Tom Goldtooth at COP26: Absolute Carbon Reduction Is "Issue of Life and Death" for Indigenous Peoples

Countries attending the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow have made new pledges to cut their emissions, but activists say it's not enough to avert the worst of the climate crisis. India has vowed to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero by 2070. Over 100 leaders have agreed to end deforestation by 2030. The United States is announcing a new plan to reduce methane emissions, among other measures. Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, is in Glasgow for the talks and warns the heavy focus on net zero" rather than absolute carbon reductions suggests leaders are not planning to make serious changes. It's a continuing war against Mother Earth, against Father Sky," says Goldtooth. It is an issue of life and death to many of our Indigenous peoples, from the North to the South." Climate campaigner Bill McKibben says the movement to divest from fossil fuels has had a major impact but that business interests are still holding back a transition to renewable energy. Money is the oxygen on which the fires of global warming keep burning," says McKibben.