UN Brags of MDGs But Dodges Online Questions of Oceans & the Future, FUNCA: Innovate Whose Future?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 -- The UN is bragging about the Millennium Development Goals, even as what's to come after is being fought about. 

  Last week Inner City Press wrote about Palau's and others' push for a post-2015 “Sustainable Development Goal” about the oceans. 

  On June 28, Inner City Press attended the UN's press conference in New York about the MDGs and asked about it. But the UN insisted that the briefing was embargoed until now, July 1, and that the participants could not be named. Why?

  Hardly any other journalists at the UN cared about the MDGs press conference. While the UN Correspondents Association almost cravenly goes to any and all briefing in order to say their name, this one, they missed. (The Free UN Coalition for Access thanked the briefers - who must remain nameless, by choice.)

  On the question of the oceans, they agreed that when the MDGs were agreed there was less awareness: not even carbon and climate change were the focus yet. They agreed with Inner City Press' critique of the urban slums data, not taking into account the shift of population toward the cities. (MDGs Report at page 50.)

But here is something wrong with the UN system and its supposed interface with the public on these issues. The UN's “Greening the Blue” twitter account did not respond on the carbon impact of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's travel, when asked back on June 21 by the Free UN Coalition for Access, @FUNCA_info.

  UNDP's Olav Kjorven didn't answer on his carbon footprint, nor on whether the UN system favors an Oceans SDG. (Inner City Press is told that Ban Ki-moon doesn't understand the concept and asked for a briefing.)

  UNDP is pitching the #Post2015 tumult in “194 countries,” because a video they paid for said it involved Rwanda and 193 countries. But when asked by FUNCA what the 194thcountry is -- Somaliland? -- they did not respond, but justdropped the 194 claim in favor of 750,000 people. It's a one way mirror, throughout the UN system.

 Palau by contrast and its partner the TerraMar project are reaching out and responding, ready to press for September 2014. Watch this site.  

UNsocial Media Private in Tanzania, No Carbon Answers, UNfollowing Dissent

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 -- Propaganda is a concept usually attributed to states, but the United Nations, a club of states, engaged in it too. 

  A recently-begun review of UN system social media activity finds waste and contradictions, often an online echo chamber in which people who are being paid to appear to be cutting edge back each other up but don't answer questions from the outside.

  Take as one example the UN “Information Center” or UNIC in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania -- while the whole purpose of its Twitter account is presumably to inform the public, the account is locked: you have to apply and be accepted to see what this UNIC is tweeting.

  Then there's the UNIC in Khartoum, which tweeted a report blaming the SPLM-North rebels for killing a UN peacekeeping, something the UN in New York has been unwilling to do despite two requests from Inner City Press. but UNIC Khartoum did not respond to a question about its tweet, from the Free UN Coalition for Access,@FUNCA_info.  

  Likewise after the UN responded to a FUNCA and Inner City Press question about the carbon footprint of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's travels by saying it didn't have that particular number, the same question put to a UN Development Program official active on climate change has not resulted in any disclosure by him, either: @OlavKjorven

  At headquarters, one of the UN system's “gurus” of social media, also paradoxically in charge of media accreditation,unilaterally blocked on Twitter Inner City Press, which covers the UN. Nevertheless this official contacted Inner City Press demanding an urgent explanation of a single tweet then mentioned World War Two.

  The official follows other members of the UN press corps, including one on the Executive Committee of UNCA, now known as the UN's Censorship Alliance who tweeted comparing Bashar al Assad of Syria to Hitler. 

   But no inquiry was made. This UNCA board member has his own private office, the front door of which is festooned with pro-UN propaganda.

  Next door, Inner City Press is under fire for having on its door a sign for the new Free UN Coalition for Access -- a rule was passed between DPI and UNCA to try to outlaw all signs but UNCA's, and on January 21 DPI sought to make Inner City Press accept three media in a two-desk office, while mere feet away the 2013 president of UNCA Pamela Falk has a private office, next to the UNCA wine cellar (and club, and office).

  Interestingly, this UN system social media guru who blocked Inner City Press reached out and followed FUNCA_info even in its beta phase -- but quickly when noticed, unfollowed. Were ten questions tweeted at the UN too much? Or is the UN's UNsocial media? Watch this site.

Footnote: Some of the energy behind this new project was the insistent by some in DPI that past plodding forms of organization, such as that of the moribund UNCA, are the only way. 

  FUNCA disagrees, and notes that while the UN pays more and more people to ostensibly be working in the present if not the future, the UN is stuck in the past. Blocked in the past, we might say.

As UN Flies 700 Staff to Copenhagen, Coup Leader Set to Speak, Major Emitter Excluded

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/uncope8offmessage121009.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 10 -- In the run up to the Copenhagen climate change conference, Inner City Press on December 4 asked UN climateer Janos Pasztor how many UN system staff, officials and consultants would be traveling to Denmark, with what carbon footprint. Pasztor said it wouldn't be known until the conference began.

On December 10, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky finally answered the question, or part of it. He said that the Copenhagen conference has among its participants 477 people from the UN Secretariat and 309 from 19 specialized agencies and related organizations. That is, 786 people from the UN. But does this include consultants? And what is the carbon footprint and will it be offset?

