Free Republic

The national government of the United States has walked away from international climate action by announcing its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement — ICLEI and its network has not. ICLEI is the only local government network that is accredited as observer at the three Rio Conventions, namely UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under which the Paris Agreement was adopted; the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD); and the UN Convention on Desertification (UNCCD). ICLEI actively participates in the negotiation and implementation of international climate issues under these Conventions, representing the local and regional perspective. The Paris Agreement...

Maurice Strong orchestrated most of the early action because he knew how to set up the bureaucratic structure necessary to control the politics and science. Neil Hrab wrote in 2001 that Strong achieved this by: Mainly using his prodigious skills as a networker. Over a lifetime of mixing private sector career success with stints in government and international groups… He began with the 1977 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment Stockholm Conference. As Hrab explained: The three specific goals set out by the Secretary General of the Conference, Maurice F. Strong, at its first plenary session—a Declaration on the...