rotaract mun 2013 human rights council - studyguide

Rotaract Global Model United Nations | August 21-25, 2013 | Baia Mare, Romania

www.RotaractMUN.org | [email protected] | Tel: +40 758.922.543

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HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

STUDY – GUIDE Topic: The impact of climate change on indigenous communities

Prepared by:

Aanuoluwapo Afolabi

Anindya Nastiti Restuviani

On the date of:

June, 2013



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Word of Welcome

Secretary General of Rotaract Global Model United Nations 2013

I am pleased to greet all prospective participants,

chairpersons and professionals who support this unique initiative

led by Rotaract TEAM Baia Mare in 2013. For centuries, youth

around the world have shown incredible skills and willingness to

bring about change in their respective contexts. Due to the

interconnectedness that globalization and social media revealed

in the last century, nowadays, young people share a global

responsibility which is reflected through complex international

projects such as Baia Mare TEAM 2013 Rotaract Global Model

United Nations.

Baia Mare TEAM 2013 Rotaract Global Model United Nations is a youth - led

conference which aims to provide young leaders, youth workers and junior professionals a

tool for influencing the decision-making at a global level. I encourage participants to express

their visions of the world in regards to the challenging political, economic and social contexts

in which they develop as citizens, social actors and/or leaders. The theme of this conference

is Youth: Global Actors for a New World. With the increasing number of demonstrations

and manifests throughout the world, the young generation has to face the challenges of the

past and act for change. In an instable political and economic environment, youth must be

included in the decision-making process in order to ensure representativeness and

transparency.

I want to remind everyone that this conference’s aim is not to create leaders, because

you already are leaders, but to engage you in a two - way learning process. On the one hand,

the conference and its team help youth to develop excellent public speaking, communication

and negotiation skills as well as trains them in using the UN language. On the other hand,

participants bring vision, ground-breaking solutions and a holistic yet creative approach on

the issues discussed during the conference. Only through cooperation will we be able to

achieve our goal: to influence the decision-making and give voice to the younger generation. I

trust that you can help us in our endeavours!

By participating in the Baia Mare TEAM 2013 Rotaract Global Model United Nations,

you represent the change you wish to see in the world. Young people will lead by example

and will be part of the global family by promoting the UN values and principles. We are

looking forward to meeting you this summer in the beautiful city of Baia Mare!

Yours sincerely,

Ms. Alexandra Matei

Secretary General of Rotaract Global Model United Nations 2013



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Human Rights Council

- Chairpersons –

Delegates,

My name is Anindya Nastiti Restuviani or you can call me Vivi. Brief introduction

about myself: I am an Indonesian young person, and also a senior student of the Faculty of

Law majoring in International Law at the Universitas Diponegoro in Semarang, Indonesia.

Besides my enrolment in university I am also currently working for United Nations

Population Fund as one of Youth Advisory Panel.

It is my distinct pleasure to be selected and serve you all as one of the chairperson of

Human Rights Council for this year Rotaract Global Model United Nations 2013. The topics

for this year’s HRC have considerate to be able to cater the outmost importance in exercising

the idea of human rights itself. As climate change has been included in every regional and

global assessment, the fairly distributed efforts are also needed by indigenous people as a

society whose life depends on the environment. I believe that this year’s HRC will create such

vibrant debate during the session and will come out with the most fruitful final resolution.

Best,

Ms. Anindya Nastiti Restuviani

Chairperson of the Human Rights Council



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Human Rights Council

- Chairpersons –

Dear Delegates,

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Rotaract Global Model United Nations.

My name is Aanuoluwapo Afolabi, a Nigerian student currently studying Political Science

and Diplomacy at Ajou University, South Korea. First of all, I want to sincerely thank you for

your interest in participating in this global decision-making process. We, the youth are the

future and that’s why we have to take a major role in deciding the future we want. It is the

mission of this conference to serve this purpose.

I promise you that participating as a delegate on the Human Rights Council will be a

highly rewarding experience. We will be discussing about the use of technology for

mitigating the impact of climate change on traditional people. Climate change is a reality we

all daily face and see with our own eyes. The sad part of this is that no spell had done this to

us, we did this to ourselves! Therefore, we must find effective ways in solving the problem in

our own interest. The sooner the better!

As the Chairperson of the Human Rights Council, I’m looking forward to critical,

analytical debates and sessions which will bring viable solutions. I am looking forward to

meeting you all in Baia Mare this summer!

See you soon!

