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Connect the World

Israel Resumes Military Operations in Gaza as Truce Ends; Israel- Lebanon Border Skirmishes Died Down over Truce; UN Chief: We're "Miles from the Goals of the Paris Agreement"; IRC Chief: We've had so much Talk, COP28 Needs Action; No Aid Trucks have Entered Gaza since Fighting Resumed; Scientists Explore Eco-Friendly Perks of Bugs as Food & Fuel. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired December 01, 2023 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, It's six o'clock in the evening here in Dubai. I'm Becky Anderson. This is "Connect the World" and

we are following two stories. The breakdown of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas as leaders from around the world are gathered at the U.N.

Climate Conference right here where I am in Dubai.

The Israeli President is here and has already met with the Emir of Qatar. Qatar had and has a pivotal role in facilitating or mediating the hostage

negotiations. Well, America's Top Diplomat Antony Blinken has also arrived in Dubai from Israel after a fresh round of shuttle diplomacy.

And we start with the resumption of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza just after the seven day truce ended. Israel

accuses Hamas of violating the truce by firing a rocket towards Israel. Hamas says Israel refused all offers to extend the pause. The Hamas

controlled Health Ministry in Gaza report 32 people, 32 people killed since fighting resumed.

Well, some of the heaviest Israeli bombing is reported in Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza. Israel's military dropped leaflets which you see here

warning people in the city it is a fighting zone. Well, during the week long pause Israel says 110 hostages were freed from captivity.

Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners. Well, the pause also allowed desperately needed aid to enter Gaza. But no aid trucks have gone in since

that fighting resumed. Well, before the truce ended Hamas released eight more hostages.

The International Committee of the Red Cross helped facilitate those releases. Israel says 137 hostages remain captive. And even with the

resumption of fighting, negotiations over freeing hostages do continue. Well, the Director General of the Red Cross Robert Mardini joins me here in

Dubai. Robert, let's just start with what you understand to be going on with regard these negotiations at present.

ROBERT MARDINI, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: Well for now, we hope that the negotiations will continue and will generate

more releases of hostages and the Palestinian detainees reunited with their families. But so far, we understand that there is a pause in this operation

unfortunately.

ANDERSON: Can you just explain how the ICRC has been involved?

MARDINI: Well, the ICRC does not negotiate its parties to the conflict to negotiate those agreements of releases and the ICRC plays its role as a

neutral intermediary. It facilitates the transfer of hostages in Gaza to the authorities in Egypt and to Israel and ultimately to their families.

And ICRC teams also in Israel and the West Bank facilitate the transfer of Palestinian detainees and they are reunited to their family.

ANDERSON: From your perspective what needs to happen to get the truce back on?

MARDINI: This is for parties to the conflict to decide. Of course, today it's -- the nightmare is back for civilians in this conflict Gazans of

course, but also Israelis on the other side of the front line. And after seven days of respite that made a huge difference in terms of humanitarian

support to the people who need the support most, this is now being challenged by the resumption of fighting.

ANDERSON: Your teams accepted the hostages directly from Hamas. What state were they in as they came out of Gaza?

MARDINI: Well they were and of course every hostage is an individual and an individual story and different conditions. So you cannot generalize

frankly. But our colleagues could feel still a great deal of anxiety of fear, but also of relief to be in an ICRC car and very close to be reunited

with their family.

So there were those mixed feelings that could be felt by our teams that we had also, in all operations, a doctor to check on their health awaiting the

transfer to be completed.

ANDERSON: How are your staffs keeping on the ground?

MARDINI: It's extremely tough. I think our staff and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, volunteers are bearing witness and facing the very same

challenges civilians are facing. They are all in the line of fire.

[09:05:00]

They are all caught frankly, between a rock and the hard place in many evacuation operations of severely injured people from hospitals be it Al-

Shifa or Al-Kurds. Our teams came under fires and chose the terrible and the very difficult conditions of delivering impartial humanitarian services

in this context.

ANDERSON: And the Palestine Red Cross also helps in the release of and certainly the transport of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.

MARDINI: Now, this is only the ICRC doing this. It's in our role of neutral intermediary where we were facilitating the release of hostages in Gaza and

the release of Palestinian detainees from Israeli prison to the West Bank.

