Speaker 1: You're listening to AC N A podcast.
Speaker 1: It's that time of year when the world's leaders government negotiators,
Speaker 1: global financiers and industry heavyweights come together to thrash out
Speaker 1: plans to save the planet. It's called Cop the Un's
Speaker 1: Climate Change Summit
Speaker 1: and it's just a few days away. Why should you
Speaker 1: care today? We'll tell you why and have a fun
Speaker 1: little debate about the choice of host city. Hi and
Speaker 1: welcome to Climate conversations. I'm Jack Boyd. Hello Li Ling Tan.
Speaker 1: How are you? Hi, Jack. I'm very well. How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm good. Getting ready to travel. Climate nerd hat on.
Speaker 1: Are you getting psyched for cop? Absolutely.
Speaker 1: It's like Christmas for climate dorks like you and I right.
Speaker 1: Can't wait to hear all the exciting news about climate
Speaker 1: financing implementation of article six, the operationalization of loss and
Speaker 1: damage funding and these very exciting, wait for this drum roll.
Speaker 1: National Collective, quantified goals. Where do they come up with
Speaker 1: these sexy catchy names? Huh? I think I prefer regular Christmas,
Speaker 1: don't we? All? All right. But this is your fourth
Speaker 1: cop though. You're quite a veteran here. Are you sick
Speaker 1: of it yet? No, I'm not sick. Of it. Look,
Speaker 1: sometimes we poke fun at these processes and how elevated
Speaker 1: the discussions tend to be removed from the real world.
Speaker 1: But I, I still do believe that they are important.
Speaker 1: It's the fourth time. Yeah, for me, I wouldn't say
Speaker 1: I'm a veteran. I always run into people there who
Speaker 1: have been to 15 cops or they've been going since 2000.
Speaker 1: And so you still feel like a bit of a
Speaker 1: rookie speaking to some of those people. But yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to this one in baku and this cop
Speaker 1: is also being looked at as a technical cop, right?
Speaker 1: So it's not really the fun party going, the more exciting,
Speaker 1: extravagant kind of cops that we've seen in the past before, right?
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if any of them are party going.
Speaker 1: I am interested in a few of the wine bars
Speaker 1: that buck has to offer but I mean, the down time,
Speaker 1: but you know, it's the turnout's gonna be slightly more
Speaker 1: mute
Speaker 1: this year than in previous years. I think if I
Speaker 1: remember correctly, there were some articles about how fewer private
Speaker 1: companies and entities will be attending. Somebody even just said,
Speaker 1: we're waiting to see if cool kids go and if
Speaker 1: they go, maybe we'll go. Yeah, totally. You're right. It's
Speaker 1: going to be technical, it's going to be implementation focused.
Speaker 1: It's not going to be big grandstanding and big announcements
Speaker 1: about climate targets. All the countries are going to be
Speaker 1: saving that for next year.
Speaker 1: Look, I'm really interested in loss and damage obviously because
Speaker 1: it affects our region a lot. There's a big focus
Speaker 1: on finding money that the developing world needs. So I
Speaker 1: think that's going to be front and center for our coverage. Alright,
Speaker 1: let's start with our quiz.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be focused on Azerbaijan. What do you know
Speaker 1: about it? Now? I've been there a couple of times already,
Speaker 1: so I'm just gonna give you some fun facts. Let's
Speaker 1: see if I can get you excited about the host nation.
Speaker 1: Even though we've just downplayed how this cop might be.
Speaker 1: It's important. Yeah, Azerbaijan is called the Land of Fire.
Speaker 1: It has a bunch of mud volcanoes. There's 400 of
Speaker 1: them
Speaker 1: and this kind of nickname has only been enhanced by
Speaker 1: its deep connections to oil. Now, it also has the
Speaker 1: world's oldest carpet museum. Interesting. Right. It's a cool looking
Speaker 1: building that looks like a rolled up carpet and it
Speaker 1: shows off. It does. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And it shows up the kind of the country's deep
Speaker 1: heritage of carpet weaving. I thought that was cool. And
Speaker 1: it's home to the world's largest lake, which is the
Speaker 1: Caspian Sea, beautiful Caspian Sea, which is around the size
Speaker 1: of Japan, which is crazy. All right. I've given you
Speaker 1: lots of facts. But now the question, can you tell
Speaker 1: me how many countries, the Caspian Sea borders
Speaker 1: and what those countries are? Geography? OK. Azerbaijan, of course.
