Tuesday 8th of October 2024

globalisation by default?.....

On September 22 and 23, the United Nations member states will gather in New York City at the UN headquarters for the historic Summit of the Future with the intention to sign the Pact for the Future. This document is expected to radically accelerate the push towards the completion of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2030.

The Summit of the Future is taking place during the 79th session of the annual UN General Assembly. The summit has been in the making since at least 2022 after repeated calls by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to shift financial resources to rapidly complete the Agenda 2030 goals set by the UN in 2015.

 

The Summit Of The Future Is Only Weeks Away Yet The Public Remains Ignorant

 

TLAV

 

Although this historic gathering is sure to impact the majority of the world’s population, it has received very little coverage from the corporate media, and almost no coverage from the independent media. One issue which has received mainstream coverage relates to 77 Nobel Laureates and world leaders signing a letter complaining about references to fossil fuels being removed from the Pact for the Future. The references were later reinserted after the letter was made public.

The discussion about fossil fuels fits the UN’s narrative about impending doom relating to climate change. It is this panic around climate change which has led to the convening of the Summit of the Future and calls for strengthening the UN infrastructure.

The Summit’s theme — “Ultilateral Solutions for A Better Tomorrow” — illustrates the goal of this gathering. Namely, a push for strengthening, and even remaking, the UN to better tackle crises which are ostensibly looming in the coming years.

The UN is focused on several potential planetary emergencies, including climate change, war, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The UN claims these potential crises are too great for any one nation-state to tackle alone, and thus, will require greater cooperation and organization between UN member states.

“We recognize that the multilateral system and its institutions, with the United Nations and its Charter at the centre, must be strengthened to keep pace with a changing world. They must be fit for the present and the future – effective and capable, prepared for the future, just, democratic, equitable and representative of today’s world, inclusive, interconnected, and financially stable,” the latest draft of the Pact for the Future states.

As The Last American Vagabond (TLAV) has previously reported, the Summit of the Future is also expected to include calls for remaking the UN into what has been called “UN 2.0”.

Global Shocks Require Global Government

The 3rd draft of the Pact for the Future was released on August 27 and is currently being reviewed by UN member states. This draft continues the discussion around “global shocks” and how these shocks will require a global response.

For example, one section titled “We will strengthen the international response to complex global shocks”, states that there is a need for a “coordinated and multidimensional international response to complex global shocks and the central role of the United Nations in this regard.”

The UN defines “complex global shocks” as events that “have severely disruptive and adverse consequences for a significant proportion of countries and the global population”. These shocks would require a “multidimensional multistakeholder, and whole of government, whole of society response.”

The document says “armed conflict” does not constitute a complex global shock”, but could lead to “impacts across multiple sectors”.

These potential shocks would necessitate the activation of “emergency platforms” which could grant the UN more power to respond to these apparent emergencies. The document says the UN will present member states with “protocols for convening and operationalizing emergency platforms based on flexible approaches to respond to a range of different complex global shocks”.

While the UN claims these emergency platforms will only be “convened
for a finite period”, and will not be a standing institution or entity with respect to national sovereignty, critics of the UN fear that these emergency platforms will be seized upon and used to grant the UN new legal powers.

TLAV has previously reported that calls for an Emergency Platform are similar to calls for the UN to declare a planetary emergency. UN-affiliated organizations like the Climate Governance Commission (CGC) have been calling for such a declaration over the last year.

In late November 2023, just before the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference COP28, the Climate Governance Commission released a report titled Governing Our Planetary Emergency. In this report, the CGC continues their advocacy for updating our ideas on governance.

