Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Extreme Amount of Microplastics Found in Sargasso Sea; Italian Prime Minister Conte Says He Will Resign; Salvini Boosts Popularity with His Use of Social Media; Interview with Mohamed Salah, Liverpool Forward, Weighs in on VAR; Many Players and Fans are Frustrated at VAR System; Saving the Planet Through Plastic Pollution Solutions; Environments Attack Harry and Meghan Over Private Jet. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 20, 2019 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Much of what you see has been discarded on land. Traveling thousands of miles and
breaking up along the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Tiny pieces of plastics floating around in a place where few humans venture. Then making their way back to us. All the
way back to our dinner plates. We take a look at our problem with plastic tonight.
Then in a CNN exclusive.
MOHAMED SALAH, LIVERPOOL FORWARD: I love the football how it is. It's OK. Sometimes protect players from dangerous play. But for me, I accept the
football for the mistakes and referee and mistakes of the players, that's how football gets more exciting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It's the Egyptian king versus VAR. Plus, Mo Salah's thoughts on winning the golden boot a third time. The next part of my interview with
the footballing superstar is this hour.
And Italy on the brink. The Prime Minister there says he is stepping down after slamming the selfie loving right wing minister that wants to become
the country's new leader. We are live for you this hour in Rome.
Welcome, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me Becky Anderson live from London this hour.
Right, well that is us right there, our little blue speck of life in the black cosmos. Right now we are drowning our oceans in plastic in just the
time this program is on air, we will dump a thousand tons of it into our seas. And that hits home really, really close to home. In fact, there are
so many imperceptibly small flecks in our water and food -- microplastics as they are called -- that you and I could be eating as much as a credit
card worth, that's five grams, every single week. Just get that.
Now, if we make these pieces bigger but keep the weight exactly the same, five grams is all I said, then you get a sense of just how much we are
talking about. As well as helping make the planet dangerously hotter, and I'll explain how in a moment. This is also suffocating life in what should
be far from pristine environments. Like in the remote Sargasso Sea where we go next.
But as we get you there, think on this. Our big question of the day today. What are you willing to do to stop all of this and help save our planet?
The only home we have, of course. Grab your phone, your tablet, your laptop, whatever you use, go to CNN.com/join and let us know that. That is
the big question of the day. Well as you do that, take a look at this. Arwa Damon takes us on an expedition unlike you've ever been on before.
Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see more there.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is humbling to be out in the deep blue, hundreds of miles from land.
We're in the Sargasso Sea, named after Sargasso, a free-floating seaweed dubbed the Atlantic Golden Rainforest. Under the cloud-like mats there is
an unexpected array of biodiversity. But along with our awe is also the shocking realization of what we are doing to it.
(on camera): In one little chunk. Look at all that.
(voice-over): There are also tinier pieces, hard to see, but everywhere.
(on camera): You find little pieces like this throughout. I have to say I was quite struck by the pieces that you actually can see and how much of it
is located down there.
(voice-over): Each time we got into the water we found countless plastic pieces, all different shapes and sizes.
Most plastic is not dumped directly into the ocean. Much of what you see has been discarded on land, traveling thousands of miles and breaking up
along the way.
The Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic is the world's only body of water without shores. It's defined by the currents of the North Atlantic gyre --
currents that also carry with them our plastic filth, making it one of the five ocean garbage patches.
[11:05:05] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think this one is a good one to do first.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow, there's a piece of plastic in that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got it.
DAMON: Alexandra Guilick and Nerine Constant are marine biologists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, these are bite marks like animals taking bites.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really? Out of the plastic?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, you can tell these are fish because they are little half circles.
DAMON: The Sargasso provides a habitat for baby turtles and fish, shrimp, plus hundreds of other marine organisms. In the oceans, degrading plastic
becomes even more poisonous as it binds with other manmade chemical pollutants. All that toxicity ends up in the digestive systems of marine
life and travels up the food chain, all the way to our dinner plates.