Speaker 1: But Yeah, I have an idea about a couple of
Speaker 1: other countries. We say as le goes and picks up
Speaker 1: her Atlas, look ma hands right up here. All right
Speaker 1: answers will be at the end.
Speaker 1: Ok. Ya, what stories have you picked out for us
Speaker 1: this week?
Speaker 1: I've got a two for one this week and it's
Speaker 1: about the pricing of chocolate during this peak holiday, chocolate
Speaker 1: buying period. So it's getting more expensive and guess what
Speaker 1: the culprit is. Yes, climate change. It has been taking
Speaker 1: a huge chunk out of the supply of chocolate's key ingredient.
Speaker 1: The cocoa bean
Speaker 1: and CN A's global team did two separate stories on
Speaker 1: this the past month. One looks at the impact on
Speaker 1: cocoa makers in Ghana which is of course the second
Speaker 1: largest cocoa producing country in the world after the ivory coast.
Speaker 1: And the other story looks at the consumption end of
Speaker 1: it chocolate buying in the United Kingdom.
Speaker 1: Now here's a clip from Nabil Ahmed Rufa in Ghana
Speaker 1: who looked at the story from the production angle for
Speaker 1: the past three years. Cocoa farmers in Ghana have been
Speaker 1: struggling to meet their production targets. They say long dry
Speaker 1: spells linked to climate change is among the factors contributing
Speaker 1: to the poor harvest.
Speaker 1: The crippling droughts followed extensive rainfall and flooding that dealt
Speaker 1: a double blow to cocoa farmers pests and plant diseases,
Speaker 1: illegal mining and smuggling activity also took huge chunks out
Speaker 1: of the supply.
Speaker 1: Now cocoa prices soared. Hitting record levels earlier this year.
Speaker 1: It's now double what it was since January. And the
Speaker 1: higher cost is already trickling down to chocolate markets and
Speaker 1: retailers around the world. And the UK is definitely one
Speaker 1: of them feeling the pinch. Here's John Beaver reporting out
Speaker 1: of Bristol. The first mass produced chocolate bars were made
Speaker 1: here in Bristol in Southwest England. In 1847 it transformed
Speaker 1: chocolate from a luxury item to a more affordable treat.
Speaker 1: But in recent years, prices have risen sharply since 2010.
Speaker 1: This bar of dairy milk has got smaller but the
Speaker 1: price has almost doubled to just under two pounds. That's
Speaker 1: around $2. 50. The manufacturers have
Speaker 1: inflation and rising costs but the price of cocoa is
Speaker 1: also a problem. These gold coins which are hugely popular
Speaker 1: during the festive season have gone up by 10% since
Speaker 1: last Christmas
Speaker 1: and it looks like supply is still being hammered by
Speaker 1: erratic weather and rainfall. So prices will likely stay up there. Now,
Speaker 1: it's making me think about Charlie and the chocolate factory,
Speaker 1: isn't it? Jack? If you say so, it's like, oh no,
Speaker 1: we can't afford chocolate. We'll have to share and ration.
Speaker 1: How is your daughter going to feel about that? Oh goodness,
Speaker 1: she's getting so much of a fill right now from
Speaker 1: leftover chocolate candy from Halloween.
Speaker 1: It is insane.
Speaker 1: Ok. It's time for our main story. This week we're
Speaker 1: talking cop 29 and we'll have a debate soon and
Speaker 1: hear from the CEO of the summit in an exclusive interview.
Speaker 1: But first let's go straight to why the world is
Speaker 1: watching this cop and why you the earthly citizens should
Speaker 1: also care about it. Jack, you mentioned earlier that you're
Speaker 1: about to head out, right? You're flying out to baku
Speaker 1: tomorrow night. No, to cover this. Yep, yep, bags are
Speaker 1: being packed. Awesome.
