Download The question of climate impacts on poor and vulnerable

Haganum Model United Nations
Gymnasium Haganum, The Hague
Research Reports
United Nations Framework Convention for
Climate Change
The question of climate impact on poor and
vulnerable people
10th, 11th and12th of March 2017
Haganum Model United Nations 2017| 10th of March – 12th of March 2017
Forum:
United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change
Issue:
The question of climate impacts on poor and vulnerable people
Student Officer:
Katrien Nivera
Position:
President
Introduction
Climate change and climate impact have been two issues people have been dealing
with since industrialisation increased in the 1900s, however the effects of industrialisation
have been ignored until very recently.
Climate is the average weather in a country or region over long periods of time, a
larger scale of the weather in a country. Since the beginning of the 20th century, our climate
has slowly been evolving due to increased levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere, after burning fossil fuels for energy.
Climate change can be identified through a number of effects such as global
warming, an increase in soil and rain acidification, ocean acidification, rise in sea level and
more. Each country is affected by these issues differently and to a different extent, however
those living in developing countries may encounter harsher effects for several reasons.
Many people living in developing countries may be unaware of this problem, and may not
know they are contributing to it. They may also not have the accessibility to transfer into
more environmentally friendly methods of generating electricity, and overall these factors
come back to harm them the most.
The global community relies on each other to function as a society, and when an
issue as immense as climate change develops, it should be in everyone’s best interest to
combat it so that it does not negatively affect more people than it already has.
Definition of Key Terms
Developed country
Developed countries have a highly developed economy and infrastructure in relation
to some less industrialised countries. Economic development is usually determined
by the gross domestic product and gross national product (GDP and GNP
respectively) and as well as the level of industrialisation, infrastructure and standard
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of living. Countries such as France, Australia, and the United Kingdom are developed
countries.
Developing country
Alternatively, developing countries have less developed economies and technological
infrastructure in relation to other industrialised countries. They usually have a lower
GDP and GNP, and have a lower Human Development Index (HDI) Examples of
developing countries include Nepal, Brazil and Sudan.
Quality of life (QOL)
Quality of life is defined as the health, comfort and happiness felt by an individual or
society. It is slightly more difficult to assess this because QOL is more subjective.
Developed countries have a high QOL while developing countries have a lower QOL.
Greenhouse gas (sometimes abbreviated to GHG)
Greenhouse gases are a type of gas that absorb infrared radiation, such as carbon
dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect
where these gases trap the Sun’s warmth and the earth’s atmosphere retains this
heat. Excessive greenhouse gas emission is the main cause of climate change.
Background Information
Origins of climate change
Greenhouse gas emission primarily comes from electricity plants that burn coal as a
means of generating electricity, followed by the use of motor vehicles which run on oil and
gas. The main cause of climate change is through the emission of greenhouse gases and
this causes an imbalance of gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. The imbalance causes other
climate change related issues such as the rise sea levels, ocean acidification, rain and soil
acidification and increase in overall global temperatures. The main difficultly with switching to
other viable systems of producing electricity is that the use of fossil fuels is significantly
cheaper, more efficient and more accessible than any other type of energy, and this makes it
more convenient for countries to use fossil fuels. According to the Institute for Energy
Research, coal cost 3.23 cents per kilowatt hour in 2011 against the cost of wind energy at
8.2 cents per kilowatt hour in 2012 and 12.67 cents per kilowatt hour for solar energy. This
shows how cheap coal is compared to other types of renewable sources and that is more
accessible in developing countries than other methods of energy. Other problems with
renewable energy is accessibility and how to store it; for example, countries cannot solely
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run on solar energy because there is no sun at night, and sometimes there may not be wind.
Furthermore, hydropower needs access to water and height while geothermal would need a
constant temperature of around 70˚C to produce energy, and this is either not accessible
everywhere or scientists have not developed a method to effectively store renewable energy
without losing energy in the transportation process.