Onboard the Esperanza, Amanda Trawl (ph) collects water samples, part of a Greenpeace study into microplastics in this remote body of water and its
broader campaign for a global oceans' treaty.
(on camera): You can see quite a bit of plastic already just when it's in here. Has this been fairly common in most of the samples that have been
coming up?
CELIA OJEDA, MARINE BIOLOGIST: Yes. In most of the samples there have been something white. There was Sargasso in the sample. We have seen a
lot of plastics because I think -- because they get entangled in the Sargasso.
DAMON (voice-over): The initial results of this study are alarming. In its samples, Greenpeace found similar or greater concentrations of
microplastic to what they found in the notorious Great Pacific Garbage Patch last year.
OJEDA: We need to change our water consumption -- our water patterns -- the way we rule the planet, the way we do things.
DAMON (on camera): You have a son.
OJEDA: Yes.
DAMON: When you see the way things are now are you worried about his future?
OJEDA: Yes, I am, a lot -- because I think what -- with this and with climate change, what are we leaving them? It's insane.
DAMON (voice-over): Being out this far from land, you can't help but be struck by how interconnected our world is and how destructive we are being
to marine ecosystems. And with that, also to ourselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, there is no planet B. Arwa has been from pole to pole and in some of the most far flung reaches on our earth to bring the climate
crisis to light. Arwa, thanks for joining us today. If you had one take away from that trip, what would it be?
DAMON: I think I was really struck by the end of it, Becky, by how little prior to the trip I understood about the scale and scope of how we are
consuming plastic, especially single use plastic. And then how devastating plastic pollution actually is. I mean, look, I'm not a scientist, and I'm
not an environmental expert. But I have done a fair bit of environmental reporting. We did prep before going on this trip.
And yet, until that moment where we got into the water and saw it for ourselves, I and our cameraman had not really understood just how bad it
was. You can't escape it. It's everywhere. And you walk away with this feeling that if we don't do something right now, we aren't going to be able
to use the oceans as a food resource for ourselves anymore. Never mind the destruction we're going to end up doing to the oceans and life that they
sustain themselves.
ANDERSON: Arwa, last year, you went somewhere even more off the beaten track, has to be said, that was Antarctica. I just want our viewers to get
a little sense of that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON (voice-over): It feels untouched by man but that sense is deceptive. Greenpeace found raises of tiny nonbiodegradable plastics in the waters
they tested. And Chilean scientists we spoke to made an even more chilling discovery.
DR. MARCELO GONZALES, CHILEAN ANTARCTIC INSTITUTE: You can observe this material, the red materials are plastic. And also, we can observe fibers.
DAMON (on camera): And so, this was found --
GONZALES: This is found in the intestine of the Antarctica clam.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Those waters literally at the ends of the earth and they still suffer from plastic pollution. When you speak to experts as you do, when
you're on these trips, how long do they say we will be fighting this battle? And how long do we have?
DAMON: Well, here's the thing, Becky. Is that scientists we're talking to were saying that even if we were to, for example, end the production of
single use plastic today, it would still be one or two decades before all of the plastic pollution that we have been dumping out would actually be
able to cycle through before this seas, the oceans would have a chance to even begin to clean themselves up.
[11:10:09] They will say time and time again this isn't a problem we can slowly phase out. This isn't something to say we'll deal with it tomorrow.
We need to address it right now.
If you look at the numbers -- there was a study conducted off the coast of Bermuda, where they found 43 percent of fish -- and this includes fish that
we would be eating -- had microplastic ingestion in them. You look at the numbers that Greenpeace just discovered on this trip to the Sargasso Sea
where microplastic concentration equaled that of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. You look at the Arctic also has microplastics being found in it.
Our trip down to the Antarctica there where they found that as well. Where Chilean scientists found microfibers inside clams. This is at the end of
the day expert scientists, conservationists will tell you, it is about having the ability to do something. We can actually do something about
single use plastic production. You know, individuals, they try to recycle. They try to consume less plastic. But if you go in a supermarket, it's
really hard to buy something that isn't wrapped in plastic.