ANDERSON: And how are you -- what have you been told by your colleagues about that process?

MARDINI: I mean by and large, it went -- it went well. But it's a very simple operation because it's facilitating the transfer. But at the same

time it's very complex because at every step of the way it can derail because every single detail is part and parcel of negotiations between the

parties. And our teams have to implement those negotiations in a much disciplined way. And I think a lot of credit should go to them today.

ANDERSON: I know you say and I've been talking to your organization for weeks now in my own reporting on this conflict now for more than 50 days.

And you were there to operationalize as it were the exchange of prisoners the handing over of prisoners by Hamas and then the transfer of prisoners

from Israeli prisons as well.

And I know you don't get involved in the mediation process. I understand that. But given where we are at that this truce was broken today the both

sides now involved once again blaming each other for the breaking of this truce.

We still don't really have enough granular detail to understand exactly what happened overnight, in the overnight hours before this truce was

broken. You say that there are now as you understand it, ongoing discussions still about what happens next.

And I understand that from my sources, as well. Do you hold out hope at this point, given this fighting has begun again and given it took what 40

days, more than 40 days to get this fighting to stop to get the guns to stop? Do you still hold out hope at this point? We can take another lull

(ph) there will be another temporary truce.

MARDINI: Well Becky, we need to keep the hope alive. Let's not forget that there has been seven full days of truce that was a glimmer of hope that was

the humanity prevailing in the midst of chaos and conflict. So this is possible. It's also international humanitarian law in action when these

operations can take place following a negotiation between the parties.

So yes as a humanitarian, as ICRC we hope that there will be more such agreements reached and more hostages reunited with their families as we

have been calling for -- since the beginning of this conflict.

ANDERSON: We know there has been no humanitarian aid entering Gaza since this truce ended. And we know just how important that pillar of the

humanitarian pause agreement was to get supplies into humanitarian infrastructure particularly into schools and hospitals to ensure that the

supplies were there to support the people who need the most -- no fuel which is incredibly important. And we have seen fighting once again, around

hospitals. How worried are you about that?

MARDINI: Very worried. And I think there are limits to what humanitarians can do. And here the onus is always on the parties to the conflict. There

are two parties to the conflict that decided to resume hostilities, there are rules for that.

And they have to ensure by all means the protection of civilians. They have to ensure by all means a sustained influx of humanitarian aid in Gaza. And

carve out the conditions for humanitarians to deliver this humanitarian aid to hospitals, to civilians and for civilians also to be able to access this

area.

ANDERSON: Are both parties breaking those rules of war?

MARDINI: Well, I cannot now comment on the specifics of this. But what I can say they must do more and better and they must work harder to protect

civilians because it is their obligation period.

ANDERSON: You're here in Dubai at COP28. I do want to ask you what your message is here as you are in the company of so many stakeholders and

decision makers around the world.

[09:10:00]

Well, the ICRC is not an environment organization. We are here to shine a spotlight on countries and communities hit hard by the intersection or the

combination of conflict and climate change. We see that out of the 25 countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change, where people are

the least equipped to absorb the shocks. 16 out of the 25 are already affected by armed conflict.

And those communities -- and are bearing witness to the level of suffering of those communities to the level of disruption in their lives, their

livelihoods, the repeat displacement and their capacity to produce food has been weakened. So the key message here is that climate action and climate

finance should be prioritized for those very communities who are today really very much left behind.

ANDERSON: And it's good to have you, because as we are somewhat distracted for all the right reasons perhaps by what is going on in this region in

Gaza at present. So we must remember that climate change and conflict is going on around us today as we speak in so many different countries. Good

to have you. Thank you very much indeed, for joining me.

MARDINI: Thank you for having me.

ANDERSON: Well, with the resumption of fighting there are new concerns today about the conflict spreading. CNN's Senior International

Correspondent Ivan Watson is in Beirut for us. Ivan, what does the exploration of this truce mean for other fronts in this conflict

particularly or possibly reigniting right where you are in Lebanon?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, there is a growing chorus of voices expressing condemnation and frankly anguish

about the fact that the fighting has begun again with the expiration of the seven day truce.

