Kofi Annan is the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon’s predecessor. It was on his watch that the UN’s Oil for Food scandal took place. More recently, he evidently turned tail and ran when his “Peace Plan” for Syria failed.
But who knows, with the help of the UN’s “great partner“, the (scandal-ridden) Olympic movement this “horrible conflict” might have been resolved during the past two weeks.
The earlier failure was not Annan’s fault, of course. As the New York Times reported on Aug. 2, 2012:
In an announcement tinged with bitterness and regret, Mr. Annan tied his decision to what he described as Syrian government intransigence, increasing militance by Syrian rebels and the failure of a divided Security Council to rally forcefully behind his efforts.
“I accepted this task, which some called ‘Mission: Impossible,’ for I believed it was a sacred duty to do whatever was in my power to help the Syrian people find a peaceful solution to this bloody conflict,” Mr. Annan said at a news conference at the Geneva offices of the United Nations.
But, he said, “without serious, purposeful and united international pressure, including from the powers of the region, it is impossible for me, or anyone, to compel the Syrian government in the first place, and also the opposition, to take the steps necessary to begin a political process.”
So what does the UN do with a scandal-tainted, failed “Peace” envoy?! I haven’t kept track, but I suspect that they tell him to chill-out and keep a low-profile for a few years. At some point along the way, he moves on to Chair a (prestigious but heretofore relatively obscure) group of “Independent global leaders working together for peace and human rights”, known as The Elders. They hand him a (well-worn) script and tell him to go forth and multi-lie.
So, on Jan. 22, Annan who (unlike some who could be named) really did win a Nobel Peace Prize (along with the UN), had an Op Ed in the Washington Post:
A united call for action on climate change
Kofi Annan is chair of The Elders, a group of independent leaders who work for peace, justice and human rights worldwide.
Fancy that, eh?! And look, folks, someone’s added worldwide “justice” to the “mission” of The Elders. They must have sorted out all the world’s “peace and human rights” problems and they need a new mission. What better mission could there be than spreading the gospel of “climate change” … and “justice”?! But I digress …
Brace yourselves, dear readers, for yet another barrage of recycled over the top scary stories as Annan’s script unfolds (my bold throughout):
When Nelson Mandela formed the Elders in 2007 to promote peace and human rights across the world, he challenged us to be bold and to give a voice to those who have none. No issue demands these qualities more than our collective failure to tackle climate change.
Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time. It threatens the well-being of hundreds of millions of people today and many billions more in the future. It undermines the human rights to food, water, health and shelter — causes for which we, as Elders, have fought all our lives.
No one and no country will escape the impact of climate change. But those with no voice — because they are already marginalized or are not yet born — are at greatest risk. The Elders have an urgent moral duty to speak out on their behalf.
Given the compelling weight of evidence … coordinated action needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The latest report from the expert Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states clearly that the “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and that human behavior is extremely likely the dominant cause.
Recent months have also brought examples — from typhoons in the Philippines to the polar vortex in North America and widespread floods in Europe — of the increase in extreme weather events that experts warn is the inevitable outcome of climate change … [World Bank, International Monetary Fund and International Energy Agency] have joined the scientific community … no longer only the environmentalists who are ringing alarm bells.
… [obligatory] tippping point … terrible gamble with the future of the planet and with life itself.
What is needed to prevent this catastrophe has been established. Global temperature rises must be limited to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. … [turn away from fossil fuels … [accelerate] the deployment of affordable renewable energies … [set] internationally agreed price for carbon. … legally binding agreement on climate change …
This is a decisive year … It is imperative that governments and corporate leaders come to [Ban Ki-Moon’s September 2014 climate] summit committed to ambitious actions on the climate …
But all is not doom and gloom. Annan concludes with an oh-so stirringly stale:
Many communities … are showing the way to a carbon-neutral world. These efforts have to be scaled up [so that we’ll have a] carbon neutral world by 2050.
[…] If ever there were a cause which should unite us all, old or young, rich or poor, climate change must be it.
And of course, if we all obey these commandments from Annan and his roster of fellow distinguished Elders, we’ll all live “peacefully” ever after, basking in the glory of “human rights for all” thanks to the “transformative power” of the green economy.
Yeah, right!
The View From Here 
They hand him a (well-worn) script and tell him to go forth and multi-lie.
This gave me my first really good laugh this week.
Between Dr. Roy Spencers (excellent) rant, Anthony Watts Biblical references and now this I guess it is the week for biblical and religious humour.
Excuse me while I go wipe the drool off my lips… and clear the coffee from my keyboard.
Re Kofi Annan, also check out his speech last November at the 2013 Reinhard Mohn Prize ceremony in Germany:
http://kofiannanfoundation.org/newsroom/speeches/2013/11/address-kofi-annan-2013-reinhard-mohn-prize
First the doom and the gloom, e.g.: “Increasing temperatures and changes to rainfall patterns are already reducing harvests and water supplies, and increasing food and nutrition insecurity.” In reality, flatlined global average temperatures and bumper harvests, but never mind…
The inevitable task: “We risk failing future generations unless we radically transform our economies and societies to make them more sustainable.”
And the solutions, couched in the usual “transformative” language – “green technologies”, jobs for the young, “raise awareness”, “drive action”, “responsible choices”, etc., and so forth. And there’s also this: “The Green Climate Fund must move into its operational phase with developed countries delivering on their commitments to mobilise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries.”
NB. This, I predict, will be the big emphasis for 2014 – the Green Climate Fund and the big push for “developed countries delivering on their commitments”. The Bali conference this month didn’t make much progress, in this regard, and it will be interesting to see how far the May conference in Songdo, South Korea (the new home of the GCF) will go. The ones to watch, I think, will be Ban Ki-moon’s summit in New York in September and, of course, COP20 in Peru in December.
Whenever I hear about the Green Climate Fund and its “operational phase”, somehow I’m reminded of the Star Wars movies, and Emperor Palpatine saying “Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station.” The Green Climate Fund threatens to be a sort of financial Death Star aimed at the beleaguered wallets of the developed nations (so let’s hope it has a fatal flaw that its designers never thought about!)