Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Listed amongst this year’s achievements is the climate gender action plan and an initiative for technology sharing.
UN Climate Change Secretariat Releases First Ever Annual Report
May 2nd, 2018
by Joshua S Hill
The United Nations Climate Change Secretariat released its first ever annual report this week, outlining key achievements made by the Secretariat in 2017 and highlighting the work needed in 2018.
“Climate Change is the single biggest threat to life, security and prosperity on Earth,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa in response to the release of the annual report. “This annual report shows how UN Climate Change is doing everything it can to support, encourage and build on the global response to climate change.” Espinosa also explained in the opening of the annual report that “UN Climate Change’s mandate is to lead and support the global community in this international response, with the Paris Agreement and the Convention being the long-term vehicles for united global climate action.”
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Following the work done at COP23, UN Climate Change helped governments make key decisions including the signing of the Talanoa Dialogue which is being billed as a collaborative process intended to review progress toward the global goals of the Paris Climate Agreement ahead of COP24 at the end of this year, set to be held in Katowice, Poland.
“The purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good,” explains the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. “The process of Talanoa involves the sharing of ideas, skills and experience through storytelling.”
In addition, governments signed the first ever Gender Action Plan, which will aim to increase the participation of women in climate change responses, as well as the first-ever agreement on agriculture and climate and a first-ever platform for indigenous peoples and local communities.
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Some highlights from the report;
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UN Climate Change’s mandate is to lead and support the global community in this international response, with the Paris Agreement and the Convention being the long-term vehicles for united global climate action .
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Building on the negotiations over the years, we saw key decisions made by governments, many of which broke new ground. The Talanoa Dialogue, which will inform and inspire Parties as they review their commitments and revise them upwards. The first ever Gender Action Plan, which will increase the participation of women in climate change responses. The first-ever agreement on agriculture and climate, which will address both vulnerabilities and emissions in this key sector. The first-ever platform for indigenous peoples and local communities, who can now share their valuable perspectives on climate change.
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There is much to do in 2018. We need to support Parties to increase pre-2020 action. Those Parties that have not yet done so should ratify the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.
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The focus in 2017 was both on scaling up action, delivery on commitments before 2020 and on making progress to allow for the adoption of the outcomes of the Paris Agreement work programme at COP 24 in Katowice. By supporting the transfer of climate technology under the Convention based on the right science, tools and knowledge, UN Climate Change supported an increase in the ability of developing countries to adapt to the changing climate.
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The City of Bonn welcomed almost 30,000 people to COP 23, including 25 Heads of State, over 11,000 delegates from Parties and an observer State, and over 9,000 observers from civil society, business and other fields. In a further sign of global commitment, 650 volunteers from more than 80 countries contributed their time. As well as producing decisions and new initiatives, COP 23 witnessed almost USD 1 billion being committed to climate action.
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Accelerating the diffusion of technology
Deploying appropriate climate technology to reduce emissions and adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change will have an immense effect on the ability of developing countries to combat climate change, which is why COP 16 established the Technology Mechanism. This Mechanism supports enhanced action on technology development and transfer to support mitigation and adaptation action by developing countries. The early success of the Technology Mechanism has led to a further mandate that it should serve the Paris Agreement.
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To demonstrate what kinds of technology can be included in action plans, the Technology Executive Committee in 2017 launched three publications (see the box) and organized two major events .The special event on innovation and climate change looked at how to stimulate innovation through green finance, policies, regulations and incentives, while the thematic dialogue on industrial energy efficiency and material substitution explored partnerships and programmes on technology solutions for industrial energy efficiency.
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Read more: https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/UNClimateChange_annualreport2017_final.pdf
The most toxic component of this effort in my opinion is the push for technology sharing. The UN climate bureaucrats already have your money, now they want your government to gift your intellectual property to the United Nations – though they accept they might have to wait until after 2020 for rich nations to comply with their global community “leadership”.
