Florida Model United Nations General Assembly Background Guide

Transcription

1 Full Introduction: Florida Model United Nations General Assembly Background Guide The United Nations General Assembly (GA) is the main deliberative and representative organ of the United Nations (UN), and it is composed of all Members States, which currently totals 193 states. 1 Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter of 1945 (The Charter) created and outlined the composition and structure of the body. 2 Article 10 discusses the role of the General Assembly as such, The General Assembly may discuss any questions or any matters within the scope of the present Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any organs provided for in the present Charter, and, except as provided in Article 12, may make recommendations to the Members of the United Nations or to the Security Council or to both on any such questions or matters. 3 Article 12 of the Charter limits the ability of the General Assembly to not make any recommendation with regard to that dispute or situation unless the Security Council so requests. 4 Article 13 further outlines the function of the General Assembly to promoting international cooperation in the political field and encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification. 5 Article 13 continues by tasking the GA in promoting international co-operation in the economic, social, cultural, educational, and health fields, and assisting in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. 6 Even though the Assembly is empowered to make only non-binding recommendations to Member States on international issues within its competence, it has initiated political, economic, humanitarian, social and legal actions which have affected the lives of millions of people throughout the world. 7 Topic I. Promotion of sustainable development to control climate change Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all. It offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance. Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon Introduction: Climate change is not a future concern, it is currently having drastic effects on the world and is something the United Nations acts on as a serious threat. Climate change is disrupting national Ibid 4 Ibid 5 Ibid 6 Ibid 7

2 economies, having significant impacts on Member States ability to cope with the costs of adaptation. 8 However, there is a growing recognition that affordable, scalable solutions are available now that will enable Member States to leapfrog to cleaner infrastructure with more resilient economies. 9 Climate change is also a threat to sustainable development. Nonetheless, there are many opportunities to link mitigation, adaptation and the pursuit of other societal objectives through integrated responses. 10 Sustainability has been a long sought-out goal for the United Nations since The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment which met in Stockholm in June, The Conference on the Human Environment considered the need for a common outlook and for common principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human environment. 12 Member States at the conference declared that the protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue which affects the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world; it is the urgent desire of the peoples of the whole world and the duty of all Governments. 13 This led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the primary body within the UN responsible for coordinating international environmental policies and activities. 14 The United Nations and Climate Change Science: There is a strong scientific consensus that the global climate is changing and that human activity contributes significantly to this trend. 15 The scientific consensus about human-induced climate change is further attested to by a joint statement signed by 11 of the world s leading national science academies representing Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. 16 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change s (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report concludes, with 95 per cent certainty that the human influence on the climate system is clear and is evident from the increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, positive radiative forcing, observed warming, and understanding of the climate system. 17 Every five or six years, the IPCC conducts a comprehensive report that assesses articles that climate scientists publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals, which is where most of the scientific debate on climate change takes place ibid 9 Ibid Ibid 13 Ibid Ibid Ibid

3 Framework for Climate Change: The work done by the United Nations to promote sustainable development is very closely connected with the work towards combatting climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty with the goal to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system, was adopted in There are currently 196 parties signed onto the UNFCCC. 20 Framework for Climate Change: Kyoto Protocol The first document to emerge from the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) was the Kyoto Protocol (KP), which was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in However, due to a multipart ratification process, it entered into force on 16 February The Kyoto Protocol firmly commits industrialized Member States to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions based on the principles of the Convention. 23 The Convention itself only encourages states to do so. 24 The KP sets a binding emission reduction target for 37 industrialized Member States in its first commitment period. 25 These targets add up to an average five per cent emissions reduction compared to 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008 to The KP places a heavier burden on developed states under its central principle of common but differentiated responsibility. 27 Framework for Climate Change: Bali Action Plan Following the KP was the creation of the Bali Road Map, which includes the Bali Action Plan, which came out of a COP in Bali, Indonesia in The Bali Action plan is a comprehensive process to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention through long-term cooperative action. 29 The Action Plan, although not binding, was a first step in integrating developing Member States into the UNFCCC, and it recognized that developing Member States would need both incentives and means of funding their implementation of the convention. Framework for Climate Change: Cancun Agreements and Durban Outcomes Ibid Ibid 24 Ibid 25 Ibid 26 Ibid 27 Ibid Ibid

4 Since Bali, there have been two significant sets of agreements to emerge from the COP, the Cancun Agreements in 2010 and the Durban Outcomes in The Cancun Agreements were a set of significant decisions by the international community to address the long-term challenge of climate change collectively and comprehensively over time and to take concrete action immediately to speed up the global response to it. 32 The Durban Outcomes promoted government to clearly recognize the need to draw up the blueprint for a fresh universal, legal agreement to deal with climate change beyond Current Framework: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) which concluded on 22 June 2012, has been considered one of the largest conferences in the history of the United Nations. 34 The mandate for Rio+20 was created through General Assembly Resolution 64/236 (A/RES/64/236). 35 Financial Investment: The Climate Investment Fund (CIF) was developed through the UNFCCC and is funded jointly by the World Bank, and Regional Development Banks. 36 Currently the CIF funds 46 Member States, and has 14 contributing states. 37 The funds are designed to provide extra financial assistance to developing states for the creation of programs and tools to mitigate the effects of climate change. The funds are disbursed largely in the form of grants, loans and concessional funds. 38 Some examples of implemented projects include Indonesia, where the government can finally actualize its ability to harness geothermal power, and effectively reduce 33 metric tons of CO2 over the lifetime of a single project, in addition to greater access to electricity for its citizens. 39 Topic II. Disaster Control and Humanitarian Relief Management The fact is that one side thinks the profits to be won outweigh the risks to be incurred, and the other side would rather avoid danger than accept an immediate loss. - Thucydides Introduction: The United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Management (UNISDR) defines disaster as a serious Ibid 39 Ibid

