United Nations UN

===

cf agenda 21, JBS black helicopters, FEMA camps, blue hull navy, gun /arms sales agreement scuttled?see also C Streeet / evangelicals

, milita, TP, wise use, cfact, ncppr819 bakUNEP broken?

= =<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-un-2644864652.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-un-2644864652.html</a>
<div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body css-listicle-body-2644864652" style="margin-top: -15px; line-height: 1.5;"><div class="body-description" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-refugees" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); outline: 0px; line-height: 1.5;">Refugees</a> fleeing the impending effects of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">climate crisis</a> cannot be forced to return home, according to a new decision by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/world/climate-refugees-unhrc-ruling-scli-intl/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">CNN</a> reported. The new decision could open up a massive wave of legal claims by displaced people around the world.<div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-1" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-un-2644864652.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" data-id="1" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem1" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The first-of-its-kind ruling opens the door for a new kind of legal claim to future protections for people whose lives and health are threatened by a warming planet and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">sea-level rise</a>, according to legal experts, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/20/climate-refugees-cant-be-returned-home-says-landmark-un-human-rights-ruling" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The Guardian</a> reported. The <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2fC%2f127%2fD%2f2728%2f2016&Lang=en" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">ruling</a> is expected to have profound consequences as the impacts of the climate crisis are predicted to displace tens of millions of people.The UN Human Rights Committee ruling started from the case of Ioane Teitiota, who applied for refugee protection from New Zealand, claiming that his life was at risk in his home country of Kiribati, which is predicted to be one of the first countries lost due to sea-level rise, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/world/climate-refugees-unhrc-ruling-scli-intl/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">CNN</a> reported. Kiribati is an equatorial island nation in the middle of the Pacific that spans 1.3 million square miles, but only has 310 square miles of land and roughly 110,000 people.The committee heard Teitiota's claim that his home island South Tarawa had increased in population by nearly 50 times from 1,641 in 1947 to 50,000 in 2010 due to sea level rising, leading to other islands becoming uninhabitable. That explosion in population has led to violence and social tensions, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/20/climate-refugees-cant-be-returned-home-says-landmark-un-human-rights-ruling" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The Guardian</a> reported.</div><div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-2" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-un-2644864652.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" data-id="2" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem2" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Teitiota claimed that a shortage of freshwater and difficulty growing crops because of the salinity of the water posed a threat to him and his family. Further, he argued that because the island is predicted to be uninhabitable in 10 to 15 years, his life was in danger if he remained there, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/20/climate-refugees-cant-be-returned-home-says-landmark-un-human-rights-ruling" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The Guardian</a>.The committee did not fully agree with him. It rejected his claim that he faced an imminent threat to his life. It said, "sea level rise is likely to render the republic of Kiribati uninhabitable … the timeframe of 10 to 15 years, as suggested by [Teitiota], could allow for intervening acts by the republic of Kiribati, with the assistance of the international community, to take affirmative measures to protect and, where necessary, relocate its population," according to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/20/climate-refugees-cant-be-returned-home-says-landmark-un-human-rights-ruling" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The Guardian</a>.</div><div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-3" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-un-2644864652.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3" data-id="3" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem3" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">However, the committee added that New Zealand and every country would violate a person's international rights if they force them back to countries where the climate crisis poses an immediate threat, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/world/climate-refugees-unhrc-ruling-scli-intl/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">CNN</a>.That decision, which is not legally binding to countries, does point to obligations that developed countries will face as the climate crisis intensifies. In addition to sea-level rise, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/world/climate-refugees-unhrc-ruling-scli-intl/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">CNN</a> pointed out that <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">droughts</a> and crop failure are also expected to contribute to the tens of millions who will need to move to other areas in coming years. Furthermore, a World Bank study from 2018 found that 143 million people across South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are at risk of becoming climate migrants."Without robust national and international efforts, the effects of climate change in receiving states may expose individuals to a violation of their rights," its <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2fC%2f127%2fD%2f2728%2f2016&Lang=en" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">ruling</a> said, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/world/climate-refugees-unhrc-ruling-scli-intl/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">CNN</a> reported."What's really important here, and why it's quite a landmark case, is that the committee recognized that without robust action on climate at some point in the future it could well be that governments will, under international human rights law, be prohibited from sending people to places where their life is at risk or where they would face inhuman or degrading treatment," said Jane McAdam, director of the Kaldor center for international refugee law at the University of New South Wales, to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/20/climate-refugees-cant-be-returned-home-says-landmark-un-human-rights-ruling" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The Guardian</a>. "Even though in this particular case there was no violation found, it effectively put governments on notice."</div><div class="post-pager js-listicle-pager" data-listicle-style="" data-async_load_parameters="platform=desktop&display_ads=1&settings=%7B%22enter_url%22%3A+false%2C+%22no_post_section%22%3A+false%2C+%22ads_breaks%22%3A+null%2C+%22prevent_last_break_repetition%22%3A+false%2C+%22use_numeration%22%3A+false%2C+%22allow_url_change%22%3A+true%2C+%22ads_order%22%3A+%5B%5D%2C+%22pagination_order%22%3A+%5B%5D%2C+%22list_breaks%22%3A+null%2C+%22reorder_voting%22%3A+false%2C+%22cooldown_in_seconds%22%3A+null%2C+%22source%22%3A+%22post_listicle_settings%22%2C+%22next_post_url%22%3A+null%2C+%22up_down_voting%22%3A+false%2C+%22show_columns_on_mobile%22%3A+false%2C+%22numeration_sort%22%3A+-1%2C+%22allow_url_update%22%3A+true%2C+%22use_pagination%22%3A+false%2C+%22body_text_above%22%3A+false%2C+%22use_ads%22%3A+false%2C+%22items_as_posts%22%3A+false%2C+%22multiple_answers%22%3A+false%2C+%22no_redirect%22%3A+false%2C+%22is_guest_voting_allowed%22%3A+true%2C+%22layout_type%22%3A+1%7D" style="display: table; width: 780px;" /><div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 5px !important;"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; visibility: hidden !important; margin-bottom: -5px !important;" /><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/7-million-people-displaced-extreme-weather-2640339276.html" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Record 7 Million People Displaced by Extreme Weather Events in ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-oxfam-2641492689.html" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Climate Change Forces 20 Million People to Flee Each Year, Oxfam ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/un-compact-on-migration-2589285335.html" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">UN Pact Acknowledges Climate Migration for the First Time ... ›</a></li></ul><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; visibility: hidden; margin-top: 20px !important; margin-bottom: -5px !important;" /><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/united-nations-migration-compact-climate-refugees/" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">UN's New Migration Pact Offers Hope for Climate Refugees ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/07/1043551" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Migration and the climate crisis: the UN's search for solutions | UN ... ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/climate-change-and-disasters.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Climate change and disaster displacement - UNHCR ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/06/lets-talk-about-climate-migrants-not-climate-refugees" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Let's Talk About Climate Migrants, Not Climate Refugees - United ... ›</a></li></ul></div></div></div><div class="tags" style="margin: 20px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-refugees" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">climate refugees</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">climate crisis</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">sea level rise</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">drought</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div>fox's Jesse Watters <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=bd86bf76dd7c7ce9c3e05e91e44305c8df8ba91b8ed2af4be16c5f727f33856c5cfd21a159f5cec162c07f2d22153cc711d511801ec08314" title="says" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(25, 118, 210); outline: none;">says</a> the United Nations "has always been an anti-Semitic institution," and has "a history of raping, of pillaging"<div>=</div><div>Trump later mocked the now world-renowned activist on Twitter, writing, “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”</div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2019/9/24/headlines/greta_thunberg_and_youth_activists_take_on_world_leaders_at_un_climate_action_summit">https://www.democracynow.org/2019/9/24/headlines/greta_thunberg_and_youth_activists_take_on_world_leaders_at_un_climate_action_summit</a></div><div>
</div><div>un sued for not uphold rights of children</div><div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">819</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/analysis-of-25-worlds-wealthiest-families-a-reminder-of-inequalitys-economic-drain/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/analysis-of-25-worlds-wealthiest-families-a-reminder-of-inequalitys-economic-drain/</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div>no lnx</div><div>
</div><div>Analysis of 25 world’s wealthiest families a reminder of inequality’s economic drain</div><div> </div><div>Written by Common Dreams August 11, 2019</div><div>
</div><div>If the world needed yet another example of just how unequal the global economy has become, a new analysis of the top 25 wealthiest family dynasties published Saturday revealed that while one out of ten people in the world live on less than $2.00 per day, these super rich families now control a total of $1.4 trillion in assets and are making as much as $4 million every single hour.</div><div>
</div><div>According to Bloomberg, the numbers are “mind-boggling” and include a look at—just to name a few—the fabulous riches of the Walton family, which controls the Walmart fortune, the Mars family, descendants of the candy empire, the Saudi Royal family, and the infamous Koch brothers, the right-wing libertarians who inherited their father’s oil, gas, and other holdings.</div><div>
</div><div>Notable in the new analysis is not just the size of the massive wealth these families now have, but just how exponentially it has grown, especially compared to others in the economy—both in the last several decades and over the last 12 months.</div><div>
</div><div>As Bloomberg points out:</div><div>
</div><div>Even in this era of extreme wealth and brutal inequality, the contrast is jarring. The heirs of Sam Walton, Walmart’s notoriously frugal founder, are amassing wealth on a near-unprecedented scale—and they’re hardly alone.</div><div>
</div><div>The Walton fortune has swelled by $39 billion, to $191 billion, since topping the June 2018 ranking of the world’s richest families.</div><div>
</div><div>Other American dynasties are close behind in terms of the assets they’ve accrued. The Mars family, of candy fame, added $37 billion, bringing its fortune to $127 billion. The Kochs, the industrialists-cum-political-power-players, tacked on $26 billion, to $125 billion.</div><div>
</div><div>So it goes around the globe. America’s richest 0.1% today control more wealth than at any time since 1929, but their counterparts in Asia and Europe are gaining too. Worldwide, the 25 richest families now control almost $1.4 trillion in wealth, up 24% from last year.</div><div>
</div><div>In 2014, the United Nations issued a scathing report which warned that escalating income and wealth disparities across the world was creating economic and political instability. The report, put forth by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), cautioned leaders that if unaddressed the trend of inequality would “undermine the very foundations of development and social and domestic peace.”</div><div>
</div><div>Earlier this year, Oxfam International also warned that global wealth inequality was “out of control” and urged immediate far-reaching action. “Our economy is broken,” the group said at the time. “Hundreds of millions of people living in extreme poverty while huge rewards go to those at the very top. There are more billionaires than ever before, and their fortunes have grown to record levels. Meanwhile, the world’s poorest got even poorer.”</div><div>
</div><div>So while the Trump administration in the United States and other right-wing forces advocating on behalf of the global oligarchy continue to tell workers and struggling families around the world that the threat to them is “immigrants taking their jobs” or “socialists trying to provide better wages and more universal protections”—others pointed to the new Bloomberg analysis as an alternative explanation for why there seems to be less and less for some people in the economy while the ultra-rich continue to amass fortunes at breakneck speed.</div><div>
</div><div>As Common Dreams reported earlier this week, an analysis by Dallas Morning News finance columnist Scott Burns found that if current trends continue, the wealthiest Americans “will truly ‘have it all’ just 33 years from now” as they gobble up a larger and larger share of the overall economic pie.</div><div>
</div><div>“However you slice it, the rich have been getting richer. Lots richer,” Burns wrote.</div><div></div></div>U.N. Report: 1 Million Species at Risk of Extinction especially mammals and insects 5/19 see Bio-diversity.=<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/earth-day-under-trump-nearly-50-years-later-nixons-environmental-movement-is-under-attack/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/earth-day-under-trump-nearly-50-years-later-nixons-environmental-movement-is-under-attack/</a>
Current talk of the Green New Deal or the

