FORUM: United Nations Economic and Social Council QUESTION OF: Improving Pollution and Environmental Sustainability in Developing Nations MAIN SUBMITTER: The Federal Republic of Germany CO SUBMITTERS: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland SIGNATORIES: the Syrian Arab Republic, the Italian Republic, Japan, the Russian Federation, Dominion of Canada, People's Republic of China, the French Republic THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, Recognizing the negative impact of environmental degradation, including climate change, on population distribution, internal migration, urbanization and development, as well as the challenges that rural and urban transformations carry for environmental sustainability . Commending the Non Governmental Organizations who have been dedicating time, effort and resources to the cause of environmentally sustainable development in developing countries and pledges further support Content: 1. Encourages More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs) to continue providing financial support and assistance, as well as share relevant green technologies with Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) and Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) to implement solutions raised in this resolution; 2. Supports the creation of an universal intergovernmental network under ECOSOC to facilitate cooperation, the exchange of information, experiences, good practices, and capacity development through means such as but not limited to: a. establishing a formal network of researchers on sustainable urban development as it urbanization is growing at an unprecedented rate in developing countries, b. organizing summits at international, national and regional levels for local governments to review good, environmentally sustainable practices in urban development which can also serve as a platform for the formation of partnerships, c. establishing a knowledge database accessible by all member nations and maintained on a regular basis with the purposes of: i. archiving environmental and financial modelling and projections for policies which will allow for better policy planning on a national level, ii. providing statistical information vital for sustainable urban development projects, iii. empowering government bodies in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) with knowledge which are more experienced in sustainable development, 3. Suggests that the proposed network, consistent with its universal intergovernmental character, will provide political leadership, guidance and recommendations for sustainable development, follow up and review progress in the implementation of sustainable development commitments, enhance the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development in a holistic and crosssectoral manner at all levels and have a focused, dynamic and actionoriented agenda, ensuring the appropriate consideration of new and emerging sustainable development
challenges; 4. Recognises the importance of social inclusion initiatives and the empowerment of slums community dwellers and work towards achieving Millenium Goal Clause 7d which aims to improves the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020 as a part of environmental sustainability development hence proposes: a. the provision of effective educational programs in slums in which: i. educators specialised in sanitation and public health to teach slum dwellers proper hygienic practices, providing basic knowledge about water quality and the effects of contaminated water on health and the environment, divulge knowledge of proper water usage, sanitation and waste management practices in order to maintain and sustain the integrity of current and future infrastructure, as well as teach skills to monitor water quality and use of technology to empower people with the responsibility of maintaining their own clean and safe water, ii. a nondiscriminatory policy shall be adapted and the access to education will be equal for all slum dwellers regardless of gender, race, ethnicity or religions, iii. educators work closely and specifically on a grassroots level with local and regional administration and leaders to account for and adapt to cultural particulates, iv. existing nongovernmental organisations will work in conjunction with local and national administration and legislation to promote water conservation and consumption practices in slums, b. the necessity for MemberStates to improve preexisting water and sanitation programs and projects through other United Nations agencies and NGOs, as well as to diligently support initiatives such as: i. programs which arrange for increasing the number of standing wells in slums, so that access of clean water can be increased, ii. programs which further utilise the effectiveness of filter water bottles in providing clean drinking water, iii. programs which raise funds and build temporary water sources such as pumps and sanitation services such as toilets, 5. Recognizes the current problems in waste management which has severe impact on public health as well as the environment in developing countries and urges government to seek improvement through means such as but not limited to: a. providing necessary socioeconomic, cultural and political factors through the proposed network in clause 3 so that through maximizing cooperation, external agencies or donor countries can exercise better judgment and implement appropriate waste management systems, b. Developing human resources at national and local levels with technical expertise necessary for waste management, planning and operation, in which developed countries and encouraged to offer guidance and assistance through: i. Sharing technical expertise through the propose network, ii. Send experts to developing countries to assist their governments in this aspect, 6. Encourages developing countries to give greater priority to waste management, keeping short term financial constraints in mind and looking to longterm sustainability and tackle the problem
