8. Trygve Olson cartoon: Christmas peaceTrygve Olson cartoon: Christmas peace
Link:
"The newborn baby Jesus offers peace for the world but wonders how much longer it'll be until it takes hold." inforum.com/trygve-olson
Thread Codicil: The brevity and lack of substance in the US Statement issued yesterday wrt @POTUS @joebiden’s discussions with @IsraeliPM Benjamin Netanyahu speaks volumes, as does today’s decision by the U.S. and several European Naval Powers to abandon efforts to contain the Houthis attacks on Merchant Ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
In 2003 the US set a terrible Precedent by invading Iraq in response to 9/11.
In the Gaza war of 2024 the 🇺🇸 is setting another terrible precedent by sanctioning, funding and providing the weapons for a disproportionate attack - the collective punishment of 2 million people mostly civilians and women and children in Gaza in the world’s largest open air prison.
The precedent they are in the process of setting now is arguably worse. Any nation experiencing a large Terror attack may now consider it ok to enact collective punishment up to the level of attempted Genocide on an associated ethnic minority.
The powerlessness of the UN institutions to address this is writ large in a manner that brings into question the legitimacy of multilateral post war institutions, many of which were already on very shaky foundations.
The long term consequences of this horror show in Gaza will be legion for the US, Europe (their partner in the post war « rules based order ») and the UN.
The US and Europe as the biggest donors to, and advocates for this so called order have shown abject cowardice , and revealed their craven sophistry in their failure to prevent the carnage that has now been underway for 2 months and 17 days.
Christmas armistices and ceasefires have a long history. And this Christmas/Hanukkah/Timket would have been a perfect opportunity to end the killing and at least return to negotiations and allow humanitarian aid to be provided to the millions of civilians trying to find safety in Rafah and Khan Younis.
From the perfunctory readout from the White House we can only presume that Biden and Netanyahu’s latest - Christmas - meeting went exactly as all previous ones.
Biden urged restraint, Netanyahu said « no » and so the killing continues. Traditions of peace efforts at Christmas can be damned i seems.
@POTUS @JoeBiden @IsraeliPM /ends
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It is very hard to understand what exactly the COP presidency was thinking today releasing this draft of the key stone Global Stock Take GST text.
Given the positive atmosphere leading up to the release of this text, it feels as if he has set a match to burn 🔥 his own COP Presidency down just as it has begun.
And the absence of UNFCCC Exec Sec. Simon Stiell from this afternoons interrupted plenary suddenly makes a lot more sense.
This was the interruption. From a 12 year climate activist from East Timor. It took place roughly an hour before the Presidency’s draft text was released, a text which now looks set to ignite protests across the planet. [I caught the very end of this as she was being hauled away.]
I expect she will receive a hero’s welcome on her return to Indonesia.
It’s hard to overstate how much this last minute text - supposedly a “take it or leave” version, which cannot be amended will have come as a shock to the 10s of thousands of delegates attending the event here in Dubai.
This bit considers the language around equity which has been a very hot topic in many of the civil society discussions here in Dubai. Equity = fairness and the context here is about finding a way to acknowledge that the phase-out of fossil fuels inherently bumps up against and gives effect to the “differentiated rights and responsibilities” language in the UNFCCC framework convention.
Helpfully there is now a first draft practical assessment (ngo report) on the table which suggests how this could work in practice.
This is the report, which I was kindly given a copy of on day one.
The report and a list of endorsers can be found at equityreview.org
It outlines a methodology for determining different equitable timelines for countries in the COP to manage their phase-out based on an equitable framework based on a set of principles. These pages show the suggested phase-out time frames for each country in three groups.
A short thread on Uganda 🇺🇬 whose pavilion I have had the pleasure of dropping into a couple of times over the past two days. I attended a recording session with three speakers on the subject of the plastics waste treaty with three youth speakers. Each gave impassioned speeches on the subject from different perspectives. 1/6
2/6 ^^ the first speaker addressed the issue from an overview of the treaty perspective what it is for and why it is needed. The plastics packaging industry which is an offshoot of the Fossil Fuel Industrial Complex causes a lot of issues in terms of contributing to the waste stream in developing nations, and unfortunately many plastics contain a lot of toxic chemicals & are not recyclable.
3/6 Correction: There were actually four speakers. The first above was Mohammed from Egypt. Next up was Yobel from Indonesia 🇮🇩 who also addressed the issue from a policy / treaty perspective.
Packed Plenary today at #COP28 considering progress so far and perhaps signing off some documents on work which has been completed.
In comparison to the Westminster parliamentary system this phase is a bit like a collective report back from all select committees to to committee of the whole of Parliament. Not precisely this, but similar.
From my recollection this really is an astonishing turnout. Not only are most of the nation state tables occupied but so are most of the NGOs and Civil society desks. Nearly all seats are filled.
The overall interest shown by attendees in this - a largely technical part of the process - is definitely different from what I saw in both Glasgow and Sharm el sheikh (Egypt). I’m assuming this represents a higher level of energy and desire to understand the #COP process.
The way the system works is a little complicated but useful to have some understanding of. The process of negotiations is nearly continuous and takes place in multiple venues including in the annual SB (subsidiary bodies) meeting which is held every year in Bonn Germany where the UNFCCC is Headquartered. I attended this this year. From what I could see, very few of the texts were agreed there. Which I think is normal.
These remarks by UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber 2 weeks ago are now at the heart of the Phaseout vs Phasedown of fossil fuels debate which has always been at the heart of what was going to be deliberated here at #cop28
Through making these remarks and then seemingly seeking to gaslight the world by claiming that he didn’t Sultan Al Jaber has now brought this question very clearly to centre stage, and highlighted how much self interest among the super wealthy interests behind fossil fuel exploitation is an obstacle to the scale of energy transformation which is needed to keep 1.5o degrees alive.
This article from a couple of days ago, resurrecting the earlier remarks had launched what is now a firestorm of controversy about the role of fossil fuel interests, nation states, lobbyists and financiers in obstructing the path to net-zero carbon emissions.
“Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels”
But it was these remarks yesterday which propelled @cop28 President Al Jaber’s conflicts of interest as the CEO of one of the largest fossil fuel companies in the world 🌍 into the stratosphere. theguardian.com/environment/vi…