still around 12 celsius. For sunday, the better half of the weekend for many of us. A day
of sunshine and showers, with lengthy outbreaks of rain working their way into north west scotland and a breezy day but feeling significantly pressure and more pleasa nt significantly pressure and more pleasant with more than a ray of sunshine coming through. Temperatures for most of us between 17 20, not feeling too bad. Into next week, we have a lot of cloud on monday, so it is not exactly triple a rated weather, we will see some heavy rain as well, and turning drier 00 29 27,148 4294966103 13 29,430 and warmer as the week goes on