Time is Running Out: The United Nations and Cilmate Change Thomas Boudreau 11th Americas Regional RCE Meeting 5 October, 2022

1. TIME IS RUNNING OUT:
THE UNITED NATIONS AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
THE GLOBAL TRUST PROJECT AT
https://atmosphereasaglobaltrust.com/

2. THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CRISIS, LARGELY
CAUSED CO2 IN THE GLOBAL ATMSOPHERE
BY HUMAN ACTIVITY, IS ACCELERATING.

3. CO2 LEVELS IN ATMOSPHERE SINCE
FIRST EARTH SUMMIT, RIO, 1992

4. Over 40 millions Tons of CO2 will be
emitted into the atmosphere globally this
year.
• Annually, the world is still increasing the
amount of CO2 into the global atmosphere,
with an estimated 43 million tons this year.
• This CO2 emissions are directly linked to
temperature increases and climate change.
• https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/
climate-change/global-warming/global-co2-
emissions

5. YET, THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE IS
VERY THIN AND FRAGILE—LIKE
PEACH FUZZ ON A PEACH.

6. SO, THE COP PROCESS, THE PARIS
AGREEMENT, CARBON CUTS ARE,
ALONE, NOT ENOUGH
• While carbon cuts are essential, they are
simply not happening in time to make a
decisive difference. We are still hating up, with
increasing exteme weather events—such as
droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding and
windstorms—increasing world wide.

7. IPCC 2018
• “The world stands on the brink of failure when
it comes to holding global warming to
moderate levels, and nations will need to take
‘unprecedented’ actions to cut their carbon
emissions over the next decade,” according to
a landmark report by the IPCC in 2018.
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-
environment/2018/10/08/world-has-only-
years-get-climate-change-under-control-un-
scientists-say/

8. IPCC REPORT: THE “CODE RED”
WARNING
• Then, the August 9, 2021 report released by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) confirmed that there's no
chance of undoing the damage already
caused by global warming, with climate
scientist Linda Mearns stating: “It's just
guaranteed that it's going to get worse.
• IPCC ISSUED A REPORT IN AUGUST 2021
• https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-
sounds-clarion-call-over-irreversible-climate-impacts-
by-humans-2021-08-09/

9. UNSG GUTERRES ON CLIMATE
CHANGE
• UNSG Guterres has been a leader at the
UN in raising the alarm, but he can’t do it
alone.
• For instance, just prior to the Glasgow
COP 26 conference, UNSG Guterres
stated that we are “headed for a climate
catastrophe.” See:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/11/1
105792

10. AS UNSG GUTERRES STATED THE DAY AFTER THE
GLASGOW COP CONFERENCE, 2021:
• After all the hopes and hype surrounding the
COP Conference 26 in Glasgow faded, UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres then said
the next day that the conference results were
simply “not enough” and that the world now
needs to go into “emergency mode,” adding
that we are now in “fight for our lives.”
• https://mahb.stanford.edu/ideas-for-action/after-glasgow-
the-urgent-imperative-of-pursuing-three-new-strategic-
directions-in-diplomacy-and-law-in-the-mortal-struggle-
against-climate-change/

11. TEN YEARS TO MAKE A DECISIVE
DIFFERENCE?
• SO THE COP PROCESS, ALONE,-- GOING ON
SOON AFTER THE RIO EARTH SUMMIT (1992)-
OR THE ENSUING DIPLOMATIC “PROMISSORY
NOTES” BY STATES TO CUT CARBON-USE
‘SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE’ SIMPLY AREN’T
WORKING IN TIME.
• STILL NECESSARY, BUT CERTAINLY NOT
SUFFICIENT.

12. KEY INDICATOR: STABLIZING AND
THEN REVERSING CO2 AND OTHER
GREENHOUSE GASES (GHGS) IN THE
ATMOSPHERE
• THE KEY INDICATOR IS HALTING, STABLIZING
AND THEN REVERSING THE AMOUNT OF CO2
IN THE GLOBAL ATMOSPHERE; RIGHT NOW,
THE KEELING CURVE IS IN AN UPWARD DEATH
CLIMB—THIS WON’T CONTINUE FOR LONG.
• RHETORICAL STATEMENTS, SPEECHES,
CONFERENCES, ETC. WON’T CHANGE THIS--
ONLY EFFECTIVE ACTION WILL.