GOP alternative Green Real Deal notwithstanding, the political contrast

between the first Earth Day in 1970 and this year’s Earth Day is stark.

While some still debate Nixon’s environmental record, there is no

ambiguity in president Trump’s. He is sounding the retreat, not leading

the charge.

When the first Earth Day was proclaimed in April of 1970, Nixon was

working on the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, and

before the year was over, Nixon would sign the landmark Clean Air Act of

1970 into law. The Trump administration’s environmental outlook,

however, is the mirror image opposite of Nixon’s.<div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-2">

</div>

Last month, the UN’s <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27539/GEO6_2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">sixth Global Environment Outlook report</a>,

or GEO-6 for short, warned that environmental degradation is

“endangering the ecological foundations of society,” and called for

“bold, urgent, sustainable and inclusive action.”

At the White House, GEO-6 was dead on arrival, as the Trump

administration was busy unveiling a budget proposal that would slash

funds for fighting climate change and other environmental hazards.

GEO-6 identified “population, economic development, and climate

change” as the principal “drivers” of environmental degradation. But

instead of hitting the brake on those three drivers, the White House is

hitting the accelerator.

World population, currently 7.7 billion, is projected to rise to 8.6

billion by 2030 and nearly 10 billion by mid-century. Noting that

“long-term sustainability is incompatible with growing populations,” the

GEO-6 report urges expanding access to contraception in the developing

world, where 97 percent of the projected growth is expected to occur.

