Chapter 5 - The United Nations?

Chapter Summary

This chapter critically examines the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its failure to achieve its singular goal: stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations to prevent dangerous climate change.

The chapter starts in Versailles at the time of the French Revolution and tracks the twists and turns of human history towards the creation of the United Nations. Although the chapter indulges different cultural and artistic objects, the central metaphor of the chapter is actually just a box of Cornflakes.

This is because although the empty space in a box of cornflakes looks a bit useless, it is, in fact, essential to protect the cornflakes from getting crushed. And so it is with the space above our heads - both with the atmosphere and with democracy.

The UNFCCC was set up to protect this atmospheric space. However, despite decades of COP meetings, emissions have continued to rise. The chapter concludes with a call for clarity, science-based laws, and global solidarity to address the climate crisis. It points ahead to the CUTx Index of Chapter 7: a clear measure of where we are, and what we need to do to protect the future of human civilisation.