CBCN - Sunday, May 26, 2024 - 12:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #40

so people can relax and enjoy rain or shine. Duradek. Some things never go out of style. [CBC Newstheme] Announcer:At leasttwelve people were hurt during a Qatar Airways flightfrom Doha to Dublin today when itencountered turbulence. Six passengersand six crew members were among those injured. Officials say the planewas able to land safely in the Irish capital. It comes just days after aSingapore Airlines flight out of London ran intosevere turbulence. 1 passenger died on thatflight and nearly two dozen others requiredspinal surgery. The following program is availabe in described video. [Susan]On this editionofThe Fifth Estate, the battle overclimate change. We are in a raceagainst time. [Susan] Fires. Floods. Heat domes. Our planet is getting hotter, with tragic results. [man] The whole hillside's gone. Over 600 people died, and one of them was my sister. [Susan] But what and who will stop it? [Alexia] This is COP28 and we can still not agree to equitably phase out fossil fuels. What are we doing? [Catherine] In order to address climate change, we need to be talking about the cause of climate change. It is so decided. [Susan] Leaders say they're making progress, but are they? [Peter] We've been trying to warn you guys for so many decades, that we're heading towards a [muted] catastrophe. [Susan] Those fed up with climate politics won't wait. [chanting, indistinct] When all else fails, sue. [Susan] And the face off between Alberta's premier and the federal minister of environment. [Danielle] I wish you would put Steven Guilbeault in your crosshairs so-- The Premier of Alberta turned this into a culture war. He wants to put someone in jail? I guess it'll be me. The brawl over our heating planet. I'm Susan Ormiston, and this is The Fifth Estate. [reporters]Athensis sweltering... The blistering US southwest... Global temperature records havebeen breaking all summer... [António] The air is unbreathable. The heat is unbearable. [reporters] More than hot enough to cause serious harm to human health. Temperatures are now set to climb even higher. Now July is on track to be the hottest month in recorded history. [Susan] The hottest month, became the hottest year, 2023, just as the world's largest climate conference opened in Dubai, delegates desperate for a deal to turn down the heat. Prime ministers and presidents, top diplomats and a sprinkling of kings, kicked off what was supposed to be one of the most consequential climate meetings in nearly a decade, COP28. Delegates, observers, and negotiators from more than 190 countries including over 700 from Canada... Opening ceremony is full. At this point only party heads or deputy party heads. [Susan] ...clamouring to get in to the opening ceremony to hear what they already knew-- the world was heating upperilously. How dangerous are weactually prepared to make our world? In 2050, our grandchildren won't be asking what we said, they'll be living with the consequences of what we did or didn't do. [chanting] Fossil fuels have got to go! Hey-hey! Ho-ho! Fossil fuels have got to go! [Susan] Activists at this COP were losing patience, "If not this year," they asked, "then when would global politicians finally tackle the oil and gas industry head on?" -What do we want? -Phase out! -If we don't get it? -Shut it down! [Susan] Demanding countries phase out fossil fuels, in plain speech, cut production of oil and gas. Put "phase out of fossil fuels" in the text because you owe it to us, especially to the nations from the Global South. [Susan] Daniela Bobadilla from Columbia and Texan Alexia Leclercq came to COP for one reason-- change. This is COP28. 28 COPs and we can still not agree to equitably phase out fossil fuels? What are we doing? It seems sometimes like it is a show. What is this whole... reunion of people about if we're going to keep doing the same, if we're going to give options to not do anything? [somber music playing] [Susan] With the world coming to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, which got rich off oil and gas, wanted to prove they could be green too.