Speaker 1: And you've also been working on a few preview stories
Speaker 1: ahead of the summit and one of them is on
Speaker 1: the five things that we need to know. Now, looking
Speaker 1: at this number one,
Speaker 1: this cop is really about climate financing, right? That's the
Speaker 1: overarching theme. Show me the money as I wrote in
Speaker 1: the story. Yeah, look, finance is going to be the
Speaker 1: central pillar of the talks and perhaps the most importance
Speaker 1: will be the negotiations around what you mentioned earlier, the
Speaker 1: new collective quantified goal get ready. You're gonna be hearing
Speaker 1: a lot about that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So basically it's a financial framework that's going to replace
Speaker 1: this $100 billion in climate finance that advanced economies have
Speaker 1: been promising to give poorer nations every year. And that's
Speaker 1: basically been a fail.
Speaker 1: And so this new NCQG, what a catchy name NCQG
Speaker 1: is going to be aiming even higher we think. So
Speaker 1: that's gonna be a watch. They're gonna try and mobilize
Speaker 1: even more money.
Speaker 1: And then as I mentioned, loss and damage, which is
Speaker 1: money that is meant for countries bearing the brunt of
Speaker 1: climate change will also be one of our focuses. And
Speaker 1: countries like the Philippines have been really leading the charge
Speaker 1: on that loss and damage and say it with me
Speaker 1: together and CQGY. Remember that
Speaker 1: moving on to number two. Now all of this is
Speaker 1: set against the backdrop of a hot planet and, and
Speaker 1: one where the weather is getting increasingly warmer. Now, things
Speaker 1: haven't improved on that front in this past year where
Speaker 1: we saw some record high temperatures. We've spoken multiple times
Speaker 1: about this hurricanes, floods and of course, the erratic weather patterns, right?
Speaker 1: How much of this is going to factor in Jack?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, global temperatures have continued to rise. Surface
Speaker 1: and ocean temperatures have both hit record highs this year.
Speaker 1: And when we look at the concentrations of carbon dioxide
Speaker 1: and methane, they are also at all time, high levels
Speaker 1: in the atmosphere and this 1.5 degrees barrier that all
Speaker 1: of this is meant to prevent. We've breached it this year.
Speaker 1: So all of this is the backdrop to these talks.
Speaker 1: So number three, of course, is the big question. Could
Speaker 1: this be the end of fossil fuels for every cop?
Speaker 1: It's been a point of contention. Can we make the
Speaker 1: needle move? I don't think so. No. This from our
Speaker 1: in house optimist look, simply put fossil fuel production has
Speaker 1: continued to rise just like the temperatures. And Azerbaijan itself
Speaker 1: is a Petro state 90% of its exports are oil
Speaker 1: and gas and it's in charge of all of these
Speaker 1: talks
Speaker 1: last year. There was this mention of transitioning away from
Speaker 1: fossil fuels in the final cop agreement. So we know
Speaker 1: that there are going to be disputes again about some
Speaker 1: of that language in the final statement out of the summit. Ok.
Speaker 1: Number four, this cop is taking place at a time
Speaker 1: of multiple conflicts. It's been evidently a shocking
Speaker 1: for wars. We've got Ukraine, the escalating crisis in the
Speaker 1: Middle East and of course, the protracted Sudan conflict now
Speaker 1: is all of that taking attention away from climate action
Speaker 1: and the principle of cooper operation and consensus in Baku.
Speaker 1: I think there's a high chance that that is the
Speaker 1: case and the likely outcome I think is simply less
Speaker 1: ambition at this summit. There'll be less money
Speaker 1: and more distrust and so that doesn't really bode well
Speaker 1: for a very successful cop. If we're being brutally honest here,
Speaker 1: experts have told me that this level of conflict is
Speaker 1: unprecedented since the UN F Triple C was set up
Speaker 1: in 1992. Having said all that the organizers in Baku
Speaker 1: are really pushing peace as a central theme this year
Speaker 1: for the first time. So
Speaker 1: we'll see if that makes any impacts on decisions. Jack,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the UFC. And just so everybody is aware
Speaker 1: of that is the UN the United Nations Framework Convention
Speaker 1: on Climate Change is under the UFCCC So the last one,
Speaker 1: number five,
Speaker 1: my favorite of all carbon trading. Now this is a
Speaker 1: very complex topic, but we could see finally the global
Speaker 1: rulebook for article six sorted out. Yes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe it's been AAA decade in the making. So
Speaker 1: everybody is, I think optimistic that article six might finally
Speaker 1: be completed. Now it covers the rules for international carbon
Speaker 1: markets which can be used by countries to meet their
Speaker 1: emissions reductions targets. So let's say you that the nation
Speaker 1: of Li Ling wants to pollute more. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you could buy credits from me. The nation of Jack
Speaker 1: if I've done things like preserving my rainforests for example,
Speaker 1: and I have credits to sell you. So the idea
Speaker 1: is that eventually it's cheaper for you to decarbonise than
Speaker 1: having to keep buying those offsets from me.