We can trace the call for a Planetary Emergency back to the infamous but obscure group, the Club of Rome. The CGC’s November 2023 report even notes that the belief in a “polycrisis” is “recognized in the work of the Club of Rome Planetary Emergency Project“. This reference to the Club of Rome reveals yet another reason the public ought to be concerned with the push for a planetary emergency and claims of crossing planetary boundaries

The Club of Rome has been calling for declaring a Planetary Emergency since at least 2019 with the publication of their “Planetary Emergency Plan”. The report would be updated in August 2020, after the beginning of COVID1984. The Club of Rome’s Emergency Plan is described as a “roadmap for governments and other stakeholders to shift our societies and economies to bring back balance between people, planet and prosperity”.

Ultimately, the push for an emergency platform as part of the Pact for the Future is intended to reinforce the idea that humanity is facing a Planetary Emergency which requires the UN’s influence and authority to be increased. The document shies away from the term world or global government — instead preferring multilateralism or global governance — but the outcome is the same: a United Nations with more authority to act and compel nation states to comply with its edicts.

For example, under a section titled “Transforming Global Governance”, the UN document outlines “Action 41”:

“We will transform global governance and reinvigorate the multilateral system to tackle the challenges, and seize the opportunities, of today and tomorrow.”

The section goes on to describe numerous ways in which the Pact for the Future intends to transform and empower the UN to tackle the emergencies facing the planet.

Resetting the Financial System

The latest draft of the Pact for the Future also outlines specific ways in which the “international financial architecture” should be reformed so that it “supports countries equitably during systemic shocks and makes the financial system more stable.”
Specifically, section 82 states that the “growing frequency and intensity of global economic shocks” has slowed down progress on the completion of the UN SDGs. The solution, according to the Pact, is to “recognize the role of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in strengthening the global financial safety net in a world prone to systemic shocks”.

SDRs are not considered a currency but instead are considered “foreign exchange reserve assets” which allow IMF member nations to exchange SDRs for a currency held by IMF members. Interestingly, independent researcher James Corbett warned about the potential for the SDRs to become a “world reserve currency” as far back as 2013.

The Pact for the Future makes it clear that SDRs will indeed play a major role in the transformation of the international financial system.

“We welcome the pledges to rechannel over $100 billion worth of SDRs to developing countries while stressing the urgency of delivering on these pledges to developing countries as rapidly as possible,” the draft states.

The draft also notes that the UN will call on nations to “continue to explore options to voluntarily rechannel at least half of SDRs from the 2021 allocation, including through multilateral development banks, while respecting relevant legal frameworks and preserving the reserve asset character of Special Drawing Rights.”

Further recommendations of the draft include encouraging the International Monetary Fund to “explore all options to continue to strengthen the global financial safety net” to help developing nations respond to “macroeconomic shocks”.

Under “Action 55” it states, “We will accelerate the reform of the international financial architecture so that it can meet the challenge of climate change.”

The Pact mentions Multilateral Development Banks again, calling on these institutions to “increase the availability, accessibility and impact of climate finance to developing countries” and supporting these countries as they develop strategies to fight climate change.

There are multiple sections in the draft with references to these banks and their need to “mobilize additional financing” to support “adaptation and deploy and develop renewable and energy efficiency technologies”.

The document repeatedly mentions these “Multilateral Development Banks” and they are clearly going to be an important piece of the UN 2.0 system. TLAV will be investigating these institutions in future reports.

The stated goal of reforming the international financial system to fund the SDGs and Agenda 2030 mimic recent statements made by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres where he called for a “new Bretton Woods moment”, referencing the infamous 1944 international agreement that established the IMF. The Breton Woods meeting also adopted rules for governing monetary relations among independent states, including requiring each nation to guarantee convertibility of their currencies into U.S. dollars.

Guterres noted that in 2022 the IMF allocated $650 billion in SDRs, with the European Union nations receiving 160 billion dollars in SDRs and African countries receiving only 34 billion dollars.

Additionally, a UN document on the Summit of the Future titled, What Would it Deliver?, calls for “A Global Financial System That Works For All”.

“A transformed international financial architecture is fit for purpose, more inclusive, just, representative, effective, and resilient, responsive to the world today rather than as it looked following the Second World War. This architecture invests up-front in SDGs, climate action, and future generations.”

