HFXMUN 2007

Background Guide for the Draft Resolution on Climate Change

            One term continues to dominate every environmental discussion and debate across the globe: climate change.  According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the most trusted and relied-upon source of climate change scientific research by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)—“climate” is used to describe the average, long-term weather specific to varying locations on the earth.  Climate can be affected by any number of natural variables, such as distance from a body of water, latitude, elevation, and presence or absence of other geographical factors.  The Third Assessment Report of the IPCC also describes the “climate system” as an integrated whole, influence from the atmosphere, oceans, ice and snow cover, and land surface components.[i]  This committee, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) acts in concordance with guidelines established by the UNFCC,[ii] and thus adheres to the IPCC’s consideration of all of these elements when discussing climate change and subsequently related issues.  This session has been convened in order to address climate changes which continue to raise alarm among the scientific community and is now beginning to spread into more public arenas.

            These changes range from record high temperatures, rising seas, drought, wildfire, hurricane activity, and earthquakes to increasing migration patterns and rapid changes in species growth.  Shockingly, all of these scientifically recorded changes have resulted from just an estimated 0.5-1.0 F global average degree rise over the last 100 years.[iii]  The IPCC reported solid evidence in their Second Assessment Report in 1996 that human activities are largely influencing climate changes.[iv]  The natural greenhouse effect is primarily created by the presence of greenhouse gases (GHG’s) in the earth’s atmosphere.  GHG’s capture and retain heat energy that is reflected off the earth from the sun—a function which, like a greenhouse, creates prime conditions for flourishing life on earth.  But an unnatural overabundance of these gases, (such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide,) raises temperatures and wreaks havoc on natural systems which rely on predictable climate cycles. [v]  In September 2006, scientists reported that the past twelve month period was the hottest ever recorded in the U.S. [vi]  They have also reported that, across the globe, nighttime lows are rising twice as fast as daytime highs.  In fact, if carbon dioxide emission levels simply remain constant at where they stand currently, global temperatures are estimated to rise approximately 3.5? degrees F.[vii] 

            Another concern which naturally follows rising temperatures is the effect that they are having on the earth’s oceans.  Recent images of the Arctic ice core shows that it is melting at an alarming rate—around 9% per decade.[viii]  This, coupled with melting glaciers, is predicted to raise sea level 1.5 feet by 2100.[ix]  Recent monitoring of glacier activity in Greenland , (the second largest ice mass in the world,) reported over 30 earthquakes measuring 4.6-5.1 on the Richter scale.  If this accumulation of ice were to break apart, even in relatively small amounts compared to the mass as a whole, it could result in a 20 foot rise in seas worldwide.[x]  Warmer ocean temperatures also seem to be contributing to more hurricane activity and strength.  The U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has recently reported that the frequency of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has nearly doubled since 1970.[xi]  A resounding theme in atmospheric research facilities points at one fact—storms may not necessarily be increasing in number, but they are definitely increasing in strength.  The same goes for other natural disasters, such as earthquakes and tidal waves.  Just these few effects of climate change made it clear that something had to be done to try and reduce GHG emission levels.

In December of 1997, the UNFCC created the Kyoto Protocol, aptly named for the Japanese city in which discussion and policymaking took place to develop the treaty.  To date, 164 of the 189 member countries of the UNFCC are party to this treaty.[xii]  The goal of this treaty is to reduce GHG emissions by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2012.[xiii]  Specific targets vary from country to country.  All actions and goals put forth in the Kyoto Protocol are aimed at reducing emissions in an effort to slow current temperature changes which are affecting the climate so heavily.  Emission reduction progress reports are already starting to come in and action plans are under way.  Therefore, as this treaty has already been established and accepted by the United Nations body, it is now the goal of this committee to look beyond the scope of global warming and emission reduction discussion and move on to the more pressing issue at hand; how to adapt to inevitable climate changes. 