Speaker 1: Super simple explanation. Article six really goes deep into lots
Speaker 1: of different areas. So we'll be watching that as well.
Speaker 1: I really like that explanation. The nation of lien versus
Speaker 1: the nation of Jack, the nation of lien and the
Speaker 1: nation of Jack buying and selling carbon credits to meet
Speaker 1: our net zero targets. That's nice. All right. Next, I
Speaker 1: want you to hear from one of the central figures
Speaker 1: of COP 29. It's the CEO
Speaker 1: and the Deputy Energy Minister of Azerbaijan El Nour Sultanov.
Speaker 1: Now I interviewed him in Baku at the COP 29
Speaker 1: HQ which is located in the White City which is
Speaker 1: a part of Baku that was once condemned due to
Speaker 1: contamination from oil extraction
Speaker 1: and those oil fields are still everywhere, mind you, but
Speaker 1: they have cleaned up this part of the city now.
Speaker 1: It's a bit of a showcase for the organizers. I
Speaker 1: started by asking him what Azerbaijan can bring to the
Speaker 1: table on climate as the cop president.
Speaker 2: And of course, the green transition transitioning in general because
Speaker 2: uh global climate cli global warming and climate change is
Speaker 2: not just about energy sphere. Of course, we have uh
Speaker 2: agricultural sphere, we have industry, we have base management issues
Speaker 2: out there. But again, we are very happy. We take
Speaker 2: pride in the fact that this is kind of very
Speaker 2: nicely fits into the history into the narrative of the
Speaker 2: country in general.
Speaker 2: What are the expectations? I think we like it or not.
Speaker 2: This is finance will be at the core of this
Speaker 2: year's climate negotiations. And as you know, there are two
Speaker 2: major tracks, one is negotiation track and we don't have much.
Speaker 2: This is basically in a triple C led process. They
Speaker 2: tell us what our mandates are and basically we are
Speaker 2: helping the United Nations Convention on climate change to advance
Speaker 2: the topics that they should advance and by hosting and
Speaker 2: also by,
Speaker 2: by co leading process with them.
Speaker 2: And finance is important and I think it will be
Speaker 2: very significant issue. It is at the forefront. And as
Speaker 2: you know of the around dozens of issues and security
Speaker 2: definitely looms large, large. But our position is this and
Speaker 2: vision wise, we expressed this several times already. Finance cannot
Speaker 2: be understood in abstract terms. Finance is there to enable action,
Speaker 2: enable climate action.
Speaker 2: And by climate action, we mean really both mitigation adaptation.
Speaker 2: So basically the motto of the negotiation track I would
Speaker 2: say is enhanced ambition and enable action and enabling action.
Speaker 2: Basically means that if we want to have that kind
Speaker 2: of collect and bold action in climate, we need support,
Speaker 2: we need enablers, we need means of implementation. And as
Speaker 2: you know, we have finance, technology and capacity building and
Speaker 2: finance definitely is the most important thing out there
Speaker 1: as an important oil and gas producer and exporter does
Speaker 1: being the host of cop add pressure to your domestic
Speaker 1: energy strategy or conversely add opportunities to your domestic energy strategy. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean, Jack the uh as we talk like at
Speaker 2: the start, the entire world economy is based on hydrocarbons,
Speaker 2: we like it or not. That's a matter of fact
Speaker 2: and everybody, every country in the world is an oil country,
Speaker 2: either pro producer country or consumer country or both.
