.
The end of era in international politics is about to begin. On September 20th, President Obama gave his last direct address to the world’s 192 country leaders at the 71st UN General Assembly. As the United States gets closer to the 2016 presidential elections, international uncertainty about the continuity of Obama’s global commitments grows around the world.
The American President’s 8th and last participation at the UN General Assembly left behind a bittersweet taste. On one hand, the US has not been able to lead the efforts to put an end to the Syrian conflict. The Syrian civil war has coincided with the larger part of Obama’s two terms in the White House leaving over 400,000 people dead. At the same time, Obama has been a crucial player in ensuring the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreements, making him the first American president to take climate change as a serious priority. What the Obama administration has lacked in mobilizing diplomatic tools to end the bloodshed in Syria and Iraq it has made up in encouraging other nations towards embarking on a sustainable development path.
The refugee crisis received special attention during the 71st UN General Assembly, and a dedicated Summit took place before the opening of the General Assembly procedures – to little avail. The refugee crisis has been a pressing issue especially for the EU where more than half a million refugees fleeing from the Middle East entered through the Greek island of Lesbos last year alone. According to the UNHCR, about half the people who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean are Syrian, showing just how much the refugee crisis is linked to the Syrian conflict. During the General Assembly President Obama tried, once again, to rally countries to pledge higher commitments to refugees, but he faced a woefully divided audience.
While the Syrian conflict and the refugee crisis have indeed been positioned at the top of the agenda, UNGA President Peter Thompson from Fiji has declared that the 71st UN General Assembly should focus this year on consolidating the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The White House has been a strong supporter of the SDGs, with Michelle Obama championing education and gender alongside the President’s commitment to invest in clean energy.
Will Obama’s COP21 legacy endure?
However, the SDGs, which replaced the UN’s Millennium Goals, are the target of much criticism for their all-encompassing nature and vague commitments, making them hard to address through for a like the UN General Assembly. Indeed, the limited time and highly choreographed nature of the UNGA does not provide the ideal platform welcoming the technical expertise necessary to make significant achievements in a short period of two weeks. The SDGs do provide a framework and targets to be met before 2030, but finding the actual solutions and pathways to do so are more likely to be achieved in other formats.
A good example in this sense is the Paris COP21, where President Obama and French President François Hollande managed to break the stalemate and emerged after two weeks of discussions with a comprehensive agreement. The explanation behind the COP21’s success was that it involved both excellent diplomats and high technical expertise. Moreover, the Agreement was made possible by bringing all stakeholders on board, including the private sector and civil society – a rare meeting of minds in a context where the three are perpetually at loggerheads.
For this year’s UNGA, the high-level sessions will hopefully clear the path for the ratification of the agreement, currently transposed into national legislation by just 27 countries representing almost 40% of world population. After China and the U.S. ratified it on September 2nd, it is expected that others will join in, and some 30 countries should ratify it during the UNGA. Knowing that the world’s biggest polluters will get on board to meet the below 2 degrees target reassures policy-makers, especially in emerging economies, that they are not alone in their emissions-reduction pathways.
Indeed, one of the main challenges for middle-income countries, especially for oil and gas producers and consumers, is to guarantee a transition towards clean energy without compromising economic growth. The challenge seems very tough but many countries have realized that their journey towards a low-emissions growth requires focusing on solutions through international cooperation, promoting best practices, scientific expertise exchange, and technology transfer. Without including all low-income and middle-income countries, the targets outlined in the SDGs will not be met.
As such, solutions-oriented international fora provide great platforms to bring together multiple stakeholders to implement the outcomes of diplomatic negotiations. In the case of access to clean energy, which answers to directly to SDG 7 and 13, international events like the Astana-Expo 2017 can provide the necessary innovative space needed to power the next generation. The expo is expected to bring together participants from more than 100 countries. The leadership of emerging economies such as Kazakhstan in shaping the future of energy access showcases how other developing countries can face the challenge of energy demand in a sustainable way while maintaining steady economic growth rates.
The importance of emerging economies in implementing the SDGs and the Paris Agreement must resonate in the 71st UNGA. President Obama will be missed next year at the General Assembly in New York, but regardless of the outcome of November’s elections, his legacy and commitment to clean energy must be carried forward.