Notably coming from the United Nations Children's Fund whose spokesperson is in a hospital today in Gaza, saying that there was a blast a bomb that

struck just 50 meters from this terribly overcrowded hospital. Take a listen to what else he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES ELDER, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON: We cannot see more children with the wounds of war; with the burns with the shrapnel littering their body with

the broken bones in action by those with influence is allowing the killing of children. This is a war on children.

((END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now recall that the Palestinian Ministry of Human Rights out of the West Bank says that more than 5000 children had been killed in the first

month or so of the fighting. That's before the truce out of nearly 15,000 civilians had been killed. So I think that is where the UNICEF is kind of

stressing on that.

But this goes on with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights calling this catastrophic. The French Foreign Minister is saying this is

very bad and regrettable. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry strongly condemning in the foreign ministry's words, the resumption of Israeli

Aggression on Gaza.

And here in Lebanon we've heard from a senior official in Hezbollah who's basically saying that this is America, not Israel but America's war on the

Palestinian people as he describes it and vowing that the resistance, those Shiite linked armed groups will help defend Gaza.

So the seven day pause in fighting in Gaza, it also bled over here into the border between Lebanon and Israel where there also been with a month of

deadly cross border duels between Hezbollah, the militia here and the Israeli military at least 100 people killed during that on the Lebanese

side.

Most of those casualties were Hezbollah militants, but also at least 15 civilians including three journalists were killed. There have been a few

incidents over the course of the last week of cross border shooting for example yesterday the Israeli military said it shut down a projectile that

was fired from Lebanon using the Iron Dome anti-aircraft defense system.

And there have been some reports in the Lebanese state media of some cross border firing of Israeli reconnaissance planes over Southern Lebanon. We

need to reach out to the Israeli side to hear more about that. But the concern is that with full scale conflict resuming in Gaza that this front

could once again erupt in violence. And the stakes just get bigger from there, Becky.

[09:15:00]

ANDERSON: Ivan, it's good to have you, thank you very much indeed. We'll just ahead on "Connect the World" more of our special coverage of the COP28

Climate here in Dubai with the Head of the International Rescue Committee. We'll look at why the U.N. Chief says the world is "Miles from the goals of

the Paris Agreement" and what that means for all of us? That is after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: We cannot afford to neglect the immense potential or ignore the pressing needs of a continent on the cusp of

transformative growth. Turning Africa into a green powerhouse is not just essential for the continent. It is also vital for global industrialization,

decarbonization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, that is Kenyan President William Ruto calling for more support for Africa here at the U.N. Climate Conference. The Head of this

year's conference Sultan Al Jaber was in the crowd listening to that call to action. The UAE has made ramping up finance for developing countries,

one of the main pieces of its agenda. Well, later UAE President announced a major initiative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ZAYED, PRESIDENT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: The lack of readily available and affordable climate finance has long been one of the biggest

obstacles in advancing climate action globally. Therefore, I am pleased to announce the establishment of a $30 billion fund. This fund is specially

designed or specifically designed to bridge the climate finance gap, ensuring availability and accessibility as well as affordability at scale.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, it means more help for developing nations to make the green transition. That is the idea. There is huge infusion of cash comes as

Britain's King Charles sounded the alarm saying in his words we are dreadfully far off track in addressing the climate crisis. Well, the U.N.

Chief's words were also pretty stark earlier today when he declared that the Earth's vital signs are failing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: We cannot save a burning planet. We have fire hose of fossil fuels. We must accelerate the just equitable

transition to renewables. The science is clear the 1.5 -- limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels, not reduce, not

abate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: Well, I just want to take a moment to point out there is progress to reports. The EU says more than 100 countries have signed on to an

agreement to triple renewable energy by 2030.

For its part, the International Rescue Committee is urging world leaders to take climate action that supports countries affected by the dual challenges

of conflict and climate change. Joining me now is David Miliband, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Rescue Committee. He also

served as Britain's Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010.

And I think it's important as we introduce you that we just heard the words of William Ruto, who has been a real leader for this sort of African

Continent when it comes to climate change, pointing out that climate -- sort of climate initiatives and development needs to go hand-in-hand that

they can't be sort of mutually exclusive.

I think to your file on climate and conflict the African Continent of course, is sort of squarely in the crosshairs. Just explain for our viewers

what we mean when we talk about the intersection of climate and conflict?

