Stop the Hogs!

The United Nations Sits In Suspicious Company

[ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/10/opini ... mpany.html ]

By JOSHUA KARLINER, KENNY BRUNO and INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE AUG. 10, 2000

SAN FRANCISCO— Do the UN flag and the Nike swoosh belong together? Secretary-General Kofi Annan thinks they might. Leaders of nearly 50 of the world's most powerful corporations met with him on July 26 to hail the dawn of a new relationship between the United Nations and big business.

A coalition of critics, including Greenpeace International and the Third World Network, denounces this Global Compact as threatening the integrity of the United Nations.

At the UN meeting, the leaders of corporations well known for running sweatshops, engendering environmental disaster and colluding in human rights violations sat at the table with Mr. Annan. They agreed to adhere to and publicly promote the Global Compact's nine core principles of universally accepted labor, environmental and human rights values.

Business will regulate itself, charting its progress by posting "best practices" case studies on the Global Compact Web site. Meanwhile, the United Nations and these companies will seek to establish active on-the-ground partnerships — building schools, establishing Internet connections and the like — to "implement" the principles.

But there will be no mechanism to make adherence to the compact's principles binding in any way. That is how the International Chamber of Commerce wants it.

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[ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/10/opini ... mpany.html ]

The U.N. Sells Out

[ http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Unite ... s_Out.html ]

The Progressive magazine, September 2000

The United Nations has joined hands with big business. And many unlikely groups are clapping.

On July 26, fifty companies signed a "Global Compact." In it, they promised to end child labor, protect human rights, allow unions to organize, and operate under sound ecological principles in all countries where they do business, even when national laws do not require it.

Among the fifty multinationals that made such promises were Nike, Royal Dutch Shell, BP Amoco, BASF, and Rio Tinto, the British-Australian mining company.

Among the watchdog groups that signed the compact were Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
"This Global Compact has the potential to become a historic partnership," Philip Knight, the chairman and chief executive of Nike, told The New York Times.

Infamous may be more like it.

By embracing multinationals, the United Nations has tarnished its reputation and abdicated its role as a protector of human rights. In this day and age when huge companies have more power than many of the countries in which they operate, the United Nations should be establishing itself as a tough, independent monitor. Instead, it's jumped into bed with some of the most notorious companies in the world.

The compact is not legally binding. This means that companies could engage in human rights violations even while benefiting from their connection to the United Nations. According to The New York Times, "Several executives warned that the compact would fail if it became the basis for sanctions."

Secretary General Kofi Annan has been explicit about what he was asking of the multinationals that joined in-not much. "The Global Compact is not a code of conduct," he said in a May speech to Swedish businessmen, "Neither is it a disguised effort to raise minimum standards, not a vehicle for special interest groups. It is a compact to help the markets deliver what they are best at-while at the same time contributing to a more humane world."

Make no mistake: Annan has become a cheerleader for corporations. "Markets offer the only realistic hope of pulling billions of people in developing countries out of abject poverty, while sustaining prosperity in the industrialized world," he said during his "Opening Remarks at the High-Level Meeting on the Global Compact" on July 26.

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[ http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Unite ... s_Out.html ]

Commentary: A promising pick for UN Secretary General

[ http://www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroo ... -secretary ]

António Guterres has demonstrated he just might be the climate-savvy leader we need.

By Ruth Greenspan Bell and Sherri Goodman The Daily Climate October 24, 2016

The selection of António Guterres as the new United Nations Secretary General is encouraging news for those concerned about the global challenges brought on by climate change.

Guterres, who will take over as Secretary in January 2017, has displayed an impressive understanding of the interconnectedness of climate issues and the willingness to fight for those causes he thinks deserve attention and resources.

Climate change is chief among the conditions complicating each of the already complex challenges that make up the UN portfolio.
A Secretary who understands the security implications of a changing climate can lead the way to thread climate and its consequences into everything else the UN does – both to push hard for greenhouse gas reductions and to address the self-described “truth” articulated by President Obama, “that many nations have contributed little to climate change but will be the first to feel its most destructive effects.”

The Secretary designate has already demonstrated that he understands the connection between climate and security and how the UN can lead in this unprecedented challenge. In this, he is a worthy successor to Ban Ki-moon, who used the force of his office to front-burner climate issues, particularly leading to the 2015 UNFCCC Paris meetings.

The best case for this is Guterres’ remarkable November 2011 briefing to the UN Security Council. In his then-position as High Commissioner for Refugees, Guterres spoke to the subject of “New Challenges to International Peace and Security and Conflict Prevention.”

“Climate change is the defining challenge of our times: a challenge which interacts with and reinforces the other global megatrends such as population growth, urbanization, and growing food, water and energy insecurity,” he told the 15 members of the Council. “It is a challenge which is adding to the scale and complexity of human displacement; and a challenge that has important implications for the maintenance of international peace and security."

Guterres drew attention to “the potential for conflict within and between states” as they compete for the scarce resources of water, grazing and arable land. He noted the possibility of “so-called ‘water wars’ over transboundary freshwater reserves” that could easily “uproot large numbers of people,” citing the example of Darfur, a conflict at least partially driven by climate change, environmental degradation and the struggle for access to land and water.

He drew attention to evidence that a one degree temperature rise increases the potential for armed conflict by 50 percent.

All of this alone would be impressive, but a second factor drew our attention: Guterres seems to be a seasoned and effective fighter for issues he thinks need global attention.

He has said publicly how hard it was to get the issue of refugees on the world and UN agenda – but proceeded to do just that. Based on this experience, he might just be the right person to work climate issues within the UN system, a system he clearly knows well.

Why does his comprehension and commitment matter? Daily, we get new evidence of the challenge ahead. Last week an Oxfam report documented how little wealthy nations, whose Paris pledges were supposed to raise $100 billion a year by 2020, are actually doing to help the world’s poorest people cope with the effects of climate change. In some cases, countries are lending rather than giving and in others ordinary aid is rebranded as climate finance. The resources to institute adequate protective measures are simply not there.

The consequences may be exactly as Guterres and security experts warn. But in his new position, Guterres can mobilize the resources necessary to address all facets of this complex existential challenge.
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Ruth Greenspan Bell and Sherri Goodman are Public Policy Fellows at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Watch them speak about the critical role that institution plays in addressing security challenges connected to a warming planet. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqEvIUqCrVc ]

The Daily Climate is an independent, foundation-funded news service covering energy, the environment and climate change. Find us on Twitter @TheDailyClimate or email editor Brian Bienkowski at bbienkowski [at] EHN.org