United Nations

United Nations
Leadership	Secretary-general Osei
Headquarters	New York, United States
Type	Intergovernmental organization
Standing	Active

The United Nations (UN) is a geo-political entity.

History

The Climate Crisis

In the opening decades of the 21st century, climate change was perhaps the greatest issue facing humanity. The world had reduced its CO2 emissions from peak readings by a measly 5%, a number that, while seen as a great achievement, was hardly sufficient to stop, let alone reverse the worst impacts of humanity's growing energy needs. However, as time went on, there were positive signs. Borda algae proliferated through rural and residential areas, and the public continued to turn away from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy. Wind power in particular boomed in this period, as the superstorms and high winds caused by an ever-warming planet generated more energy for turbines to harvest. Integrated battery storage systems cemented renewables' leads.

However, there was a growing rift across the world on the climate change issue. Major commerical, transportation, and military interests were slower to pivot. The developing world had great interest in modern eco-friendly advances, but were hamstrung by insufficient infrastructure. They openly questioned why they should invest in systems to curb their much smaller emissions when some of the world's largest carbon emitters were barely making an effort. Some nations remained noncompliant and continued to burn fossil fuels, which still accounted for around 50% of the world's energy consumption. Furthermore, carbon-capture technology remained costly and inefficient.

The UN stepped in and found the resources to deploy various technologies in a series of humanitarian efforts across the world. These efforts, combined with the average citizen's embrace of clean energy, reduced emissions by a further 20%. It appeared that Earth would remain hospitable to human life for a good time to come.

Despite this, climate change was a sticky political issue given that it was global in scope, but had not been caused equally. Larger nations feared they would be expected to pay excessive reparations, while smaller nations feared that the political advantages they'd gained through climate refugee status would be lost. God programs that had been created to deal with ecological issues were underutilized, as humanity pursued self-interest rather than the collective good. Public opinion held that human ingenuity had caused the climate crisis, and human ingenuity would solve it.

AI Issues

As god programs were rolled out, the UN established a special agency to regulate them. However, such oversight was limited in its effectiveness, given how advanced the programs were.

With the development of Aurora, the UN put limits on further research into artificial intelligence.

The Omnic Crisis

During the Omnic Crisis, as the nations of Earth tried and failed to contain the omnics, the UN was busy forming an international taskforce named Overwatch. This small, experimental group would bring together the best and brightest from around the world to wage asymmetrical warfare against the robots. Overwatch succeeded, and the war came to an end.

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Post-Crisis

After the war, the UN extended Overwatch's charter to support international peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts. It later approved Overwatch's watchpoint program, as well as the construction of a headquarters.

Sometimes after the Omnic Crisis, the UN granted omnics legal personhood. However, legal battles within countries continued to persist.

Two decades after the end of the war, Overwatch was faced with a series of shocking allegations: negligence resulting in high-profile mission failures, corruption and mismanagement, weapons proliferation, human rights abuses, and more. A special UN committee launched a lengthy and highly secretive investigation into the claims, which led to the disbandment of the group. After hearings with surviving members of Overwatch, the committee publicly stated that the explosion was an apparent accident. Classified documents state that it additionally determined the explosion was caused during a power struggle between Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison, two of Overwatch's key members.

Recent History

UN officials initially refused to comment on the string of attacks by Jack Morrison. After the incident at the Overwatch Museum, however, the UN released a statement, stating, "The United Nations has not authorized any Overwatch operations. The organization’s charter remains revoked." They did not answer further questions.

The international community was divided as to whether to intervene in the Second Omnic Crisis in Russia. The UN convened to discuss the issue.

Following a number of high profile incidents involving Helix Security International, the UN granted Helix's request for additional funding to deal with rising threats; much to the dismay of those opposed to the increasing privatization of security following the end of Overwatch.

After Null Sector's attack on Paris and Overwatch's intervention, Secretary-general Osei contacted Winston, him that despite the situation, his reformed Overwatch was in breach of numerous international laws. Any further action was warned against.

Known Branches

• International Justice Commission (appears to work under/in conjunction with the UN)
• UN Military Affairs
• United Nations Global Recovery Program (defunct?)

Known Members

Administrative

• Secretary-general Osei
• Under-secretary-general Gabrielle Adawe (formerly)

Military

• Lieutenant-general Ricardo Perez