ga2, financing the damage caused by the increasing number ......wildfires, such as the fort mcmurray...

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Description of the issue:

A natural disaster is defined as a sudden and horrible event in nature, usually resulting in serious

damage and many deaths. Examples for such are floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes. In

recent times, the frequency as well as the severity of natural disasters all over the world has

increased, leading to issues with financing the resulting damage. This issue not only affects Less

Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) but also More Economically Developed Countries

(MEDCs). However, MEDCs tend to have a better infrastructure than LEDCs, with buildings that

are more likely to withstand the challenging weather and natural disasters. Additionally, the

constructions in MEDCs that are destroyed in a natural disaster can be replaced without a

significant strain in the economy. The infrastructure in LEDCs is not as well-developed as it is in

MEDCs and LEDCs therefore lack the financial capacity to replace the damaged parts of the

infrastructure.

Background information:

Natural disasters are not a new phenomenon. However, the amount of natural disasters occurring is

increasing. Furthermore, natural disasters tend to become more severe.

The costs resulting from natural disasters are usually paid by insurances, the government and also

organizations which have the task to support governments in times of a crisis due to a natural

disaster. Governments either use the money they saved in emergency funds or they take on a loan.

However, Natural Disaster Insurances do not exist in every country and many countries, especially

LEDCs, do not have the means to provide aid to their people after a natural disaster occurred or

would be heavily indebted after taking on such great loans. That is the reason why organizations

Forum: Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee) Issue: Financing the damage caused by the increasing number of natural disasters Student Officer: Alina Weener Position: Deputy Chair Mail: [email protected]

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like the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) were founded. Their goal

and task is to help provide money for humanitarian aid as well as for rebuilding the damaged

infrastructure of areas which were affected by natural disasters. Such non-profit organizations

cooperate with many partners to raise money for their work, for instance with the help of regional

organizations, UN organizations and further private donors.

When thinking about effective ways to finance the damage caused by natural disasters, it is crucial

to take into consideration the different technologies that were developed to prevent severe damage

due to natural disasters. One example is the building of houses, which withstand earthquakes due to

sitting on top of special platforms, absorbing the shock of earthquakes to a certain degree. So in

order to manage the amount of money that has to be spent on the effects of natural disasters in the

future, the measures that are taken now have to be well thought through.

See source 1 in “useful links” 1

There are some regions that are more affected by natural disasters than other regions. Earthquakes

for instance occur mainly on the edges of tectonic plates, since they are caused by the collision of

tectonic plates or by such moving past each other. Wildfires occur in dry and hot areas. The areas

that are most noted on Earth for wildfires include the vegetated areas of Australia, Western Cape of

1 https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/damage-costs-from-natural-disasters

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South Africa and the dry forests and grasslands of North America and Europe. However, natural

disasters occur all over the world while being more prevalent in some areas.

Historical background:

With globalization came a better connectedness between different countries. Resulting from that,

there is more cooperation between nations now than there was in the last centuries and there are

more international organizations working on issues that affect the whole world. The work of such

organizations is crucial for solving the issue of financing the damage caused by the increasing

number of natural disasters, since nowadays, aid for countries affected by natural disasters often

comes from such organizations.

USA hurricane Irma (2017) 2 3

2017 was the costliest year on record for the United States of America regarding natural disasters,

as hurricanes and wildfires caused 306 billion dollars in damage only within the United States.

Canada is mostly affected by floods, such as the Southern Alberta Floods of June 2013, as well as

wildfires, such as the Fort McMurray Wildfire of May 2016, and storms, in particular hail storms or

ice storms, such as the Great Ice Storm of 1998.

South America is mostly affected by devastating floods and landslides. In 2015 for instance, Brazil,

Paraguay and Uruguay were affected by a flooding leading to the evacuation of more than 150,000

people.

Africa is mainly facing droughts like the Cape Town Drought in 2017. Additionally, it is difficult

for the African people to deal with the effects of natural disasters, since many African countries are

rather poor and lack an infrastructure of high quality.

Europe is mainly affected by extreme temperatures, as well as floods and storms.

2 https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000005414670/island-saint-martin-devastated-hurricane-irma.html 3 https://www.algoafm.co.za/article/global/85904/cape-town-drought-now-a-crisis-of-catastrophic-proportions

Cape Town Drought (2017)

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Asia is heavily affected by many natural disasters. Furthermore, since many Asian countries are

rather poor, these natural disasters have an even more devastating effect on these countries. Asian

countries, like Japan and China, are mainly affected by earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and many

other natural disasters.