About the author: Frank Maxwell is a Competitive Intelligence Correspondent based in Warsaw, Poland.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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Obama’s bittersweet last UN General Assembly
H. E. Mr. Barack Obama, President of the United States, addresses the 65th General Assembly.
September 21, 2016
The end of era in international politics is about to begin. On September 20th, President Obama gave his last direct address to the world’s 192 country leaders at the 71st UN General Assembly. As the United States gets closer to the 2016 presidential elections, international uncertainty about the continuity of Obama’s global commitments grows around the world.
The American President’s 8th and last participation at the UN General Assembly left behind a bittersweet taste. On one hand, the US has not been able to lead the efforts to put an end to the Syrian conflict. The Syrian civil war has coincided with the larger part of Obama’s two terms in the White House leaving over 400,000 people dead. At the same time, Obama has been a crucial player in ensuring the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreements, making him the first American president to take climate change as a serious priority. What the Obama administration has lacked in mobilizing diplomatic tools to end the bloodshed in Syria and Iraq it has made up in encouraging other nations towards embarking on a sustainable development path.
The refugee crisis received special attention during the 71st UN General Assembly, and a dedicated Summit took place before the opening of the General Assembly procedures – to little avail. The refugee crisis has been a pressing issue especially for the EU where more than half a million refugees fleeing from the Middle East entered through the Greek island of Lesbos last year alone. According to the UNHCR, about half the people who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean are Syrian, showing just how much the refugee crisis is linked to the Syrian conflict. During the General Assembly President Obama tried, once again, to rally countries to pledge higher commitments to refugees, but he faced a woefully divided audience.
While the Syrian conflict and the refugee crisis have indeed been positioned at the top of the agenda, UNGA President Peter Thompson from Fiji has declared that the 71st UN General Assembly should focus this year on consolidating the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The White House has been a strong supporter of the SDGs, with Michelle Obama championing education and gender alongside the President’s commitment to invest in clean energy.
Will Obama’s COP21 legacy endure?
However, the SDGs, which replaced the UN’s Millennium Goals, are the target of much criticism for their all-encompassing nature and vague commitments, making them hard to address through for a like the UN General Assembly. Indeed, the limited time and highly choreographed nature of the UNGA does not provide the ideal platform welcoming the technical expertise necessary to make significant achievements in a short period of two weeks. The SDGs do provide a framework and targets to be met before 2030, but finding the actual solutions and pathways to do so are more likely to be achieved in other formats.
A good example in this sense is the Paris COP21, where President Obama and French President François Hollande managed to break the stalemate and emerged after two weeks of discussions with a comprehensive agreement. The explanation behind the COP21’s success was that it involved both excellent diplomats and high technical expertise. Moreover, the Agreement was made possible by bringing all stakeholders on board, including the private sector and civil society – a rare meeting of minds in a context where the three are perpetually at loggerheads.
For this year’s UNGA, the high-level sessions will hopefully clear the path for the ratification of the agreement, currently transposed into national legislation by just 27 countries representing almost 40% of world population. After China and the U.S. ratified it on September 2nd, it is expected that others will join in, and some 30 countries should ratify it during the UNGA. Knowing that the world’s biggest polluters will get on board to meet the below 2 degrees target reassures policy-makers, especially in emerging economies, that they are not alone in their emissions-reduction pathways.
Indeed, one of the main challenges for middle-income countries, especially for oil and gas producers and consumers, is to guarantee a transition towards clean energy without compromising economic growth. The challenge seems very tough but many countries have realized that their journey towards a low-emissions growth requires focusing on solutions through international cooperation, promoting best practices, scientific expertise exchange, and technology transfer. Without including all low-income and middle-income countries, the targets outlined in the SDGs will not be met.
As such, solutions-oriented international fora provide great platforms to bring together multiple stakeholders to implement the outcomes of diplomatic negotiations. In the case of access to clean energy, which answers to directly to SDG 7 and 13, international events like the Astana-Expo 2017 can provide the necessary innovative space needed to power the next generation. The expo is expected to bring together participants from more than 100 countries. The leadership of emerging economies such as Kazakhstan in shaping the future of energy access showcases how other developing countries can face the challenge of energy demand in a sustainable way while maintaining steady economic growth rates.
The importance of emerging economies in implementing the SDGs and the Paris Agreement must resonate in the 71st UNGA. President Obama will be missed next year at the General Assembly in New York, but regardless of the outcome of November’s elections, his legacy and commitment to clean energy must be carried forward.
About the author: Frank Maxwell is a Competitive Intelligence Correspondent based in Warsaw, Poland.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