And the success or failure of COP28 rested with this man. Sultan Al Jaber, chosen by the host country as president for this COP. But Al Jaber's real job is running the UAE's national oil and gas company, ADNOC. We must ensure the inclusion of the role of fossil fuels. [Harjeet] COP28 being hosted by a petrol state was a perfect opportunity to talk about the cause of the climate crisis, and that's fossil fuels-- coal, oil and gas. [Susan] Harjeet Singh has been campaigning for solutions to climate change for two decades. Based in Delhi, he's worked with international NGOs, this time with Climate Action Network. Dubai was his 15th COP. Let me remind you that the fossil fuel industry made profits of $4 trillion last year. The pressure had been building to double down on the fossil fuel industry, and we challenged him to deliver. More fossil fuels means more loss and damage, more disasters, more people losing their homes. We collectively have the power to do something unprecedented. In fact, we have no choice. [Susan]The pressurewas on Al Jaber to deliver onan historic decision. [Harjeet] They alsokept saying that this is going to bea different COP because we are going to bedelivering a landmark deal. So for them, it was all about image boosting and creating a legacy. [dramatic music playing] [Susa] The very first COP in Berlin in 1995 began the work of tackling climate change. In Kyoto, in 1997, they committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The United States has reacheda truly historic agreement with other nations of the worldto take unprecedented steps. [Susan] Followed by year after year of promises as extreme floods and droughts outpaced the efforts to contain them. But at all the previous climate conferences there was one glaring omission, says Canadian Catherine Abreu. I think it's really surprising to learn that the convention that brings all of the world's countries together to talk about the climate crisis doesn't actually discuss the cause of the climate crisis directly. [Susan] Abreu is a climate policy activist, and she's been a fixture at the UN conferences for eight years. Her first was Paris in 2015. L'accord de Parispour le climat est accepté. [Susan] Where the world signed on to a climate treaty to try to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels. [Catherine] I showed upto this COP expecting to have a conversationwith my peers about how we were going to befighting the fight against fossil fuels worldwide. And instead, I found a space that was completely void of any conversations about coal, oil and gas. I think that really goes to show the extent to which these spaces were actively engineered to avoid addressing the root cause of the climate crisis. [Susan]In the 28 yearsof climate conferences, fossil fuel emissions globally have just kept rising. [reporters] Though Canadians might be skeptical, 1995 was the warmest year on record. 1998 may offer a glimpse into the future, a time when scorching heat and severe weather will be the norm. The hottest year of all was 2005. The hottest year of all in the US was 2006. 2010 was the warmest year on record. [Susan] Back in Dubai, Canada's delegation was headed by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault. Who should I be looking at? Bonjour toutes le monde. Good morning. Very happy to be here. [Susan] As a former environmental activist, Guilbeault had been to 22 COPs. This time he was tapped by Sultan Al Jaber, to help shepherd part of the negotiations. [Steven] I think we have a real chance. I'm not saying it's a done deal, but I think we have a real chance of landing something that would be historic, here in Dubai. Are you going to compromise at all on fossil fuels, on the wording? [Susan] But that power struggle with oil and gas interests would dominate this COP, just as it had for years. A record number of fossil fuel lobbyists and delegates--

over 2,000-- were attending this COP. OPEC, the organization of petroleum producers, had a booth at COP28 for the first time at a set of UN climate talks. And we saw their influence pretty starkly. [Susan] A leaked letter from OPEC to its member nations urged them to reject a "draft decision" with options on "fossil fuels phase out" warning that would set in motion "irreversible consequences." The message was clear. Keep the talk on curbing emissions, not cutting production. A significant distinction, meaning freedom to expand oil and gas, just deal with the polluting emissions. [Catherine] Basically they're saying, "We'll just take care of the emissions and we don't have to worry about what's actually causing those emissions." [Susan] With 48 hours left to go, COP's architects began to sweat. We are in a race against time. [Susan] UN Secretary General António Guterres tried to push negotiators to reach consensus to help save the climate and the credibility of the whole conference. Saudi Arabia and others were dead set against any attempts to phase out fossil fuels. [reporter] Mr. President, do you feel more ambitious now? [Susan] Sultan Al Jaber delivered a final appeal. [Al Jaber] Failure, or lack of progress, or watering down my ambition is not an option. [Susan] At dawn, with COP in overtime, national delegations were summoned. [reporter] Will you be asking for changes, sir? [Susan] Saudi's energy minister swept by into the plenary hall, brushing questions aside. COP28 was about to conclude. Sultan Al Jaber raised the gavel. Hearing no objection,it is so decided. [Susan] He had his deal, and it got