Reasons why poor and vulnerable people are affected by climate change
Poor and vulnerable people are more likely to be affected by climate change because
they may not have the means to repair damage caused by climate change and they may not
have the means to implement more sustainable equipment. Developed countries such as
Germany have excellent recycling systems that allow them to recycle more that 61% of their
waste (European Environment Agency) and they are considered the ‘world’s first major
renewable energy economy’ while countries such as the Philippines contribute to a large
portion of plastic pollution due to a lack of such systems and do not invest in renewable
energy as much as Germany does. The lack of sustainable methods, finances and funding
and the possible lack of knowledge and awareness on how significant the issue is are the
main reasons why developing countries are like to be affected by climate change.
Impact of climate change on poor and vulnerable people
Climate change has several different branches where the issues originate from, and
each country will face a different issue with climate change. For example, poor
coastal countries and islands such as Malaysia, Fiji and Mozambique will experience worse
flooding and may not have the financial means to repair this, only leading to more internal
issues in the economy. Likewise, countries that rely on agriculture may face issues with
growing crops due to rain and soil acidification affecting the environment where they
cultivate plants, such as Burundi. Furthermore, islands and coastal countries who fish for
food or to sell could have severe shortages due to ocean acidification killing fish and other
marine life. Rain, soil and ocean acidification are a similar chemical reaction where the
excess amounts of carbon dioxide are dissolved in oceans and soil, causing the pH
(measure for acidity) to drop. The greenhouse effect causes rise in global temperatures,
leading to polar ice caps melting and thus increasing sea level and causing more severe
floods during the rainy season in many tropical countries.
What affects climate change in these areas - The main cause of these issues are due to the
emission of greenhouse gases, which is the result of burning fossil fuels to generate
electricity. As mentioned before, there are limited methods for creating electricity that is both
accessible and affordable, as well as possible lack of awareness of the situation. This is one
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of the reasons why many developing countries have continued using fossil fuels as the main
form of generating electricity, despite negative effects. Due to these factors, developing
countries suffer more due to climate change and they have limited ways to solve this issue
within the country.
Major Countries and Organisations Involved
UNICEF
Although not directly linked to issues related to climate change, UNICEF sheds light
on issues about children and families whose lives have been negatively affected, and they
work towards giving every child the opportunities they deserve. UNICEF can help
those affected by climate change by providing work, money and education as means of
recovery.
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
The UNEP tackles all sorts of environmental issues ranging from climate change to
resource efficiency and their efforts can help attack the problem at its roots as well as
provide solutions and help to those already affected by the issue.
Organization Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
The OECD’s main goal is to provide policies that benefit everyone’s social and
economic wellbeing, and have worked on green growth strategies of their own. There are 35
member states part of the OECD and they could potentially improve a developing countries’
situation.
Timeline of Events
Date
Description of Event
20th Century
Rise in sea level had increased more than it ever had before
September 11,
The Kyoto Protocol was signed by 83 member nations and ratified by at
1997
least 55 countries
November 3 to
Typhoon Haiyan (sometimes known as Yolanda) was one of the most
November 11,
devastating super typhoons in history, which mostly affected Southeast
2013
Asia. The severe weather pattern has been linked to climate change.
September 15,
Sustainable Development Goals were created as part of the 2030
2015
Sustainable Agenda
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2015
The Paris Agreement was created and signed with the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
Relevant UN Treaties and Events
Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 13
The Sustainable Development Goals were the 17 goals created on September 15,
2015 to ‘end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity of all’. Goal 1 focuses on
ending poverty while Goal 13 focuses on climate action, and are both related to the issue of
climate change’s impact on poor and vulnerable people.
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement is an agreement created by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change in 2015 that covered greenhouse gas mitigation, adaptation
and finances by 2020. In December of 2016, 194 members of the UNFCCC signed the
agreement while 120 ratified it and the agreement went into effect on November 4, 2016.