13. RUNNING OUT OF TIME
• “There is no documented historic precedent"
for the scale of changes required,” the body
found.
• SO, WE ARE ALREADY WELL INTO THEDECISIVE
DECADE (2020-30)
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-
environment/2018/10/08/world-has-only-
years-get-climate-change-under-control-un-
scientists-say/

14. SO, ITS VERY SIMPLE BUT
OMINOUS:
• WITHOUT A SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL CLIMATE-
THAT CAN SUPPORT AND SUTAIN LIFE ON THIS
PLANET AND ACHIEVED WITHIN THIS
DECADE- THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE 2030’S
OR BEYOND.
• EVIDENCE?: LOOK OUT THE WINDOW OR
READ TOMORROW’S HEADLINES—MORE
HEAT, DROUGHTS, WILDFIRES, HURRICANES,
WILD WINDS, INCREASING TEMPERATURES,
ETC.

15. ALL SDGS ARE INTERRELATED: CODE RED
EXAMPLES
• GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IS AND WILL
INCREASE POVERTY, NOT REDUCE IT—SDG# 1
• GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IS AND WILL
INCREASE HUNGER, ESPECIALLY AMONG THE
POOR, MOST VULNERABLE OF MANY
SOCIETIES, INCLUDING WOMEN, CHILDREN
AND THE ELDERLY, NOT REDUCE IT. SDG# 2
• GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE WILL REDUCE THE
HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF BILLIONS OF
HUMANS IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE, NOT
REDUCE IT. SDG # 3

16. WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME
TO ENSURE A SUSTAINABLE
GLOBAL CLIMATE.
• There will be no sustainable
development possible in the years and
decades ahead unless we first ensure a
sustainable global climate by the end of
this decade.
• So, how can we in the UN community, and its
supporters, do this?

17. “WE ARE IN THE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES.”
NEEDED: TOTAL MOBLIZATION OF UN
SYSTEM: SDG # 13: THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
• THERE COULD AND SHOULD BE A TOTAL
MOBILIZATION OF THE ENTIRE UN SYSTEM
TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE DURING THIS
“DECISIVE DECADE” OF THE 2020’S.
• EVERY ORGAN, AGENCY AND RCE OF THE UN
SYSTEM MUST BE FULLY ENGAGED IN THIS
EXISTENTIAL THREAT, INCLUDING THE UNSC,
UNGA, UNESCO, ECOSOC, UNEP, UNITAR AND
UN UNIVERSITY.

18. THE UN IN NYC CONTAINS THE LARGEST
NUMBER OF DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS IN
WORLD—A GLOBAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

19. PERMANENT DIPLOMACY
• DIPLOMATS ARE ALREADY “PERMANENTLY”
STATIONED THERE IN NYC; SO THERE IS NO
NEED TO FLY ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR EACH
NEW COP CONFERENCE, LEAVING AN
ENORMOUS CARBON FOOTPRINT.
• STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH UNEP: THE
UNSG OR UNGA DECIDES AND APPROVES,
AND THE UNEP- WITH ITS EXPERTISE AND
EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE- IMPLEMENTS
AND ASSESSES EFFECTIVNESS.

20. PURPOSE OF FULL MOBLIZATION
OF UN SYSTEM
• PUBLIZE, EDUCATE AND MOBILIZE SOCIETIES
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO EFFECTIVELY
ADDRESS THE CLIMATE THREAT. RIGHT NOW, THERE
IS OFTEN A “BUSINESS AS USUAL” ATTITUDE,
ESPECIALLY IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD, I.E.THE USA,
OR INEFFECTIVE AND LARGELY NON- ACTION
TOWARDS CLIMATE CHANGE.
• THE RCES CAN SIGNIFICANTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THIS
EFFORT. MUCH MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE

21. KEY UN ACTIONS TO TAKE:
• UNGA can to recognize, in a declaratory
resolution, three pre-existing and basic legal
principles, namely that:
• (1) The earth’s atmosphere is a global
trust belonging to all.

22. EARTH ATMSOPHERE AS A GLOBAL
TRUST
• THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE IS THE ONLY
GLOBAL COMMONS WITHOUT A LEGAL
REGIME TO REGULATE ITS SUSTAINABILITY
AND USE.
• THE OCEANS, ANTARTICA, EVEN NEAR OUTER
SPACE AND THE MOON HAVE INTERNATIONAL
TREATIES—BUT NOT THE EARTH’S
ATM0SPHERE
• CAN START WITH A NONBINDING UNGA RES.

