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Sudan
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Climate Change
Vikas Vavilala and Danshi Su
Carmel High School
Modernization and globalization are two words that dominate the news today. They
signify the new era that the twentieth-century has brought to our planet. Technology, such as
computers and cell phones, are more widespread throughout the world then ever before, with
even citizens of relatively backward countries being able to access and use these gadgets. With
industrialization reaching virtually every state in the world, food production and agriculture have
come to cope with a world population that has grown exponentially in the last century or so. But
what is the cost of all of this progress and advancement being made? The answer lies in the topic
of global warming and the changing times of the planet. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
contribute to the greenhouse effect, which traps ultraviolet (UV) rays in the earth’s atmosphere,
contributing to high temperatures. As the world has modernized, the CO2 emissions have only
increased, increasing to 375 parts per million (ppm) in 2005. The highest previous CO2 level in
history was 330 ppm. The five highest years on record were all in the last decade, with the latest
being 1998. But temperatures year was due to an unusual warm water event occurring in the
Pacific called El Niño. The other four were years after 2002, with 2005 setting the record.
Clearly, this is a major problem we cannot ignore. However, global warming is not the only
environmental problem in our world. Desertification is one of the most agonizing problems for
the developing world, especially Africa and Asia. It is essentially the deterioration and
degradation of previously arable land into desert wasteland. Bodies of water such as the Aral Sea
in west-central Asia and Lake Chad in north-central Africa have become a mere fraction of their
previous size due to desertification. The Sahel region of Africa, which stretches across Africa
and northern Sudan, exemplifies the desertification occurring in Africa. The entire of northern
Sudan is barren wasteland, deprived of life by desertification. The land is totally useless for most
economic activity, contributing to the depletion of African coffers. Finally, desertification has
been shown to be caused by global warming. Increased emissions, especially by the West, cause
global warming, which helps increase the area of the African deserts, which in turn destroys our
economy. Together global warming and desertification are depleting Sudan’s already struggling
economy (lack of arable land) and environment. The cause of the social strife that is occupying
Sudan is most definitely environmental degradation.
The United Nations has undertaken several resolutions and acts to help resolve the issue
of global warming. The Kyoto Protocol is one of the most famous of these acts. The Protocol
attempted to help reduce greenhouse gases and set goals for the year 2012. Most of the countries
that have ratified the Protocol (of which the United States is not one of) are on track to fail to
meet the requirements. The two brothers of Iberia (Spain and Portugal) both actually increased
greenhouse gases; Portugal increased emissions by nearly 29% while Spain increased emissions
by over a staggering 50%. The UNEP and General Assembly cannot ignore these unbelievable
increases in emissions, when the goal of the Protocol is to decrease emissions. In developing
nations such as Sudan, our main export is petroleum. Currently, Western Europe and the United
States are consuming a hefty percentage of the petroleum supply, with the United States
consuming 25% of the world’s oil, though it has 4.54% of the world’s population only.
Additionally, these countries are already well developed and relatively wealthy. Clearly, the
Assembly must call for an end to increases in per annum emissions in the West and allow a little
more leniencies, though still maintaining some level of restrictions, for developing countries in
Asia and Africa.
Taking into account all that has been discussed previously, we believe that the Assembly
and Security Council should draft and put into effect a resolution that generally places harsh
restrictions on all countries, regardless of their development level. The resolution would use
statistics from year 2010 and be enacted 1 January 2013, after the Kyoto Protocol expired.
Countries that are in the process of development would not have as harsh as restrictions as
developed countries. The resolution would allow for a very gradual reduction in emissions for all
countries, which would allow on countries that rely on petroleum as an export to diversify their
economy into new sectors. Countries with a GDP growth rate of 3.9% or below would be
expected to cut their 2007 emissions by 8% by 31 December 2015. Countries with GDP growth
rates 4.0% or more would be expected to not increase their emissions from 2007 by 31
December 2015. Most Western European countries and the United States would be included in
the first group, while most South American, Asian, and African states would be in the second
group, though the growth rate is the actual determining factor. Failure to meet these goals would
have to result harsh penalties, such as embargos and other economically depleting punishments,
as the keeping to the guidelines of this resolution could determine whether our environment
continues to deteriorate at the exponential level it has for the past century.
Committee: United Nations Environment Program
Topic: Renewable Energy
Country: Sudan
Delegate: Vikas Vavilala and Danshi Su
The nation Sudan, being an active member of the African Union and a member of the
United Nations, are does not oppose the research and deployment of renewable resources within
our country as long as it is funded by a foreign source. Currently, due to the turmoil and civil war
in the eastern parts of Sudan, most government and private funding within Sudan will be utilized
to combat the insurgents and help the refugee. No excess money can be spent on renewable
resources research and funding due to the current relative low ranking among our countries
priority.
Currently the people and civilians of Sudan use animal excrements and wood as their
primary source for lighting majority of the homes. Due to the relative economic backwardness
compare to other countries, only 30% of our country receives electricity. If this renewable
resource were to be implemented into our country, a great amount of resource would also be
needed to construct necessary structures such as electric poles and wires to reach into more
homes. One step up on our priority list is to actually get power into millions of homes.
However, we do not oppose to foreign countries funding the development of renewable
energy within our borders. We would also like to ask the UN for funds to develop our electrical
power infrastructure so the homes of our citizens can have electrical power.