ANDERSON: Arwa, we are asking our viewers, as we speak today, how willing are they to change your habits to help save the planet. Remember viewers,
you can vote on your smart phone, your tablet or your laptop. CNN.com/join. We really, really do want to hear from you. So far, most of
you, most of you say you are making big changes. But not willing to change everything our viewers are saying, Arwa. So after what you have seen
around the world, any words of advice at this point?
DAMON: Look, I think whatever an individual can do to change their habits is great. The other issue also that we do need to take into consideration
is when it comes to the reality about recycling. Only 9 percent of plastic produced has ever been recycled. And so, the big issue now comes with the
source. So it's not just on us to do what we can -- although of course and we should continue to do so -- it's also really on the companies, the
corporations, and countries to at the very least begin to take steps and start banning single use plastics. Because they're the ones that are most
devastating to the environment.
Again, back to Greenpeace's study in the Sargasso, most of the microplastics that they found there, they say they determined to have come
from single use plastic. So again, this is a problem that is devastating the environment. That is potentially poisoning our own food sources but
that we can do something about.
But I go back to this point again. The individual can only do so much, when so many options you have as a consumer involve single use plastic.
And that's why the burden now is on the source to provide us with other alternatives and to take on that responsibility.
ANDERSON: We're going to do more on this as we move through the hour, looking for solutions as we challenge or take on these massive climate
challenges. Arwa, thank you for that. Later in the show, as I say, we are talking solutions with award winning businessman, Adam Root, right here
only on CNN and CONNECT THE WORLD.
A huge story unfolding right now in Italy for you. The government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is collapsing and he says he will resign later
today. Mr. Conte made that announcement after a long speech to Parliament. He slammed the right-wing interior minister, Matteo Salvini, saying his
call for early elections was irresponsible and ignited a crisis that puts Italy's national interests at risk.
Let's get the latest live from CNN contributor, Barbie Nadeau, who is live for you in Rome. This resignation announcement, as I say, coming after the
Italian Prime Minister delivered a blistering attack against Matteo Salvini. Who is of course, the leader of the far-right league and a
coalition partner in government. What is going on. This is Italian politics in chaos once again.
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right. Even by Italian standards, this one is really a doozy, Becky. It's just incredible that Matteo
Salvini was able to cause this crisis about two weeks ago when everyone in Italy is at the beach and bring everyone to Parliament. Where today they
listened to 58 minutes of Giuseppe Conte's ranting against Matteo Salvini for stopping this government. That for all practical purposes was putting
through some reforms that had a number of ways stopped the migration problem, coming into some of the things the Italians have really wanted.
[11:15:03] Now we're in crisis. And what happens remains to be seen. Right now we've got about three hours and 45 minutes of parliamentary
debate by the various leaders who are represented in Parliament. After that, Giuseppe Conte says he will go to Sergio Mattarella, who's the
President of this country, and deliver his resignation.
Now one of the things he did that I think a lot of parliamentarians, especially those against Salvini were not hoping for, was he robbed them of
a confidence vote. He said you can't fire me basically, I quit. So there's not going to be that confidence vote going forward. But really
don't know, Becky, what the future holds for this country right now.
ANDERSON: Yes, this is a coalition government, of course, between the Far- Right League and the Five-Star Movement. This is a Prime Minister who is independent of both of those wings of that coalition government. Never
going to be easy and clearly things have got drastically worse.
Barbie, the interior minister Salvini likes to portray himself as a man of the people. And there's no doubt his strong social media presence has
boosted his popularity. It is, for example, well known he has a (INAUDIBLE) for selfies. And he relishes the chance to take pictures with
his fans as you can see from this video taken recently in Sicily. Just how influential is and will this politician be going forward?