Best,

Mr. Aanuoluwapo Afolabi

Chairperson of the Human Rights Council



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Introduction to the Human Rights Council

Human Rights Council has functions and responsibilities to strengthen the promotion,

protection of human rights and to address the issue of human rights violations. The Human

Right Council was first established back in 15 March 2006 through the United Nations

General Assembly resolution 60/251. The Council was created to replace the former United

Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). The special procedure which was

established by the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights was also assumed by

the Council and consists of the special rapporteurs, special representatives, independent

experts, and working group all of which work closely to monitor, examine, advise, and make

public reports on the issue of human rights situation in specific country or around the globe.

The Council itself consists of 47 United Nations Member States elected by the General

Assembly, and it meets at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The Council also has its

privilege to create a recommendation to support their responsibility and functions to promote,

protect, and address the human rights situations around the globe. It also has the ability to

discuss thematic issues and situations on human rights that require attention. As the subsidiary

organ of the General Assembly, the Assembly has its mandate to review the initial status of

the Council within 5 years. This review is established in order for the Assembly to work on its

mandate to supervise the performance of the Council.

Its first outcome after one year since its establishment, the Human Rights Council

adopted a guide for its works by procedure and mechanism trough the ‘institution building

package’ in 2007. Together with the Institution-building package, the Council also came up

with an adoption to assist mechanism that serves to assess the human right situations in all

United Nations Member States called Universal Periodic Review.

There are two committees under Human Rights Council that provide assessment to

help the work of the Council to achieve their goal: The Advisory Committee will help as the

Council’s think tank by providing expertise and advice on thematic human rights issues, and

the Complaint Procedure that allows individuals and organizations to bring human rights

violations to the attention of the Council.

The former United Nations Commission on Human Rights has adopted various

outcomes which turned into basic regulation and instruments to address human rights issues

and situations around the globe - among them are the Universal Declaration on Human

Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and many other instruments on human rights.

The Rotaract Model United Nations 2013 Human Rights Council will examine the

humanitarian aspect of the impact of climate change on the indigenous people within the

context of inclusive participation and technology sharing.

In this year Rotaract MUN, the Human Rights Council will work closely with the

several resolution, convention, covenant or declaration that connected to the rights of

traditional and indigenous people such as United Nations Declaration on The Rights of

Indigenous People, and also to the United Nations Forum of Convention on Climate Change

as in Kyoto Protocol, Cancun Declaration, REDD, REDD+, and any other instruments on

climate change.



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Introduction to the Topic

The Impact of Climate Change to the Indigenous People

Subtopic A - The Mechanism of Inclusive Participation in the Decision Making Process

Among the most important tools to be discussed, traditional and indigenous people are

often to be considered as a society which lives closely to the nature and environment.

However, during the process of decision making that involves the issue of climate change that

affects the surrounding environment, indigenous people are seen as ‘under-representative’,

thus, their importance was not acknowledged to the international society. This council feels

that this importance needs to be catered in order so that the international society understands

the vulnerability of the indigenous people or individuals on the impact of climate change.

The rapid development of technology nowadays can somehow help the society to

mitigate and reduce the effect of climate change; better yet, to prevent the continuity of

climate change. Although most of the urban society has acknowledged and is familiar with the

existence of such technology, traditional people that live in remote area are somehow unaware

of the existence of the technology that can mitigate the impact of climate change and safe

their life. Thus, it is also our importance and concerns to gain the awareness of the traditional

people to exhaust their rights on technological facility to save their life from the impact of

climate change.

A. Statement of the problem

It is estimated that there are more than 370 million indigenous people spread across

the globe (UNFCCC, 2009). They practice unique traditions, cultures, economic and political

characteristic. Those characteristics bared by indigenous people have retained a very distinct

method from those found in other segments on the urban populations. They hold their own

concept and views which are based on their traditional values, visions, needs, and priorities.

Traditional and indigenous people have a very big dependency on the environment and

the natural resources to maintain their livelihoods. The issue of climate change to them is

defined as something more than an environmental problem. Even though in reality,

indigenous people have successfully adapted to the on going impact of climate change

through thousands of years, they believe the situation of climate change from the past several

years has proven to be problematic and the flow of the damage has been very challenging; this

puts their ability to adapt to a test.

The background on the inclusive participation to the climate change discourse has

basically been raised since the issue of the recognition of the fact that indigenous people have

so many things in common with other neglected segments of the society; this such as:

marginalization, lack of access to social services and etc. However, given the Universal

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), the rights of indigenous people

started to be recognized.

Since the impact of climate change directly jeopardizes not only their livelihoods, but

also matters of their existence, economy, political and cultural preservation, climate change is



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a reality for them; it is a severe human rights crisis that needs to be addressed immediately

and accordingly.