Speaker 2: We are basically current to producing around 0.5% of gas
Speaker 2: and 0.55% of oil and our oil production levels are
Speaker 2: going down. And this is also part of the deliberate
Speaker 2: policy by the government because gasping is really rich in
Speaker 2: terms of natural resources including hydrocarbons. But there is more
Speaker 2: and more shift towards
Speaker 2: gas and green energy. Azerbaijan commissioned the biggest solar power
Speaker 2: plant in the entire region in October last year. And
Speaker 2: by 2027 in the installed capacity share of renewables will
Speaker 2: go up to 30%. Also a very, very significant number
Speaker 2: in our region. Definitely, I should also tell you that
Speaker 2: we are really looking at not what you are doing
Speaker 2: currently in terms of hydrocarbons, but what you can contribute
Speaker 2: to tackling climate crisis. So this is the measure that
Speaker 2: we look at ourselves and at others, what can you
Speaker 2: bring to the table to tackle the climate crisis we
Speaker 2: are facing because we can really lose it all. And
Speaker 2: for us, the target should be, as I said before
Speaker 2: 1.5 again, the possibility of overshoot is quite high.
Speaker 2: But as the first global stock take at cop 28
Speaker 2: made it very clear. The current in DC, current plans
Speaker 2: are not enough. We need course correction and that is
Speaker 2: 1.5 the target North Star should be 1.5. And we
Speaker 2: are asking everybody and first and foremost ourselves, what if
Speaker 2: we have experience in oil and gas business? Historically speaking,
Speaker 2: what is that technology wise? And we saw that in
Speaker 2: C 28 as well, technology wise, there are a lot
Speaker 2: of things, experience wise, a lot of things that can
Speaker 2: help us to advance the tackling of climate crisis. And again,
Speaker 2: one more time. This is the
Speaker 2: measure. If we look at ourselves and to others, what
Speaker 2: you can bring to the table if that's the experience
Speaker 2: in the hydrocarbon sector. Perfect. As long as in good faith,
Speaker 2: you are utilizing all those resources again to handle, to
Speaker 2: solve the problem that we are facing in terms of climate.
Speaker 1: How are global events impacting climate talks and negotiations and
Speaker 1: the mobilization of these finances that you talk about conflicts,
Speaker 1: for example, in Ukraine in Gaza
Speaker 1: and important elections that have happened this year as well.
Speaker 1: I think
Speaker 2: even historically, this year will be standing out in terms
Speaker 2: of how many people went to ballot boxes all over
Speaker 2: the world. But our position is that time is short,
Speaker 2: resources are always not enough, especially given the task that
Speaker 2: we are facing
Speaker 2: and therefore we don't have much attention to spare on
Speaker 2: things that we cannot control elections will happen. This is
Speaker 2: the normal situation in the world. Unfortunately, conflicts are continuing.
Speaker 2: And in fact, one of the main action agenda items
Speaker 2: for us is the nexus between peace and climate. We
Speaker 2: attach a lot of importance to that
Speaker 2: because Azerbaijan's presidency became possible when Azerbaijan and Armenia supported
Speaker 2: each other. And we have been over conflict for over
Speaker 2: 30 years. And for us, this is something to capitalize
Speaker 2: upon and move forward. But again, back to your question,
Speaker 2: we focus on things that we have mandate on and
Speaker 2: that we can change and that's leading climate negotiations and
Speaker 2: also making sure that on presidential action agenda, presidency action agenda,
Speaker 2: those 14 items that probably are going to be talking
Speaker 2: about at least in some of them, we can move
Speaker 2: forward because negotiations,
Speaker 2: negotiations and requiring consensus fine. And we believe that there
Speaker 2: will be significant outcomes but any step taken forward matters
Speaker 2: and even healthy step forward matters. And that for that
Speaker 2: we have action agenda items. Again, we are really laser
Speaker 2: focused on things that we can do and hopefully we
Speaker 2: are going to deliver.
Speaker 1: That was my chat with El Noor Sultanov. Now we're
Speaker 1: gonna take off our climate nerd hats for a bit.