23. EARTH ATMSOPHERE AS A GLOBAL
TRUST
• “LET THE DRAFTING OF THE UNGA RES. CALLING FOR
STATES TO RECOGNIZED IN A FAST TRACK TREATY
THAT “THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE IS A GLOBAL
TRUST” START AT THIS CONFERENCE.” –JAKE
GOODMAN
• SEE: “The Earth’s Atmosphere as a Global Trust” at
https://lawpublications.barry.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cg
i?article=1067&context=ejejj. Or:
• https://mahb.stanford.edu/library-item/atmosphere-
global-trust/

24. EARTH’S ATMSOPHERE AS A
GLOBAL TRUST
• (2) All member-states have a proportionate
responsibility to monitor, maintain and
restore the atmosphere as a global trust for
present and future generations.

25. #2: EMERGENCY ANNUAL
SESSIONS OF THE UNGA TO
ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE
• The UNGA must meet, under Article 20 of the
UN Charter in Emergency Meetings every year
in NYC to address the critical crisis of global
climate change under the danger is overcome
though a combination of “DUAL TRACK”
negotiating efforts designed to: (a) cut carbon
emissions (UNFCCC) measures, as well as: (b)
Restore the Earth’s Atmosphere by promoting
Negative Emission Technologies (NETS).

26. # 3) PROMOTE CARBON
SEQUESTRATION
• THE UNGA CAN PROMOTE, THROUGH VOTING
AND NONBINDING RESOLUTIONS THE
MASSIVE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND
DEPLOYMENT OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION
PROJECTS, AND NETS –NEGATIVE EMISSION
TECHNOLOGIES- CREATING THOUSANDS OF
JOBS, TO BEGIN REMOVING CO2 FROM THE
GLOBAL ATMOSPHERE.
• REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CAN
SIGNIFICANTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THIS EFFORT
AS WELL.

27. PROMOTE CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND NETS
• EACH REGIONAL ORGANIZATION—THE AU,
EU, NORDIC COUNCIL, OAS, ETC., CAN ADOPT
ONE OR TWO LARGE SCALE NET PROJECTS TO
RAPIDLY DEVELOP AND DEPLOY..
• THE IPCC HAS SUPPORTED REMOVING
CARBON FROM THE ATMOSPHERE SINCE
2018.
• SEE: https://mahb.stanford.edu/library-item/the-fierce-urgency-of-now-
the-deployment-of-negative-emission-technologies-nets-by-international-
regional-organizations/

28. MOST PROMISING NETS
• UCLA’S CARBON MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE:
The “Single-step Carbon Sequestration and
Storage” Project developed in prototype at
the Carbon Management Institute at the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Simply stated this is one of most promising
NETs in development in the world today. But
they are hampered by lack of funds….
• https://icm.ucla.edu/

29. MOST PROMISING NETS
• Similar to the UCLA Project, two Oxford
graduates have actually deployed a marine
based CO2 extraction pilot project in Hawaii.
• They hope to ramp their maritime based
capture process up to absorb gigatons of CO2.
• They are also hampered by a lack of funds.
• SEE:
https://interestingengineering.com/innovatio
n/worlds-first-ocean-carbon-removal

30. MOST PROMSING NETS
• MARINE PERMACULTURE AND THE CLIMATE
FOUNDATION: The large-scale Marine
Permaculture and Kelp farms have already
been developed and deployed by the Climate
Foundation in largely indigenous areas in
Indonesia and the Philippines, where local
people are intensely depends on the fish
protein that healthy coral reefs provide.
• They are also hampered by a lack of funds..

31. THE MOST PROMSING NETS—
FOR OTHERS NETS SEE:
• See Part III: https://mahb.stanford.edu/ideas-
for-action/after-glasgow-the-urgent-
imperative-of-pursuing-three-new-strategic-
directions-in-diplomacy-and-law-in-the-
mortal-struggle-against-climate-change/
• ALL need more funding…
• Meanwhile, the world will spend over two
trillion dollars on armaments this year: see
SIPRI, https://www.sipri.org/media/press-
release/2022/world-military-expenditure-
passes-2-trillion-first-time

32. AT SOME POINT, THE UN SECURITY
COUNCIL MUST GET INVOLVED.
• THE TERRIBLE WAR IN UKRAINE OBVIOUSLY
PRECLUDES THIS NOW.
• BUT FOR THE FUTURE, THE UNSC, ALONE, IN
THE UN SYSTEM HAS THE POWER AND
AUTHORITY TO MAKE IMMEDIATE BINDING
DECISIONS UPON ALL MEMBER STATES TO
DECLARE AN EARTH ARMISTICE IN ORDER
THAT ALL MEMBER-STATES ADDRESS
CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTIVELY.

