By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/uncope4offmessage110909.html
UNITED NATIONS, November 9 -- If an agreement is not binding, can you be said to seal the deal? This question was put Monday to the UN's climate change advisor Janos Pasztor, who until recently was calling for a legally binding agreement at the Copenhagen talks in December.
Now Pasztor echoes Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's retreat to a "politically binding" agreement, as phrased most recently in London: " if we agree on a strong politically-binding commitment that will be I think a reasonable success." Toward that goal, apparently, Ban travels to Washington on November 10.
Inner City Press asked Pasztor when it occurred to the UN Secretariat that a legally binding -- that is, a binding -- agreement would not be possible: before or after they said Yvo de Boer was incompletely quoted when he said precisely that? Video here, from Minute 26:12. There was not a specific month, Pasztor answered genially. A few weeks ago.
It's been a slippery slope, one commented, from Jeffery Sachs to Yvo de Boer to this. A slippery Slopenhagen indeed.
Inner City Press asked about the reported walk-out by African countries from the last negotiating session in Barcelona. Pasztor was, as always, relentlessly upbeat, saying they did not walk out of Barcelena (certainly not the city, one wag whispered) but only some meetings -- and then they "walked back" in. So all's fine?
Noting that the SealTheDeal2010 web site, unlike its 2009 version, is not in UN hands, Inner City Press asked if the campaign would morph. Video here, from Minute 30:30. No, Pasztor said, we must have a deal in 2009 in Copenhagen. But is a deal that is not legally binding a deal at all?
Pasztor on November 6 attended a meeting of the Secretary General's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change, in the UN's basement. Yvo de Boer was listed as "not participating," and Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu as participating only by teleconference. That was better than the CEO of Vattenfall, a company which has said publicly its use of coal will actually increase in the next few years.
As Inner City Press has raised to Pasztor and UN global goods guru Bob Orr, Vattenfall put out a press release stating that CEO Lars Josefsson's selection by Ban meant the company has a good environmental record. Both have said such claims are inappropriate, and the CEOs are selected and must attend in their personal capacity.
Apparently, Vattenfall has never been disciplined or retracted its claim using the UN. And on November 6, the list of participatants lists "Arne Mogren (on behalf of Lars Josefsson)." What was that about CEOs attending personally?
Listed among "additional participants (consultants and advisors to principals)" was Reid Detchon, a vice president with an NGO, the UN Foundation. Who would he -- or they -- be advising?
Footnote: While some NGOs are invited in, another was escorted away from the General Assembly stakeout on November 5, and had UN passes stripped. On November 9, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesperson Michele Montas when NGOs can speak at the stakeout. Video here, from Minute 17:31.
When they are sponsored by Member States, she said, then added "or Observer Missions," a reference to Palestine's Riyad Mansour and his guests from Jerusalem who spoke at the Security Council stakeout on November 6.
Montas even defended the stakeout of Mia Farrow, as a "UNICEF Special Ambassador." But what about Polisario, which had the plug pulled while it spoke? What about HRW, after the Human Rights Council elections? Which Member States invited them to the stakeout? And was that known in the heat of the moment, or only made up afterwards?
And see, www.innercitypress.com/uncope4offmessage110909.html