Speaker 1: We're gonna put on our opinion hats. It's something we
Speaker 1: don't always get to do as journalists, but just for
Speaker 1: the sake of this debate and it's a big issue
Speaker 1: that I always hear. You always hear people ask should
Speaker 1: fossil fuel giants be chosen to lead these climate talks?
Speaker 1: And this year will be the third time in a
Speaker 1: row following on from the UAE and Egypt for the
Speaker 1: sake of debate in the affirmative. We have you Li Ling,
Speaker 1: I'll take the negative, make your case for their involvement
Speaker 1: and their leadership of these climate summits. Ok. So these
Speaker 1: petro states major oil producing countries, they are the culprits
Speaker 1: when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions and carbon emissions.
Speaker 1: So they need to be part of the solution in
Speaker 1: a significant way
Speaker 1: in order to really have any kind of traction in
Speaker 1: hitting global warming targets. They need to be a big
Speaker 1: part of the conversation and just making available renewable and
Speaker 1: alternative energy or investing in. It isn't enough if people
Speaker 1: can still easily access affordable gas, oil and coal. And
Speaker 1: so
Speaker 1: in order to get them on board and reduce fossil
Speaker 1: fuel and phase out fossil fuel production, we need them
Speaker 1: at the table, we need them on board and we
Speaker 1: need them to drive part of this transition because that's
Speaker 1: what it takes. Ok, I hear you. I agree to
Speaker 1: an extent that they have to be part of the solution.
Speaker 1: But should they be actually in charge of these summits?
Speaker 1: That's a different level of involvement. That's a different level
Speaker 1: of influence that countries that have, let's face it, vested interests,
Speaker 1: conflicts of interest in continuing the status quo and the
Speaker 1: world's dependency on their resources that of course they want
Speaker 1: to sell to us. The stability of their economy is
Speaker 1: totally tied
Speaker 1: to ensuring that oil and gas continues to be produced.
Speaker 1: And we know that they are leading causes for global
Speaker 1: warming and when they are in the driver's seats, I
Speaker 1: believe that they have too much say over how much
Speaker 1: progress can be made. And we are shooting ourselves in
Speaker 1: the foot a bit by not enhancing ambition, which ironically
Speaker 1: is one of the taglines of Azerbaijan's presidency,
Speaker 1: right? Ok. So let's look at it this way. We
Speaker 1: need them as hosts or we stand to gain from
Speaker 1: them as hosts of these cop summits. Because by putting
Speaker 1: them in that spotlight, we are in a way holding
Speaker 1: them to account, right. They are forced to really weigh
Speaker 1: the
Speaker 1: impacts of their fossil fuel production of their economy is
Speaker 1: driven by this and look at opportunities or really or
Speaker 1: to galvanize opportunities for their own transition. I think there
Speaker 1: is a recognition that climate change is a reality and
Speaker 1: that things need to start changing.
Speaker 1: But we also have to remember that at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, companies are profit making or they're supposed
Speaker 1: to be profit making is all about the bottom line.
Speaker 1: They're not activists, they're not doing this out of the
Speaker 1: collective good of the planet and maybe the intent is there.
Speaker 1: But ultimately, at the end of the day, they have
Speaker 1: to answer to shareholders and they have to make money,
Speaker 1: but the companies are not in charge of cop, the
Speaker 1: governments are in charge of cop so too much power
Speaker 1: in the hands of the companies which are,
Speaker 1: are often state entities. I think it is a mistake.
Speaker 1: And what that also allows is these huge numbers of
Speaker 1: fossil fuel industry representatives from these nations that kind of
Speaker 1: blur the lines between representing the government and representing companies.
Speaker 1: They can dominate the discussions. They dilute the climate action
Speaker 1: proposals that other nations could put forward. But imagine
Speaker 1: the alternative when you have these Petro States who are
Speaker 1: just there being dictated to and mandated to by other
Speaker 1: governments who feel that they are in a better place
Speaker 1: and they know better.
Speaker 1: How receptive do you think these petrol states would be
Speaker 1: in that scenario? That's fine. They're a powerful block as
Speaker 1: it is. And I should say we would include countries
Speaker 1: like the United States in this equation, often criticized for
Speaker 1: a lack of leadership in this space on another topic.