When the international society has tried to cope and mitigate the impact of climate

change in their own way, indigenous people felt that their importance was being neglected

and excluded from the adopted solutions or resolutions, namely by the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They believe if international society

gives them such an opportunity, they will able to substantially give their outmost contribution.

B. Analysis of the problem

In the Brundlant Report of 1987 or commonly known as the United Nations Report of

the World Commission on Environment and Development or the book of Our Common

Future, shares the idea of climate change and many other global catastrophes caused by the

characteristics of urban societies in pursuing their demand in increasing their standards of life.

Indigenous people have suffered the worst

impacts of climate change without having

contributed much to its creation (Indigenous

Peoples Forum on Climate Change, Bali 2007). It

is widely accepted that poor, natural-resource

dependent communities in the developing world

are especially vulnerable to climate change,

especially those living in high risk areas such as

small islands or low lying coastal areas (Adger,

2006, IPCC 2007).

Indigenous people have created several traditional ways to adapt with the current

condition, such as supplementary irrigation, traditional farming techniques to protect

watersheds, use of new material, rainwater harvesting, and many more. However, the adaption

methods mentioned above are still incapable to address the vulnerability to the further impact

of climate change since the efficiency aspect in information sharing and distribution to the

community are still questioned.

The international society believes that it is time to put the importance and necessity of

indigenous people into main consideration. Besides the indigenous people’s dependency on

the natural resources, their rights, culture, livelihoods, traditional knowledge and their identity

are based on the profound and deep relationship that forged over years within their lands,

waters, and resources.

1. Mitigation Mechanism

There are some mitigation measures created by the climate change mitigation

instrument namely the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change

(UNFCCC). The UNFCCC has adopted many ways to mitigate climate change, including the

adoption of Kyoto Protocol, REDD and many other schemes.

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The aim of the UNFCCC is to set an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts

to tackle the challenge posed by climate change and to stabilize the green house gas

concentration in the atmosphere to the level that will prevent the dangerous level to the human

interference.

The main decision of the UNFCCC called as the Conference of the Parties (COP) that

composed by 180 states that have ratified or acceded to the agreement. Since the

establishment of the UNFCCC itself has created so many solutions and resolutions to mitigate

the impact of climate change.

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol (KP), as it is named, was adopted during the COP3 at the Kyoto,

Japan in 1997. It shares the main goal of the UNFCCC - to stabilize the Green House Gas

(GHG) emission; the difference is that the KP is urging the parties to commit to do so. The

protocol itself categorized the member states as developed countries (Annex I/AI) and the

developing countries (Annex II) .

In order for the Protocol to achieve its main objective, it has a mechanism called the

Innovative Mechanism that included the emission credits system that allows the developed or

developing parties to show their commitment to the Protocol. The Innovative Mechanism

itself consists of 3 mechanisms.

Emission Trading will allow

countries to exchange their emission

allowance, the flow of the Emission

Trading itself is similar to the trading

commodities in the market place.

The Joint Implementation will allow

developed countries to finance

projects that reduce the emissions in

another developed country, so they

will earn the emissions reduction unit. Clean Development Mechanism allows the Protocol’s

developed parties to implement the project that reduces GHG emission, or subject to

constraints in the developing parties.

The problem within the Protocol as it is seen above is that it is not concerning much

about the existence of the indigenous people. The main objective of the Nationally

Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) that was established in the Bali Action Plan took into

consideration the action or measures taken in order to cut down the GHG emission; on the

other hand, the protocol or NAMA itself never considers the existence of indigenous people.

The climate change mitigation is not only an issue about cutting down the GHG but also an

issue of equity, social justice and human rights and also the sustainability. The second

problem is that indigenous people are not part of the protocol, however, they still contribute

significantly in cutting down the GHG emission by simply preserving their natural

environment and habitat and putting the natural environment as their first concern (IUCN,

March 2008).

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The implementation of some activities based on the CDM and other mechanism are

undermined and bring potential threats to the right of indigenous people to their land,

territories and resources. Taking example a condition during the carbon offset project in the

western highland, in Guatemala. The USA back in 1989 decided to build a 83 megawatt coal

fired power station that involved planting millions of trees in the impoverished western

highland in Guatemala. The non-native trees that were planted were inappropriate for the

local ecosystem and caused land degradation. The indigenous people on those areas, which

are the Maya, had their habitual activities such as gathering fuel wood, etc. Until now, the

evaluators concluded that the offset target was far from being reached.

REDD/REDD+

REDD or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation is a scheme

with the aim to encourage developing countries to protect their forests while developed

countries would pay them. Its aim is to compensate the developing countries so that they do

not cut their carbon rich forests or reduce their deforestation and forest degradation rates,

thus, avoiding the GHG emissions.