NADEAU: Well what he's really done is to redefine who the Italian voter that the government, these elected officials are trying to court. For
years and years and years it was the man and woman that read the newspaper.
Salvini understands he needs to reach people that only get news on their cell phones. And he's really used social media masterfully in this. And
he's reached a whole new group of voters who have sat out the last couple of elections. Whether or not this is going to bring him to power is
anyone's guess.
His latest poll shows him really doubling the popularity since the last election. But he is not fighting the battle out on the streets right now,
he's fighting it in the arena, in Parliament where his party doesn't have a majority. So he's got to get through that or convince the President to
call early elections. And then you can really see him sweep into power. And a government with him in the majority is really going to change Italy.
He is very Euroskeptic. It's going to be interesting to see how something like that would play in post Brexit Europe that this continent is going to
be facing in the next couple of months. There's a lot is at play here and Salvini wants to be the puppet master of all of it -- Becky.
Barbie, always a pleasure. Thank you for that.
It's 5:17 in Rome, 4:17 here in London where we broadcast from for the past couple of weeks and this week as well.
Still to come, part two of what is my exclusive interview with Mo Salah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED SALAH, EGYPTIAN SOCCER PLAYER: For me, I accept the football for mistakes and the referee and the mistakes of player, that's how football
gets more exciting. How people get more passionate about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That Liverpool star gets very honest about his thoughts on the controversial replay system that is shaking up English football. That and
more up next.
[11:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Manchester City and Tottenham fans going at it here over the results of their match over the weekend. Now the ugly side of the
beautiful game, sadly nothing new. But this year for the first time, just three letters adding even more tension into the mix.
VAR stands for video assistant referee. The system already made its debut in the World Cup. And this year the English Premier League is also using
it in all its matches. But it is only adding to the frustration for many players, managers and fans. It's only the beginning of the season. And
we've had really controversial decisions already just weeks in. I got the chance to ask football legend Mo Salah about what is this controversial new
system. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The goalkeeper out of his penalty area! He's just slaughtered it! Liverpool are running right, and this is Salah.
SALAH: Mohamed Salah, take one.
ANDERSON: What do you think of VAR?
SALAH: I like it, but that's my answer always.
ANDERSON: Why?
SALAH: I love football how it is. It's OK. Sometimes it protects the players from dangerous play. But for me, I accept the football with the
mistakes of the referee, mistakes of player. That's how the football gets more exciting. That's how the people get more passionate about it. But
the VAR is too fair. Last year, I had a Penalty in the Final, Champions League, and they attacked me a lot. It's too fair. We like it with the
mistakes.
ANDERSON: It's interesting that you say too fair. You think the game needs a bit of an edge?
SALAH: Of course. That's how the football -- how everyone likes football.
ANDERSON: I want to give you a good example of perhaps why you might like VAR. In a recent survey, football fans said that Vincent companies tackle
against you last season for which he was only given a yellow card. Man City went on to win over Liverpool. Was the episode that they most wanted
reviewed by VAR. You say you don't like VAR.
SALAH: That's not what I mean. Just to protect the players. The only reason I could really want it.
ANDERSON: So what do you think impact of VAR is going to be on the game?
SALAH: More connected for me. You will see that.
ANDERSON: Which quite possibly might help you win the golden boot again this year.
SALAH: Of course I want it. But for me, the team trophy comes first.
ANDERSON: Team trophy comes first.
SALAH: Especially the Premier League.
ANDERSON: Even if you got third boot in a row.
SALAH: Now that's fine. I will get the third maybe next year. It's fine.
ANDERSON: You Mane and Firmino sport a combined 113 goals in the last two seasons. How key is that trio to Liverpool?
SALAH: It is teamwork. So, yes, maybe we scored the most goals for Liverpool but I can't take that from the other players because really, they
work really hard. They defend a lot. They give us each ball, and we always try to make the difference. The most important thing is like keep
winning, keep winning, keep winning. The goals will come.
ANDERSON: Do you feel like a goal scoring machine? Just out of interest.