But the president’s budget would cut U.S. support for international

family planning assistance by more than half.<div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-5">

</div>

Gender inequality is a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12281655">principal driver</a>

of high birth rates and rapid population growth in developing

countries. Recognizing this, GEO-6 urges support for foreign assistance

programs that advance the health and education of girls. But the

president’s budget would cut State Department and USAID funding by 24

percent, almost certainly requiring major cuts in funding for girls’

health and education.

The GEO-6 report stresses the need to “decouple growth from negative

environmental impacts.” But the Trump administration has slashed dozens

of environmental regulations affecting air, land, and water resources,

and it now wants to cut EPA funding by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-budget-cuts-2020-2631384803.html">31 percent.</a>GEO-6

warns anthropogenic climate change, already well under way, will

“amplify existing risks and create new risks for natural and human

systems,” and it argues that world leaders must commit to bringing net

greenhouse gases emissions to zero by mid-century. But Trump’s

repudiation of the Paris Climate Accord and his deregulation of

coal-fired plants are aimed at burning more coal.

Some world leaders are publicly supportive of environmental

objectives, but fail to walk the walk. President Trump, on the other

hand, doesn’t even talk the talk. His blithe dismissals of climate

change and other environmental threats set him apart, starkly and

tragically, from other world leaders.

So far, Congress has rejected Trump’s call for draconian cuts in EPA

funding, but it has done nothing to stop Trump’s derailing of Obama

administration plans for reining in greenhouse gases, including the

phase out of coal-fired power plants.

We urgently need to change course. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/people-now-paying-for-sick-world-19986144">warned</a>

in releasing the GEO-6 report, we need “a significant shift in

trajectory.” That will likely require change on the scale of the

proposed Green New Deal, an approach that was rejected last month by

Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the Senate.

There are, however, reasons for hope. A small but growing number of

Republicans in Congress are acknowledging the reality of anthropogenic

climate change, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, (FL-01). He recently unveiled

his Green Real Deal proposal, and while it stops far short of what

needs to be done, it’s a sign of a warming political climate. After

Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg made an emotional appeal to the UN in

December, student-led climate change protests have proliferated. A new

global movement may be in the making.

The way forward on climate change does not require economic hardship.

Just as the U.S. prospered while slashing automobile emissions and

setting wastewater standards, we can also prosper while spurring swift

reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by phasing in a substantial and