The indigenous people who live in and depend on the forests developed such

relationship with the forest and they do not understand how one can look at forests only in

terms of emissions reduction.

The major problem in realizing REDD/REDD+ is that there are still plenty of on going

issues on claims over ownership, governance, control, use and access to the forests especially

in the tropical country. The indigenous people claim that they have never been approached

and are not yet satisfied to the arrangement of the forest claims, both on regional or global

levels.

Even though there is no common status among indigenous people within their

engagement to REDD/REDD+, however, they believe that all their rights should be respected

and protected.

2. The Vulnerability of Indigenous People

It is important to be aware that indigenous people are the ones who contributed least in

the creation of the climate change crisis. However, indigenous people themselves suffer the

most from its impact.

Each indigenous people and tribes live in different ecosystems that spread around the

globe. They live in a dry and sub-humid ecosystem, polar ecosystem, forest ecosystem, high

altitude and high mountain ecosystem, agricultural ecosystem, and any other ecosystems.

Taking example the tropical and sub tropical ecosystem, the climate change has

brought a huge impact on certain conditions such as: changes in the behaviour of migration

patterns among birds which are usually used as a guidance for hunters and mark the

agricultural season, the unavailability of drinking waters and forest fires causing loss in forest

covers, causing more drought or floods that caused the cultural disruptions since the sacred

areas have to be abandoned and at the end the cultural and traditional practices cannot be

continued, and the existences of more floods and many natural disasters brought more



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diseases such as dengue, malaria; for example, in Ghana, meningitis that previously was not

an endemic disease, started to emerge.

Distinct from the condition in tropical area, the semi – arid and arid lands suffer from

less rainfall which resulted due to the occurrences of dust storms that degrade grasslands that

in the end, decreases the livestock and creates hunger and food insecurity. The heat also dried

up many water resources. The indigenous people have to dig deeper and deeper in order for

them to reach the water resources, and sometimes it is hard to accomplish this because the

poverty level is very high.

The solutions brought by the international society, namely by the Kyoto Protocol,

REDD or REDD+, are still not suitable to be implemented in this environment; especially

regarding the indirect effect to the solution in mitigating climate change. Nevertheless, it

brings damages to the rights of indigenous people instead.

The mechanism implementation has brought violations to the rights of indigenous

people to their lands, territories and resources, criminalization of practice of traditional

livelihood, and increase in food prices resulting in more food insecurity for indigenous

people. The massive changes in the environment due to the efforts in implementation, has

resulted in the lack of fields and lands to be work on; thus, indigenous people will have few,

difficult and dangerous jobs. The implementation also creates health problems and inequitable

benefit sharing, such as the unjustified provision of jobs and employment to the indigenous

people, and the claims of the land and territories.

REDD undermined the forest sustainability and somehow threatens further the right of

the indigenous people to their forest. This is causing the disappearance of the traditional

territories which have become the basic of their economic, social, cultural and spiritual

system, since many areas covered by the mitigation measures are cultural and sacred places

for the indigenous people.

However, with such a

complicated problem that they are

thrived with, they are very rarely

considered in public discourses on

climate change; they find it very

difficult to contribute and their

concerns to be taken into consideration.

They believe that they need to create

another body for them to share their

thoughts and contribute to the solution,

a body like the International Indigenous

Forum on Biodiversity (IIFBD) that was created by the Convention on Biological Diversity

(CBD).

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C. Past Actions Taken

1. The Universal Declaration on the Right of Indigenous People

The Declaration was adopted back in 2006 at the recommendation of the previous

United Nations Commission on Human Rights. UNDRIP has become a giant leap to the

recognition of the indigenous people among their rights to be respected and protected. The

Declaration also became the ground instrument for indigenous people to pursue their rights in

participation as it is stated in the article 5 of UNDRIP.

Any mitigation mechanism that will create a possible threat, which will jeopardize the

right of indigenous people, in fact, will be a violation of UNDRIP, particularly in respect to

article 8.

2. Anchorage Declaration

On April 2009, for the first time, indigenous representatives from all over the world

decided to gather in Anchorage, Alaska, to share their experiences and knowledge about

different ways to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The Anchorage Declaration itself, in article 5 emphasizes the security in regards to the

recognition and the implementation of the right of indigenous people during the mitigation

mechanism, especially when the mechanism took place in their land tenure and ownership.

Indigenous people, through the Anchorage Declaration, wish for more traditional methods and

customary law as respectful to the indigenous people before any action takes place.

3. UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP)

After all responses were received from indigenous people regarding the mitigation

mechanism, the UNFCCC decided to bring more contributions from the indigenous people by

allowing them to share their views, ideas and experiences from implementation of the

mitigation scheme.