These calls mirror similar ones made during the “Summit for a New Global Financing Pact” held in Paris, France in June 2023. The Summit, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, welcomed 50 heads of state, representatives of NGOs and civil society organizations to discuss the effort to reset the international financial system as part of the continued push towards the 2030 Agenda and Net Zero goals.

The French government stated that the objective of the gathering was to “build a new contract between [the global] North and South” which will better equip the nations to fight poverty and climate change. The summit was attended by US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In addition to heads of state, the summit was organized with support from the Open Society Foundations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others.

Based on these previous statements from the UN and the draft of the Pact for the Future, it is clear that a resetting of the financial system is a crucial component of their plans.

If there is any chance to prevent the signing of the Pact for the Future, the creation of emergency platforms, and the potential declaration of a planetary emergency, we must spread the word quickly.

Additionally, we ought to put our energy into the creation of alternative, parallel systems which can compete with the Technocratic State directly. This is why I am helping produce The People’s Reset: UK, “Our Summit for Our Future”, taking place in Bath, UK the weekend after the UN’s Summit. For 3 days we will host 24 presenters from around the world with a focus on solutions for creating these much-needed parallel systems in the areas of health, finance, education, digital technology, and community building. Together we can create the more beautiful world we know is possible.

TLAV will be on the ground in New York City reporting from the Summit of the Future. Stay tuned for updates as we document this historic gathering of globalists.

 

https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/summit-future-week-away/

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

ONE HAS TO BE CAUTIOUS HERE... HUMAN (SAY WESTERN NATIONS CONSUMPTION OF FOSSIL FUELS) INDUCED GLOBAL WARMING IS NOT A FALLACY... YET THE MAIN PROBLEM IN THE WAY OF ANY "SOLUTION" IS THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, WHICH INCLUDES WAR, SANCTIONS, US DOLLAR WEAPONISATION AND GENERAL HEGEMONY... CAN THE UNITED NATIONS BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THIS AND TAME THE BEAST? THE OTHER PROBLEMS STEM FROM THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES THAT SEEK BETTER WAYS OF LIVING THROUGH BETTER FOOD SUPPLIES AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION. AS WELL, WE CANNOT LET THE ELITES OF GLOBALISATION TAKE OVER THE PROJECT AND END UP DESTROYING DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL IMPORTANCE BY IMPOSING THEIR WILL IN A HYPOCRITICAL FASHION. THE WESTERN NATIONS HAVE BEEN AT THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM AND SHOUD NOT SHARE THE PAIN ACROSS TO THE POOREST OF US. 

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY LIE IN UNDERSTANDING AND ACTING LOCALLY, INCLUDING STOPPING ANY NEW FOSSIL FUEL MINING VENTURES.

 

GL.

 

tipping points....

 

Environment: Earth system tipping points threaten our stable environment    By Peter Sainsbury

 

Dangerous tipping points threaten the stability of several of Earth’s natural climate-controlling systems. Conclusion: warming of 1.5oC is not safe. Possible to protect humans from dangerous animals without killing them. Tanzania accused of apartheid by its own people.

Tips on tipping points

Those who say, ‘Humans have always polluted their environment, there’s nothing new in what’s happening now’, fail to understand that yes, we have always taken from, added to and rearranged the places we inhabit but what we are doing now is not just affecting our local environments. It is also changing the complex natural “Earth systems” that have kept the world’s climate in an unprecedentedly stable equilibrium since the last Ice Age. This is the period, the only period, in which human civilisations have developed.

