The Pact for the Future: unsurprisingly, a watered down version was adopted "by consensus" yesterday

I have had connectivity problems in a rural area, then at Logan airport, and now flying above Hudson Bay, Canada en route to Tokyo.

Finally I am connected enough to type. It is reported by the Guardian that Russia introduced an amendment to the Pact that would have watered it down considerably (stressing the preeminence of national jurisdiction) and that 7 nations voted in favor, 15 abstained, and 143 voted against the amendment. This got 22 nations on record as not being overwhelmingly happy about the Pact.

Then the Pact “passed” unanimously. No nation broke the consensus. I wonder what the punishment is for those who dare break consensus?

Even though the Pact and its 2 annexes (on the Global digital compact and the Declaration on future generations) were watered down, they grew in size, to a total of 60 pages. As of last night, when I had some connectivity, I could not find reporting by anyone who had read the version that passed. I did find that version, which is here:

https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sotf-the-pact-for-the-future.pdf

and of course I immediately went to look for Action 57 (below from version 3 of the Pact)

Action 57. We request the Secretary-General to:  Present for the consideration of Member States protocols for convening and operationalizing emergency platforms based on flexible approaches to respond to a range of different complex global shocks, including criteria for triggering and phasing out emergency platforms.

that would subsequently give the Secretary-General dictatorial powers to declare global shocks…whenever…and then manage them.

It had not been adopted. Instead, we got Action 54:

Action 54. We will strengthen the international response to complex global
shocks.
82. We recognize the need for a more coherent, cooperative, coordinated and
multidimensional international response to complex global shocks and the
central role of the United Nations in this regard. Complex global shocks are
events that have severely disruptive and adverse consequences for a
significant proportion of countries and the global population, and that lead to
impacts across multiple sectors, requiring a multidimensional and whole -of-
government, whole-of-society response. Complex global shocks have a
disproportionate impact on the poorest and most vulnerable people in the
world and usually have disastrous consequences for sustainable
development and prosperity. An armed conflict does not by itself constitute a
complex global shock, but conflict could, in some cases, lead to impacts
across multiple sectors. The principles of national ownership and consent,
equity, solidarity and cooperation will guide our future responses to complex
global shocks, with full respect for international law, including the Charter and
its purposes and principles, and existing mandates for United Nations
intergovernmental bodies and processes, United Nations system entities and
specialized agencies. We will uphold the Secretary-General’s role to, inter alia,
convene Member States, promote the coordination of the whole multilateral
system and engage with relevant stakeholders in response to crises. We
request the Secretary-General to:
(a) Consider approaches to strengthen the United Nations system
response to complex global shocks, within existing authorities and in
consultation with Member States, that supports, complements and does not
duplicate the response of the United Nations principal organs, relevant United
Nations entities, United Nations coordination entities and mechanisms, and
specialized agencies mandated to respond to emergencies, and with full
respect for the mandated coordination role of the United Nations in response
to humanitarian emergencies.

So, they added a lot of useless verbiage to confuse the unwary. But in the end, the S-G is only asked to use whatever powers he already has, and he is not allowed to make decisions on his own, superceding the member states, as had been planned. No more “flexible approaches” and “automatic operationalizing” of responses by the UN or its Secretary-General. Gutteres is probably breathing a sign of relief. Had he gotten those powers, and then used them according to his masters’ desires, he would have been the most hated man on the planet. We would no longer have to worry about TDS because GDS would have trumped it.

I have not had time to read the rest and don’t expect to for at least a week, since I will be attending events constantly and giving 3 presentations in Japan, and I still have not finished them. There is just so much to say. How to whittle them down?

Anyway, this week I will not post much, but once I study the new version of the Pact you may be deluged with Too Much Information.

Bottom line, the rulers of the universe have not corralled all the nations. Russia’s amendment was important to demonstrate that. But the rulers show no signs of pulling back. The simmering war against the world continues…. And another bullet was dodged.