SALAH: No, because I am not a striker, I play as wing. So it's my proper job not just to score. It has to also assist, play with the midfield. So,
yes, I play as a wing which no one recommend that for long time.
ANDERSON: And are you comfortable there? Is that where you want to be?
SALAH: Yes, I am comfortable there. Yes, but I mean, but it's not my first job. Like number 9, his job only to score, only to score. But as a
wing, it's not just to score. It's to give assist and play with the ball, play with the team. Do a lot of things. To go and defend.
ANDERSON: So is a tougher job and it makes you a better footballer.
SALAH: That could be. Could be.
ANDERSON: Have you told that to your friend, the number 9?
SALAH: No, but honestly, our number 9, Bobby, he's one of the best players I ever played with.
[11:25:00] ANDERSON: It was a fantastic season last year. Manchester City bested Liverpool at both holding possession and scoring. They also had a
slightly better record of moving the ball from the middle third to the final third. Thinking about this season to come, how key is that going to
be for Liverpool?
SALAH: I think it's different. Sometimes it depends on the game. Sometimes you have experience now to just win the game 1-0 and that's
enough. I think we did that last year seven or eight times. So it doesn't matter how to kick the ball or how much you kick the ball, it's just about
how to win the game.
ANDERSON: You've played 11 months in a row with practically no preseason and very little training. Are footballers asked to do too much? Are you
knackers? Is what I'm asking.
SALAH: That's what makes football so exciting and people love the football, the person and everything. So I'm happy to play each game. I
don't want to even miss one game. So I am happy to play for a long time.
ANDERSON: That is a huge expectation on footballers at your level. Are these expectations at times too high or do you feel they're entirely
appropriate?
SALAH: If you play the club like Liverpool, there's always bigger expectation. You have to win something. So there's always expectation
high in football. If it's not from yourself, from the people because they want to see the club winning something.
ANDERSON: What's the message at the beginning of the season to you lot from your club?
SALAH: Keep working hard and if you want to win. Another thing you have to work harder than maybe the last season and you have to really be humble
and, OK, the Champions League is over. It was last year, so forget it, fight for the new trophies again this season.
ANDERSON: 97 points and you're a point shy of winning the league. That's tough, isn't it. Does it feel like a long road ahead at the beginning of
the season?
SALAH: I think yes, but you know, we're playing against Man City. I think both teams' same level at the moment. So we just need to focus on our
game, not their game, as much as you can win each game is going to be OK. But last season I think we lost only one game. Only one game. So this
season we have to focus ourselves not to lose any game.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Mo Salah for you. Well listen, he and I started to talking about VAR. He is not a fan. He says he's sorted him out. He had complete
results through VAR decisions, but he doesn't like it. And he reflects a lot of players' views of course. How will VAR impact the game? How does
it impact the game now?
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: It's hugely divisive. And what's hilarious to me as a sports journalists of too many years to mention, is that we had
all (INAUDIBLE) before it came in, saying we must bring in technology. Come on, we get instant replays on telly, you can see if the decision is
wrong. Why can't we do that to help the refs. We've done that. There are free tapa assistance and now it's always ruining the game, it's dreadful.
But soccer or football is unique in the atmosphere it creates, particularly English Premier League, which is the most successful of those national
league products, huge money, huge star players. They've got to get it right, which they do. The point is it's not the Video Assistant Referee
system that's wrong, it's the people using it and how it is used. The circumstances in which its use.
More technicalities and rules added to what we saw at the World Cup last year. It's now in Champions League as well. This is the Premier League
using it for the first time. They wanted to sit back and wait, let others make mistakes and they learn from it.
But the point is it's going to take a lot of learning. We hear from the ruling body, the International Football Association board, not just FIFA to
make the rules. FIFA a part of that panel saying it could take ten years to really get to grips with it. And what they mean by that is for the
referees to work out when to use it, when to go to it, when to interrupt that moment of euphoria when a goal gets in. If you lose that from the
game, football loses its soul.