Nesirky did however answer two questions Inner City Press asked on December 10, after an ill attended noon briefing held at the same time as a media stakeout by U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice. Inner City Press asked if Ban Ki-moon is aware of the request that the coup leader of Madagascar not be allowed to participate in the Copenhagen conference, just as he was barred from speaking before the General Assembly in September.

Nesirky answered, "As for Madagascar, it is scheduled to speak on next Wednesday 16 December, sometime after 6 p.m., so they seem to have been invited." But what about the request that, as at the UN General Debate in September, they be disinvited?

On December 8, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon

Inner City Press: Has Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, has he indicated to you – we’ve heard that you’ve spoken to him weekly by videoconference – he represents the African Union. Is the $10 billion enough? They threatened to walk out if not sufficient funds were committed. What’s you stance on how that issue’s going to play out?

SG: As you know I, together with Prime Minister [Lars Løkke] Rasmussen [of Denmark], have been engaging in weekly videoconferences with major stakeholders on climate change - particularly the representatives of the most vulnerable countries, including the African Union and small island developing countries. We are going to continue to do that, as we did in Trinidad and Tobago. Now the idea of short-term fast-track financial support is supported by developing countries. We had a very in-depth discussion on this issue during our Commonwealth summit meeting in Trinidad and Tobago. As you know the 53-Member State Commonwealth adopted a consensus declaration where this financial support – fast-track support – was agreed by all the Member States, including a provision that 10% of this $10 billion will be provided to small island developing countries.

So the Commonweath agreed -- but has the African Union? Inner City Press asked Ban's top humanitarian John Holmes on December 10, but he said he hadn't been involved in setting the $10 billion figure. So who was?

Inner City Press also asking about the block on participation by Taiwan, which is a major industrial emitter. Nesirky answered only that "Taiwan is not a party to the UNFCCC." But why not? Would the UN want a major source of emission like Taiwan to participate?

The answer, of course, in China, a senior diplomat of which told Inner City Press a good joke on Thursday. He noted that U.S.' Susan Rice had been harsh against Iran in that morning's Council meeting. She has to play to the electorate, he said, just as Iran's teetered regime tries to strengthen its power by being ever more hard-line. The Chinese diplomat said, "This is the problem with democracy." And then he laughed.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/uncope8offmessage121009.html

As UN Covers For Obama Climate Backslide, It Does Not Carbon Offset, "Act Not Together"

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
www.innercitypress.com/ban2climate030609.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 6 -- As the UN provides groundcover for the Obama administration's retreat from its climate change rhetoric during the electoral campaign, the UN "doesn't have its act together" on even offsetting the impacts of travel by its Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other high officials, the UN's Yvo de Boer told the Press on Friday.

Mr. de Boer held a press conference to announce positive movement on climate change in Congress, at least in the House of Representatives. Inner City Press asked if he and UN agree with the Denmark's Minister of Climate and Energy Conniee Hedegaard, who has said if the U.S. doesn't pass cap and trade legislation in 2009, it will be a step backwards. De Boer responded that Rep. Markey (Dem-MA) told him legislation should emerge from his House committee in May. The Senate, de Boer said, is more complicated. That's an understatement.

Inner City Press asked if he agreed that Obama's climate negotiator Todd Sterns statement that any 25% reduction in emissions by the U.S. by 2020 is unrealistic is a "diss" of the UN's IPCC. De Boer said he agreed with Stern -- de Boer subtly moved the goal post being dissed to 40% -- but said that perhaps the U.S. could invest money in deforestation projects as a way to show seriousness.

On that, Inner City Press asked de Boer whether he, Ban Ki-moon and the UN are offsetting the carbon emission of their travel. De Boer admitted that they are not, saying that they are trying to come up with a methodology but "we don't have our act together yet." Video here, from Minute 49:22.

This seems the least one could expect from a Secretary-General who speaks so much about climate change. A senior Ban advisor, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Inner City Press that the Ban administration thinks that carbon offsetting is hype. Why not say that publicly, then?

Inner City Press asked asked de Boer about a leaked draft of European finance ministers, that industry and not government should foot the bill of helping the developing world reduce its emissions. Governments print money, de Boer quipped, but they don't make it. One way or another, the taxpayer is on the hook. It's what the banks are saying, too. Some view it as competing ransom notes.

De Boer was asked about the climate "mini-summit" with Obama that the Ban Administration had leaked and then undercut, when they thought Obama would not come. De Boer said that climate and summits will be on Ban's agenda in Washington next week. We will continue to follow these issues.

Footnote: in fairness to Ban Ki-moon, Inner City Press asked the spokesman for President of the General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, before his recent trip through Iran, Syria and Geneva, if he would be carbon offsetting. Ask the PGA, the spokesman said.

But the next day, when d'Escoto took questions in front of the Trusteeship Council, Inner City Press was asked to not repeat the question, an answer would be forthcoming. Then none was received, despite Inner City Press providing its previous coverage of UN offsetting -- in the case of one conference -- and not offsetting.

It's like Ban's demotion of Tanzanian Anna Tibaijuku from the UN's top post in Nairobi, during women and gender week: practice what you preach. We'll see.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban2climate030609.html