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The United Nations Environmental Programme
The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) was founded in 1972 to deal with global
environmental issues. The UNEP aims to shift global consciousness and activity towards sustainable
environmental practices. The UNEP also strives to assist developing nations improve the quality of life
for their people through ecological conservation, sustainable development and remediation. The UNEP
has focused on the following six topics to address global environmental challenges: climate change,
disasters and conflicts, ecosystem management, environmental governance, harmful substances, and
resource efficiency.
1. Rare Earth Mineral Extraction
The growing activities of earth mineral extraction across the world have become a pressing issue
and a matter of great concern for the global environment. These minerals are used in various devices,
all of which are commonly used by almost everyone in developed nations. Cell phones, cameras, solar
panels, and hybrid cars are just a few examples of products that require rare minerals in order to
function. Rare earth minerals are a set of seventeen elements. The problem that arises from these rare
earth metals is that they rarely exist in a pure form. In order to use the minerals, a costly and
environmentally damaging process is needed to occur. This makes many countries unlikely to use their
own reserves. They instead look for extraction and processing of the minerals outside their countries.
China is currently the largest supplier of rare earth minerals in the world. China produces over 95
percent of all rare earth materials used in the world. China supplies rare earth minerals to essentially
every country that uses them. This includes both developed and developing countries. It has lax
environmental laws and has begun to experience climate change and environmental degradation that
are associated with increased scarcity of natural resources and other environmentally damaging
activities. The Chinese Society of Rare Earths estimate that the refinement of one ton of rare earth
metals results in the production of 75 cubic meters of acid wastewater and one ton of radioactive
residue. In order to separate the rare earth minerals from the others that are extracted in the mining
process, there is separation and purification process that involves the use of acid baths and hydrometallurgical techniques.
Villages near the regions that have rare earth mineral mining and refining operations are being
poisoned with the pollutants from the extraction and processing activities. Two thirds of all of China’s
rare earth refining takes place in Baotou. Consequently, a lake in Baotou is found to have been filled
with toxic chemicals that are brought from refinement plants through a pipeline system. There is now
no life in the lake and it is no longer possible to grow crops in the surrounding area. The radioactive
elements in the lake can also cause cancers of the pancreas and lungs, and leukemia. In the past ten
years, the population of Baotou has dropped from 2,000 to 300.
In addition, companies from both developed and developing countries have begun exploring other parts
of the world for more rare earth minerals. Sites containing rare earth minerals have been found in the
United States, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Brazil, India, Russia, Malaysia, Malawi, and China.
The United States Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California, formerly a large producer of rare earth
minerals, has reopened and will begin operating at full capacity in 2013 in response to China’s restriction
on its export on rare earth minerals. This mine is owned and operated by the United States company
Molycorp, Inc. The mine had been shut down in 2002 due to a leak in 1998 that sent hundreds of
thousands of gallons of radioactive wastewater into a nearby lake. Molycorp and other new mines are
developing more environmentally friendly mining techniques.
Due to global warming accelerating the melting of the Arctic ice cap, there is now the option of mining
rare earth minerals from seabeds. This concept is largely being explored by Japan which found a large
deposit of rare earth minerals in the Pacific Ocean. If this option is used there is a high potential
damage on fisheries and marine ecosystems. This threat has lead to environmentalists urging countries
to conduct more research before beginning to mine rare earth minerals from seabeds.
Key Questions:
-Should there be global regulations on the mining of rare earth minerals?
-What are the environmental impacts of the mining of rare earth minerals? Is it possible to lessen the
effects and how?
-What needs to be done in order to recycle rare earth minerals? Is it a plausible solution?
-Are the companies or the countries at fault for the environmental damage?
- What is needed to make the resources more efficient?
-What is your country’s position on this, and how can you foster cooperation with countries that
disagree with you?
Websites:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/news/important-rare-earthelements#slide-1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/26/rare-earth-metals-technology-boom
http://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/bank-of-america/archive/2012/09/chinas-monopoly-on-rareearth-mining-and-exports-erodes/262938
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20005097-54.html
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/boom_in_mining_rare_earths_poses_mounting_toxic_risks/2614/
2.
Threatened Oceans
Seventy one percent of the earth is covered by ocean. The oceans hold 97 percent of the Earth’s
water. Despite its size, the oceans are in danger of mass extinction due to the actions of human beings
and climate change. The threat of extinction is faced by the coral reefs, marine life as well as many
organisms at the microscopic level. Twenty percent of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed and
show no immediate prospects of recovery. The main threats to the coral reefs are overfishing, global
climate change, and ocean acidification. These changes are difficult to perceive because unlike land
organisms, the majority of ocean lives are not easily seen. However, these organisms play an important
role in maintaining the biological system of the oceans.
In addition to the preservation of ocean life, the oceans also play a key role in the support of the
lives of humans. The ocean’s offer protections from storms, provides food security, and help to regulate
climate. For the past few decades, the oceans have experienced pollution from the land, overfishing, oil
spills and climate change. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, also known as the BP Oil Spill, was one of the
worst oil disasters in history and the biggest spill in United States history. Over 200 million gallons of
crude-oil went into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 straight days. This lead to 16,000 miles of coastline being
affected and 8,000 animals were reported dead in the first six months following the oil spill. There was
also an increase of destruction of deep sea coral reefs due to their increased exposure to the crude oil.
Overfishing poses a serious threat to the oceans. One in five of the world’s population depends on
fish as their primary source of protein. The world could effectively run out of fish in the next forty years
due to unsustainable fishing methods. Three fourths of the world’s fish are being harvested at a faster
rate than they can reproduce. Ninety percent of all large predatory fish such as tuna, sharks, swordfish,
cod, and halibut are gone from the oceans. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which was held in 2010 to explore the possibility of saving fish like the
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, failed to reach a sustainable solution. It is expected that the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
will go virtually extinct in the upcoming few years. It is critical that solutions are found to reduce the
amount of pollution in the oceans, to prevent overfishing, and safeguard the oceans against climate
change.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provided countries with a defined set of
responsibilities and rights to the use of the world’s oceans and the management of marine natural
resources. The United Nations has no direct operational role in the implementation of the Convention.
This role is played by organizations such as the International Maritime Organization, the International
Whaling Commission, and the International Seabed Authority. Exclusive economic zones are created by
the Convention to provide exploitation rights over all natural resources 200 nautical miles from a
countries ocean edge. These zones were created in an attempt to stop disputes over fishing rights and
oil. Many challenges, however, remain to deal with the pollution and extinction of lives in the ocean.
Key Questions:
-What is impact of the loss of diversity?
-What can be done to reverse the process of extinction?
-What are the potential consequences of losing more of ocean life than expected?
-How does climate change effect the situation? Does the loss of ocean life effect climate change?
-What is your country’s stance on climate change?
Websites:
http://www.unoceans.org/Index.htm
http://www.unep.org/pdf/green_economy_blue.pdf
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/education_threats.html
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/protect/
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/
http://saveourseas.com/threats/overfishing