33. THE EARTH ARMISTICE
• THREE MAHB articles recently published by
Stanford University outline a call for the UN
Security Council (UNSC), consistent with
Articles 25 and 26 of the UN Charter, to pass a
resolution that is legally binding on all
member-states to devote from 10-20 percent
of their annual or projected defense budgets
to the critical security issue of restraining and
then reversing climate change.

34. EARTH ARMISTICE: CITATIONS
https://mahb.st
anford.edu/libra
ry-item/earth-
armistice-
updated/
https://mahb.st
anford.edu/libra
ry-item/climate-
change-the-
earth-armistice-
and-
comparative-
state-advantage-
in-military-
spending/

35. THE EARTH ARMISTICE:
THE UN CHARTER
• Such a resolution is also fully consistent with
Article 34 in Chapter Six of the Charter that
permits the Security Council to “investigate
any dispute, or any situation which might lead
to international friction or give rise to a
dispute, in order to determine whether the
continuance of the dispute or situation is likely
to endanger the maintenance of international
peace and security.”
• SO, THE UN CHARTER GIVES THE UNSC THE
AUTHORITY TO DO THIS.

36. THE UNSC AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
• GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY
CAUSING MIGRATIONS, WATER OR AG.(LAND)
SHORTAGES AND ENSUING VIOLENT CONFLICT
THOUGHOUT THE WORLD. SEE BOOKS, FOR
EXAMPLE, THE TROPIC OF CHAOS OR Climate
Wars: What People Will Be Killed For in the
21st Century: Welzer, Harald.
• SO, THE UNSC CAN GET INVOLVED (IN THE
FUTURE), OR SIMPLY SIT ON THE SIDELINES.

37. THE EARTH ARMISTICE
• OF COURSE, THE UNSC WON’T DO THIS
TODAY, TOMORROW OR NEXT YEAR.
• BUT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IS
ACCELERATING AND WILL RADICALLY CHANGE
TODAY’S POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
STATUS QUO.
• SO, THE EARTH ARMISTICE IS PERHAPS
POSSIBLE IN THE FUTURE; THE RCES CAN KEEP
THE HOPE AND IDEA ALIVE WHILE THE
WORLDS STILL WARS…..

38. “THE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES”
• SO, IN CONCLUSION THE ENTIRE UN SYSTEM,
THE UN MAIN ORGANS, THE SPECIALIZED
AGENCIES AND THE GLOBE SPANNING RCES
MUST BE FULLY MOBLIZED IN ORDER TO
FULLY ENGAGE THE COMING STORMS OF
CLIMATE CHANGE, HELP CREATE A
SUTAINABLE GLOBAL CLIMATE, OR SOON
THERE WILL BE NO MORE OPPORTUNITY TO
REALIZE THE OTHER SDG’S. THANK YOU.

39. PRESENTED BY RCE SALISBURY
UNIVERSITY, MD. USA
• PRESENTERS INCLUDE: PROF. THOMAS
BOUDREAU, ANA LYNN, MARGARET
ATHERTON, CLEO BENT, GINA FOOKS, JAKE
GOODMAN, ANALYNN REDDING AND
PROGRAMMED, WITH THANKS, BY PROF.
BRITTANY FOUTZ.
This power-point and any articles written by
Thomas Boudreau and students used in this
presentation can be reproduced according to
the requirements of the Creative Commons.

40. Appendix: Old Slide Show (2014)

41. 400 PPM AS UNJUST
ENRICHMENT”
• (3) Those states that have historically and
disproportionally abused this global trust are
responsible for their unjust enrichment at the
expense of all other peoples and nations.

42. 400 PPM AS UNJUST ENRICHMENT
• As such they have the primary responsibility
for cleaning up their share first, as the most
pressing issue of the age.
• Historically speaking, the four states –the gang
of four--responsible for dumping more than
50% of the CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere as a
global trust are the: United States, China,
Russia, Germany (EU) --and now India.
• -See Proposal for sources--

43. EVEN SO, THE UNGA MUST
MOBLIZE SCIENCE
• NO ONE APPROACH WILL PROBABLY BE THE
MAGICAL SOLUTION TO THE CRITICAL GLOBAL
CRISIS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
• FOR INSTANCE, AS TWO PROMINENT ENGLISH
SCIENTISTS ARGUED:

44. CARBON MITIGATION AND
SEQUESTRATION
• "Climate geoengineering is best considered as
a potential complement to the mitigation of
CO2 emissions, rather than as an alternative
to it."
• Tim Lenton and Naomi Vaughan of East Anglia
University in England write.
• Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

45. THESE AUTHORS EVEN ARGUE THAT
REVERSING CLIMATE CHANGE HAS ONLY
ONE FUTURE
• "By 2050, only stratospheric aerosol injections
or sunshades in space have the potential to
cool the climate back toward its pre-industrial
state," earth scientists Tim Lenton and Naomi
Vaughan of East Anglia University in England
write.
• They may of course be right; lets hope so.
• But what if they are not?