Since 1998, the representatives of indigenous and traditional people have been

participating in the UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties. During the participation of the

indigenous people to COP, they actually have released numbers of statements that expressed

their feelings, concerns and discontentedness related to the implications of climate change

policies towards their lives and culture.

However, until now, indigenous people are still waiting for the approval of an ad hoc

Working Group on Indigenous People and the Climate Change by the UNFCCC.



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D. Proposed Solutions

What we need to do first is to discuss how we should examine the obstacle to achieve

effective participation of indigenous people in the decision making process; what we should

do is too look up to the references from national parliaments.

Second of all, we need to identify ways in which indigenous people can be stimulated and

assisted in the strategies for effective participation.

It is also important to facilitate more on the sharing experiences, lessons learned and

challenges - not only at national level but also across regions, continents and the globe.

During the facilitation, it is also important to stimulate the discussion about what works and

what does not work in ensuring the effective participation and representation of indigenous

people.

Lastly, the most important part is to raise awareness on the vulnerability of indigenous

people to the climate change, and on the rights of indigenous people for inclusive

participation.

E. Bloc Positions

The bloc positions have been created based on each area’s environmental characteristic

regarding the impact of climate change.

1. Tropical and sub tropical countries, such as South East Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia,

Philippines, etc), Latin America (Brazil, Venezuela, etc) , and some part of Australia.

These countries share the same environmental characteristic where there are a lot of rain

forests laid on their areas. They have more problems within the discussion on the

mechanism used to participate in the legal framework, on the claims of land and territory

of the forest during the implementation of REDD/REDD+.

2. Arid Lands, such as African Countries (Ghana, etc) share the common environmental

characteristic that is dry land, lack of water resources and food stocks. Their main

problem is the food insecurity.

3. High Altitude and High Mountain, consists of northern European countries, Canada,

Asia, and North America. The ecosystem of the high altitude and high mountain

characteristic bare the same concerns on the melting mountain glaciers that will endanger

their water supply.

4. Marine Area, Small Island states in the Caribbean islands. Their biggest concerns are

towards the climate change, since the raising sea level will endanger the existence of their

island as a whole.

5. The Arctic Ecosystem, as the climate change barometer. The second one is according to

the definition of developed and developing countries stated in the Kyoto Protocol (Annex

I and Annex II country) and the least developed countries. This division will discuss on

each country procedure, on the recognition of the right of indigenous people and most

importantly, about the implementation of the mitigation process on their legal

jurisdiction.



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F. Thinker’s (Question A Resolution Must Answer)

1. Do the advocacy efforts provided by NGOs, International Organization on Indigenous

People, United Nations and any other parties sufficiently considered to cater the

importance of Indigenous People? Is it necessary to create an advocacy body to cater

their importance? And if yes, what is the best mechanism to achieve this?

2. What role does UNDRIP and other basic instruments of the indigenous people should

have for the implementation of inclusive participation for the indigenous people?

3. Did the agenda, created during the past actions, integrated the human rights based

approach to the development and importance of indigenous people?

4. What is the best way that national government can undertake in order to implement

their contribution and commitment to the UNFCCC without jeopardizing the

importance of Indigenous People?

5. What kind of method will produce the most effective mechanism to emphasize the

awareness of the society in respect to the rights of indigenous people?

G. Recommended Readings

I would like to suggest you to take a deep understanding of the basic instruments on

the rights of indigenous people, included but not limited to:

1. United Nations The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – available at:

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

2. Universal Declaration on the Right of Indigenous People – available at:

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

3. All information regarding the UNFCCC and its Conference of The Parties can be

found online at: unfcc.int, and the Anchorage Declaration - available at:

http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/smsn/ngo/168.pdf

4. The Report of Our Common Future or The Brundlant Report (1987)

5. I also suggest you to find various literature from several countries on the report of

Indigenous People especially its connection to climate change policy -

REDD/REDD+, a lot of national, regional or international NGO havee a lot of reports

on this condition; for example, Guide on The Climate Change and Indigenous People

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/smsn/ngo/168.pdf



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that was written by the Tebtebba Foundation, and also Issues Paper on Indigenous

and Traditional Peoples and Climate Change by IUCN.

6. Several reports on country policy and its ratification on the issue of Kyoto Protocol,

REDD/REDD+ and its link back to the issue of indigenous people.



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Introduction to the Topic

The Impact of Climate Change to the Indigenous People

Subtopic B - The Use of Technology to mitigate climate change on traditional people

Climate Change and its impact on our environment, our economies and our security, is

the defining issue of our era (OECD report, 2008). It is one of the most critical, and also most

daunting, challenges facing policymakers in the twenty-first century (World Bank 2010).