What a lot of hypocrites.
The UN do not believe in Global Warming anyway. Take a look at their $Billion upgrade to UN HQ.
If the sea level is about to rise because of rising temperatures, where are the docks and slipways for the boats once the East river inundates the lower floors?
https://thedemiseofchristchurch.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/un-headquarters-and-usd1-2-billion-upgrade-and-rising/
Cheers
Roger
“The process of Talanoa involves the sharing of ideas, skills and experience through storytelling.”
Great! Back to Boy Scout or Girl Guide camp from when you were about 10. Let’s roast some marshmallows, but this time on our carbon-scrubbed, zero-emissions camp fire.
It would be useful for nations like Iceland to explain how they use geothermal power. This technology may be useful in other volcanic islands located on mid ocean ridges.
There are geothermal plants all over the world, not just Iceland. It’s an off the shelf technology.
Except that in the USA, the Boy Scouts must now accept girls and homosexual scout leaders, so don’t look for the Boy Scouts to be around much longer.
alas it is truly worse than we thought….. The “Boy Scouts USA” is no more…… they have removed “Boy” from their title…. believe the name is now changed to “Scouts BSA” or something like that. sad…
Cheers!
Joe
“…so don’t look for the Boy Scouts to be around much longer.”
Last I heard, the “Boy Scouts” have announced that they are going to change their name, but they have not yet said what the new name will be,
It’s a little more nuanced than simply accepting girls. For one thing, cub packs and boy scout troops have three options going forward. They can opt not to accommodate girls. They can opt to become Family Packs/Troops, or the chartering organization can opt to establish separate girl packs/troops. Using Cub Scouts as an example, in Family Packs, girls will have separate dens; they will not be co-ed, although all dens will meet once a month (usually) at the Pack meeting. Advancements will be the same for boys and girls. Girls will participate in pack activities such as hikes, community service, and camping. In camping, if there is cabin camping, girls and boys will have separate cabins. Tent camping is less of an issue, and packs have been dealing with this for a long time as most packs encourage families to camp together, including female siblings. As an active Cub Scout leader, I can tell you that we are very carefully evaluating our options based on our current pack needs and resources.
The American Boy Scout organization is just as defunct as American democracy. Too much that was once important parts of the real USA has been sacrificed on the alter of political correctness simply as a way to help those who are the government of the strange little foreign country that’s called The District of Columbia can enhance and broaden their status profile on the international stage.
Think eviction, not secession. R. I. P., Uncle Sam.
Not so sure about Scouts and Guides but the storytelling meme is code for aboriginal/first peoples corroborees and pow wows around campfires complete with drumming and chanting that has a primordial appeal to these people. Back to the future in idyllic harmony with the hunter gatherer ancestors when they’re actually off with the fairies without a clue about such harsh and brutal short lives in the past.
UN Environment
Geneva Environment Network, Switzerland
Click on: (WOSM) World Organization of the Scout Movement
For information:
http://genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/?q=en/non-governmental-and-business-organizations
UN Environment, 08 Feb 2018
Press Release | Education & Training
‘World Scouting and UN Environment renew their partnership on environmental education and protection’
Re: Purpose of the partnership.
http://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/world-scouting-and-un-environment-renew-their-partnership
Don’t mock them. They simply do their best.
No matter how low their achievements are, remember that it is the best they can do.
“Don’t mock them. They simply do their best.”
….And thus they are fully deserving of the scorn and ridicule which they receive. They have “weaponized” ignorance and stupidity and are now apparently asking the rest of to accept and support their resulting delusions.
“Building on the negotiations over the years, we saw key decisions made by governments, many of which broke new ground. ” Unlike the UN Climate Secretariat that broke new wind.
There needs to be a ‘minus like’ for stories such as this.
I don’t know I thought it was a pretty good comedy piece.
I think an “ungood” button would be appropriate for stories like this.
There you go.