5 disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. 40 Disasters are often described as a result of; the combination of the exposure to a hazard; the conditions of vulnerability that are present; and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce or cope with the potential negative consequences. 41 The UNISDR was created by United National General Assembly resolution (A/RES/56/195), to serve as the focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations system and regional organizations. 42 The UNISDR maintains five regional offices in Asia (Bangkok, Thailand), Africa (Nairobi, Kenya), Europe (Brussels, Belgium), Arab States (Cairo, Egypt) and Americas and the Caribbean (Panama City, Panama). 43 In 2013, natural disasters had a devastating impact on human society as 330 reported natural disasters caused the death of more than 21,610 people, made 96.5 million victims and caused a record amount of US$ billion of damages. 44 A total of 108 states were hit by these disasters. 45 International and Regional Frameworks: The United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared the decade from to be the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. 46 Goals of the decade focused on decreasing the loss of life, property destruction, and social and economic disruption caused by natural disasters. 47 This decade spawned the creation of the Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World (1994), called for the strengthening of sub-regional, regional, and international cooperation to prevent, reduce, and mitigate natural disasters. 48 One of the main pieces recently at the forefront of the disaster reduction discussion is the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005 to 2015: Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters and the Hyogo Declaration. The HFA established three main strategies which included: the integration of disaster risk reduction into sustainable development policies and planning; development and strengthening of institutions, mechanisms, and capacities to build resilience to hazards; and the systemic incorporation of risk reduction approaches into the implementation of emergency preparedness, response and recovery programs. 49 In addition, five main priorities of action Ibid Ibid 44 Annual Disaster Statistical Review Ibid Ibid 48 Ibid 49

6 were drafted: make disaster risk reduction a priority, know the risks and take action, build understanding and awareness, reduce risk, and be prepared and ready to act. 50 The overlying expected outcome was to substantially reduce disaster losses, in lives and in the social, economic and environmental assets of communities and states. 51 The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction of 2015 to 2030 is the successor to the HFA. It was adopted on 18 March, 2015 at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan. 52 The Sendai Framework is the outcome of consultations initiated in March of 2012 and intergovernmental negotiations held from July 2014 to March 2015, which were supported by the UNISDR upon the request of the UN General Assembly. 53 The UNISDR has been tasked to support the implementation, follow-up and review of the Sendai Framework. 54 Taking into account the experience gained through the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, The Sendai Framework sets the priorities as such: Understanding disaster risk; strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience; enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to Build Back Better in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. 55 The Sendai Framework ensures there is clear recognition of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and the regional platforms for disaster risk reduction as mechanisms for coherence across agendas, monitoring and periodic reviews in support of UN Governance bodies. 56 Disaster Risk Management: The UNISDR defines disaster risk management as the systematic process of using administrative directives, organizations, and operational skills and capacities to implement strategies, policies and improved coping capacities in order to lessen the adverse impacts of hazards and the possibility of disaster. 57 Disaster risk reduction aims to follow the legal UN documents to protecting individual rights, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many studies stemming from the UN recognize that disasters hurt the poor and vulnerable the most. 58 Low-income Member States account for more than 70 percent of the world s disaster hotspots, and the world's poor, one-third of whom live in multi-hazard zones, are the most vulnerable. 59 Since 1980, low-income states have accounted for only 9 percent of disaster events but 48 percent of the fatalities Ibid 51 Ibid 52 Ibid 53 Ibid 54 Ibid Ibid 57 Ibid Ibid 60 Ibid

7 Key Issues and Remaining Challenges: Food Security: Three out of four people in developing Member States live in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture for food security. 61 In 2010, more than 50 percent of WFP s programs addressed the risks of natural disasters and their impacts on food security, reaching approximately 80 million people. 62 In 2011, WFP published the Policy on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, laying out high-level policy responses to food insecurity caused by both natural and man-made disasters. 63 This policy is designed to build the resilience and capacity of the most vulnerable people, communities and countries, by working to ensure food and nutrition security while reducing disaster risk and protecting and enhancing lives and livelihoods. 64 Women and Children: Food insecurity during disaster situations affects women and children disproportionately. 65 The negative effects of natural disasters on children include an increased likelihood of malnourishment which may lead to stunted growth. 66 Another effect of disaster is the increased incidence of genderbased violence, which may result from an increase in high risk male coping mechanisms such as alcohol consumption, the frequent exclusion of women from the post-disaster decision-making process, or stressed or non-functional justice systems in post-disaster situations. 67 Public Awareness: Public awareness is one of the most efficient ways of recognizing risks in order to promote a culture of prevention. 68 Such steps have included remote sensors for disaster reduction, geographical information systems in disaster reduction, global positioning systems, mathematical modeling, disaster reduction policy for technology, and communications in disaster reduction. 69 PreventionWeb, a subsidiary of UNISDR, is one technological resource that harnesses the information related to disaster reduction. 70 PreventionWeb serves the information needs of the disaster risk reduction community, including the development of information exchange tools to facilitate collaboration WFP Policy on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.PDF 62 Ibid 63 Ibid 64 Ibid 65 Ibid 66 Ibid 67 Ibid Ibid