ANDERSON: You make a very good point at the beginning of this. Other sports have technology that helps the referees or whatever they call them
in whatever sport it is that you're talking about. But it's this idea of this kind of atmosphere within the stadiums, is sort of at the heart of
things that makes a difference with football. What can be learned from other sports?
THOMAS: When it came to cricket, just two of many examples -- and we saw the same in American sports, NFL and others. It wasn't popular. And
again, we saw the same outcry, the same arguments before social media era, so maybe less all encompassing. But it took the sports, the players, the
officials and the fans watching to understand it and just to incorporate it into the culture of the game.
ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. Alex, always a pleasure. Thank you.
[11:30:00] We're going to take a quick break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: This hour, we are asking you how willing you are to change your habits to help save the planet. So far most of you are at least wanting to
change everything. Have a look at the bottom of the screen. How willing are you to change your habits to save the planet. CNN.com/join. Get
involved. What changes then can we make? Does it come down to policy, or our individual behavior, or both. Our next guest is a man with a plan.
Adam Root is the founder of Inheriting Earth. An award-winning business designing sustainable products that reduce plastic in particular,
microplastics. Joining Greenpeace ocean campaigner, Louisa Casson. So our viewers are saying they are willing to change practically everything to
help save the planet. This is I'm sure music to your ears. Great. So tell us how do we change almost everything if not everything. Go on, Adam.
Tell us what you've got here.
ADAM ROOT, FOUNDER, INHERITING EARTH: So this is microplastic. So in the inside of your washing machine. That stuff. That's made of fleeces, 65
percent of all clothing is synthetic.
ANDERSON: That white sock that went blue.
ROOT: Yes.
ANDERSON: That white sock that went blue, right. Yes, go on.
ROOT: So if you are to put that into water that kind of demonstrates how that this has kind of become like almost like a soluble material. That
comes out the edge of your washing machine. That's 700,000 particles per wash. So this is the representation of one item being in the washing
machine.
ANDERSON: What is that?
ROOT: So that is that. It's microfibers, it's plastic effectively. The fabric, the inside of washing machine is like a cheese grater. So when it
tumbles around and cleans the clothes, it also braids with the fibers. And that is the result that we're effectively seeing in the ocean.
ANDERSON: So what are we going to do about it?
ROOT: We're working on lots of different things. But effectively my main business is technology. So we've created a technology which should capture
this material at source and also close it into the recycling economy. So making that fiber into more clothes.
ANDERSON: Problem is technologies are -- what you get off the back of technology is often more expensive than the consumer wants to spend.
[11:35:00] Are we talking about solutions that are still costing too much money? Is that why we are adopting it at this stage? Is that one of the
problems?
ROOT: The thing is that we're doing is creating something that is available for everybody. We're working with a manufacturer who makes 5
million washing machines a year. And so there are -- it's a scalable business. And what we're trying to do is deliver something that can be for
everybody. We want it in every supermarket and available for everyone. So it's a price point that will be for everybody.
ANDERSON: That's fascinating. We started this hour with a fantastic report from one of my colleagues just identifying how much microplastic
there is in our oceans. Which remind us, means that oceans are warming and also that this stuff is getting into our food. It's getting into our food.
It effects our health. So a myriad of reasons why we should care. Talk to us about solutions. Talk to us about what our viewers can do.
LOUISA CASSON, OCEANS CAMPAIGNER, GREENPEACE U.K.: Well, and you're right, our oceans are facing more pressure than any point in history. And that's
why we really need people to be coming together and calling on governments to take bold action. Greenpeace's expedition at the moment is going from
pole to pole, looking at the wonders of the oceans that need protection but also all of these different threats that are facing them.
And we're doing that because governments right now are negotiating a Global Ocean Treaty. So yesterday governments gathered at United Nations.