The biggest threat to prosperity are parasitic and overreaching politicians who use any excuse whatever to impoverish citizens and waste our resources.
They are not even elected politicians: they are appointed bureaucrats. To do them justice they may be doing their best by their own misguided lights, but the rest of us have not given our permission for them to meddle in our affairs.
Touché!
My first thought was that the statement “Climate Change is the single biggest threat to life, security and prosperity on Earth,” was a load of baloney. However, when I thought about it I had to agree. But then I had to laugh because the real threat from climate change is for an ice age.
It’s not that climate change is a threat. It’s that climate change provides the excuse that certain people use to push the life and lifestyle destroying plans they have always favored.
Climate Change is the single biggest threat to life, security and prosperity on Earth
No, its not.
Burning the food, dictating how many children we can have, and replacing cheap reliable energy with expensive intermittent energy… THOSE are the biggest threats.
Well said!
In short, David, the UN is the single biggest threat to life, security and prosperity on Earth.
And the EU is the UN writ small. The test bed for the UN’s thought-crime state.
One big difference is that the EU actually has control over millions of lives.
The UN just wishes it did.
“One big difference is that the EU actually has control over millions of lives. The UN just wishes it did.”
Or perhaps the UN thinks it does. The UN and Reality are rarely on speaking terms.
The world’s governments, as a collective bunch, are by many times over the worst threat with which the people of the planet must contend. Governments are naturally destructive while have no natural course for being constructive. But they do demand fealty…….and lots of money and material support.
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it. — Mark Twain
…….And do you reckon there may be a government anywhere who is deserving of the support of real people who are trying to live real lives in the real world? I don’t reckon there is.
Let’s see how we can get even more support… Why not find a way to mix climate and gender, even if one has nothing to do with the other… But wait… According to the Left, isn’t gender an arbitrary social construct? Maybe we are not going far enough and we should rather promote a LGBTQ2+ climate action plan… The MSM will eat this up.
“Joshua SHill”?
They are creating a fundable hide-out since EPA and grants will have less accomodation for some years.
Needs to be declared a subversive and/or a terrorist organization.
Mike, you are right – The IPCC needs to be declared a terrorist organization, after all, its sole reason for existing seems to be to terrorize people and their all-to-willing governments, into giving their freedom and their wealth away.
Forword by Antonio — Secretary General of UN states that “Climate change is the defining challenge of our time”, not correct, it was a challenge for centuries. Before writing such foreword, he should have at least read the definition of climate change as presented by UNFCCC.
Patricia Espinosa, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary states that (1) “The past three years were the hottest records began” — Unfortunately this is El Nino factor — January to April 2018 the temperatures are down; (2) “With this warming comes climate change, causing — climate disasters many times in 2017” — Climate change is not warming but warming is only one component of climate change [refer definition by IPCC & UNFCCC] and these are part of natural variability [see my article “Role of climate change on recent weather disasters”, Acta Scientific Agriculture 2 (4):22-29 (2018) — Best Article of the Issue. The current African drought is part of natural variability only.
Under the disguise of global warming — carbon dioxide, UN/UNFCCC can spend billions of dollars donated by others; but request you sir not mislead the science of climate-weather and climate change and at least read UNFCCC definition. By not giving the right place to natural variability in rainfall, UN is missing the right path to assist the developing countries. .
Dr. S. Jeevananda Reddy
Temperatures are down because there’s a persistent La Niña. The big question is whether the temperature anomaly keeps going down, stays about the same, or goes back up. I know it’s only weather, but this spring we sure had cold days and lots of snow, and ski areas are still open when many of them usually close by mid April.
It’s barely a La Niña. It is certainly in no respect the inverse of the recent El Niño. If we had a La Niña of the same magnitude as the 2016/2017 El Niño you’d be looking at a lot lower temperatures.
Dr. S. Jeevananda Reddy, that is very well said. I suspect that if you get an answer from the Secretary General of UN it would be similar to “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ After all, Climate Change Science and “Through The Looking Glass” have a lot in common.
