“Climate change creates impossible conditions for one of the world's most resilient people” – Watts Up With That?

Elisa Moguera, the United Nations special rapporteur on climate change, said that “some countries are not acting in good faith on the issue of climate change.”

UN experts say world climate fight needs fundamental reforms: 'Some countries are not acting in good faith'

Special Rapporteur Elisa Moguera criticized the status quo as “ineffective” and said the focus must be on “deep, systemic inequalities”

Nina Lakhani, Climate Justice Reporter Tuesday 7 January 2025 22:00 AEDT

Special Rapporteur Elisa Moguera criticized the status quo as “ineffective” and said the focus must be on “deep, systemic inequalities”

International efforts to avert climate catastrophe have been mired in misinformation and malicious actors and must be fundamentally reformed, a leading UN climate expert says.

…

“The way the current climate regime is set up may be unintentional, locking in an ineffective approach that causes disproportionate harm to climate change and the growing number of climate solutions and conditions that the current situation brings to a very small number of countries. turn a blind eye to the disproportionate benefits.

“We can observe that some countries are not acting in good faith in a very clear way, which is the basis of any international system. There is widespread disregard for the rules of international law, there is also a very clear resistance to science, and civil space is shrinking at all levels. Basically, the truth comes out of the conversation and that's the problem – there's no room in the police department to tell the truth.

“Fundamental reform is possible if the states and the Secretariat have the will, but it's hard to see that at the moment.”

…

She said: “The dominant assumption in the current process is that large-scale behavior change is the solution, that this is as much a consumer problem as it is a production problem – a misrepresentation of the causes and solutions. We still have not integrated deep, systemic Sexual inequality is regarded as the root cause, while inequality is not deeply entrenched. The negative impact of climate change on human rights continues to worsen, and climate solutions are not proposed.

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Learn more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/jan/07/climate-change-reform-elisa-morgera

I think Elisa might want to help, but she'd have to practice her communication skills to gain traction.

When I first tried to read this article last night, what Elisa said made almost no sense. Therefore, I decided to try to clarify the last paragraph “Main hypothesis…” by translating it into Welsh:-

The most obvious assumption in the current process is that mass behavioral change is the answer, and that this is as much a consumer problem as it is a production problem – which is a distortion of cause and solution. We still fail to recognize deep systemic inequalities as root causes, while also exacerbating inequality and exacerbating the negative impacts of climate change on human rights and climate solutions.

Then I translated it back to English:-

The most obvious assumption in the current process is that mass behavioral change is the answer, and that this is as much a consumer problem as it is a production problem – which is a distortion of cause and solution. We still fail to recognize deep systemic inequalities as root causes, while also exacerbating inequality and exacerbating the negative impacts of climate change on human rights and climate solutions.

The double-translated passage is certainly more readable – now we know that the correct translation of the word “rule” in UN official parlance is “most obvious”.

If you're wondering why I tried Welsh, I'm not picking on Welsh. I used to live in Wales and have great memories – people were so friendly to Australians. I tried several other languages ​​but Welsh worked the best. Welsh is clearly a language that goes to the heart of the issue in question.

The whole article is worth reading, a bit like doing a cryptic crossword puzzle – although I recommend solving it after a good night's sleep and a strong cup of coffee. Remember, if any academic UN word salad becomes too challenging, you can always try translating it into Welsh.

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