            The UNEP and UNFCC have made it very clear that “adaptation” is now to be a central theme in all climate change discussions.  The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the “prime authority” under the UNFCC, and is made up of all UN member nations.  To reiterate, the COP has laid out in Article 4.1(b) that all member parties are required take action to mitigate climate changes.[xiv]  Thus, deliberation of the Conventions now focus on the daunting task of global adaptation to climate change.  Some progress has been made thus far by the COP, which is guided by the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) on “matters of climate, the environment, technology, and method.”[xv]  Convention Article 1.4 states that parties must now “formulate, implement, publish and regularly update national and, where appropriate, regional programmes containing measures to […] facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change,” and “cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change.”  Convention Article 4.4 adds that developed country parties shall “assist the developing country Parties that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in meeting costs of adaptation to those adverse effects.”[xvi]  The African Regional Workshop on Adaptation was held by the UNFCC September 21-23, 2006, and focused primarily on African concerns related to impending climate change.  Reports from this conference are very useful and applicable to the climate change discussion, as Africa is seen by many to be one of the regions in the world whose people will be most likely to suffer and whose economy will be least likely to be able to adapt to resulting changes in climate variability.  The most unfortunate fact remains that Africa has also contributed the least to GHG emissions.  Latin America held a similar workshop in April 2006 to discuss many of these same concerns.  Most of the discussion groups focused on climate change adaptation and a reduction in vulnerability to these changes.  The four sessions of the African Regional workshop set out a solid structure for discussion of climate change, which make for excellent suggestions as to the order of how this committee could approach the topic at hand as well.  In appropriate order, the workshop addressed: “impact and vulnerability assessments; adaptation planning and implementation; regional collaboration; and outcomes and ways forward.”[xvii]  It must be stressed that cooperation and consensus must be at the forefront of all policymaking and action decided upon by this committee as well.  The desire for these objectives to be met is embodied in the IPCC organization—developed for these very purposes.

            The IPCC was created by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UNEP in 1988, when the problem of potential global climate change was beginning to surface.  All members of the UN and the WMO are welcome to participate and contribute scientific, technical, and socio-economical information relevant to the research, discussion, and potential solutions to the problem of climate change.  First and foremost, the IPCC is an assessment group of intergovernmental bodies.  Three “Working Groups” have been established under the auspices of the IPCC: Working Group I assesses the scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change; Working Group II assesses the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change, negative and positive consequences of climate change, and options for adapting to it; and Working Group III assesses options for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and otherwise mitigating climate change [xviii]  This body, along with the Ecosystem Conservation Group (ECG) and the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (STAP,) exist to provide joint programming and an advisory role to satisfy the UNEP’s objective of collaboration in climate change policymaking.       

            Adaptation tactics will clearly be different for nations varying on the development scale, and must also be applicable to the diverse environments represented by every nation present in this committee.  However, as previously mentioned, there are many universal problems which must be considered and addressed by all parties.  In particular, as stressed by the African Regional Workshop, sustainable development and water resources will be highly affected by climate change, and thus greatly affects the health of the people.[xix]  Also needing much attention and reform is the area of funding for adaptation research and tactics.  Africa and the Least Developed Countries (LDC’s,) in particular, suffer the effects of limited funding for data collection and interpretation.  This concern was first addressed by the COP 1 in 1995, but according to the International Emissions Trading Association, was not seriously discussed until the Marrakesh Accords were adopted in 2001.[xx]  Convention Article 4.4 states that developed country parties shall “assist the developing country Parties that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in meeting costs of adaptation to those adverse effects.”  It is particularly important for this committee to determine ways in which this objective can be met.

            To conclude, it is the purpose of this committee session to identify the major impacts of climate change across the globe, who and what is going to be affected, and, most importantly, what needs to be done to adapt and reduce vulnerability to these changes.

For discussion:

How do you think your country could feasibly take steps to adapt to climate change, and is it possible for your country to aid other countries in adaptation and vulnerability reduction?

What are the biggest universal obstacles to climate change adaptation?

In what areas do you think consensus can be reached in discussion of solutions to the problem of climate change?

Where do your country’s interests lie in this discussion?