More trash from the United Nations – out of which the U.S. needs to get as soon as possible.
Do we have a salary figure?
When you thought they couldn’t get anymore ridiculous… they still manage to.
Some women are naturally hot. I quite like the idea of women getting hotter.
Oops, that’s me on the hit list…
The ebst way to stimulate innovation is pay fr peole to do something different. Doesnt have to be remotely useful, just different.
As far as sharing technology solutions goes, well, there aren’t any.
Every single solutin is either not a solution or in the public domain.
It’s just pointless virtue signalling.
I wonder what the football player Mr. Fetuli Talanoa would say about this? /SARC
See his profile at http://www.hullfc.com/team/first-team/fetuli-talanoa
How it it shows how little Climate a. la. CAGW has to do with climate.
It is extremely interesting that the UN and the EU are on the right track on this issue while on other issues such as migration is completely wrong. The source of the position is obviously not a guarantee.
On the right track when they are on a track for which there is no natural destination?
Just what has the shape of ones genitals got to do with the temperature response to CO2?
There is a point in this because in many parts of the world much of the agriculture is carried out by women and if any adjustments have to be made it is rather important they should be consulted. Should be too obvious to require a Gender Action Plan though.
The higher ups never consult anyone because they, in their own minds, know it all.
Well they have achieved their aims in women’s representation, at least in Australia.
Jo Nova and Jennifer Marohasy come to mind.
Too damn right – any more pigs like Windows 10 and Facebook and The World will be completely crashed
Sky already fell, nothing happen!
Grow up U.N.
“Climate Change is the single biggest threat to life, security and prosperity on Earth,”
I really believe the UN is the single biggest threat!!!!!
Gender Action Plan????
Where do these dangerous fools come from??
“I really believe the UN is the single biggest threat!!!!!”
Yep – you have my vote on that one nankerphelge.
Their tentacles are long and powerful – and Medusa like – cut one off and two more grow back.
They would make a fantastic boxer – they never give up and always seem to raise themselves from the canvas even after a knockout blow (ie, from such things like facts)
“They would make a fantastic boxer – they never give up and always seem to raise themselves from the canvas even after a knockout blow (ie, from such things like facts)”
The UN has a lot of friends in low places.
This is all nonsense and a huge waste of time, money, and resources. From an analysis of the paleoclimate record and the work done with models, one can conclude that the climate change we have been experiencing is caused by the sun and the oceans over which mankind has no control..There is no real evidence that CO2 has any effect on climate and plenty of scientific rational to support the idea that the climate sensitivity of CO2 is zero. The AGW conjecture is based on only partial science and is full of flaws. For example, the AGW conjecture depends upon the existence of a radiant greenhouse effect caused by trace gases with LWIR absorption bands. Such a radiant greenhouse effect has not been observed in a real greenhouse, in the Earth’s atmosphere, or anywhere else in the solar system. The radiant greenhouse effect is science fiction so hence the AGW conjecture is science fiction. We should stop spending serious money and resources on science fiction.
If these people think that the burning of fossil fuels is bad, then the least they can do is hold their meetings over the Internet and not waste fossil fuel traveling to and from these meetings It is their use of fossil fuels that helps to keep the fossil fuel companies in business..
……And the sun is the source of the radiant energy that warms the oceans in the tropics, resulting in ocean currents which redistribute the heat to more Northern and more Southern latitudes.
“Story telling” OMG. These people think they are progressive? Story telling? Surely they can’t be serious.
The trouble is, 4 Eyes, they really are serious! I tell greenalists to enjoy the Holocene Interglacial while it lasts!
Telling stories is a great way to share experience. You explain why we do things instead of just giving instructions. I’ve got quite a number of tales about stupid things that have occurred at my job over the years. The tales help people understand not only the actions they should do but the consequences of what would happen if they fail.