46. PLACING ALL OUR EGGS IN ONE
BASKET MAY BE DANGEROUS
• THIS PROPOSAL ARGUES THAT ALL
APPROACHES MUST BE TRIED UNTIL ONE, OR
A PORTFOLIO OF PROVEN TECHNIQUES, ARE
QUATUALLY DEMONSTRATED TO WORK;
SPECIFICALLY IT STATES THAT:
• (ALSO SEE PROPOSAL—EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY)

47. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• Consistent with the powers and
responsibilities of the UNGA provided by
Article 13 of the UN Charter for the
“progressive development of international
law,” draft the appropriate treaties necessary
to ….. develop the necessary research and
technology to accomplish greater efficiencies
in all possible mitigation methods, including
carbon sequestration or in stratosphere and
space based solar screening;
•

48. Carbon Sequestration via Common
Minerals
• These states share the greatest responsibility
for restoring the earth atmosphere as a
global trust to, at the least, 350 parts per
million (ppm) levels of CO2 can do so by
employing enhanced carbon sequestration
methods, including large scale carbonation
techniques using the common mineral
Olivine or other ultramafic ores in order to
capture the CO2 (MIT, 2008—see enclosed
proposal)

49. OLIVINE AND OTHER ULTRAMAFIC
MINERALS AMONG MOST
COMMON ON EARTH

50. Carbon Sequestration
• Other methods of carbon sequestration or
solar screening must be explored and, if
possible, utilized as well as an issue of
ultimate urgency for scientists, policymakers
and all peoples, especially those that live in
developed or developing countries that have
historically used the most carbon based fuels.
• This is the basis of proportionate
responsibility as a basis for allocating
accountability in cleaning up the Earth’s
atmosphere.

51. DUAL TRACK CLIMATE
NEGOTIATIONS ARE CRITICAL
• These steps are largely complementary to,
and not competitive with, the post Rio
negotiations (UNFCCC) encouraging countries
to cut carbon emissions.
• This dual approach could strengthen the
possibility of substantial carbon cuts in the
forthcoming next round of UNFCCC
negotiations in 2015.

52. NECESSITY FOR DUAL TRACK
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
NEGOTIATIONS
• In view of the steadily increasing levels of
CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere, the need for,
at the very least, a DUAL TRACK approach of
using carbon cuts and restoration via UN
Ecological Trust Agreements (UNETS) to end
global climate change is increasingly obvious
to all.

53. KEY POTENTIAL ALLIES:ALLIANCE OF
SMALL ISLAND STATES
• AOSIS HAS FORTY FOUR MEMBERS
• SEE WEBPAGE AT: http://aosis.org/
• THESE ARE THE CRITICAL POTENTIAL ALLIES
OF THE 400PPM PROPOSAL
• other neutral, non-aligned or less developed
countries are as well.

54. AOSIS MEMBER STATES
• Members
• Antigua and Barbuda - Derek
• Bahamas - Derek
• Barbados - Aiyana
• Belize - Aiyana
• Cape Verde - Ashley
• Comoros- Ashley
• Cook Islands - Hannah
• Cuba- Hannah
• Dominica - Matt
• Dominican Republic - Criszon
• Fiji - Tyler
• Federated States of Micronesia - Tyler
• Grenada - Cassie
• Guinea-Bissau - Trish
• Guyana - Trish
• Haiti - Criszon
• Jamaica - Jacqueline
• Kiribati - Aaron
• Maldives - YaYa
• Marshall Islands - Cassie
• Mauritius - Chelsea
• Nauru- Chelsea
• Niue- Mike
• Palau - Matt
• Papua New Guinea- Ryan
• Samoa - Josh
• Singapore- Josh

55. AOSIS MEMBER STATES
• Seychelles
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Solomon Islands - Mike
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• St. Lucia- Ryan
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Suriname
• Timor-Leste
• Tonga - Tim
• Trinidad and Tobago - Tim
• Tuvalu - Joe
• Vanuatu

56. Other Key Delegations are:

57. “4400PPM as Unjust Enrichment”
Proposal is aimed at the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA)