From UN News
UN chief calls for ‘enlightened self-interest’ from world leaders to save ‘the whole planet’ from climate change
18 May 2019
Concluding a week-long visit to the South Pacific, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the world’s decision-makers to make “enlightened” choices on climate action because “the whole planet” is at stake.
“Over the past week, I have witnessed first-hand the impacts of climate change in the Pacific Island States”, the UN chief said in a statement concluding his visit to the region. “They contribute very little to the global climate emergency and yet, they are the ones that are being most affected”. He did not mince words in saying that for some of them, “climate change is now an existential threat”.
Pointing out that entire villages are being relocated, livelihoods destroyed and people becoming sick from climate-related diseases, Mr. Guterres lamented: “The risks are all too real”.
He drew attention to his time in Tuvalu, where he saw “an entire country fighting to preserve its very existence”.
And yet, the UN chief found “remarkable” that the countries facing these enormous challenges, have decided that “they are not giving up” but are instead “determined to find solutions”.
Not only have they developed ways to increase their resilience and adaptation, but according to Mr. Guterres, “they are leading the way in reducing emissions and are an example that the rest of the world should follow”.
In Vanuatu, his final stop in the Pacific, the Secretary-General tweeted that the vulnerable island State was one of “the most disaster-prone countries, made worse by the global climate emergency”. However, he added that he “saw first-hand how the Pacific island nation is facing threats with determined climate action”.
HT/Christopher S
Gimme a break. Guterres citing Tuvalu as a “victim” of climate change is straight out of “State of Fear”, and fiction and reality coincide that the threat is nonexistent.
Lying to achieve your goals is entirely acceptable in their minds. The ends justify the means, even though the ends and the means are all evil and antihuman, even anti environment.
The U.S. must learn not to live on handouts from South Pacific …
Senhor Guterres is a true socialist.
What a wet blob he is, compared to the fiery Pachauri. Who is still waiting to find out if his passion will land him in jail?
I myself lived on a small Island in the middle of the South Pacific for more than 40 years next to the beach and as far as I could determine the ocean level was decreasing not increasing. The sand that was once covering the beach was slowly removed exposing beach rock. Now from my experience with the Polynesian way of doing business, I know that aid in what ever form is always welcome, if we need to say that the ocean level is a problem to get a lot of money to fix it then we are going to say the ocean level is BIG problem. And in fact when a cyclone blows through sea levels can surge to more than a meter higher than normal and thats definitely a problem, but that same problem has been there as long as anyone can remember. If you visit the Tuamotu Islands you can see blocks of coral now high and dry some over two meters higher than sea level, this means that sea levels were higher in the not too distant past, and of course the world must have been warmer to have sea levels 2 meters higher than today.
https://www.tahititravel.com.au/rangiroa-discovery-of-the-reef-island/
Sounds like paradise, I would find it very difficult to leave a beautiful South Pacific island home…
Like all alarmists he won’t state what the evidence of climate change is. He should visit his childhood beaches and make an honest assessment of how much sea level has risen. He won’t do that because the result would be not much or nothing.
Over 150 years ago Darwin figured out how coral islands keep up with rising sea levels. It is really only a problem because of the way these islands are now being covered with modern airports, roads and concrete buildings – as well as too many people and tourists for modern water demands. But should the rest of the world keep paying for these little nations to be able to maintain their tourist industry?? I say NO.
But the Maldives is sinking! That’s why they build lots of new luxury hotels and a new runway. What I don’t understand is why the US has not already evacuated their base on Diego Garcia, islands that are even more low-slung than the Maldives. Surely, climate disaster will engulf planes and barracks?
I find it obscene that the CC gang – and the UN in particular – have so brainwashed the Pacific people that they are victims of rising sea level instead of helping find solutions to the real problems of land sinking and erosion.
Then ‘free’ money is wafting under your nose are you going to say, “Umm, but nothing’s actually changed here guys, an inundation crisis is yet to be detected. It appears to be a rich suburbanite mass-delusion, without form or substance – get some help people.”