Why do we not do that? Let me tell you about a guy name Joe about 20 years ago. You like not being on fire, right? …
That being said, I don’t see how it’s relevant in this situation. Sharing solutions is one thing, but the demands that are being proposed (complete zero carbon) have not been solved on any scale by anyone in any industry. The base approaches that have been tried simply aren’t viable and in many cases aren’t even moving in the right direction..
And, Ben, the approaches to date must have the financial support in the form of COMMODITY money (not just fiat currencies) that can only be provided today by economic endeavors that are powered by traditional energy sources: Fossil, nuclear, hydro, etc.
Are you, or is anyone that you know, opposed to making use of any sustainable renewable energy sources that have adequate capabilities for supplying the energy that is needed if our civilization is to be sustainable?
I think it is just beyond bizarre that the idea has taken root that so-called “sceptics” are opposed to “clean” (non-carbon based) energy. Hell, if you can make it actually work, bring it on, let’s install and implement it and then let’s have a party and celebrate. But go sell your fantasies and delusions elsewhere if that is all you have to sell (with your story-telling) .
One suspects that this represents someone’s shifty estimation regarding the costs, salaries, transportation, food and lodging, for the above people. Not actual donations.
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UNFCCC financial summary for 2016-2017:
“over 9,000 observers from civil society, business and other fields. ”
What the hell do these observers observe?
Where’s the $500 million we gave them right before Trump’s inauguration? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/17/days-before-trumps-inauguration-state-dept-sends-500-million-to-united-nations-climate-fund/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b089217c9197
If you want to go even more into detail, take a look at the UN’s emissions report (http://www.greeningtheblue.org/what-the-un-is-doing/united-nations-system). As an example, in 2016 emissions reached 1896199 tons CO2eq (more than some small island countries). Air travel constituted 42% of emissions and per-capita emissions related to travel increased from 2015 – 2016….
They could have saved the trees by simply texting everyone with a smart phone to “send us your money”. They care.
They have failed in curing person’s inhumanity to persons so they will combat climate change where there is no resistance and success is declared. They will place women on the front lines keeping men safely behind to take the credit.
One of the things that always gets me about this kind of story is that they have these international gatherings that include “almost 30,000 people”. If burning fossil fuels/climate change was really the biggest threat to mankind in, presumably, the universe, wouldn’t the they have these things as a teleconference? Think of all the fossil fuels that got burned carrying these a**holes to their various international parties (which is what they really are). Complete and utter crap to impress the proles and entertain the elite.
Yeah, but hooking up online is something of a minority preference. Partying is the main purpose of conferences.
“If burning fossil fuels/climate change was really the biggest threat to mankind in, presumably, the universe, wouldn’t the they have these things as a teleconference?”
And why would they allow China and India to produce as much CO2 as they want for the next 12 years, if CO2 is such a dangerous product (Will Smith actually called CO2 “dangerous” on one episode of the new program “One Strange Rock”)?
So if CO2 is so dangerous why does the UN give China and India full reign to produce as much as they want. Not that they could prevent them from doing so, but the least they could do is complain a little. But no, they are fine with this unregulated production. It’s just the U.S. and Europe that have to curtail their output. That’s what will save the world.
And they claim they want to keep the rise in temperature to 1.5C to keep things safe here on the Earth. Well, it looks like with the lowering ECS figures that we are already there and our further burning of CO2 will not exceed 1.5C.
It looks to me like it’s about time the UNFCCC was disbanded as no longer being necessary.
Waldo, How many of them do you reckon really give a tinker’s damn about anything beyond whatever personal satisfaction they may get from the perceived status that comes from being included among the select 30,000. (Or so.)
…..”Our” global system of ‘governments’ is by far the most prominent threat to the future of civilization as we know it.
Since we are already “gifting” our intellectual property to China, I guess the UN thought it appropriate to follow suit with centralized, global theft as well.
The UN is threat to civilization its self.