a standing ovation. [Al Jaber] Future generations may not know your names, but they will owe every single one of you a debt of gratitude. I thank you for this historic achievement. [Susan] It took 28 years to even mention the cause-- fossil fuels. But the world had only agreed to "transition away from fossil fuels," not phase them out. [speaking in other language] The Arab group delegation called it "successful" and the US named it a win. I am in awe... of the spirit of cooperation that has brought everybody together. [Susan] But the agreement failed to direct nations to curb production provoking some deep disappointment. Could we just get a comment? [Shiva] What we saw today was extremely heartbreaking. What we needed was to address the root cause of the climate crisis, which was a phase out of fossil fuel. And we didn't get that. [Harjeet] My framing is, it is historic yet flawed. So, so many loopholes that we have got in this decision. We ultimately land up at the lowest commondenominator, which is not strong enoughto avert the crisis. [Catherine] No one, I think, who participated in COP28 is saying that it has provided the solution to the climate crisis. Major fossil fuel producers, including Canada, not just Saudi Arabia, are going to read what they want to read into some of these sentences. [Susan] A month later, Catherine Abreu is back in Ottawa, sifting through what COP28 actually accomplished. "It didn't go far enough," she says, "but finally naming fossil fuels will send an important signal." The major message that's coming out of COP 28 is that the thing we have to do in this decade, between now and 2030, is to focus on eliminating the production and consumption of fossil fuels. [Susan] When we come back, that battle heating up in Canada. Alberta's premier takes on Ottawa's Minister of Environment and Climate Change. If we get to 2035 and we aren't able to meet his unrealistic targets and he wants to put someone in jail, I guess it'll be me. [crowd cheering]Announcer:Closed captioning forthis program is brought to y Watch all three episodesofCome and Say G'Day, a paid content series byTourism Australia,onCBC GEM. [TICKING CLOCK] Are you gonna tell me how you did it? [HEIST MUSIC PLAYS]

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to curbing natural gas. Their fight has reached a boiling point. They both agreed to talk to The Fifth Estate, and they didn't hold back. I think she feels that she has to pretend she cares about this issue of climate change. It's not about facts. It's all about trying to score cheap political points. He's going too far. He's asking us to do things that are unachievable. And I live in the real world. [Susan] Alberta is key to Guilbeault's mission. With oil and gas, it contributes a third of the greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. In Smith's camp, some fiercely independent Albertans who like nothing more than taking on the feds. This generation's being robbed by Trudeau and the clowns. You got a guy that climbs buildings. So I guess you think he should resign. Oh, I think he should resign. Absolutely, absolutely. Whole Liberal government should resign. These guys are dishonest and they're thieves. When we go through history, we've gone through ice ages and hot times and everything else. So to me, that's climate change, and that's normal everyday. When scientists then say that last year was the warmest year on record, you don't believe that? I don't know. I don't know that it was. I would have to go check that, and you know, I don't think you can believe anything that anyone says these days. Welcome to another miracle on the prairies. [crowd cheering] [Susan] Smith won Alberta's election last May with a promise. It is time to put partisanship, division and personal and political attacks in the rear-view mirror. [Susan] But seemingly not for Trudeau's government. Justin Trudeau is planning on bringing forward new restrictions on electricity generation from natural gas. [crowd jeers] I cannot under any circumstances allow these contemplated federal policies to be inflicted upon Albertans. I simply can't and I won't. [crowd cheers] [Susan] It was a warning signal to Guilbeault, who joined cabinet in 2019, and two years ago was put in charge of Ottawa's climate plans with a mandate to charge ahead. It was a long climb to those halls of power. Over 20 years ago he was hanging off the CN Tower calling Canada and the US "climate killers." [Steven] Greenpeace is climbing the world's tallest building today to tell the world not to be fooled by the Liberal government. You shouldn't fear change, you shouldn't fear the Kyoto Protocol. [Susan] Two decades back, he helped colleagues with a stunt to put solar panels on Alberta's former premier Ralph Klein's roof. I was told by other premiers that he was an ideologue, and he wouldn't meet me partway, and they were right. She is attacking many of your climate change initiatives. It's a barrier, isn't it? I think that the Premier of Alberta and the leader of the Conservative Party have decided to make out of the issue of climate change a wedge issue with voters and really turn this into a culture war. I find this, frankly, immoral and unconscionable, but it is what they've decided to do. [Susan] The Liberal government's record on climate change has its own critics. In 2018 it bought a pipeline, and in 2022 Guilbeault himself approved an oil megaproject off the coast of Newfoundland. Was that a difficult decision for me? Absolutely. [Susan] But last