As Tennesseans head into the new year, they will have something to celebrate: The Volunteer State has enacted legislation banning state and local involvement in globalist United Nations initiatives, including its Agenda 21, Agenda 2030, and climate-change schemes.
Senate Bill 1147 (SB 1147), sponsored by state Senator Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) and four other senators, had been introduced early last year. Eleven representatives sponsored a companion bill, House Bill 1346 (HB 1346), in the state House.
SB 1147’s provisions strongly protect private-property rights from infringements connected to the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and related globalist programs. The bill declares:
(b) This state and its political subdivisions shall not adopt or implement policy recommendations that deliberately or inadvertently infringe or restrict private property rights without due process, as may be required by policy recommendations originating in, or traceable to, the United Nations or a subsidiary entity of the United Nations, including, but not limited to:
(1) “Agenda 21,” adopted by the United Nations in 1992 at its Conference on Environment and Development;
(2) The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, introduced at a United Nations Summit in 2015;
(3) The United Nations’ proposal to reach net zero emissions by 2050; or
(4) Another international law or ancillary plan of action that contravenes the constitution of the United States or the constitution of this state.
(c) Since the United Nations has accredited and enlisted numerous non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations to assist in the implementation of its policies relative to Agenda 21, [t]he 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, net zero goals for 2050, and its related plans and initiatives, this state and its political subdivisions shall not enter into an agreement, expend any sum of money, or provide financial aid to those non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations as described in or promoted by such plans and initiatives.
Although it is common for strongly liberty-minded legislation to die in state legislatures, the Tennessee General Assembly enacted SB 1147. The bill passed by a 25-6 vote in the Senate, and a 66-22 vote in the House. Governor Bill Lee signed SB 1147 into law on May 17, 2023, and the bill is now state law.
UN Agenda 2030
Agenda 2030, officially titled “the 2030 Agenda,” is one of the main programs blocked by SB 1147. It is a United Nations program based on the UN Local Agenda 21 program — also banned in the bill — unveiled in 1992 and the UN Millennium Development Goals released in 2000. Under the guise of “sustainable development,” this plan seeks totalitarian control and regimentation of the entire planet, including the economy, our country, our lives, and our children. Agenda 2030 is divided into 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, along with 169 specific “targets” to be imposed on humanity.
The SDGs include “universal health coverage,” “vaccines for all,” and “universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning [i.e., abortion]” (Goal 3). It also advocates for socialist indoctrination of youth (Goal 4), global wealth redistribution (Goal 10), and radical actions to combat alleged “climate change” (Goal 13). None of these goals is constitutional, or even adheres to the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.
Other prominent examples of Agenda 2030’s implementation include the global war on farmers, carbon-capture pipelines, and the “transition” toward “green” energy as recently promoted at the UN COP28 gathering.
Although touted as “nonbinding,” Agenda 2030 is being implemented in communities across the United States via “soft law,” meaning that portions of the agenda are adopted into local, state, and federal laws, thus becoming legally binding. As a result, Americans are losing the ability as citizens to run their own communities through elected officials.
Tennessee’s SB 1147 is an excellent — but, so far, rare — example of state legislators pushing back against this anti-American agenda.
A similar victory occurred in 2012, when Alabama enacted legislation (SB 477) banning the implementation of the UN’s Agenda 21 in the state. Meanwhile, other states have introduced and enacted several strong nullification bills on various subjects throughout U.S. history.
Contact your state legislators and urge them to completely ban state and local government involvement in Agenda 2030 and “sustainable development” schemes.
To urge your state legislators to outlaw Agenda 2030 and “sustainable development” schemes, visit The John Birch Society’s legislative alert here. Visit the JBS’s “Stop Agenda 2030” action-project page here for additional tools and resources.