They've got two weeks of negotiations, penultimate round. And by next spring we need them to agree on a strong treaty that could put a third of
our oceans off limits to destructive industries which really gives wildlife the space to recover from these global threats.
ANDERSON: Let me bring up this map. According to United Nations, 127 countries restrict plastic bags. Now that to me sounds like a very good
effort. Nearly two-thirds of the world if you look at the map. Many island nations, however, not one country has a total single use plastic
ban. Many have single use plastic taxes, others have targets to achieve a total ban, but not one country has yet been effectively able to completely
and utterly ban single use plastics. These plastics as we know are ending up in our oceans. Is a total ban possible?
CASSON: Well I think that the moment we're seeing huge public demand for stronger action. And reduction is definitely where we need to seeing
policy action. You know, we know that corporations are pumping out vast amounts of single use plastic and impacts on oceans is absolutely
catastrophic. A third of turtles have eaten plastic. We've seeing whales washed up with stomachs absolutely full of plastic.
And it's entering every level of the food chain and then getting into our plates and seafood. So I think we are seeing much stronger public demand
and actually it's the governments to then respond and particularly focus on reduction is crucial.
ANDERSON: How willing are you, viewers, to change your habits to save the planet. Those of you that have been to CNN.com/join are saying changing
practically everything is what viewers are saying. Plastic water bottles being used to make prosthetic limbs. We're talking solutions here. Algae
being turned into curtains. We being used to make everything from packaging to edible cutlery. How much of an impact on the environment do
these innovative ideas have?
ROOT: Yes, and what I think my opinion is that this is the first time we as Inheriting Earth is giving people the opportunity for choice. Because
at the minute, there is no choice. If you decide that you are really passionate and want to save the world from microfibers, there isn't a
technology out there to do that. There isn't a product out there that you can install into your washing machine to do that. And I think that we need
to act faster. We need to act -- you know, this is like talking about 29,000 kilos of this stuff going into the ocean every day from the U.S.
That's such a huge volume of material. That means that we need to do something today. So we're working really hard to do that. And I think
that people can. There are some solutions out there that people can do.
ANDERSON: Yes, I think my point is that innovative solutions will come with often times environmental impact potentially. But the point being we
are trying to reduce as much as possible the environmental impact, right?
CASSON: Absolutely. And you know, I think another strong thing we once had in this Global Oceans Treaty, is strong environments and impact
assessments so that we can see when there are new solutions coming forward. We're make sure that actually that's a positive impact rather than causing
more harm.
We are seeing that we need to massively reduce and become much more efficient in how much we're using all resources, whether that's metals or
minerals as well. Because we're also seeing new industries like deep sea mining saying, we need to be mining the deep-sea to get some of these
metals. But that's simply not the case. We need to be closing that loop.
ANDERSON: To both of you, how willing are you to change your habits to save the planet? Just got to ask.
ROOT: Everything, yes.
CASSON: Yes, absolutely.
ANDERSON: Would be weird if they said anything else. Wouldn't it? So you agree with our viewers. That's fantastic.
[11:40:02] Coming up, why Elton John is coming to the defense of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following charges of hypocrisy over their climate
change message. That's after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well just time for your Parting Shots tonight. A royal couple under fire, accused of talking but not walking the environmental walk. The
Duke and Duchess of Sussex known for being outspoken over climate change are now being called out for using private jets to fly to the south of
France and Ibiza.
Environmental footprint of a private jet is much greater than that of a commercial plane which is big anyway, right. But Sir Elton John defending
the couple saying he paid for their jet to Nice in the south of France and made donation to an environmental charity. Buckingham Palace declining to
comment. He is the godfather of course of the Duke of Sussex.
This hours we've been looking at the impact of climate change on the very planet that we live on. How it's impacting the creatures we share our
world with. And how we can try to slow or hopefully stop climate change. We've been asking you the viewers how willing are you to change your habits
to save the planet. Most of you say you're willing to change almost everything. So go out and do it, folks.
I am Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching.
[11:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
END
END
