According to UN Special Rapporteur on climate change Elisa Morgera, “Some states are not acting in good faith” on climate change.

World’s climate fight needs fundamental reform, UN expert says: ‘Some states are not acting in good faith’

Special rapporteur Elisa Morgera criticizes ‘ineffective’ status quo and says focus must be on ‘deep, systemic inequalities’

Nina Lakhani, climate justice reporterTue 7 Jan 2025 22.00 AEDT

Special rapporteur Elisa Morgera criticizes ‘ineffective’ status quo and says focus must be on ‘deep, systemic inequalities’

The international effort to avert climate catastrophe has become mired by misinformation and bad faith actors, and must be fundamentally reformed, according to a leading UN climate expert.

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“The current climate regime was built in a way, maybe unconsciously, that locked in an ineffective approach that is blind to the disproportionate harms of climate change – and increasingly climate solutions – and the disproportionate benefits that the current situation is accruing to very few states and very few individuals,” said Morgera, in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.

“We can observe that some states are not acting in good faith in very clear ways, which is the basis of any international regime. There is widespread disregard for the rule of international law, and also a very clear pushback on the science, and shrinking of civil spaces at all levels. Basically, the truth is out of the conversation. That is the problem – there is no space at Cop for the truth,” said Morgera.

“Fundamental reform is possible, if there is a willingness by the states and the secretariat, but it’s hard to see that at the moment.”

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She said: “The dominating assumption in the current process assumes that mass behavioral change is the solution, that this is as much a consumer issue as a production issue – which is a misrepresentation of the causes and the solutions. We’re still not looking at deep, systemic inequalities as the root causes, while also entrenching inequities and worsening negative human rights impacts of climate change – and climate solutions.”

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

I think Elisa probably wants to help, but she’s going to have to practice her communication skills to get any traction.

When I first tried to read this article last night, very little of what Elisa said made sense. So I decided to try to clarify that last paragraph “The dominating assumption…” by translating it into Welsh :-

Mae’r dybiaeth amlycaf yn y broses bresennol yn rhagdybio mai newid ymddygiad torfol yw’r ateb, bod hwn yn gymaint o broblem defnyddwyr â mater cynhyrchu – sef camliwio’r achosion a’r atebion. Nid ydym yn dal i edrych ar anghydraddoldebau systemig dwfn fel yr achosion sylfaenol, tra hefyd yn ymwreiddio anghydraddoldebau ac yn gwaethygu effeithiau negyddol newid hinsawdd ar hawliau dynol – ac atebion hinsawdd.

Then I translated it back to English :-

The most obvious assumption in the current process assumes that mass behavior change is the answer, that this is as much a consumer problem as a production issue – which is to misrepresent the causes and the solutions. We are still not looking at deep systemic inequalities as the root causes, while also entrenching inequalities and exacerbating the negative impacts of climate change on human rights – and climate solutions.

The double translated paragraph is definitely more readable – now we know the correct translation for the UN Gobbledegook word “dominating” is “most obvious”.

If you are wondering why I tried Welsh, I’m not picking on the Welsh. I lived in Wales once, fond memories – people were kind to the Aussie. I tried a few other languages but Welsh worked the best. Welsh is clearly a language which goes straight to the heart of the matter being discussed.

The whole article is worth a read, a bit like doing a cryptic crossword puzzle – though I recommend tackling it after a good sleep and a strong coffee. Remember, if any of the academic UN word salad gets too challenging, you can always try translating it into Welsh.

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