DAVID MILIBAND, PRESIDENT AND CEO, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Well as Robert Mardini said, the President of the International Committee on the

Red Cross just before your break, there are 16 countries that are suffering from conflict and are in the highest rank of climate vulnerability.

So Sudan and South Sudan both conflict ridden. Yemen and Afghanistan you know the stories there, you've covered them. And in these places what

you're seeing is that the conflict is exacerbating poverty. And then the climate crisis exacerbates poverty as well.

And I use the word climate crisis, not climate change because in the countries that we're working in it's a crisis. Remember this too Becky,

those 16 countries, how much of global emissions are they responsible for? Answer 2 percent. What percentage of climate disasters are they suffer

from, 40 percent.

What percentage of humanitarian need is in just those 16 countries, 60 percent? So you can see that the climate crisis and the conflict that is

local that is civil wars sometimes exacerbated by outside players make life an utter misery for people on the sharp end. Just 10 percent of the world's

population are in those countries but they are 50, 60 percent of humanitarian need. They depend on organizations like ours.

ANDERSON: If you -- if that is your message here and rightly so, what is the solution?

MILIBAND: Yeah, so the message here is so many COPs Conferences of the parties have been about words. This needs to be a COP about action, action,

action. Catch up action, so that people can actually see real change. For the people we're talking about in those 16 countries, mapping the risks

properly so that you know where the floods are coming when the droughts coming and when we can anticipate this.

Secondly, innovation we need seed strengthening of the type that we're doing in Northeast Syria, and in Pakistan. We need to help local

communities be they rural or urban adapt so that they can insulate themselves from some of the worst effects of climate change.

Thirdly, let's stop being scared of civil society as a delivery partner for multilateral development banks. At the moment we're treated as exceptional

when those multilateral institutions work with us. No, we've got to be center stage. And then finally how many times have you heard NGOs say we

need more humanitarian finance, or say we need more climate finance. We've got to line them up so that they reinforce each other.

ANDERSON: It's really interesting to hear you talk about -- adaptation, because we just don't hear enough talk about adaptation. But you've also

alluded to the fact that there was innovation and technology that needs seeding as it were in order to for example make those seeds stronger. Why

is it that we to date haven't seen enough action when it comes to financing adaptation?

And I've been to the climate expo here. I have to say normally these things are sort of you know 60, 70, 80 percent negotiation that's what we focus

on. And we don't focus on civil society. There is an awful lot going on here. I have to say, I mean, it's really impressive. How do we get what's

being shown here to work?

MILIBAND: Well, it's a good question, but I think there's a very clear answer. Adaptation has been the poor cousin of mitigation because it seemed

like the danger was you're giving up on fighting the climate crisis. We're not giving up. We need to say -- we need to do more mitigation and more

adaptation.

Secondly, there's just been a willingness to put the communities that we're talking about to the side. This is the first U.N. Conference where there's

been a peace conflict and climate day fair dues to the United Arab Emirates for putting it Sunday. There'll be a whole day on that. We've got to turn

the declaration from aspiration to change and change on the ground.

ANDERSON: Rishi Sunak, the UK Prime Minister.

MILIBAND: I've heard of him.

ANDERSON: Trying to reclaim his green credentials by pledging $2 billion in climate funding. This is I say, trying to reclaim because of course he has

also announced that there will be -- the UK will allow for more oil and gas licenses frankly. And that seems to fly in the face of everything that was

achieved by the UK in Glasgow two years ago.

[09:25:00]

Your own brother is here Ed Miliband and he says Britain's don't want climate -- don't want climate to become a culture war issue, like in the

U.S. And he's making a good point. He's saying that, that the climate issue has become sort of front and center -- sort of poster child for these

culture wars that we're seeing U.S. not just in the United States but in places -- other places around the world. Are you concerned about the risk

that rhetoric could pose to climate finance and to refugees?

MILIBAND: Well, I think what's happened over the last year actually is that the industrial potential benefits of getting off fossil fuels of

decarbonizing our economy. They've started a race. I mean there's an EU, U.S. China race to leapfrog forward on what's called decarbonization,

that's changing our energy and fuel systems so that they are sustainable rather than plundering the planet.