Australia is mainly affected by wildfires or bushfires and extreme temperatures. Examples are the

Black Saturday bushfire of 2009 and the Black Tuesday wildfires of 1967.

4

See source 1 in “useful links” 5

Glossary:

Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) - also called developing countries; mostly

relatively poor countries, often characterized as having a low life expectancy, high mortality, high

illiteracy rate (education system lacking in quality), bad standards of living, etc.

More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs) - also called developed countries; mostly

wealthier countries, often characterized as having a high life expectancy, low mortality, low

illiteracy rate (education system with high quality), good standards of living, etc.

4 https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/70439181647370698/ 5 https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ourworldindata_world-map-of-earthquakes-since-1898-by-magnitude-%E2%80%93-ux.blog0_.png

Black Saturday (2009)

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Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) - a non-profit organization, working independently of

any government, which has the goal / task to address social or political issues

Inter-governmental Organizations (IGOs) – an entity composed of at least two sovereign states,

which is established by treaty or other agreement, acting as a charter, creating the group

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) – main office of the United

Nations responsible for reducing disaster risk; working on achieving more cooperation between

countries

Disaster Risk Reduction - a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and reducing the risks of

disaster, aiming to reduce all socio-economic vulnerabilities, while also taking sustainability into

account

How to prepare as a delegate:

Firstly, it is crucial to do some research on the country or the organization you represent. Take into

consideration the political, economic and social situation of your country. The CIA World Factbook

can be very helpful to find information about your country and about the United Nations.

Furthermore, you need to examine in what ways and to what extent your country is affected by the

issue, as well as what has been done to solve the issue in the past and what is the current approach

of your country to the topic. It is also very helpful to find out which countries have similar opinions

and approaches as your country. You should then try to come up with further ways of solving the

issue, which, of course, must be in accordance with the policies and values of your country or

organization. In your Position Paper, firstly describe the issue and the position of your country or

organization. Afterwards, you should state what has been done in the past concerning the issue by

the world and the UN. Finally, you should state possible solutions and approaches to the issue from

the perspective of your delegation, not your own point of view.

I strongly recommend visiting the website which is listed first under “useful links”, since you will

find many statistics on this website, which will not only help you understand the issue but further

provide you with information to consider when writing your documents.

It can be helpful to do some research on the work of some important organizations, such as:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

International Red Cross

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

World Health Organization (WHO)

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All delegates are required to write at least one draft resolution, which will be used to work

efficiently during lobbying. All delegates further need to write two/three position papers, so that all

topics of the forum are covered. In order to ensure that all delegates prepare for the debates, the

position papers have to be sent to the chairs until the 19/08/18. We will read your position papers

and provide some additional information if needed. Documents that are sent in after the deadline

(19/08/18) will not be corrected by the chairs.

If you have any further questions regarding the issues or your documents, please do not hesitate to

contact us.

UN resolutions:

A/RES/36/225 (GA, 1981); http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/36/a36r225.htm

A/RES/70/204 (GA, 2015); https://unisdr.org/files/resolutions/A-RES-70-204.pdf

A/RES/68/211 (GA, 2014); https://undocs.org/A/RES/68/211

Useful links:

https://ourworldindata.org/natural-catastrophes

https://www.basicplanet.com/natural-disasters/

https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0311/the-financial-effects-of-a-natural-disaster.aspx

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/2017-terrible-year-natural-disasters-new-normal/

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5825

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

http://www.un.org

Sources:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/natural%20disaster

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/2017-terrible-year-natural-disasters-new-normal/

https://ourworldindata.org/natural-catastrophes

https://blogs.iadb.org/ideasmatter/2017/02/15/natural-disaster-insurance-why-dont-more-countries-

have-it/

http://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2009/wp85_2009.pdf

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https://www.thoughtco.com/when-and-where-do-wildfires-occur-3971236

https://www.seafirstinsurance.com/about-us/blog/top-5-most-expensive-natural-disasters-canada

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35184793

https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/natural-hazards-and-technological-accidents

http://asiancenturyinstitute.com/environment/40-natural-disasters-in-asia

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2011/11/the-worst-bushfires-

in-australias-history

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ngo

http://researchguides.ben.edu/c.php?g=322205&p=2156599

Images:

1. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/damage-costs-from-natural-disasters

2. https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000005414670/island-saint-martin-

devastated-hurricane-irma.html

3. https://www.algoafm.co.za/article/global/85904/cape-town-drought-now-a-crisis-of-

catastrophic-proportions

4. https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/70439181647370698/

5. https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ourworldindata_world-map-of-

earthquakes-since-1898-by-magnitude-%E2%80%93-ux.blog0_.png