Up to a point, the complex relationships within and among these natural Earth systems are able to adjust a little to accommodate the strains imposed by greenhouse gases, changing climates, deforestation, pollution of the air, land and water, etc. But ultimately a point is reached where one (or more) of the systems changes so much that it reaches a tipping point beyond which there is no return. Think of a balloon – you can blow air into it, add a bit more and a bit more and then let it down and repeat that process many times and it keeps functioning as a balloon. But put just a little too much air in it and BANG! The balloon doesn’t deflate slowly as before, its whole structure is destroyed, its function is lost, a new equilibrium is reached (bits of rubber all over the floor) and there’s no going back. You can’t ever blow it up again – tears may ensue.

Earth systems behave like that balloon – well, somewhat. There’s unlikely to be a sudden catastrophic collapse of the system, but once the tipping point is passed, changes in the system start to appear, probably slowly and unnoticeably at first, but still inexorably. Once the changes gain momentum, there’s likely to be a period of instability before a new equilibrium emerges, one that is unlikely to be comfortable for humans (diagram below).

 

 

There are several dangers for humans when one of nature’s regulatory systems passes a tipping point:

  • The new state of affairs may, through purely natural processes, exacerbate a problem that previously had been caused entirely by human activity. For instance, if the world’s permafrost thaws as temperatures rise, its vast quantities of frozen methane and carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere and accelerate global warming. Once this process starts, it will be impossible for humans to control it, even if we wanted to.
  • The effects of one system passing a tipping point may precipitate a tipping cascade of other natural systems.
  • The current, relatively stable and, for human life and civilisations, safe conditions that we have enjoyed for the last 12,000 years are likely to disappear. Not overnight, but slowly and surely. The best-known potential consequences are “Hothouse Earth”, global warming of not just 2-3oC but 5+oC, and several metres of sea level rise.

The New York Times has briefly described the tipping point, the issue causing the problem, the likely outcomes and the possible timescale of seven Earth systems: mass death of coral reefs, abrupt thawing of permafrost, collapse of the Greenland ice sheets, breakup of West Antarctica’s glaciers, sudden shift in the African monsoon, loss of the Amazon rainforest, and shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean’s currents. The ones identified as most likely to start tipping in the near future are the coral reefs, the permafrost, and the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. In fact, tipping may have already started in some.

Recent attempts to quantify the risk of tipping in four Earth systems (the Atlantic Ocean, Amazon Forest and two polar ice masses) provide very disturbing conclusions:

  • Stable long-term global warming of 1.5oC without any prior overshoot, the very best outcome we can probably hope for now, results in a greater than 50% tipping risk – confirmation, if any was needed, that 1.5oC of warming is not a safe target.
  • Under current policies to control global warming, there is a 45% chance of a system reaching tipping point by 2300 and 76% in the longer term. The year 2300 seems a long way off, but I suppose that’s what people thought about 2025 in 1850 when all our greenhouse gas problems started.
  • The risk of tipping by 2300 increases for every 0.1oC of overshoot above 1.5o
  • The two systems most likely to tip soon are the Atlantic Ocean and the Amazon, possibly starting in the next 30-50 years.
  • To minimise tipping risk, it is crucial to achieve and maintain net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2100 at the latest and return global warming to less than 1o.

While the timeframes here seem long, the researchers conclude by emphasising the absolute importance of what we do now: ‘”Our results underscore that stringent emission reductions in the current decade are critical for planetary stability.”

Maasai dispossession: Apartheid Tanzanian-style

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania is famous worldwide – most of us have seen films and television programs about the wildlife and the Indigenous Maasai people. I’m sure that we’d all like to see the area protected from inappropriate development and exploitation. But I suspect that most of us would also like to see the rights and livelihoods of the Maasai protected.

Unfortunately, the 100,000 Maasai in the area are losing their land, their homes and even their democratic rights as the government forcibly, sometimes violently, evicts them from their traditional homelands. Healthcare and education services and the water supply have been cut and the residents have now been removed from the electoral register.

Thousands of Maasai recently blocked the road to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to air their grievances:

“We are required to move with pass cards in our own land. Like Apartheid SA.

“We are evicted so rich people change our homes into hotels.