economically efficient carbon tax. At the same time, we can slow

population growth by improving access to family planning services at

home and abroad. Doing these things today would improve the odds of

brighter Earth Days ahead.<div>=</div><div>NRATV, the media arm of the National Rifle Association, had a crazy week.They kicked the week off by going after the children’s show Thomas & Friends. Feel free to read that last sentence again. The show had <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=99LvF3WOyT1K0-EuMemZcXfaEHqjcW4X7LgKf77xWGqd7CMGuBbFN8W9mLSqP5S0Fz9SonxJztjfODtpeq6EAYAPWjC4mti-LfKa04gSt4C425hsiLfhKGGUSLZkU8yQnbnXPCl5gQxBRVbwJHZbkg&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=44&v=1437">partnered</a> with the United Nations to promote equal opportunities, introducing two female characters, one of them depicted as being from Kenya. This set off alarms for NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch. Not only did she lash out at the message they were trying to convey, they ran a graphic depicting the <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=3YhLhUxTGfXV40jjcf0E7z4H6Szh2ve6Id8D7jzs32901lv2FEDzxtFPlYNGVpVBTPqZ5DTNmWLVquP8uJzpecX4OWPT6x0Hs-zH6rUjPTLirRwDMM-ULYglexGUs6AEfcJrb6iuki8SRPT8UGPOPkvRjwcxhYktNVezH04QWHs&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=45&v=1437">trains wearing KKK hoods</a> as they rode on flaming tracks. Mattel, which owns the Thomas brand, <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=PiInCVHjZg_Lhb0RQ-dhd1sx9eEbnBYFHUKTUMf-MKXTmDFdSk0EvxkScxkrGlWC5xtBhAL5EhBA_xRLEOtPy-2JVbxi3py6_s1uyWi2Wa8&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=46&v=1437">issued a statement</a> saying that inclusivity was a priority.The next day Loesch suggested that Botham Jean, an innocent black man who was killed in his own apartment by a Dallas police officer, would have survived had he been a <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=3YhLhUxTGfXV40jjcf0E7z4H6Szh2ve6Id8D7jzs329n3aImycRIwRVV0BCUmpgQKjhG81nIeyVLgP1gBPAUWbooZdMrG3DWwnGe9U_G0Kf9zSBx8U7JPjT5jjDB_ntXSVd1I01XkgPT9SoKJoe3nbW_VrrEZvS1c6UvJISS7yY6Ktjq_A31chPDNSx1_SK3DMVBGpV4zbuZnmwL6n7iVA&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=47&v=1437">“law abiding gun owner.”</a>Defending her remarks about Jean, Loesch invoked Philando Castile’s death, <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=3YhLhUxTGfXV40jjcf0E7zQgA_lKgFY2qUmWqav0z4QdSb2i8sEVVbpd9SAfsdEsrHp0xDvaoZT0FuRz0-YgBtZASpPjMkc19NGr03qPsGMc0owwsLuuXB3DiMKsdZci9ns5etMv8sg2C1nwGKCVuiYk4bgvd52kO6ctjAZup2winNfiDDbT0njjfSZOOymW&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=48&v=1437">lying about</a> the events that transpired. Castile was killed by a police officer during a routine traffic stop after telling the officer that he had a gun in his possession. Loesch, in addition to getting the events wrong, said that Castile would be alive if he had behaved like she would have. Castile’s mother <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=YdW73e5ZXGiUuS7QkLJWy9gEaTsxjBXangw-6u8QFoD6RfingwVI7Sy0GN6hmcw5sfKstXP8YVlZFGN3hFnEzp5nLOsgcparHQ7wv32vNAI&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=49&v=1437">again</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=YdW73e5ZXGiUuS7QkLJWy8OItqXjmae4XH_LyrJJ0GQhTCawyKOYQuWRQQG1allR6c2nXjAibTf9cEGwjluk_zfRsMbZ90GkqUVEOp9KinyyOFf8Nty7SLy3M2N-cAcgRXevmosTcPKDhnAXWYEIQjVRyrc6N_2g_e11R98sb_nEQ2_P0sjCtSTR4B77b0Ha&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=50&v=1437">called out</a> Loesch and the NRA.After Trump <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=z5xCBPrSpxBGqHHfuTkZiD11ofNVG_HKiHOYEAuKNJSwcHNJ3UuC-x9Lkku7CEPkscsTeiotlOlLmYl4A8E2CyRZb0e_aphKNGZD3NIBklo&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=51&v=1437">tweeted</a> a conspiracy theory this week that the death toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico wasn’t as high as was now being reported, a new low even by his standards, NRATV host Grant Stinchfield came to the president’s defense, <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=3YhLhUxTGfXV40jjcf0E7z4H6Szh2ve6Id8D7jzs329Stpn_uABi48d5kfPN9QwTNoBYaD4xSqwHRCqMXnaOIczoT-lGBQD8P0bNNmcckuByIKbhIltgsMUuXqpzXt7rncITOcBaz-8milV1oLGg9oMgNqZ8s6xNuOmLNHoX9hvd4df0NAFo5V1hZIKXlWh9&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=52&v=1437">calling the death toll numbers bogus</a>.It is clear that the <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=3YhLhUxTGfXV40jjcf0E7zQgA_lKgFY2qUmWqav0z4STYL7xV_TjTm8szBmFU85o_P3FbhOtrb92DXgWM-CRYp0J9Wy4kStpUyFVR64Q-vI&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=53&v=1437">NRA's racism</a> is a core part of its strategy. They are invested in the regime of white supremacy, and deeply fear that a changing America would take a fresh look at widespread gun violence -- and what could be done about it.Also: Tucker Carlson keeps pushing white nationalist talking points on his show, and white supremacists <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=3YhLhUxTGfXV40jjcf0E7zQgA_lKgFY2qUmWqav0z4SuNo2ft8CDVNDZzQo1SB3Q_XvBD9QcljMd4Gho_BYhqeRU2hWGEnQQy8xI5Yrcy5cQzjAexyhNPnMacO3Bbor44hHh-3Kx8W512mNqDLT58EbYC4xgt7l6YenaixSFoHg&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=916weekly&n=54&v=1437">are thrilled with him</a>.</div><div>=</div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/un-chief-warns-existential-threat-humanity-climate-change-moving-faster-we-are">https://www.alternet.org/un-chief-warns-existential-threat-humanity-climate-change-moving-faster-we-are</a>Warning that "we face a direct existential threat" because "climate change is moving faster than we are," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in a <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2018-09-10/secretary-generals-remarks-climate-change-delivered" style="text-decoration-line: none;">speech</a> at the U.N.'s New York headquarters on Monday, demanded urgent action from world leaders to combat "the defining issue of our time."In the wake of worldwide <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/08/across-all-seven-continents-riseforclimate-actions-demand-elected-leaders-commit" style="text-decoration-line: none;">#RiseForClimate</a> protests over the weekend, which brought more than <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/09/10/across-globe-over-250000-people-riseforclimate" style="text-decoration-line: none;">250,000 people</a> into the streets to call for bolder action to address the global crisis, the U.N. chief declared, "If we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change, with disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us."<blockquote data-lang="en" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Climate change is the defining issue of our time – and we are at a defining moment. If we do not change course by 2020, we could miss our chance to avoid the disastrous consequences of runaway climate change. The time for ambitious <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateAction?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration-line: none;">#ClimateAction</a> is now. <a href="https://t.co/Ad19hj3zsD" style="text-decoration-line: none;">https://t.co/Ad19hj3zsD</a> <a href="https://t.co/VykZtbYDUi" style="text-decoration-line: none;">pic.twitter.com/VykZtbYDUi</a><div style="margin-bottom: 20px;">— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) <a href="https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1039239156487073792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration-line: none;">September 10, 2018</a></div></blockquote>Researchers from around the world continue to raise alarm about the dire consequences of burning fossil fuels that generate planet-warming emissions.Recent reports have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/27/unprecedented-heat-wave-fueling-arctic-fires-made-more-twice-likely-climate-change" style="text-decoration-line: none;">detailed</a> how the global climate crisis makes extreme weather more likely; how <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/20/arctic-warming-stalls-summer-weather-study-warns-intensifying-very-extreme-extremes" style="text-decoration-line: none;">accelerated</a> Arctic warming is stalling summer weather over North America, Europe, and Asia, which could lead to "very-extreme extremes"; and the precise threats to certain regions—such as California, which <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/28/warning-more-extreme-wildfires-and-coastal-floods-new-report-details-apocalyptic" style="text-decoration-line: none;">faces</a> a future of dangerous heat waves, devastating wildfires, intense rain events, and costly sea-level rise.<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/07/hothouse-future-humanity-scientists-behind-terrifying-climate-analysis-hope-they-are" style="text-decoration-line: none;">"Hothouse Earth"</a> study provoked a flood of "breathless headlines" last month for its warnings of a possible domino effect of climate feedback loops that could lead to runaway global warming—though at least one of its co-authors optimistically <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/17/hothouse-earth-co-author-says-people-will-look-back-2018-year-when-climate-reality" style="text-decoration-line: none;">posited</a>after all of the media attention that "people will look back on 2018 as the year when climate reality hit.""Scientists have been telling us for decades. Over and over again. Far too many leaders have refused to listen. Far too few have acted with the vision the science demands," Guterres noted Monday. "Dear friends, we know what is happening to our planet. We know what we need to do. And we even know how to do it. But sadly, the ambition of our action is nowhere near where it needs to be."Calling the Paris climate agreement the "bare minimum," Guterres pointed out that states who support the accord—<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/07/america-last-us-vs-entire-world-after-syria-agrees-join-paris-accord" style="text-decoration-line: none;">every nation</a> on the planet but the United States, thanks to President Donald Trump's decision to bail on it last year—are failing to live up to its inadequate goals."We have the moral and economic incentives to act. What is still missing—still, even after Paris—is the leadership, and the sense of urgency and true commitment to [a] decisive multilateral response," Guterres concluded. "Our fate is in our hands. The world is counting on all of us to rise to the challenge before it's too late."Guterres also turned to Twitter on Monday to highlight a new Guardian <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/10/seriously-big-deal-nyc-and-london-mayors-call-cities-worldwide-divest-fossil-fuels" style="text-decoration-line: none;">op-ed</a> from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who challenged all cities to join the global divestment movement and announced a new forum, which their cities will co-chair, to share tools and tips for divesting from fossil fuels and investing in green energy....[sf conf]</div>
<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://ecowatch.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=214ab5fbb3f6015d74ffab4ec&id=a3b1af6578&e=c2e8fdabfa" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Indigenous Australians Take Fight Against Giant Coal Mine to the United Nations</a>