Yeah, we don’t want the UN leading us anywhere.
Think of who makes up the UN. Some good people, and a lot of very evil people. The evil people can go jump off a cliff. The good people can follow Trump out of the wilderness.
This is what you get when people don’t have a proper job and have excessive amounts of time with little or nothing to do. As the saying goes
“The devil makes work for idle hands”
James Bull
Time to stop paying for this nonsense. They are welcome to it, for their own money.
Look at photo on page 16 of their report —
‘Women have a critical role to play in responses to climate change.’
Is that what they think of women? Language always gives it away.
It’s part and parcel of their general eco-imperialism: They see most of the world as ignorant savages who need to be educated by affluent Western environmentalists.
They talk about “appropriate” technology, as long as it is the technology they advocate, not what the locals actually want. Thus we had the Indian ‘greenpeace’ village who got lots of solar panels, and then asked for a proper supply of grid-technology. Ouch.
When is the Trump Administration going to enforce the law and stop funding the IPCC for admitting Palestine as a member?
At least a pile of bovine dung is useful as fertilizer. The IPCC? I don’t know.
If you really want to read a load of hooey, just take a look at the March 30, 2018 so-called Palestine Observer State response ( https://unfccc.int/documents/64980 ) to the “where are we” Talanoa Dialog proposition. Apart from the 7th grade level of English — which I’ll give them a pass, having translated to English from Arabic — their points are like watching old porters move furniture. And pathologically “we’re part of the team, see?” cast.
Check out the link.
GoatGuy
Don’t you just love it when a bunch of lawyers and arts graduates lecture the rest of us about efficiency, thermodynamics, and technology.
And the 30000 people traveled to Bonn how? Assuming it was a global attendance then the average distance traveled was a quarter of the earth’s circumference – 10k km – then the total travel distance was 300M km. How responsible is this if the problem is anything like as bad as they would like us to believe?
The problem is that alarmists persist in the constant drip of hyperbolic convective that we see as obviously off-the-charts crazy to the point of thinking we can just dismiss them and surely they’ll go away because the whole thing is so stupid. But their numbers and resolve grows. They are organized, we are not.
We get tired of addressing it, let alone effectively and strategically pushing back. Every now and then we pop in with a short derisive and snarky reply which makes us feel good for a day or so. Me included, btw. There is something to the observation that rational people rather be living their lives… we actually have lives and better things to do. But if we’ve learned anything in the past few years is that we’re in a hot mess precisely because we got lazy and careless on our watch. Freedom from exploiters and the sheep that would follow them is not free.
Yeah the “collective good”, another loaded multiple entendre. And gender climate, another multiple and growing concept. Women have largely bought in given their ‘caring’ instincts, but what about QUERTY genders? I’m encouraged if they are holding back. Or do they mean that the former white-manly art of climateering appears to be attracting white-women in droves?
NO AGW no need for any UN Climate Secretariat, now what type of report do you think an organization very well known for putting its ego before anything else , whose level of competence can be found in Guinness book of records and where a total lack of ability but a big ‘yes thanks ‘ to corruption is no bar to holding office , is going to come up with?
Even if it only said , ‘its raining ‘ you still go outside to check .
I haven’t read other comments. My eyes were too tired after the rolling fit they experienced upon seeing the words, “Gender Action Plan” [expletive of choice].
I mean, isn’t the idea of a … “Gender Action Plan” … a bit presumptuous ? It presumes that the norm is to identify with one gender or another. How old school ! It should be called a “Gender-Fluid Action Plan”, … just to avoid issues of prejudice, non-inclusion, and genderist biases. I made up the word, “genderist”, to mean biased towards the belief that one identifies with a gender. [You know, like “sexist”, but broader]
I just don’t think that a truly progressive person can play the gender card anymore.
I’m just now getting a grasp of the concept of … “pan-sexual”. Apparently, “bi-sexual” is a bit presumptive these days.