year he put that behind him. [Steven] This is an exciting day. Today, Canada is taking a giant step forward in our fight against climate change. [Susan] Guilbeault barreled on with the government's plan to decarbonize electrical grids across Canada. Ottawa set a target for net zero electricity by 2035, going to the heart of Alberta's dependence on natural gas. Premier Smith fired back. "Albertans," she said, "would freeze in the dark." I heard you say that you've asked his cabinet colleagues to rein him in? -Yes -Do you sense that there's a division in the cabinet -about Steven Guilbeault? -I hope there is. If we get to 2035 and we aren't able to meet his unrealistic targets and he wants to put someone in jail, I guess it'll be me. -Would you? -That's simply not true. I mean, it's more hyperbole and lies. And unfortunately, in many instances that we hear Danielle Smith and Pierre Poilievre spew away every day of the week. [Susan] The Premier doubled down, invoking dire predictions of blackouts in -30. She took an ad campaign national, calling it "Tell the Feds." They're disastrously uninformed

and totally disconnected from reality. [reporter] Alberta had a rough weekend with temperatures in the minus 40s. [reporter] For much of Alberta, it was the coldest night in 50 years. [reporter] Caught in a brutal cold snap pushing the province's grid to the brink. [Susan] As if to underscore her case, in early January Alberta was plunged into record cold. [alarm buzzing] An alert urged Albertans to reduce their electricity use over fears the gas-powered plants couldn't handle the load and wind and solar power couldn't make up the difference. A perfect storm to blame the feds. Our power grid relies on natural gas. I cannot build an electricity grid in this province off wind and solar. When the sun goes down at five o'clock and just tell people to suck it up until the sun comes back up at 9:00 a.m. the next morning. And that's what he's expecting me to do. That's another false affirmation from Premier Smith. What we've announced has no impacts right now whatsoever on electricity production in Alberta. Zero. And won't for another decade. [Susan] The truth that freezing weekend had as much to do with those natural gas plants. One was offline for maintenance, the other on reduced supply. Two gas plants went down when it went really cold. That's-- that's the reality. She can try and mislead her population if she wants but that won't change the fact that it's not because of renewable energy. [Susan] In fact, Alberta was leading the country in renewable development, until Smith stopped it, with a moratorium on new projects supposed to be lifted by spring. 70% of renewable energy investment in all of Canada happened in Alberta. Danielle Smith will never talk about this because it doesn't play to her base. [Susan] The premier is putting her faith in another technology still being developed-- carbon capture, which is supposed to pull CO2 out of emissions. So far it hasn't captured enough carbon at the scale needed. [Danielle] That's how we're going to reduce emissions, is by capturing the CO2 and making sure that we-- we continue to go down a path that will get us to carbon neutrality by 2050. Why should people be confident that that's going to happen? Look at the record so far. Emissions are growing year after year. Look, it's a-- it's a global environment. And that's why it's a global solution and a global problem. We're not going to curb the production of oil and natural gas, we're going to curb the production of emissions. [Susan] The two power brokers ultimately ended up at the same place, COP28, the world's climate conference, in Dubai... with Steven Guilbeault as head of Canada's delegation, and Danielle Smith right behind. Quite frankly, if we weren't here to tell the Alberta story, no one would hear it. [Steven speaking indistinctly] [Susan] Guilbeault was making news, choosing Dubai to launch a key plank of the climate plan-- putting a cap on carbon emissions from oil and gas back in Canada. "The first oil producing country in the world to do it," he said. What you do is you put a ceiling, a limit on the amount of pollution that a company or, in that case, a sector can-- can emit. [Susan] Smith was watching, and she'd had enough, accusing Guilbeault of posturing on an international stage. No emissions cap. He doesn't understand the constitution. And the way our country works is that we both have sovereign areas of-- of jurisdiction. And in Alberta, we have the right to develop our resources. As long as they continue to invade our jurisdiction, we're going to see them in court. It is so decided. [Susan] As COP28 wound up in December, Smith blasted Guilbeault, calling him a "national embarrassment," allied with "radical activists," "sabotaging the interests of Albertans," whom she said "will not forget his continued treachery." Why is it so personal? She has called you treacherous, shameful, an eco-extremist, she wants to get you fired. Well, I mean, I know she's personalizing it, but all of these things that-- that I'm doing, whether it's zero emission vehicles, whether it's clean electricity, whether it's capping the pollution of the oil and gas sector, are all elements that are supported by cabinet, it's not the minister of the environment running on a cabal by himself here, it is supported by-- by the Government of Canada. -[Susan] Still? -Well, absolutely. [Susan] But the premier is not turning back,

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