Nope. That would locally be regarded as a Sin. And ABC Australia would have almost nothing left to talk about when it comes to any discussion of South Pacific Islands.
The faux-show must go on or the climate-delusion syndrome industry money and crocodile-tears will all stop. Then you’re right back to copra plantations and guano deposits.
Long after the Western world figures out all the climate change scaremongering was just a UN-sponsored scheme to transfer wealth, the supposed victims will remain convinced that someone has done them wrong.
Someday, it’s going to create a major conflict.
Given that 15,000 years or so ago, sea levels were much lower than at present, how come all these coral atolls exist. They seem to have adjusted quite well to rising sea levels.
But in our instant gratification society some would have us rush pell mell into virtuous problem solving where the unproven ‘cures’ will be worse than the supposed disease.
We should start a campaign for people to donate Tuvalu a brick, that should see them safe for about 100 years.
Funny that the Pacific island nation’s solution is to take other peoples money and build airports.
I would call that “revealing.”
This clown could benefit Tuvalu by going on a diet and send his lavish expense money he saves to the Island People. With that OZ-Belly he could feed a whole village for a year.
Didn’t Willis do a piece on living standards of Islanders while the Westerner World pisses money away on a non-problem of CAGW.
Fantasy socialism would be funny if it wasn’t the Secretary General of the UN.
I suspect UN socialism is an inevitable result of the “rules” of socialism being a ready made excuse for the USA to give money to everyone else.
“… Given the immediacy of the terrifying global climate-emergency we intend to submit to the UN global forum a final vote on the topic of setting aside counterproductive Democratic processes and rescinding national constitutions and sovereignty to meet our great and heavy responsibility to future generations to create a far better and more sustainable grip-on-power for the more significant and worthy fraction of Humanity. Non-voting will become compulsory, globally. …” – UN Secretary-General António Guterres, May 20th, 2019.
—
Sorry folks, there just ain’t enough steak-houses to go around.
I can’t find that quote in either article linked, or via doing a Google search. Where did you find that one?
I have not found that quote yet either , but an earlier message raises issues:
https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sgsm19579.doc.htm
some excerpts :
..”Global emissions are reaching record levels and show no sign of peaking. The last four years were the hottest on record. The loss of ice in Greenland and Antarctica is accelerating, meaning that sea levels will rise a full meter by 2100 if nothing is done to avoid it.
Here in the Pacific, sea-level rise in some countries is four times greater than the global average and is an existential threat to some island States…”
..”Climate change will further worsen the risks. Already, the salinization of water and crops is endangering food security, and the impact on public health is escalating.
Climate change also brings clear dangers for international peace and security, as you affirmed in the Boe Declaration adopted last year.
There is growing recognition of the links between climate change and security. That link is particularly relevant in the Pacific….”
..First, shift taxes from salaries to carbon. Tax pollution, not people.
Second, stop subsidizing fossil fuels. Taxpayer money should not be used to boost hurricanes, spread drought and heatwaves, melt glaciers, and bleach corals.
Third, stop building new coal plants by 2020. We need a green economy, not a grey economy…”
…”I have asked France, Jamaica, and Qatar to lead the mobilization of the international community to materialize the $100 billion per year from 2020 onwards to support the developing countries both in mitigation and adaptation. And that is why it is so important to replenish the Green Climate Fund but also to make it more operational — and in particular in relation to small island States”….
The issues this address (in Fiji) concerns the validity of the science mentioned and the most obvious question: why is he not visiting or addressing India and China , responsible for increasing emissions , building more coal power stations and the source of much of the plastic pollution that he also refers to .
And then , to talk of security in the Pacific and not mention the fortress building activities of China is astonishing and perhaps revealing .
“The last four years were the hottest on record.”
That’s not true.
See if the last four years are the hottest on record according to the UAH satellite chart:
http://www.drroyspencer.com/wp-content/uploads/UAH_LT_1979_thru_April_2019_v6.jpg
Guterres is distorting the truth when he makes that claim. He has apparently been duped by the Climategate Charlatans into thinking Hockey Stick charts represent reality.
Me too, I’d like confirmation before I use it – if true, even warmists must take a second look.
Find a willing victim, convince them they are victims, promise redress with other peoples’ money, and then exploit them.
Are you selling insurance, or a no-win no-fee solicitor’s job?
So Gutti-Frutti rowed to Tuvalu to save the planet from jet travel CO2 emissions?
When will these UN and moralising Save-the-World types figure out that the public understands the sacrifices they are demanding are for the other people? When they start acting like it’s a crisis in their personal behaviors, then people might start believing them.
I notice he said the world needs to make “enlightened” choices. I.e. he considers himself one of the enlightened, and the rest of us are just peons in the dark. There used to be a religion like that that had those who were enlightened and those who weren’t, it was called Gnosticism. It may have changed it’s name but it is still around.
The Illuminati[1] (plural of Latin illuminatus, “enlightened”) is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 May 1776.
And Tuvalu is growing.
I sprained an eyeball from rolling my eyes so hard while reading those enlightened quotes. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Is there a lawyer out there willing to represent us in an injury class action lawsuit against the Secretary General? There should be hundreds of thousands of us in the class.
I would so much like to see that guy and a crew of green activist pilots takeoff on an electric aircraft for their next haul in the South-Pacific weather.
This comment alone —
“In Vanuatu, his final stop in the Pacific, the Secretary-General tweeted that the vulnerable island State was one of “the most disaster-prone countries, made worse by the global climate emergency”.
shows what a manipulative person this United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is. His statement is utter BS! This from an elitist who can (if he wanted) command vast forces of technical, financial and human assets to assist Vanuatu if such problems were real but instead chooses to hand-wring and propagandize a non-problem.
He has the typical UN elitist attitude of do as I say not as I do. When António Guterres stops swanning about on luxury planes and vehicles between luxury hotel, offices, conferences, etc., when the all of the UN and all of it’s personnel and contractors live as prescribed by the UN’s ‘2030 Agenda’ (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf ) then the world may pay you some attention. Till then you and your ilk should be ignored.
No Mr António Guterres you are just another comfortably well-off elitist, intoning banality and nonsense from behind your walled citadel of ivory towers. Get off your oversize, comfortably complacent, backside and meet real people, see what they really think. Probably your retinue of yes-men and women are lying to you, because if their advice to you is that climate is a problem, wake-up it’s not and most ordinary folk know that. The climate has always varied, and currently the variation is quite within normal, natural limits — so it’s a NON-PROBLEM.
So Mr António Guterres some truths —
Vanuatu natural disasters are NOT anymore prevalent nor worse than what has gone before.
Sea level rise is not accelerating.
The weather is NOT getting worse — hurricanes and tornadoes are not more prevalent nor more intense.
There’s only been about 1°C or so of warming since the dawn of the industrial age.
The Arctic is still a frozen wasteland (remarkable considering how long it is since earth left the LIA)
The Antarctic is still a frozen wasteland and much of it is getting colder!
Humans do NOT control the climate!
Humans are not guilty of radically changing the climate because of their use of fossil fuels.
If you don’t like the message Mr António Guterres — tough!
I like many other voters think that national governments pay FAR to much heed to what you and the UN say. When I have a chance to vote I consider the political party’s attitude to international matters, and if they rate international matters above national ones then dump that political party. This more so when considering climate matters.
Thankfully the world is still governed by individual NATIONAL sovereignty and not by the UN!
Just remember that the present day UN is two thirds black and brown in make up, so of course they will vote for what is going to benefit them.
New Zealand has a scheme which allows any Pacific Islanders who feel in danger, to come and live there. So how many came ?, none.
A island lifestyle s quite pleasant, the wind blows most fling insects away, and while a slow way of life, they like it. Plenty of food in the sea, and a pleasant temperature. We go there for a holiday, they live it all of the time. Coral grows faster than any sea level increase ?.
True the occasional storm surge is annoying, but its been happening for millions of years.
Their problem is that many such as Tuvalu use Coral for building things such as airstrips. So the ring of coral which surrounds most islands is no longer a barrier to storm surges.
MJE VK5ELL
In my book Antonio Guterres et al is the Wolf.
about south pacific atolls
https://tambonthongchai.com/2018/10/29/climate-change-refugees/
A week travelling around the South Pacific being feted wherever you go, first class all the way and the taxpayer picking up the cost. Sounds like a tough job ,but I am sure Comey was up for it .
I always like when political people wear a shirt that is supposed to be tropical to pretend to be one of them. Of course he is also wearing his European grey slacks. Very catchy.
If they only would stop destroying the reefs and selling the corals:
http://reefbase.org/global_database/dbt2,22,FJI,3.aspx
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Search Result: 12 records
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Coral/Fish trade
1 . Fiji (2004) Fiji
THE FUTURE OF FIJI’S LIVE ROCK TRADTHE TRADE
The aquarium trade is booming around the world and most aquarists want ‘live rock’, which is dead coral rock covered with pink or purple coralline algae and other organisms. Fijis a major exporter to the global aquarium market, shipping 800,000kg of live rock in 2001 to the USA, the industry’s major customer with 1 million hobbyists. The aquarium industry is growing at 12-30% and provides a valuable alternative livelihood for coastal people,
alleviating the pressure on fishing. The villagers break off slabs of live rock covered with light – to dark-pink coralline algae from the edge of the reef, and load these onto bilibili (bamboorafts). On shore, they trim and grade the rock by shape, weight, and cover of coralline algae before air freighting it to the USA. Much more rock is harvested than recorded in the official figures because a lot is wasted. Large-scale removal of live rock can destroy habitats for fish and invertebrates and damage the reef structure, leading to increased coastal erosion. The trade, including live coral and fish, is crucial for some Fijian villages, where the only alternatives are low-skilled jobs on sugarcane plantations and tourist resorts. A third of the 150 people in Malomalo village, just a few hours west of Suva, harvest live rock as their main source of income. They earn US$0.70 per kg, which is divided among the collectors (US$0.50), the traditional custodians (US$0.10), and the marine reserve within the traditional fifi shing grounds (US$0.10). Full-time harvesters collect 150 kg to 200 kg per week, or about 7500 kg per year contributing US$3750 to the household.
Source: Lovell, E., H. Sykes, M. Deiye, L. Wantiez, C. Garrigue, S. Virly, J. Samuelu, A. Solofa, T. Poulasi, K. Pakoa, A. Sabetian, D. Afzal, A. Hughes and R. Sulu , 2004 , Status of Coral Reefs in the South West Pacific: Fiji, Nauru, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. . p: 337-362 . in C. Wilkinson (ed.). Status of coral reefs of the world: 2004. Volume 2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. 557 p. (See Document)
Destructive fishing
2 . Fiji (2004) Fiji
Over-fishing and the use of destructive methods continue to deplete the resources and damage coral reef habitats. The increasing coastal population and the high urban migration exacerbates this over-exploitation. The use of duva (Derris root) is now complemented with the use of chemical poisons, such as chlorine and fertilisers. Night spear-fishing using scuba and poaching from MPAs are an increasing problem. Bomb fishing has also been reported, although it is generally not considered to be widespread.
Source: Lovell, E., H. Sykes, M. Deiye, L. Wantiez, C. Garrigue, S. Virly, J. Samuelu, A. Solofa, T. Poulasi, K. Pakoa, A. Sabetian, D. Afzal, A. Hughes and R. Sulu , 2004 , Status of Coral Reefs in the South West Pacific: Fiji, Nauru, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. . p: 337-362 . in C. Wilkinson (ed.). Status of coral reefs of the world: 2004. Volume 2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. 557 p. (See Document)
Coral/Fish trade
3 . Fiji (2004) Fiji
THE FUTURE OF FIJI’S LIVE ROCK TRADTHE TRADE
The aquarium trade is booming around the world and most aquarists want ‘live rock’, which is dead coral rock covered with pink or purple coralline algae and other organisms. Fiji is a major exporter to the global aquarium market, shipping 800,000kg of live rock in 2001 to the USA, the industry’s major customer with 1 million hobbyists. The aquarium industry is growing at 12-30% and provides a valuable alternative livelihood for coastal people, alleviating the pressure on fishing. The villagers break off slabs of live rock covered with light – to dark-pink coralline algae from the edge of the reef, and load these onto bilibili (bamboo rafts). On shore, they trim and grade the rock by shape, weight, and cover of coralline algae before air freighting it to the USA. Much more rock is harvested than recorded in the official figures because a lot is wasted. Large-scale removal of live rock can destroy habitats for fish and invertebrates and damage the reef structure, leading to increased coastal erosion. The trade, including live coral and fish, is crucial for some Fijian villages, where the only alternatives are low-skilled jobs on sugarcane plantations and tourist resorts. A third of the 150 people in Malomalo village, just a few hours west of Suva, harvest live rock as their main source of income. They earn US$0.70 per kg, which is divided among the collectors (US$0.50), the traditional custodians (US$0.10), and the marine reserve within the traditional fishing grounds (US$0.10). Full-time harvesters collect 150 kg to 200 kg per week, or about 7500 kg per year contributing US$3750 to the household.
Source: Lovell, E., H. Sykes, M. Deiye, L. Wantiez, C. Garrigue, S. Virly, J. Samuelu, A. Solofa, T. Poulasi, K. Pakoa, A. Sabetian, D. Afzal, A. Hughes and R. Sulu , 2004 , Status of Coral Reefs in the South West Pacific: Fiji, Nauru, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. . p: 337-362 . in C. Wilkinson (ed.). Status of coral reefs of the world: 2004. Volume 2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. 557 p. (See Document)
Overfishing
4 . Fiji (2002) Fiji
Stocks of invertebrates such as giant clams, trochus and beche-de-mer have been reduced by moderate to heavy fishing. The highly targeted reef fish species such as emperors (Lethrinus), and mugilid (mullet) species have been overfished in Fiji. The large bump headed parrot fish (Bolbometopon) has been fished to local extinction in most areas, but Greenforce reports regular sightings at Yadua.
Source: Sweatman, H., K. Osborne, L. Smith, T. Grubba, J. Kinch, G. Jones and V. Rai , 2002 , Status of Coral Reefs of Australasia: Australia and Papua New Guinea. . In: C.R. Wilkinson (ed.), Status of coral reefs of the world:2002. GCRMN Report, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville. Chapter 9, pp 163-180. (See Document)
Destructive fishing
5 . Fiji (2002) Fiji
Destructive fishing is also causing serious damage in some areas, through the use of ‘dynamite’ and poison from the Derris root.
Source: Sweatman, H., K. Osborne, L. Smith, T. Grubba, J. Kinch, G. Jones and V. Rai , 2002 , Status of Coral Reefs of Australasia: Australia and Papua New Guinea. . In: C.R. Wilkinson (ed.), Status of coral reefs of the world:2002. GCRMN Report, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville. Chapter 9, pp 163-180. (See Document)
Coral/Fish trade
6 . Fiji (2002) Fiji
Fiji is the world’s second largest exporter of live reef products for the aquarium trade, after Indonesia, and the market is expanding. There are no export limits or management plans for the trade, but these are being planned. An assessment of the impact of harvesting has started with Reef Check conducting pilot field testing of the MAQTRAC monitoring protocols.
Source: Sweatman, H., K. Osborne, L. Smith, T. Grubba, J. Kinch, G. Jones and V. Rai , 2002 , Status of Coral Reefs of Australasia: Australia and Papua New Guinea. . In: C.R. Wilkinson (ed.), Status of coral reefs of the world:2002. GCRMN Report, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville. Chapter 9, pp 163-180. (See Document)
Coastal development
7 . Fiji (2000) Fiji
As populations grow in Fiji, urbanisation and development expand and pressure on the coastal and the coral reef increases. There are additional demands for land and as a result mangrove areas are reclaimed. There is also a high demand for coral sand for cement construction material. Potential sources of point source pollution in Fiji include: mining, shipyards and slipways, moorings, tourist developments, sugar mills, timber mills, cement factory, litter refuse disposal sites, sewage, agricultural pesticides and herbicides, changing landuse, and various industries (Cripps, 1992).
