We have seen the snow; we had 26 days of snow lying on the ground here and with it would seem that the whole of the UK ground to a halt. Just before Christmas I and my son Jamie, sat for 6 hours on a closed M74, before finally getting one of the last hotel rooms at Gretna Green. Others were less lucky. I am now looking forward to the first Snowdrops coming through, as Mother Nature does her job.
On the other hand, bankers, well what can I say? “Aren’t they wonderful? After being bailed out by our money, they continue to award themselves huge, if not disgusting bonuses. We need our banks to provide a stable monetary basis for us, but should they be allowed to gamble the way that they have being doing over the last 10 years.
Copenhagen, well I did say in my last blog; “As the world looks to Copenhagen and to our global leaders, the future prosperity and environmental and social well being of our countries and communities rests in their hands.”
So are we really surprised to the outcome of those 10 days of deliberation in December? The Chinese are being widely blamed for the failure to reach a legally binding agreement. Obama jetted in and out and ignoring all the bureaucrats (it is widely reported that they weren’t happy), got the momentum going on the Copenhagen Accord. This brings the existing big polluters together in a single accord with the emerging economies which will produce 90% of the new emissions by 2050. It lists the actions of each major player for all to see. It hopefully will provide the basis for moving forward, but not at the pace that had been hoped for. Some interesting happened over the course of 10 days. Protesters in their thousands expressed their concerns and worries over climate change. The Chinese main negotiator couldn’t get past the security and into the talks for the first 3 days. I guess what sums it up for me is what the Venezuelan President said; “If the climate was a Bank they would have saved it”. So what went wrong? Is the UN the right body to be driving the agenda on this?
The United Nations is an international organisation founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. Due to its unique international character, and the powers vested in its founding Charter, the Organization can take action on a wide range of issues, and provide a forum for its 192 Member States to express their views, through the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies and committees. Check out their website, I think you will agree that the work that they do is excellent and does have a major impact across the globe.
I believe that there is really no other organisation with a global remit. Who else could we leave such important initiatives too? Despite our hopes and aspirations, our world leaders don’t seem to have the mandate to a problem that will be a global crisis in a few years time. However, they do somehow have the mandate to spend billions, if not trillions saving the banks. I guess we can all read into this what we want. Are Banks really more important than addressing the problems of global warming and climate change? The Stern report clearly identified that by not tackling the problems now, will cost us much more in 10 years time. Its main conclusion is that the benefits of strong, early action on climate change considerably outweigh the costs. It proposes that one percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) per annum is required to be invested in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change, and that failure to do so could risk global GDP being up to twenty percent lower than it otherwise might be. So let’s be grateful for the United Nations and hope that over the next 12 months there is a concerted effort to move towards a voice of unity on a lasting agreement by all the key players on climate change.
The work of the United Nations reaches every corner of the globe. Although best known for peacekeeping, peace building, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, there are many other ways the United Nations and its System (specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our lives and make the world a better place. The Organisation works on a broad range of fundamental issues, from sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster relief, counter terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, to promoting democracy, human rights, governance, economic and social development and international health, clearing landmines, expanding food production, and more, in order to achieve its goals and coordinate efforts for a safer world for this and future generations.
So finally, i hope that you all have enjoyed the festivities of Christmas and New Year.
Happy New Year and I hope that you are considering a more sustainable approach to the new decade.
Chris Gledhill
http://www.futuredirections.org.uk/
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