World Green House gases emissions which are emitted by many economic activities have

roughly doubled since the early 1970s and if not controlled could rise by over 70% during

2008-2050. Quantitatively, the largest share is accounted for by power generation (about

26%), followed by industry (about 19%) and transportation (13%). It must be noted that

deforestation and forest degradation are estimated to account for more emissions globally than

the entire transport sector (OECD report, 2008). Our ability to avoid the worst climate change

impacts depends on mitigation efforts we make over the next two or three decades.

At the very heart of mitigating climate change is the use of technology. Therefore, the

debate is not so much about the importance of new technology in solving climate change

problem but rather over what the most effective policies and institutions are for achieving the

dramatic technological changes and associated emission reductions necessary for

stabilization. Overall, this study guide aims to emphasize on the huge importance of the use of

technology in mitigating climate change. The impact of climate change is all around us to

see; and the sooner we act at this critical moment in history, the better for us all. Firstly, this

study guide gives the statement of the problem by giving definitions of the concept related to

climate change. The history of climate change is also briefly explained with a focus on the

actors involved. Secondly, an analysis of climate change is given, this aims to describe the

causes of climate change and why it still exists. The third part deals with the past actions of

the UN and some other stakeholders in mitigating climate change. This study guide could not

mention or fully discuss all the past actions because of its scope and limit. Actions that have

been taken to mitigate climate change

are numerous. However, the most

relevant ones to our discussion at the

Rotaract Global Model United

Nations 2013 are mentioned and

discussed. While writing individual

position papers, delegates are urged to

research more on this. The next part is

about some of the important solutions

that have been proposed in mitigating

climate change. In this section too,

because many solutions have been

proposed, in the course of writing

individual position paper, more solutions proposed are expected to be covered. The solutions

discussed in this study guide aim to serve as a background to more effective solutions to be

proposed during our discussions and debates in the Human Rights Council.

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A. Statement and analysis of the problem

According to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, climate

change means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity

that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural

climate variability observed over comparable time period. Simply put, it is a change in

world’s climate as a result of human activities. The build-up of greenhouse gases in the

atmosphere is already affecting the global climate. Historically, energy-related GHG

emissions were predominantly from the richer developed countries of the OECD, even today,

the rise in GHG concentration is largely accounted for by economic activity in these

countries. The developing countries outside the OECD, account for two-thirds of the flow of

emissions into the atmosphere, however, without new policies, developing countries would

account for most of the projected increase in world greenhouse gas emissions over the coming

decades. The absence of reliable clean energy and services imposes a huge disease burden on

low-income populations which hinders prospects for development.

Mitigation refers to the

policies and measures designed to

reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Measures can include reducing

demand for emissions-intensive

goods and services, increasing the

use of low-carbon technologies

and renewable energy. Mitigation

can also be made by enhancing

“sinks”-reservoirs that absorb

CO2, such as forests or peat dogs

(Know Climate Change n.d.). If

no action is taken soon, the

world’s global greenhouse gas emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades and

the global temperature could rise by as much as 6.4 C this century. In fact, without action

emissions of the six main greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur

hexafluoride, PFCs and HFCs- are projected to rise by 25-90 per cent by 2030. Over the past

three decades, greenhouse emissions have said to increase by an average of 1.6 percent

annually. About 55 percent of greenhouse emissions are immediately absorbed by the upper

oceans and terrestrial biosphere while the remainder enters the atmosphere and is removed by

the ocean and terrestrial sinks only very gradually (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change 2007). As indicated earlier, it must be noted that Deforestation amounts for about 20

percent of greenhouse gas emissions, with most forest land cleared for agricultural use. If

managed effectively, forests are net carbon sinks, able to permanently absorb about one-tenth

of global CO2 emissions into biomass, soil and forest products (United Nations n.d.).

According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading

international body for the assessment of climate change, warming of the climate system is

absolute. It has been shown from increases in global average air and ocean temperatures,

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widespread melting of snow, ice and rising global average sea levels. The impacts of climate

change can be seen around the globe through floods, droughts, and an increased frequency

and intensity of severe weather events. These impacts are projected to increase over the

course of the 21st century. Studies have shown that the annual average arctic sea ice extent

shrunk is 2.7 per cent per decade. The sea level is on the rise, glaciers are melting and

seasonal shifts are constantly on the rise.

B. Past Action

In mitigating climate change, the UN has been involved in several actions. This study

guide will give three main actions which basically summarize the UN action. Making

commitments is part of the action that has been taken by both UN and other stakeholders.