<div><div>Opinion</div><div>
</div><div>JUL 10, 2012 @ 12:45 PM 156,094 The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets</div><div>
</div><div>The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty: Are Our 2nd Amendment Rights Part Of The Deal?</div><div>    </div><div>
</div><div>Larry Bell , CONTRIBUTOR</div><div>I write about aerospace, environment, energy, Second Amendment policy  </div><div>Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.</div><div>
</div><div>US President Barack Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly. "As a former lecturer in constitutional law, wouldn’t President Obama realize that the U.N.’s gun- grab agenda violates our sovereign rights? Perhaps the answer to that question warrants some serious reflection. " (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)</div><div>
</div><div>One year ago I wrote an article titled “U.N. Agreement Should Have All Gun Owners Up In Arms” which has recently gained a great deal of renewed public interest. This update reviews some more recent developments, offering additional perspective about an immediate matter which should be of great concern to all who value rights guaranteed by our Second Amendment.</div><div>
</div><div>The Obama administration is actively engaged in negotiations to finalize details for a new global agreement premised to fight “terrorism”, “insurgency” and “international crime syndicates”. As U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon describes its purpose, “Our goal is clear: a robust and legally binding Arms Trade Treaty that will have a real impact on the lives of those millions of people suffering from consequences of armed conflict, repression and armed violence…It is ambitious, but it is achievable.”</div><div>
</div><div>Under the George W. Bush administration, the U.S. originally voted against a resolution that began the process in 2006. However, the current administration reversed that policy, and strongly supports its enactment. In January 2010, U.S. representatives joined with those of 152 other countries in endorsing a U.N. Arms Treaty Resolution to draft a blueprint for enactment in 2012. This activity is planned to be completed by July 27, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged to push hard for Senate ratification. Previously led by the United Kingdom, there can be no doubt that the U.N.’s 193-member General Assembly will approve it.</div><div>
</div><div>Foreign ministers of the U.K., France, Germany and Sweden want the treaty to cover all types of conventional weapons, notably including small arms and light weapons, all types of munitions, and related technologies. They also advocate that it include strong provisions governing human rights, international humanitarian law and sustainable development. (More about sustainable development later.)</div><div>
</div><div>U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Internal Security and Nonproliferation, Thomas Countryman, has stated that the Obama administration does not support regulation of ammunition, but only wants to make it more difficult to “conduct illicit, illegal and destabilizing transfers of arms”. In addition, a press release issued by the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs says that “The outcome will not seek to prohibit citizens of any country from possessing firearms or to interfere with the legal trade in small arms and light weapons.”</div><div>
</div><div>Such statements have many very strong skeptics, both inside and outside Congress. One reason, among many, is that Iran, a country that is one of the world’s worst human rights violators, yet often chaired the U.N. Human Rights Council…yes Iran, arms supplier to many of America’s most determined adversaries… was selected for a top Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) planning conference position. The members, apparently including U.S. representatives, authorized this selection shortly after the same U.N. found the very same Iran guilty of transferring guns and bombs to the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad who is presently slaughtering thousands of its own citizens.Meanwhile, the U.N., America included, purporting to be distraught about illicit, illegal and destabilizing transfers of arms, watches in the wings as these tragedies unfold. Of course, they’re very busy. Those arms control planning conferences require a lot of attention.</div><div>
</div><div>On June 29, 130 Republican House members sent a letter to President Obama and Secretary Clinton arguing that the proposed treaty infringes on the “fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms”. The letter charges that “…the U.N.’s actions to date indicate that the ATT is likely to pose significant threats to our national security, foreign policy, and economic interests as well as our constitutional rights.” The lawmakers adamantly insist that the U.S. Government has no right to support a treaty that violates the Constitution and Bill of Rights.</div><div>
</div><div>Democrats have accused Republicans of making this a political issue, maintaining that the treaty poses no Second Amendment threat. Others, such as former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, caution gun owners to take this initiative seriously. He believes that the U.N. “is trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international arms trade between nation states, but there is no doubt that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control.”</div><div>
</div><div>So let’s review some recent history and see if gun owners and other Second Amendment defenders might have very good reasons to take issue with this treaty. Actually, we don’t have to look back very far at all.</div><div>
</div><div>Consider the Fast and Furious debacle, an operation that was represented to be all about targeting bad guys who are committing violent crimes on both sides of our border with Mexico. There can be no remaining doubt that the program was really aimed at border gun shops and their right to conduct legal civilian firearms sales.</div><div>
</div><div>And after the 2010 Republican House cleaning dashed President Obama’s dream of a carbon cap-and-trade program, he wasted no time finding a way to circumvent that pesky obstacle. His EPA is gleefully pursuing that same anti-fossil energy agenda. Meanwhile, Congress sits idly by and allows this breach of its constitutional responsibility established by separation of powers to continue.</div><div>
</div><div>Then there’s the currently proposed, Obama-endorsed, Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) which would subordinate U.S. naval and drilling operations beyond 200 miles of our coast to a newly established U.N. bureaucracy. If ratified by Congress, it will grant a Kingston, Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority (ISA) the power to regulate deep-sea oil exploration, seabed mining, and fishing rights. As part of the deal, as much as 7% of U.S. government revenue collected from oil and gas companies operating off our coast will be forked over to ISA for redistribution to poorer, landlocked countries.</div><div>
</div><div>Page 1 / 2 Continue ...</div></div><div></div>https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/18/headlines/un_agency_for_palestinians_appeals_for_funds_as_us_slashes_contributionsomgMeanwhile, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees made an urgent appeal for funds Wednesday, after the Trump administration canceled $65 million in annual contributions to the agency, known as UNRWA. In Gaza, residents say they could soon starve unless international donors step up to fill the funding gap left by President Trump.
Fathiya Abed al-Jawad: “We will be lost. It will be a catastrophe. People will be stealing from each other. We will live in a catastrophe. We will suffer to provide food and wheat. People will kill each other.”
Naim Hamad: “What should I do? Should I go sell one of my kids or sell my kidney? What should I do? Should I go and steal or work as a spy? I need cooking oil, yogurt, eggs and bread.”

------  omg<a href="https://www.alternet.org/environment/what-trumps-withdrawal-unesco-means-environment">n</a>o link imagehttps://www.alternet.org/environment/what-trumps-withdrawal-unesco-means-environment
What Trump's Withdrawal From UNESCO Means for the EnvironmentPresident Trump continues to isolate the United States from the global community.By Giovanni Ortolani / AlterNet December 26, 2017, 8:30 PM GMT

The Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary in the Philippines is a World Heritage Site that supports threatened and endemic flora and fauna.Photo Credit: Roy F. Ponce/UNESCO
The U.S. is quitting UNESCO, the United Nations organization that coordinates international efforts to foster peace and sustainable development and to eradicate poverty. The Trump administration made the announcement October 12. The withdrawal takes effect Dec. 31, 2018.
"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," said Heather Nauert, a U.S. State Department spokesperson in a press statement.
The U.S. says it will seek to stay engaged with the organization as a non-member observer state in order to "contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization," including the protection of World Heritage Sites and the promotion of scientific collaboration.

