2025-11-23
27 分钟This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
Hey there, I'm Asma Khalid.
And I'm Tristan Redman, and we're here with a bonus episode for you from the Global Story podcast.
The world order is shifting.
Old alliances are fraying and new ones are emerging.
Some of this turbulence can be traced to decisions made in the United States.
But the US isn't just a cause of the upheaval.
Its politics are also a symptom of it.
Every day we focus on one story, looking at how America and the world shape each other.
So we hope you enjoy this episode and to find more of our show,
just search for The Global Story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
The big annual climate conference known as COP is happening in Brazil right now.
And what you might not know about these talks is that everybody has to agree to everything.
They run on complete consensus,
which frankly does not seem that simple when I think of how my family can't even agree on what to eat for dinner.
But what happens if someone around the table doesn't want there to be an agreement at all?
Someone who's at the table precisely to be a spoiler.
That's what happened right at the beginning of these climate meetings back in the 90s.
And it set the tone for the summits that followed.
It's why you might roll your eyes when you hear about a climate summit these days and assume that nothing will be agreed.