I think the UK is an interesting case. We've done pretty well, if you measure it since 1990. The argument is, is this a time to slow down? Or is

this a time to speed up? And I think what's changed is there's now an economic argument for speeding up. I was central state for the environment

15 years ago seems like history.

But we published the report by Professor Nick Sturm showing that the costs of dealing with climate change are actually lower than the cost of living

with it. In other words, mitigation is cheaper than living with a 2, 2.5, 2.9 degrees planet.

ANDERSON: Some will say tell that to the people whose bills are so high.

MILIBAND: But the bills are high, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They're not high because of decarbonization. So we've got to sow

the wheat from the chaff on this. But I think it's really important that none of us think whether you're in a rich country or a poor country, that

you can escape the consequences of this. This is a global responsibility, where those with the most wealth and power have to step up to deliver

change on the ground.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.

MILIBAND: Thank you very much.

ANDERSON: And thank you for the work that your organization has been doing as we continue to cover the Israeli war in Gaza, on Gaza.

MILIBAND: Thank you very much.

ANDERSON: It's been an absolute pleasure to work as ever with those who worked so hard and your organization.

MILIBAND: Thanks very much.

ANDERSON: Coming up, world leaders urging Israel and Hamas to resume their truce after Friday's break down. We'll discuss the setback for peace and

whether talks can get back on track after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Dubai. You're watching "Connect the World". And you are more than welcome wherever you are

watching. Well, this is something that we haven't seen over the skies in Gaza for some seven days, the Israeli military resuming airstrikes after

the end of its one week truce with Hamas.

Both sides are accusing the other of violating the pause that led to the release of more than 100 civilian hostages held by Hamas and more than 200

Palestinian detainees held by Israel. The Hamas controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza saying today's bombardments have already killed more than

100 people.

The U.N. High Commission of Human Rights calling the resumption of fighting "Catastrophic". Witnesses, eye witnesses is also telling CNN that the

steady stream of aid entering Gaza from Egypt since the start of the humanitarian pause is now at a standstill with no trucks entering Gaza

today. And that is devastating news for the residents of Gaza who are desperately in need of supplies.

Qatar says negotiations between Israel and Hamas are continuing, despite the resumption of hostilities, Qatar calling on the international community

to "Move quickly to stop the violence". Well, Oren Liebermann joins me now from Tel Aviv. Oren, where are most of today's strikes located, let's start

there.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't have a good sense of the distribution of the strikes. But we do know that Israel has carried out

strikes in Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza as well as near the Rafah border crossing. The IDF says they've carried out more than 200 strikes and what

they call terror targets.

And the results of those strikes according to the Hamas controlled Ministry of Health, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the

truce ended and the fighting resumed at seven o'clock this morning, local time.

Israel has said that it would carry out a stronger campaign and was ready for the resumption of fighting. Hamas indicating it was ready as well, even

as international mediators and teams tried to continue the pause and fighting for as long as possible to get out as many hostages and to get in

as much humanitarian aid.

But as we saw there in the video, an eyewitness on the ground there says even though some of the trucks have been inspected by the IDF a necessary

step before they go in, they have not as of today, as of our last update entered Gaza to this point and that is horrible news for the horrific

humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.

Still, the ongoing efforts to negotiate are continuing Israel and Hamas indirectly talking through Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S. trying to come to

some sort of agreement that would allow the truce to resume and then continue.

Israel blames Hamas for not providing a list of 10 women and children for another 24 hour pause in the fighting for the terms of the original

agreement. Hamas says they were ready to expand that deal to include elderly men, as well as men and women who served in the IDF. They say

Israel rejected all offers. So that is where the negotiations stand.

Interestingly, as bleak as it looks right now for the immediate future here, our Senior State Department Official said the talks are ongoing and

there's the possibility of a truce resuming perhaps even today. It's hard to see that from where we stand right now, given what we're seeing unfold

in Gaza. You can see those images on your screen there.

But Becky, those efforts are ongoing to try to get that pause and fighting back. Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza are suffering as Israel carries out

punishing strikes there at its goal of trying to destroy Hamas.

ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann reporting for you. I'm here at COP28. Many, many world leaders are here and drawing attention to the immediate threats faced

by Palestinians. King Abdullah here said and I "We cannot talk about climate change, which of course is the narrative here at COP28 in isolation

from the humanitarian tragedies unfolding around him", more news after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:35:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. Across the globe people are searching for innovative -- let me say that again. Innovative ways to stretch their hard

earned cash. In Dubai a new startup called MiMojo is cutting through the confusion of loyalty schemes. The startup using rewards, apps to deliver

cash back directly to their consumers. Kim Kelaita explains in "Think Big".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIM KELAITA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's lunch hour at this restaurant in Dubai. And Ziad Daghistani is here to order as usual.

ZIAD DAGHISTANI, MIMOJO USER: I get the please the sound.

KELAITA (voice-over): Unlike the restaurants other customers, he's about to get an 18 percent discount simply because he's subscribed to a new Rewards

App called the MiMojo.

DAGHISTANI: I use cards. I use the coupons here. What is here really interesting that it is there is you pay, you simply pay and nobody will

notice that you ask for a discount?

KELAITA (voice-over): Instead of relying on paper coupons or digital codes, MiMojo users receive direct cash back into their Visa cards when they spend

with the apps' merchants across food, drinks, retail services and more.

DAVID ASHFORD, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER, MIMOJO: The difference is that it's automated. The experience those consumers have never having to remember to

declare their identity and that they're using an offer and the fact that merchants don't have to train their staff, it's kind of invisible to them.

We do it all for them. We're solving a problem, a genuine problem and we're solving that problem by being obsessive with the experience.

KELAITA (voice-over): A recent survey by Loyalty Platform Wildfire Systems, Inc. reports that 8 out of 10 consumers prefer Cashback Rewards, rather

than miles or points.

ABDELLAH IFTAHY, PARTNER, MCKINSEY & COMPANY: Given the higher prices and inflation, the notion that they can get back some of their money which then

would reduce the cost and increase the affordability of the products become even more important. You can think of all of the services you get with your

credit card or with airlines. Startups can play a big role in accelerating this offering to consumers digitally and with tech.

KELAITA (voice-over): As the global mobile coupons market grows, Global Industry Analysts Inc. estimates that it will reach $1.6 trillion by 2030.

ASHFORD: We've had validation from our partners MasterCard and Visa. I think the real validation is going to come over time as we sign up more and

more merchant partners. And the consumers come on board.

KELAITA (voice-over): Till then for diners like Ziad who was already MiMojo's top user, lunch has become a little more profitable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, the UAE is a pioneer in the Middle East for clean technology. And Abu Dhabi insect fuel, you're hearing me right? Insect fuel

is being developed for powering air travel. Now climate scientists have been studying the benefits of bugs for some time, not just in the air, but

also on your plate. CNN Academy Participant Amy Luk (ph) explores the potential of edible insects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Slimy, earthy and a potential solution to our protein problem. Scientists in the West have been pushing to get

insects onto our plates for the past few years.

JULIE LESNIK, ENTOMOPHAGY ANTHROPOLOGIST: Am I optimistic about eating insects? I do think so, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): That's Julie Lesnik, an expert in edible insects.

LESNIK: As we continue to degrade our soil and our freshwater supplies, our current food system is unsustainable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The European Union approved two new insects as food in February, bringing the total to four. But in the UAE

bugs won't be on the menu. Tackling food insecurity is one of the UN's goals for COP28 in Dubai. The Emirates recently banned eating insects so

did Qatar.

They say it's because bugs are not halal or permitted for Muslim consumption. Insects don't need to be turned into a delicacy to combat the

climate crisis. They can be used for pet food, as fuel for airplanes and have properties that purify water. Startups Circa Biotech is harvesting

black soldier fly larvae for feed and fuel.

HAYTHEM RIAHI, CEO AND FOUNDER OF CIRCA BIOTECH: It's true that we are the first in the region using this technology.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Haythem and his team received the first license for insect farming in the UAE. At the beginning of their lives,

larva munches through food waste decomposing it into soil, then Circa harvests 99 percent of the larva and primes them for production.

Some are pressed into oil as biofuel, which airlines are currently testing for flights. It seems restaurants in the Middle East won't be serving up

insects anytime soon. Instead, there'll be turning bugs into biofuel and it's just taking off.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: "World Sport" with Andy Scholes is after this break, and I'll be back with more "Connect the World" top of the hour for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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