Truth is, several commitments have been made by both developed and developing nations to

mitigate climate change but the question is how did they live up to these commitments? For

example, just last year on December 6 in Doha, ministers from 25 nations at a ministerial

meeting during the UN Climate Change Convention Conference committed to enhancing

voluntary action to reduce short-lived climate pollutants. Also, in 2009 at the United Nations

Climate Conference in Copenhagen, several industrialized countries set a goal of mobilizing

US$100 billion per year by 2012 to advance mitigation in developing countries. According to

this report, the Secretary-General’s high level Advisory Group on climate financing “found

that raising US$100 billion per year is challenging but feasible”. These commitments range

from support in financing to transfer of technologies.

Another past action which is worth mentioning is the Clean Development Mechanism

(CDM). This system was designed to meet two objectives which are, firstly to help developed

countries engage in cost-effective emission reduction targets under Kyoto Protocol and assist

developing countries which are also non-annex 1 parties in achieving sustainable

development. The CDM mechanism, established under the Kyoto Protocol, stimulates both

sustainable development and reduction of emission while giving industrialized countries some

flexibility in meeting targets of their emission reduction. The first CDM project was

registered in 2004. According to the Kyoto protocol, the CDM provides a legal framework

which allows developing countries earn Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits based on

emission-reduction projects. Each of these credits is equivalent to one tone of CO2. CDM has

been said to be a success so far even though there are concerns such as overall efficiency and

the risk of fraud. Schneider, a France-based multinational corporation specializing in

electricity distribution, automation management and production of installation components for

energy management, once commented that if those concerns are properly taken care of, CDM

will continue to be an “important instrument in the fight against climate change”. Simply put,

CDM serves as a marketplace for technology diffusion opportunities.

Furthermore, efforts have been made to leave existing forests intact coupled with

planting new trees. As explained earlier, if effectively managed, forests can serve as good

sinks to absorb green house gas emissions. However, since deforestation account for about

20percent of emissions, afforestation is a good means of mitigating. The United Nations

Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation



18

in Developing Countries (UN-REDD), launched in 2008 is responsible for the above

mentioned mitigation effects.

C. Proposed Solutions

Obviously, inaction is not an option in mitigating climate change. In solving this

insidious problem, several solutions have been proposed by various stakeholders and

researchers. However, all these solutions can be categorized into two main approaches which

are the mitigation approach and the adaptation approach. The mitigation approach deals with

the reduction of dependence on fossil fuels i.e. moving to a low cost, carbon free system by

focusing on renewable and on energy gains. The adaptation approach explains finding ways

which will allow people and communities to cope with the impacts of climate change. Low-

emissions technologies as a force for mitigating climate change can be implemented in every

sector of the economy. These technological options are needed to keep mitigation costs low.

As concluded by

IPCC, there is no single

economically and

technologically feasible

solution to climate change.

This is why at the point of

every discussion, coordinated

action at the international level

is needed to harness the full

effect of clean technologies

and energy efficiency.i Also,

individual governments should

make efforts in promoting a

wide range of options like

natural gas and renewable

energy technologies. Improving public awareness on energy sufficiency is also very

important. Some of the current marketable clean technologies include solar panels, wind

turbines, biomass, wind turbines, hydro-power generation, hybrid vehicles using electric and

combustion engines and nuclear power. In short, the government’s support for more research

and development into innovative clean technologies is an empirical solution to climate

change.

Also, according to the International Energy Agency, another solution especially in the

developing countries is transfer of technology by developed countries so as to avoid the

polluting technologies of the past. The first approach explains the cost-effective approach

which uses models of the economic and climate system. The cost-effective approach is also

known as integrated assessment models. The cost-effective approach ensures that incentives

are given to undertake research and development (R&D) and innovate energy-saving and

climate-friendly technologies. Technology has taken us beyond what even our forefathers

bravenewclimate.org



19

never imagined by making our lives better. However, it is important to note that “even if

innovative and effective technologies emerge, they will not be intensely used until their costs

come down close to those of existing competing technologies, unless incentives are put in

place for people to use themii. Therefore, the cost-effective approach must be seriously put

into consideration in other to foster an effective technological means of mitigating climate

change.

Financing of low-carbon reduction technologies by developed nations in developing

countries or least developed nations is also a proposed solution to mitigating climate change.

Because least developing nations and developing nations’ financial incapability to finance

low-carbon reduction technology, financial help will help a great deal in mitigating climate

change in these countries.

