A file photo
I have the greatest sympathy for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres. He is facing frustration at the incomprehensible attitude that many nations of the world have adopted towards the future of the planet on which humans live with other creatures.
The late Kofi Annan experienced similar frustration when he tried to save the people of Iraq, and (to a lesser extent Iran) from the harm that he knew could be done to them by a “Western” Power cabal determined to find excuses to raze down the two countries. You see, the UN Secretary-General only has MORAL authority, which staggers drunkenly on its feet, when nations with real MILITARY power, decide to ignore moral considerations and act in their own selfish interest.
But whereas Kofi Annan and other Secretaries-General had only attempted to save individual nations from the death and grievous injuries that powerful nations wanted to inflict upon them, Mr Guterres is facing the possibility that inaction by the rich nations on the global climate issue, will lead to the destruction of the entire planet we call our home.
Mr Guterres chose his words carefully when he told a meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) that:
QUOTE “The era of global boiling has arrived!!....“The era of global warming has ended!”
Yes, “global warming was a relatively mild term. In cold countries, it even implied a certain amount of potential comfort. But that was only a mirage. The difference between “warming” and “broiling” is cruel death. But the world was, in an attempt at self-deception, cloaking that difference with semantics. “Global warming”; the “greenhouse effect”; “climate change”-- all terms that suggested the ability to “manage” the problems the terms sought to describe.
Global broiling, on the other hand, didn’t pull any punches. And Guterres was man enough to brandish it on behalf of humanity and the flora and fauna of Planet Earth.
Mr. Guterres made his earth-shattering declaration when he unveiled new data on “global warming” released by the European Union and the World Meteorological Organization.
He declared that this month of July was “set to be the hottest month on record.”
And even as he spoke, President Biden of the USA was announcing that he was implementing measures “to protect {American] workers and communities from extreme heat”. This was because much of the United States had been blanketed by what the US National Weather Service called “a dangerous heat wave.”
Construction workers were wiping their brows under 90 degree temperatures at a housing complex under construction in Clarksburg, Maryland.
President Biden scheduled meetings with the Mayors of Phoenix, Arizona, and San Antonio, Texas, to discuss how their cities were handling the extreme heat and how the federal government could help. Climate-change scepticism in rural America was on its way to the abattoir at last.
Phoenix has had a brutal summer; earlier in July, it broke a 1974 record for the consecutive number of days the temperature reached over 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
Commenting on such facts, Mr Guterres said in his statement: “For vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa and Europe, it is a cruel summer; for the entire planet, it is a disaster.”
Guterres went on: “For scientists, it is unequivocal — humans are to blame! All this is entirely consistent with predictions and repeated warnings. The only surprise is the speed of the change. Climate change is here. It is terrifying, and it is just the beginning.”
Guterres said it is still possible to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement had called for, but “only with dramatic, immediate climate action.”
He added: “We have seen some progress; a robust rollout of renewables, some positive steps from sectors such as shipping,” Guterres said. “But none of this is going far enough or fast enough.”
Greenhouse gas emissions have to be reduced globally and quickly, Guterres emphasised. “Fossil fuel companies must chart their move towards clean energy, with detailed transition plans across the entire value chain/
“No more greenwashing. No more deception.” Guterres concluded.
