II – Chapter 10

0100 [01:07:14] "I was relieved when I got to Paris because there were influential men and women from countries around the world, some who had been through my training program and who asked me to help in the process. " (Al Gore)

0200 [01:07:33] "There is the boss." (Christina Figueres)

0300 [01:07:34] "Hey. How are you, dear? Good to see you." (Al Gore)

0400 [01:07:39] "Good to see you." (Christina Figueres)

0500 [01:07:40] "You ready for me?" (Al Gore)

0600 [01:07:44] "I was in India earlier this year and I think that the emergence of solar electricity as a competitive viable option. It opens up a pathway that justifies realistic hope. " (Al Gore)

0700 [01:08:00] "But, you know, I do think that India, well, Prime Minister Modi has been very very clear that their concern is not just the existence of technology but their access to that technology. So, with what trust do they let go of the whole fossil fuel development model that has been paraded in front of them for 150 years. And now we are saying, "Excuse me, this parade, it's done. Now we have to build a different parade for you."" (Christina Figueres)

0800 [01:08:30] "It would be most helpful if that focus on renewables can be seen from the developing country's perspective. " (Christina Figueres)

0900 [01:08:38] "Yeah." (Al Gore)

1000 [01:08:39] "But is that something that you could...that you could devote some time to while you are here?" (Christina Figueres)

1100 [01:08:42] "Of course. Of course." (Al Gore)

1200 [01:08:48] "I'm trying to solve an Indian problem, first and foremost. Their plan is to build 400 new dirty coal plants. And that a disaster. When India goes to borrow money to build solar farms or wind farms they have to pay 13% plus an FX uncertainty. And that...that is manifestly absurd. " (Al Gore)

1300 [01:09:12] "Hey, Ben. Hey, Cory." (Al Gore)

1400 [01:09:15] "Very good to see you." (man 29)

1500 [01:09:16] "Hey, Ed. How have you been?" (Al Gore)

1600 [01:09:18] "The challenge for us is to find a way to make renewables as cheap as coal and then partners with them so that we don't build this huge infrastructure that will continue to provide more carbon dioxide decades in the future. " (man 31)

1700 [01:09:32] "India has this plan. 200 gigawatts of coal. I met with their energy and power minister, Piyush Goyal, in Delhi. I asked what would it take to shift another 100 gigawatts from coal to renewables? His answer was incredibly specific. Access to credit. And of course with the future of human civilization in the balance, we should probably ratchet that up a little bit. " (Al Gore)

1800 [01:09:59] "More than 65% of the world's carbon pollution comes from the developing world. Now we are not pointing fingers. This isn't a question of blame, but we are here to change it. " (John Kerry)

1900 [01:10:14] "The reason that talks are stalled? Because U.S. government put countries like India as culprits, as criminals, climate criminals. And I don't think the U.S. should be allowed to get away with that." (woman 14)

2000 [01:10:32] "Fabius has asked for an urgent meeting, one on one. They are getting frustrated at the pace of the negotiations. " (Al Gore)

2100 [01:10:43] "We should try to solve the last questions. " (man 32)

2200 [01:10:47] "The long-term goal?" (Al Gore)

2300 [01:10:49] "Well, it's a question of wording, but obviously there is a discussion because some charisma are very reluctant. " (man 32)

2400 [01:10:58] "You spend a lot of time each year in India. So may narrow interest is a way around, these high interest rates that..." (Al Gore)

2500 [01:11:07] "Yeah." (Nicholas Stern)

2600 [01:11:08] "...the Indians are so concerned about in deploying solar and wind. " (Al Gore)

2700 [01:11:11] "But we are not going to sort that out in the next couple of days. " (Nicholas Stern)

2800 [01:11:15] "Yeah. " (Al Gore)

2900 [01:11:19] "The overnight deluge of some 300 millimeters of rain in a span of 18 hours has wreaked havoc. " (woman 15)

3000 [01:11:26] "The news is that it's only going to get worse and the flood waters are rising. " (man 33)

3100 [01:11:30] "India's fourth largest cities was paralyzed by the heaviest rains in more than a hundred years which cut off more than three million people from basic services for days. " (woman 16)

3200 [01:11:47] "It's amazing that while we are here and India is a holdout, they are having this. " (Al Gore)

3300 [01:11:59] "Part of their thing is that they need more money to deal with it, right? So the sticking point is also on that side in terms of developed countries not wanting to give that money." (woman 17)

3400 [01:12:11] "Yeah. " (Al Gore)

3500 [01:12:12] "Yes. " (woman 17)

3600 [01:12:13] "Yeah. " (Al Gore)

3700 [01:12:15] "During the days that we are here in this conference, we have seen a repeat of pattern of more floods and landslides. Indeed today, in Chennai, these events continue. They have had 1,500 millimeter of rain in the last several weeks alone. Five feet of rain. The number of people who have been killed is in the hundreds and tens of thousands have been relocated." (Al Gore)

3800 [01:12:48] "This is not the first this has happened. Every storm is different now because of the climate crisis. " (Al Gore)

3900 [01:13:02] "Prime Minister Modi went from Paris back to Tamil Nadu and said, "We are feeling climate change is fast-growing impact now."" (Al Gore)

4000 [01:13:25] "No, no, it's all right. I'm sorry to call you on a Saturday evening. So, the other sticking point is, you know, credit at a sufficiently low interest rate to allow India to borrow. And...but that's a separate issue. " (Al Gore)

4100 [01:13:45] "So, here is the idea that I had. Elon has a record of giving up IP on some of the core aspects in Tesla. You know, you take it and do what you can do with it. I talked to President Hollande about it also. I didn't mention the company, but I mentioned the general idea. Hollande and Ban Ki-moon, and I'm sure, at lease at the ministerial level, with India, we could have, you know, halo equity for Solar City that would be incredible. " (Al Gore)

4200 [01:14:25] "But before I call Lyndon or Elon, I wanted to run it by you. Yeah, would you please and also send me Lyndon's cell phone if you have it. " (Al Gore)

4300 [01:14:41] "Lyndon? Hi, it's Al Gore. I have a big idea for you. Solar City could be the corporate hero of the Paris by announcing that it will give the technology to the new world champion solar cell to India. " (Al Gore)

4400 [01:15:10] "Well, here is the logic for it, Lyndon. The big holdout here in the negotiations is India. " (Al Gore)

4500 [01:15:19] "Yeah, but that's up to them, okay? That's up to them. I'm talking about breaking the impasse and getting them over the hump. " (Al Gore)

4600 [01:15:27] "Give it some thought, my friend. Bye. " (Al Gore)

4700 [01:15:33] "So he swallowed hard and said, "I might have to think about that."" (Al Gore)

4800 [01:15:39] "We'll see. " (Al Gore)