D. Bloc Positions

All countries have come to realize the dilapidating effects of climate change and the

necessity to solve it together. Report of the Copenhagen conference shows the positions of

each nation’s position on mitigating climate change, various talks and agreements were made

and agreements. For the purpose of this model United Nations, I will not go into all the talks

and commitments that were made by each country. I will dwell on the disagreements between

mainly US and China. It must be noted that United States and European Union occupy nearly

the same position in mitigating climate change while China and India stand at the opposite

end.

Even though all nations recognize the need to mitigate climate change, there seems to

be points of disagreement on means of mitigation. One of this is where United States and

China disagree on legally binding mandates. While the United States insists that legal

mandate on carbon dioxide emissions reduction must been made and all countries must abide

by it, China alongside India insists that even though there are legal mandates, every country

must not be forced in abiding by it. As explained by Huang Huikang, special representative

for climate change negotiations in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China is both a

developing and poor country compared to the United States. Therefore, China is not yet ready

to agree to mandates. Also, as India rejects legally binding mandates, it insists that rich

countries must be legally bound. India also wants rich countries cut 40% of its emissions by

2020.

Furthermore, another position where United States and China disagree is the point of

transparency from donor receiving countries. China, for example, at the Copenghen

conference said that the rich countries should give 1% of their GDP per year to help

developing countries. However, for this to come into place, the United States is requesting

developing countries submit themselves to an International Monitoring System. This

international Monitoring System is an expert panel review of the efforts made by developing

countries to reduce carbon reduction. This review will be submitted to the UN which will

determine whether assistance should be given or not. Even though China is in support of this

monitoring system, there is mistrust on what will be done with the result of the review. China



20

does not want United States scrutinizing the numbers of other countries. Hence, a clear and

transparent system must be in place in other to bring all parties to agreement.

E. Thinker’s - Questions that our resolution must answer

From Bali to Poznan to Copenhagen, several commitments have been made by both

developing countries and developed countries in mitigating climate change. However, what

can be done to make both developed and developing countries follow their

commitments? Commitments not backed with actions will amount to nothing! These

commitments range from transfer of low-carbon technology to developing countries, financial

assistance to developing countries just to mention a few.

Up till date, several amounts of dollars have been donated by both developing nations

and international organizations to developing nations. In the future, more financing will be

done. However, there must be an effective mechanism to check the proper use of these funds.

Both United States and China agree that there should be an International Monitoring system

which will access and review. However, how can this mechanism be properly drafted in

such a way where both parties can agree? Also, what more can be done in making donor

receiver countries more accountable for the funds they receive and the technology they

get from developed nations?

Finally, what more roles can both developing nations and developed nations play

in mitigating climate change? More still needs to be done by individual countries.

F. Recommended readings

I hope these recommended readings help in getting a good understanding of the topic

and help in searching for more resources:

1. OECD, 2008. Climate Change Mitigation: What Do We Do?

You can download this at: http://www.oecd.org/env/cc/41751042.pdf

2. Gateway to the United Nations Systems Work on Climate Change Website: This

website gives almost all if not all the information needed on climate change impact.

This website also links to other major UN agency websites working on our subject.

3. Newpaper articles such as the ones below:

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/china-agrees-to-impose-

carbon-targets-by-2016-8626101.html

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/12/08/08climatewire-us-and-china-maintain-

polite-disagreement-as-84506.html?pagewanted=all

4. State Government Websites such as:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/04/207465.htm

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Accord

http://www.oecd.org/env/cc/41751042.pdf

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/china-agrees-to-impose-carbon-targets-by-2016-8626101.html


http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/12/08/08climatewire-us-and-china-maintain-polite-disagreement-as-84506.html?pagewanted=all



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference




21

i Gateway to the United Nations Systems work on climate change ii Climate Change Mitigation: What do we do? A report by OECD on how climate change can be mitigated

References

OECD, 2008. Climate Change Mitigation: What Do We Do?

Gateway to the United Nations Systems Work on Climate Change Website

The Independent,2013. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-

change/china-agrees-to-impose-carbon-targets-by-2016-8626101.html

New York Times,2010. http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/12/08/08climatewire-us-

and-china-maintain-polite-disagreement-as-84506.html?pagewanted=all

U.S Department of State, 2013. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/04/207465.htm

Wikipedia.


Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Accord

David, K., 2005. Climate Change: The Science and the Policy. Journal of Applied

Ecology, Vol.42 No. 5, pp. 779-783

Andy, H., et al., 2007. Policies for accelerating access to clean energy, improving

health, advancing development, and mitigating climate change.

Joseph, E.A., et al., 2010. Designing Climate Mitigation Policy. Journal of Economic

Literature, Vol. 48, No.4, pp. 903-934

Heleen, D.C., Carolyn F., Richard, G.N., Takahiro, U., 2007. International

technology-oriented agreements to address climate change.








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