Four years ago, on this day, March 31st, 2022,
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, on 31 March 2022, established a High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities to develop stronger and clearer standards for net-zero emissions pledges by non-State entities – including businesses, investors, cities, and regions – and speed up their implementation.With the launch of the report “Integrity Matters: Net Zero commitments by Businesses, Financial Institutions, Cities and Regions” at the UN Climate Conference (COP27) in Sharm-el Sheikh, Egypt, the Group has successfully finalized its work and delivered on its mandate.
“We must have zero tolerance for net-zero greenwashing,” said the Secretary-General at the launch event that took place on 8 November 2022. The report provides clarity in four key areas – environmental integrity, credibility, accountability, and the role of governments. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/high-level-expert-group#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20must%20have%20zero%20tolerance,and%20the%20role%20of%20governments.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 373ppm. As of 2026 it is 428ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was the United Nations had been wanging on about the environment since sort of 1968-69. A previous Secretary General, U Thant, had even mentioned carbon dioxide build up as a problem in early 1969 and here we are, 33 years after that, and the Warnings Keep Coming. The Warnings Keep Coming.
The specific context President George W Bush of the United States had pulled the US out of negotiating the Kyoto Protocol, which was the mechanism by which industrialised nations were supposed to commit to reducing their carbon dioxide emissions. So it was pretty obvious that the wheels on the bandwagon were, if not off, then wobbling on their axles and needed alignment.
What I think we can learn from this is that the UN is basically the League of Nations only. It’s gone on for a lot longer.
What happened next. More Secretaries General, more shit fuckery from the United States under Obama and Biden and Trump. But of course, it’s not like the United States is the only villain here. We all are on a beautiful planet that we are basically destroying. And I look at the swans and the ducks and the moorhens, a moorhen giving itself a good bath here. And I. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the greed and stupidity and selfishness that is a significant part of our species.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
References
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Also on this day:
March 31, 1973 – Protest in Piccadilly Circus
March 31, 1998 – another report about #climate and business in the UK
March 31, 1998 – two business-friendly climate events in UK and Australia
March 31, 2007 – Earth Hour (the most putrid kind of virtue signalling)