Saint Mary Lake and Wildgoose Island, Glacier National Park, a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site. (Photo courtesy of U.S. National Park Service)
Trump isn’t the first U.S. president to have antagonism toward the organization. Although America has played an important role in UNESCO since its creation after World War II, Trump's predecessors have been quarreling with it since the 1970s.
"We were in arrears to the tune of $550 million or so, and so the question is, do we want to pay that money?" Nauert said at a news briefing, making clear that "with this anti-Israel bias that’s long documented on the part of UNESCO, that [U.S. relationship] needs to come to an end."
But what does the Trump administration’s withdrawal mean for UNESCO environmental programs worldwide? And will the loss of U.S. money matter?

UNESCO declares 2015 the International Year of Light at the Paris Climate Summit. President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. is withdrawing from the world scientific body has spurred concern at the harm the decision will do to the planet. (Photo by Athalfred DKL on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC-ND)
UNESCO environmental and science programs
The U.N. Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization was founded in 1945, and is a catalyst for far-reaching and important environmental and sustainable development initiatives. Today it’s the only UN organization with a clear science mandate, and it works on a broad scope of environmental issues, directing projects from a scientific, cultural, social and educational perspective.
UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector, headquartered in Paris, has a staff of 120, with 54 field offices around the world, and hosts major international programs in the freshwater, ecological, earth and basic sciences. Its activities deal with the ecological sciences (Man and the Biosphere Program and World Network of Biosphere Reserves), water security (International Hydrological Program and World Water Assessment Program), and earth sciences (International Geoparks and Geoscience Program, and disaster risk reduction).

Man and the Biosphere is one of UNESCO’s best-known programs, with its World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Launched in 1971, MAB seeks to improve relationships between people and their environments by protecting areas nominated by national governments. MAB reserves remain under sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they’re located, but enjoy international recognition.
"Biosphere Reserves are learning places for sustainable development whose aim is to reconcile biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources," read a recent UNESCO press statement when it added 23 new sites to WNBR. The Trump Administration is voluntarily withdrawing 17 sites from the program. However, withdrawal isn’t unusual and other countries including the U.K., Austria, Australia, Norway, Bulgaria, and Sweden have withdrawn MAB sites in the past. Among those being withdrawn by the U.S. currently is the Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire, U.S. Forest Service reserve, where groundbreaking forest ecosystem and climate research has been ongoing for decades.
Today WNBR encompasses 669 sites in 120 countries, including 16 transboundary biosphere reserves, covering over 680 million hectares (2.6 million square miles) of inland, coastal and marine areas, and representing all major ecosystem types and diverse development contexts. These areas are home to approximately 207 million people ranging from rural and indigenous communities to urban dwellers.

In the 1960s, UNESCO launched an international campaign to save the Abu Simbel Temple monuments in Egypt from being flooded by Lake Nasser as it backed up behind the Aswan High Dam. The project drew unprecedented international attention and praise for UNESCO’s protection of the world’s cultural heritage. (Photo on VisualHunt.com)
Water programs
The International Hydrological Program does scientific, educational and capacity building around water issues. IHP promotes an interdisciplinary, integrated approach to watershed and aquifer management, and does international research in the hydrological and freshwater sciences.
It also assists UNESCO member states in water security efforts, addressing challenges such as water-related disasters and hydrological changes, groundwater, water scarcity and quality, and ecohydrology—the study of the interrelationships between hydrological and biological processes required to enhance water security and lessen ecological threats.
The World Water Assessment Program produces an annual World Water Development Report, a coordinated effort achieved across the U.N. system and provides a clear picture of the state of the world’s freshwater resources to member nations.

Pamukkale, Turkey, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its hot springs and enormous white terraces of travertine, a carbonate mineral sediment left by flowing water. (Photo on Visualhunt.com)
Earth science programs
UNESCO's programs in earth sciences support research that informs current challenges such as evidence of global change from the geological record, geoscience of the water cycle, or environmental geodynamics.
The Environmental and Health Impacts of Mining Activities in Sub-Saharan African Countries is a good example of how valuable this knowledge can be. This program aims to understand how mining activities (particularly abandoned mines) negatively affect soils, animals, plants and fungi, surface and groundwater, and the health of neighboring communities. It also experiments with the most appropriate mining rehabilitation technologies and provides science-based data to governments and local authorities on both land-use planning and technologies to mitigate environmental disaster in contaminated regions.
UNESCO Global Geoparks are areas where landscapes and sites of international geological significance are managed via a holistic approach to protection, education and sustainable development. As of today, there are 127 Geoparks in 35 countries, ranging from Vietnam to Brazil.
The organization also supports the meaningful inclusion of local and indigenous knowledge in biodiversity conservation and management, especially climate change assessment and adaptation via the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has its own membership and a separate chapter in the Organization’s program and budget. IOC is the only body devoted to marine science within the UN system, and the United States has been involved in it since its establishment in 1960, mainly through the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The future of that relationship is uncertain now.
The U.S. has played an important role in many IOC programs critical to ocean health and the well-being of coastal communities. For instance, the Global Tsunami Warning System that covers four major ocean basins (Pacific, Indian, Caribbean, and Mediterranean/North Eastern Atlantic), or the Harmful Algal Blooms program, which develops research and provides guidance to address “red tides” now threatening a wide range of coastal economic sectors (fishing, tourism, navigation, aquaculture).
NOAA and NASA are also pivotal to IOC’s Global Ocean Observing System: the U.S. has in particular been leading the deployment of Argo floats around the globe to enhance measurements of ocean temperature, salinity and currents. The U.S. is a key contributor to observations of sea-level rise, ocean water acidification and a number of other variables to enhance understanding and predict trends and impacts of climate change, El Niño and other ocean-related phenomena. It is uncertain precisely how that relationship will function in future.

Okavango Delta, Botswana, World Heritage Site. This permanent marshland and seasonally flooded plainisone of the world’s few major interior delta systems that do not flow into a sea. The Okavango Delta is home to some of the world’s most endangered species, including the elephant, cheetah, white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, African wild dogandlion. (© Pete Hancock/UNESCO)
Who benefits, who is hurt?
"While the U.S. will remain engaged in many of these programs, the absence of U.S. funding makes it increasingly difficult to meet the challenges that are so vital to the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans," UNESCO spokesman George Papagiannis told Mongabay in an email, pointing out that "an ounce of investment is worth a pound of cure."
Papagiannis stressed a simple fact: UNESCO programs, and the critical environmental problems they seek to solve, do not only result in benefits to countries far from the White House, but instead greatly benefit the United States and millions of American citizens.
"A submerged lower Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy, or the blooming red tides that affect the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, are reminders that the U.S. is no safer than most countries from ocean-related hazards," he said, adding that no single country, regardless of national capacity, can tackle these cross-border issues on its own.
"Whether it is about safeguarding coastal economies and jobs, ensuring people's safety and public health, or protecting infrastructures, U.S. investments on IOC activities in ocean science and services create benefits to its citizens that far outweigh the costs," he said.

