On
Climate Risk,
ICP Asks of
CEFC, DSG
Rosewood
Signings,
Panel Cites
Transparency,
UNseen
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Periscope
UNITED NATIONS,
January 31 – A Climate Risk
event was held at the UN on
January 31, complete with a
delayed press conference with
four speakers. Inner City
Press asked them about the
role of the UN, not just as a
venue but as an actor, with a
Deputy Secretary General Amina
J. Mohammed who in 2017 signed
4000 certificates for
already-exported endangered
rosewood in China. The UN
Global Compact accepted CEFC
China Energy until Inner City
Press repeated asking about
its role as beneficiary of a
UN bribery scheme to get oil
in Uganda and Chad; China
Energy Fund Committee is
*still* in Special
Consultative status with
ECOSOC. Periscope video here,
since the UN has withheld its,
under UNTV boss Alison
Smale. Among the
panelists, Betty Yee,
California's Controller,
repeatedly cited transparency.
Fred Samama of Amundi to his
credit acknowledged there is a
danger of green-washing. Peter
Damgaard Jensen of PKA said
the UN could / should help
emerging markets. (This is
true, but today in Cameroon
for example, the UN only
supports colonialism and
exploitation.) Iconic Jack
Ehnes of CalSTRS appeared
sympathetic. But will they
continue to blithely provide a
platform for the greenwashing
not only of oil companies like
CEFC China Energy, but of
censoring UN officials like
Amina J. Mohammed, who helped
export endangered rosewood
then refused all Press
questions on it, and continues
to censor and restrict the
Press which asks? We'll have
more on this - and on “The
Investor Agenda.” Amid UN
bribery scandals, failures in
countries from Cameroon to
Yemen and declining
transparency, today's UN does
not even pretend to have
content neutral rules about
which media get full access
and which are confined to
minders or escorts to cover
the General Assembly.
Inner City Press,
which while it pursue the
story of Macau-based
businessman Ng Lap Seng's
bribery of President of the
General Assembly John Ashe was
evicted by the UN Department
of Public Information from its
office, is STILL confined to
minders as it pursues the new
UN bribery scandal, of Patrick
Ho and Cheikh Gadio
allegedly bribing President of
the General Assembly Sam
Kutesa, and Chad's Idriss
Deby, for CEFC China Energy.
Last week Inner
City Press asked UN DPI where
it is on the list to be
restored to (its) office, and
regain full office - and was
told it is not even on the
list, there is no public list,
the UN can exclude,
permanently, whomever it
wants. This is censorship, and
has been accepted and even
encouraged by what has become
the UN Censorship Alliance,
which accepted funds from Ng
Lap Seng's South South News
and had Inner City Press
ejected from the UN Press
Briefing Room as it inquired
into the story.
When this UNCA
held its annual meeting on
January 29, it could barely
reach quorom (Periscope here);
it covered over the glass
doors of the clubhouse the UN
gives it with a sign board.
Disgruntled members forwarded the
"agenda" -- "1) Introduction of the new
2018 UNCA Executive Committee. 2)
Presentation of UNCA sub-committees and
their upcoming agendas. 3) Presentation
of 2017 UNCA & UNCA Awards
financials. 4) UNCA 70th anniversary. 5)
Other matters." We'll have more on this.
***
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