“We are experiencing apartheid practices from Tanzanian Government.

“It is sad to witness women suffering of oppression led by a woman president.”

Faith-based groups, human rights and grassroots organisations, international aid and development organisations, researchers and lawyers have formed the Maasai International Solidarity Alliance to support the Maasai and stop the human rights violations.

Protecting humans and other water users

I take it as given that no one wants to be attacked by a shark or a crocodile and that every appropriate action should be taken to avoid such encounters. I also believe that many community members, including those who use the water for business or recreation, do not want animals to be killed unnecessarily, whether they be potential (or even actual) attackers or innocent bystanders such as turtles, dugongs and dolphins.

Consequently, I don’t support the installation of shark nets across popular bays for two reasons: 1) there are better methods of protecting bathers and surfers from the very occasional shark encounter, and, more importantly, 2) the evidence that shark nets work is very weak. In fact, nets may give human water users a false sense of security and harm lots of “non-target” sea creatures along the way. A survey by Kellie Sloane, the state MP for Vaucluse, NSW, a constituency with many ocean and harbour swimming sites, completed by 422 people, demonstrated an almost equal preference for removing and keeping the shark nets.

Nor do I support the culling of crocodiles either because of claims that their numbers are increasing in a particular area or because of a fatal attack. Such culling can also be distressing to First Nations peoples, particularly if the crocodile is a totem. Again, there are better ways of avoiding encounters.

The Environmental Defenders Office has proposed reforms to the law to minimise the risk of dangerous crocodile-human interactions:

  • Create a new offence that outlaws “reckless behaviours” in crocodile habitats, for instance feeding of crocodiles in tourist hot spots.
  • Create penalties for people who publish “reckless behaviour” on social media.
  • Mandate First Nations peoples’ rights to be consulted before a crocodile is removed.
  • Give management and enforcement powers to First Nations Rangers and local governments.

Regardless of the specific circumstances, a fatal encounter with a shark or crocodile is, of course, a great tragedy. However, the priority should be avoiding as many encounters as possible with measures that are justified by good evidence of effectiveness, whether they be measures related to the use of technology or sensible human behaviour.

Fantastical sharks and rays

Australia’s oceans are home to almost a quarter of the world’s species of sharks and rays, many of which are threatened and endangered. Opening on 7 September at Sydney’s Australian Museum, the Fantastical Sharks & Rays exhibition merges education, art, culture and science.

Over 1,500 young people have created artworks, channelling Disney, Matisse, Whitely and more, to celebrate the diversity of sharks and rays and help save them. Ten entries were chosen to be the inspiration for works by ten of Australia’s leading artists.

https://johnmenadue.com/environment-earth-system-tipping-points-threaten-our-stable-environment/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

SEE ALSO: https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/33287

 

 

nuke deception....

 

Nuclear won’t cut it: CCA says Australia must go all in on renewables to meet climate targets    By Sophie Vorrath

 

Australia will not reach net zero emissions by 2050 under the federal Coalition’s nuclear power plan, according to a comprehensive new report that puts the shift to 100% renewables at the centre of all plausible pathways to meet the global climate target.

In its inaugural Sector Pathways Review, published on Thursday, the Climate Change Authority (CCA) charts a course for how Australia can decarbonise – either by 2050, in keeping with currents targets, or by 2040, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

The 2040 scenario has Australia meeting and beating its 2030 emissions target and reaching a reduction of 75% on 2005 levels by 2035 – spurring hope this might be the number the Albanese Government settles on when it finally delivers its promised interim target.

Under both scenarios, black and brown coal disappear entirely from the electricity mix by 2035, while total annual generation more than doubles its current levels, jumping from around 280 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 659TWh in 2050 on the 2°C pathway and to 767TWh on the 1.5°C pathway. READ MORE:https://johnmenadue.com/nuclear-wont-cut-it-cca-says-australia-must-go-all-in-on-renewables-to-meet-climate-targets/