Ancient Maya city and protected tropical forests of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico, a World Heritage Site—a valued natural and cultural landscape located in the central/southern Yucatan Peninsula. The site protects both the ancient Mayan city of Calakmul and a large section of the Mesoamerica biodiversity hotspot, which encompasses all subtropical and tropical ecosystems from central Mexico to the Panama Canal. (© Archivo/RBC-CONANP)
The IOC also provides an intergovernmental coordination platform for effective collective action, from which all member states benefit. Of course, that cooperative approach doesn’t fit in well with President Trump's "Make America Great Again," go-it-alone approach.
As an example, the UN General Assembly is discussing a proposal by IOC to declare 2021-2030 as the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development under the U.N.’s global coordination. "The U.S. government and its scientific institutions stand to benefit enormously from participating in this collective framework for coordinating and consolidating the observations and research needed to achieve the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the ocean," Papagiannis said, pointing out that "it will be the time to bolster innovative technologies and scientific knowledge to bring tangible wellbeing and economic benefits to U.S. citizens."
It is worth noting that much of UNESCO's work addresses the root causes of mass human migration, promoting sustainable and equitable management of national natural resources, and providing or fostering livelihoods, notably in Biosphere Reserves.
Loss of U.S. funding started in 2011
Strange as it may sound, there will be no immediate financial consequences related to the U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO because the United States has not paid its dues since 2011 during the Obama administration when the Palestinian Authority was accepted into the U.N. agency as a full member. The funding cut then was across the board, resulting in a 22 percent hit to the UNESCO budget more than $80 million per year, according to a Foreign Policy report. Since then, all parts of the organization have adapted to new financial realities.
Clearly, there have been consequences since 2011, and UNESCO has never fully recovered from the loss. The approved budget allocated to Science and the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) for the 2010-2011 biennium was $59,074,000, while the approved expenditure plan for the current biennium (2016-2017) for Science and the IOC falls below that amount, coming in at $48,308,400.

The Isla Genovesa Booby Sanctuary, Tower Island, Galapagos World Heritage Site. (Photo by David Broad licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license)
As a result, the number of permanent science positions has decreased, while less funding has meant a sharp refocusing of the organization’s work. UNESCO’s Basic Sciences efforts were severely impacted, and the organization is no longer directly involved in earth observation and remote sensing projects, with few exceptions. That’s a serious problem when one considers the rapid natural changes underway due to climate change. Furthermore, UNESCO no longer spends regular budget on renewable energy activities, and its engineering activities have been strongly curtailed.
In addition to its assessed contribution, the U.S. used to fund projects directly, a procedure known as “extra-budgetary funding.” This means that UNESCO received money from the U.S. State Department, USAID, Department of Defense and National Science Foundation for seismicity and earthquake engineering in the Mediterranean and in Northeast Asia, and cooperation with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. The last of the funds allocated as extra-budgetary were received in November 2011 and spent by 2014.
One discontinued project was the Open Initiative with the Space Agencies, which included NASA, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S. Geological Survey. This initiative used space imaging to monitor and protect World Heritage sites, and was discontinued five years ago. Interestingly that task has now been taken on by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which seems to value science more than the current U.S administration.

Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, Philippines, World Heritage Site. This preserve showcases terrestrial and aquatic habitats at varying elevations, and includes threatened and endemic flora and fauna, eight species of which are found only at Mount Hamiguitan, including the iconic Philippine eagle and Philippine cockatoo. (© Roy F. Ponce/UNESCO)
Who is the real loser?
According to Papagiannis, "the withdrawal of the U.S. will have an impact on the United States' level of engagement in global science programs, and in the leadership of these programs."
But in statements emailed to Mongabay, a State Department official wrote “U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO does not alter U.S. policy of supporting international cooperation in educational, scientific, cultural, communication and information activities where there are benefits to the United States. By pursuing non-member observer status, it is our intention to remain participants in UNESCO programs, such as IOC, where non-member observers may have a role.”
However, the statement continues, the dimensions of this observer participation remain to be defined. Currently, the U.S. is focused on preparing its request for non-member observer status so that it may remain engaged on "non-politicized issues" undertaken by UNESCO.
"When it is in the U.S. interest," stressed the official, "the United States will continue to participate in UNESCO and UNESCO-related activities that do not require membership in the Organization."
Melinda Kimble, senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation, asserts that UNESCO's scientific and environmental programs provide core elements that support national and regional planning for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”—a commitment to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030 worldwide adopted in 2015 by Heads of State and Government at a special U.N. summit.
“Clearly, an active and fully contributing U.S. could make a difference in sustaining UNESCO’s leadership in education, science and culture,” she told Mongabay.
This is not the first time the U.S. has left UNESCO. The Reagan Administration withdrew in 1984 because of concerns over many issues, ranging from Soviet Union disarmament proposals to the organization’s request for a budget increase. When the U.S. pulled out then, it was not in arrears and continued supporting UNESCO programs with voluntary financial contributions.

Karibik, St. Kitts, Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many such sites include both natural and historical treasures. (Photo by giggel licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license)
Then after an almost 20-year absence, the U.S. rejoined the organization in 2003. President George W. Bush announced the move "as a symbol of our commitment to human dignity.… This organization has been reformed and America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights and tolerance and learning."
As for Trump's planned withdrawal, Kimble agrees that “clearly, an active and fully contributing USA could make a difference in sustaining UNESCO's leadership in education, science and culture.” She notes that while the current pullout underscores U.S. skepticism about the U.N. system and multilateral action in many spheres, the real damage was done not by Trump but starting in 2011 with the U.S. failure to contribute financially.
“[T]he failure to pay dues has significantly undermined the capacity of the organization to deliver on its ambitious programs,” Kimble concluded.
Under the terms of the original 1945 treaty establishing the United Nations and UNESCO, the U.S. as a Member State remains obligated to paying its arrears. "But this is not just about the money," says Papagiannis. "This [withdrawal represents] a loss for multilateralism and a blow to universality, which are critical factors to addressing the issues that affect people everywhere in every country."

Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve (established 1976) is located in the southern Sierra Nevada of California, USA. (Photo by thor_mark on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-SA)
In October, after receiving official notification by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expressed profound regret at the decision.
"In 2011, when payment of membership contributions was suspended at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, I said I was convinced UNESCO had never mattered as much for the United States, or the United States for UNESCO. This is all the more true today, when the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security, to counter racism and anti-semitism, to fight ignorance and discrimination," she said in a press statement.
"I believe UNESCO’s action to enhance scientific cooperation, for ocean sustainability, is shared by the American people," she added.
As the world rushes headlong into a century of scientific uncertainty, where the climate, oceans, freshwater, ecosystems and human communities grow increasingly unstable and at risk, it remains to be seen just how long America will want to go it alone, rather than joining with the rest of the world to share in the costs and benefits of international science in order to serve the common good<a href="https://www.alternet.org/environment/what-trumps-withdrawal-unesco-means-environment">https://www.alternet.org/environment/what-trumps-withdrawal-unesco-means-environment</a>
<a href="http://www.alternet.org/environment/move-over-paris-new-global-pact-could-finally-grant-planet-earth-right-survival">http://www.alternet.org/environment/move-over-paris-new-global-pact-could-finally-grant-planet-earth-right-survival</a>Despite any claims in the press, nothing new has progressed in international environmental law for a few decades. Activity has been focused on fine-tuning the existing agreements; but now moves are afoot to finally grant planet Earth a right to survival.Actually, international environmental governance and law haven’t been around for that long. A few treaties pre-date the 1970s, but focused environmental governance began in 1972 with the Stockholm Declaration, when governments recognized that biological diversity is a global asset for present and future generations—that Earth’s biological resources are vital to humanity's economic and social development. Following this foundation declaration came a mushrooming of treaties and agreements in the '70s and '80s, all seeking to address specific areas that threaten Earth's biological heritage.There are now over 500 international treaties dealing with the environment. Many of these are small, or regionally specific. Most have a distinct focus, like banning the release of chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere, combatting the illegal wildlife trade or reducing the impact of shipping. The last major step was the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992. This treaty was intended as the unifier—the rallying point around which everything else would spin. But CBD blended into the crowd, and since 1992, nothing new has come along to energize the governance arena again.This is not to suggest no attention has been directed to managing the environmental commons. A regular flurry of diplomatic activity is focused on fine-tuning the existing agreements around specific issues. Even the much-heralded Paris Agreement is progress against a program that was established many decades ago. Meetings are held, small progress steps are made, but there is no vigor in the system. Meanwhile, the threats to species and ecosystems have never been so great. <a href="http://www.alternet.org/animal-rights/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-under-way-scientists-warn" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Species extinctions</a>, caused by human activities, continue at an alarming rate.All of the 500 environmental treaties have been hard won. The detail each contains is important—the world is a complicated place and cannot be managed with simplistic motherhood statements. But governments are not bound by them; they can abide or ignore the treaties as they please. Despite the effort that went into their creation, environmental treaties are often referred to as "soft law" because they don't have any legally binding force.For the past decade or so governments have complained that the field is now too crowded, complicated and reporting to them all is duplicated effort. To calm the disquiet, the United Nations General Assembly elevated the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), giving it greater impetus through a new <a href="http://www.unep.org/environmentassembly/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">United National Environment Assembly</a>. The idea is for UNEA to be a focal point for addressing important issues from different perspectives. For instance, <a href="http://www.unep-aewa.org/en/eventcalendar/3rd-session-united-nations-environment-assembly-unea-3" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">UNEA3</a>taking place in November 2017 will focus on pollution in all its forms.Elevating UNEP and creating UNEA is still yet another incremental step that just helps to better focus the old issues. But recently, something new was born. Still in its infancy, a new <a href="http://www.leclubdesjuristes.com/toward-a-global-pact-for-the-environment-action-for-the-planet-action-through-law/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Global Pact for the Environment</a> is proposed to bring soft environmental law into the realm of hard law. If the U.N. General Assembly adopts the pact, hard law teeth will be given to the existing environment treaties. The pact will become a unifying legal document to sit over the complicated detail of the 500 treaties. Suddenly, international environmental law will have coherence because everyone will be paying attention.If it survives to maturity, the <a href="http://www.leclubdesjuristes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Project-Global-Pact-for-the-Environment.pdf" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">pact</a> will do more. It will also establish principles that compel nations and other legal persons to protect the environment, promote sustainable development and intergenerational equity, and ensure the right of access to information and environmental justice.If the pact is adopted by the United Nations, environmental rights will have legal and binding power. For the first time, humans will have agreed that Earth and all her inhabitants have a right to survival. That is something worth fighting for.==

Saiya, Nilay. "Evangelizing Foreign Policy: Bush, Dispensationalism and the Middle East" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the MPSA Annual National Conference, Palmer House Hotel, Hilton, Chicago, IL, Apr 03, 2008  .  2013-12-14<http citation.allacademic.com="" meta="" p267902_index.html=""> Evangelizing Foreign Policy: Bush, Dispensationalism and the Middle East The integrating of politics into the novels should not be surprising given the political background of one of the authors. Rev. Tim LaHaye (cofounder of the Moral  Majority whose wife, Beverly LaHaye runs the conservative Christian organization Concerned Women for America) has emerged as one of the preeminent leaders of the Christian Right, joining the ranks of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Billy Graham. He even has a school of prophecy named after him at Falwell’s Liberty University.  In the 1980’s LaHaye was an important figure in the Christian Right in his roles as leader of Californians for Biblical Morality, an organization instrumental in electing Ronald Reagan as that state’s governor, and co-founder of the burgeoning Moral Majority. 43 Later, he was named a co-chair of Jack Kemp’s presidential campaign in 1988.  Recently,  he has established a Pre-Tribulation Research Center, which exists as “a ‘think tank’ committed to the study, proclamation, teaching and defending of the Pre-tribulational Rapture (pre-70th week of Daniel) and related end-time prophecy.” 44 Some speculated a connection between the apocalyptic writings of LaHaye and the Manichean dualism and  controversial Middle East policies of George W. Bush.  Pat Robertson’s 1991 best-selling novel The New World Order describes an elaborate conspiracy leading to the ascension of the antichrist to world power. The narrative, based on prophetic passages found in both the Old and New Testaments, presents an over 200-year-old plot to destroy the Christian faith. Individuals and organizations involved (whether knowingly or unknowingly) are as diverse as the Freemasons, the Illuminati, the United Nations, Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler, the Trilateral Commission, Henry Kissinger, and even the Council on Foreign Relations. As in the Left Behind novels, the backdrop for the ascent of the antichrist is the United Nations. =U.N. Chief Tries to Kick-Start Sagging Enthusiasm for Climate Deal</http>