The Paris Agreement is very important in lessening climate change impact as greenhouse
gas emission is one of the leading factors in causing climate change and will have negative
effects on the environment.

Protection of global climate for present and future generations, April 2009
(A/RES/63/32)
This resolution addressed the issues of climate change and it’s effects on the present
and future generations and discusses several other policies made to lessen the
effects of climate change including the Kyoto Protocol, the Bali Action Plan and the
UNFCCC’s work.

Climate change and its possible security implications, June 2009 (A/RES/63/281)
This resolution was created to emphasise the progress made in the aforementioned
resolution and briefly discusses issues with security in climate change.
Previous attempts to solve the issue
Several attempts have been made to fight this problem since climate change has
become an issue.
Starting in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted during the third Climate Conference
of Parties (COP3) in Kyoto, Japan. This protocol was eventually ratified and put into force on
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February 16, 2005. It committed all industrialised countries to stabilise greenhouse gas
emissions based on the principles of the UNFCCC and in 2012, the Doha Amendment was
added to the Kyoto Protocol on December 8, 2012.
In December 2010, the Cancun Agreements were signed to address the long-term
challenge of climate change as a community and comprehensively taking proper action over
time. The purpose of this particular agreement was to create reduce greenhouse gas
emission and to help developing countries protect themselves from climate change’s impact
as well as providing a sustainable future.
The MDGs had Goal 1 which focused on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
and Goal 7 which focused on ensuring environmental sustainability. Both of these goals are
aimed towards those living in developing countries, as they are more likely to be living in
poverty and have unsustainable methods of living. According to The World Bank, 25.3% of
the population was living with under $1.90 a day in 2000 but in 2013, this number had
significantly decreased to 10.68%.
The MDGs were relatively successful with these goals however following their end in
2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created in 2015 as well to continue
the path of development. The SDGs had several more goals than their predecessor, but had
similar targets such as Goal 1 which also focused on ending poverty as well as Goal 13
which focused on climate action. These goals are set to end in 2030, and we are not able to
assess their progress yet however the use of sustainable energy has increased in areas
such as Germany, Austria, and the United States.
Possible solutions
Climate impact has different effects on member nations throughout the world,
however countries with similar issues, financial, economic and geographical situations can
use similar methods to address the issue. Despite being a very broad and difficult problem to
tackle, international cooperation can help end minimise the effects.
One viable solution is for member nations to invest in research and implementation of
renewable energy. This would be beneficial in several ways because the research done can
help a large number of countries with understanding renewable energy better and it can
allow countries to transfer to an environmentally friendly way of generating electricity.
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Minimising greenhouse gases would tackle the root of the issue and thereby
lessening the effects of excess greenhouse gas emission. This would mostly be done by
conserving energy in homes, workplaces and other areas where a large amount of energy is
used, or developing technology that uses less energy but still maintaining efficiency, such as
energy saving light bulbs.
This solution has the potential to help educate others into understanding why climate
change is affecting us negatively and how we can reverse the effects of climate change.
Creating awareness can be done through online campaigns, informational seminars and
talks that discuss climate change and its impacts. In theory, creating awareness would be
more helpful to countries with lack of awareness as opposed to other countries where
facilities are available but do not do it anyway.
Finally, one problem that has arisen from these solutions are how money is
supposed to be provide in order to put these solutions into practice. The best way we can do
this is by pooling resources and cooperating so that more member nations can implement
sustainable facilities.
Each country is affected by climate change, some more than others however it is a
universal problem that could lead to more severe issues in the future. With the full
cooperation and dedication to fighting climate change, we can effectively solve this problem.
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Appendix
Appendix 1 - Copy of the Adoption of Paris Agreement (FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev.1) on
December 12, 2015
Appendix 2 - Copy of Protection of global climate for present and future
generations (A/RES/63/32) in April 2009
Appendix 3 - Copy of Climate change and its possible security implications (A/RES/63/281)
in June 2009