Speaker 1: And this is a big generality. But something else in
Speaker 1: common from the last three Cops is a human rights issue.
Speaker 1: The lack of public expression,
Speaker 1: the inability to report freely about these industries and these issues.
Speaker 1: And that definitely has made covering Cop much more difficult.
Speaker 1: I think that's something else that needs to be taken
Speaker 1: into account if we are putting scrutiny on the presidency
Speaker 1: of Cop. Yet we cannot report freely about what they're
Speaker 1: actually up to. I think, yes, the human rights factor
Speaker 1: is a huge issue which is why the owner should
Speaker 1: be on a lot of the other organizations and entities
Speaker 1: to haul these petrol states and companies to account.
Speaker 1: And the more they are driving these summits, the more
Speaker 1: they put themselves under the spotlight for greater scrutiny. And
Speaker 1: I think that can be a positive thing when it
Speaker 1: comes to moving the needle on the green transition. OK.
Speaker 1: Interesting discussion. We actually put up
Speaker 1: an opinion poll on linkedin asking people what they thought
Speaker 1: should fossil fuel giants be chosen to lead climate talks
Speaker 1: and indicative of the divisiveness of this discussion. 50% said yes,
Speaker 1: we need them and 50% said no, too much influence. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: goes to show that people are on both sides of
Speaker 1: this debate and we'd love you guys to connect
Speaker 1: with us on social media as well. So if you
Speaker 1: have a thought or an opinion, please share it with
Speaker 1: us CN podcasts at mediacorp.com dot SG as well if
Speaker 1: you want to get in touch. Ok. We're also adding
Speaker 1: a little new bite sized weather. Look ahead to the
Speaker 1: lineup in the podcast this week, Leila put on your, now,
Speaker 1: your weather meteorologist hat. Take it away.
Speaker 1: All right guys, rainy with a chance of crazy expect,
Speaker 1: wetter rainier end to the year across most of Southeast
Speaker 1: Asia as the region
Speaker 1: enters the monsoon season. So low lying areas may need
Speaker 1: to brace for more flooding and high mountainous regions may
Speaker 1: have to prepare for possibilities of landslides, Indonesia. However, may
Speaker 1: buck this expectation with the current dry and hot conditions,
Speaker 1: they're likely to hold for a bit longer due to
Speaker 1: tropical cyclones forming in the Pacific Ocean, disrupting rain and
Speaker 1: wind activity. And that's your weather forecast from climate conversations.
Speaker 1: All right, quiz time. Let's repeat the question.
Speaker 1: What are the bordering nations of the Caspian Sea? And
Speaker 1: even I have to think pretty carefully about this, even
Speaker 1: though I just did a big feature story on it.
Speaker 1: Lots of people when I tell them I'm going to Azerbaijan,
Speaker 1: they don't even know where that is. Do you Li Ling? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do know where that is. And in terms of
Speaker 1: the country surrounding Caspian Sea, I may not know all
Speaker 1: of them. We know Azerbaijan is what looking at it,
Speaker 1: lower left of it on the western side
Speaker 1: and south of that, we know Iran is there. I
Speaker 1: know Iran is there. And then to the north of Azerbaijan,
Speaker 1: we have Russia because it used to be a former
Speaker 1: Soviet State, Russia's up there. And ok, so the northeast part,
Speaker 1: I'm a little so it's definitely not Afghanistan because that's
Speaker 1: further away. We've got Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan is
Speaker 1: further away too. I think so. It's either Uzbekistan or
Speaker 1: Turkmenistan or both
Speaker 1: Turkmenistan is correct. And the last one was Kazakhstan. Oh, ok.
Speaker 1: So I got those two confused. It's a big country.
Speaker 1: So four out of five. Good effort. Got it. That
Speaker 1: was fun.
Speaker 1: Ok. That's it for this episode of Climate Conversations. Thanks
Speaker 1: as always for listening in. We'll see you next week.
Speaker 1: See you all back here. Same time, same place next week.
Speaker 1: I'm Li Ling Tan and I'm Jack Boyd. Thanks as
Speaker 1: always to the team that put together this podcast, Arjun Bala, Tiffany, Janani,
Speaker 1: Jahari and Christina Roberts.