Source: Vuki, V., M. Naqasima and R. Vave , 2000 , Status of Fiji’s Coral Reefs . Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) Report. (See Document)
Sewage
8 . Fiji (2000) Fiji
Urban areas are served by both sewered and individual wastewater disposal/treatment systems. These individual facilities are inadequate and often discharge overflows directly into the marine areas, streams or storm drains. Inadequate septic tanks often discharge overflows into storm drains during heavy rainfall. In Suva, faecal coliform levels have been found to be high and of concern to public health.
Source: Vuki, V., M. Naqasima and R. Vave , 2000 , Status of Fiji’s Coral Reefs . Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) Report. (See Document)
Solid waste/Litter
9 . Fiji (2000) Fiji
Litter is a conspicuous source of pollution in the marine environment in Fiji. Solid wastes such as plastic bags, metal cans, glass and bottles are often discarded indiscriminately in urban areas, on roadsides, on beaches, in mangroves and in the sea. This litter is not only visually offensive but also dangerous to humans (for example, broken bottles) and the environment (for example, plastic bags ingested by turtles and sea birds). All shores around Suva are seriously littered; the average cover of litter in some areas is >50% (Naidu et. al., 1991).
Source: Vuki, V., M. Naqasima and R. Vave , 2000 , Status of Fiji’s Coral Reefs . Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) Report. (See Document)
Industrial pollution
10 . Fiji (2000) Fiji
A survey of point source pollution in Suva indicated alarming levels of many pollutants due to industrial pollution (Cripps, 1992). Studies found that the major industries contributing to the problem included: a brewery( high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), pH, oils/grease, suspended solids); paint factories (extremely high lead); electroplating (zinc, cyanide); service stations (motor oils); rubbish dump(wide spectrum of hazardous chemicals); slipways (tributyl tin); food manufacturing industry (high BOD, pH, oils/grease, suspended solids). There are also high levels of tributyl tin (TBT) in Suva Harbour (Zann & Vuki, in press).
Industries outside Suva which pose pollution problems include mines, sugar and timber mills. Liquids from the cyanide tailing ponds at the Emperor Gold Mine at Vatukoula are periodically discharged into the Navisi River. Although these comply with WHO standards, bund failure at the site could result in a serious problem (Cripps, 1992).
Source: Vuki, V., M. Naqasima and R. Vave , 2000 , Status of Fiji’s Coral Reefs . Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) Report. (See Document)
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The UN is stumping for wealth redistribution. As far as climage change goes, I don’t think they actually care about anything else. This is a vehicle to justify wealth transfers. Everything else is just window dressing.
As in the case of financially strapped news outlets, each climate scare statement is a bankable ad placement. The Marlboro Man has been replaced by the Climate Scare Man.
Bet Mr Guteres flew to Vanuatu in one of those flying machines that work on fossil fuels. Perhaps he also had his 3 monthly steak on board. Virtue signaling at its best.
It beats going to hardscrabble places where the UN should be working.
Hasn’t Vanuatu built some motels/resorts to take on more tourists? And hasn’t it’s surface area increased? What on earth is this bureaucrat talking about?
“And yet, the UN chief found “remarkable” that the countries facing these enormous challenges, have decided that “they are not giving up” but are instead “determined to find solutions”.”
They are determined to demand other peoples’ money. Cargo cult, pure and simple.
‘He drew attention to his time in Tuvalu, where he saw “an entire country fighting to preserve its very existence”.’
Word salad.
Check out Funafuti, Tuvalu. 6,000 people in less than a square mile. Without fossil fuels, they are dead within a month.
Guterres tour is grotesque.