through means such as but not limited to: a. having defined roles of national agencies in relation to waste management and improving coordination on a national level to minimize the duplication of efforts, wasting of resources and unsustainability of waste management programs, b. implementing effective legislation for waste management, c. utilizing manpower already available, such as dumpsite scavengers to assist with waste management and recycling, empowering these people at the same time, 7. Encourages the development of the public transportation in order to cut down the level of carbon dioxide, pollution, and smog in the city in ways such as but not limited to: a. involving the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assist stable transportation infrastructure development in developing countries, b. developing a busing system in major cities in developing countries in order to alleviate the amount of traffic congestion, c. developing an underground tram or train system,once the situation aforementioned is alleviated, taking into account the unique circumstances of each city, d. reporting annual progress of transportation connectivity, e. mitigating climate change in transport through means such as but not limited to: i. Reduce the need to travel: 1. Integrating land use and transport planning to create local clusters of economic activity that require less mobility, ii. Shift to more energy efficient modes and routes: 1. Encourage passengers to take private vehicles to public transport and non motorized modes, iii. Improve current means of technologies to become more efficient: 1. Improving vehicle standards with higher inspection and enforcement, 2. Developing improved vehicle technologies and fuels, 8. Recommends rural development in cities to increase standard of living in the rural areas so that the rate of ruralurban migration decreases to a sustainable and controllable level, through strengthening the agricultural sector in rural areas with the provision of highyield seeds, machinery as well as organic fertilisers for the purpose of boosting agricultural productivity and sustainability; 9. Encourages all member states in ECOSOC to cooperate with the UNEP to promote and implement sustainable agriculture in developing countries, recognizing that Agriculture accounts for about 14 percent of global emissions, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, through means such as but not limited to: a. formulating, introducing and monitoring policies, laws and regulations and incentives leading to sustainable agricultural and rural development and improved food security and to the development and transfer of appropriate farm technologies, b. support of the relevant international and regional organizations should assist farming households and communities to apply technologies related to improved food production and security, including storage, monitoring of production and distribution, c. involve and train local economists, planners and analysts to initiate national and international policy reviews and develop frameworks for sustainable agriculture, d. strengthening research on agricultural production systems in areas with different endowments and agroecological zones, including comparative analysis of the
intensification, diversification and different levels of external and internal inputs with support from relevant international, national and regional organizations, e. sharing successful sustainable agricultural models, important data etc. through the proposed network in Clause 3, f. refer to policies on promoting sustainable agriculture in UNEP’s resolutions on the topic, 10. Proposes to establish a working committee to work towards an international carbon trading market, with the following objectives in mind: a. providing a framework where countries can negotiate on the distribution of carbon permits, b. allowing developing countries more room to emit but gradually reduce their number of permits as development progresses on a steady path, c. providing advice for national governments to initiate carbontrading schemes within their borders with companies, d. Resolves to ensure that a robust carbon price will emerge from such carbon trading initiative, 11. Suggests that governments in the developed world establish carbon emissions quotas on companies and encourage companies to offset carbon emissions through providing emissionsreducing technology and assistance in the developing world; 12. Strongly encourages that governments, in the developed and developing world, offer tax breaks as incentives for companies which offset carbon footprint or directly reduces their emissions; 13. Underlines the need to offer capital to green technology innovating firms, particularly startups and grassroots initiatives; 14. Urges countries to eliminate subsidies for environmentally unfriendly fuels 15. Recognizes that the fishing industry is a major source of economic growth in many developing countries, with 95% of the fishing industry made up of developing countries and that the problem of overfishing is exacerbating and having a enormous impact in the marine ecosystem hence encourages member nations to take actions such as but not limited to: a. implementing technical improvements to the current fishing technique of bycatch to minimise the amount of damage done to the unwanted fish referencing the FAO International Guidelines on Managing Bycatch and Reducing Discards, where applicable, to identify and find solutions to bycatch problems globally, most prominent in developing countries, including the excessive catch of juvenile fish, such as but not limited to: i. Nontoxic and nonlife threatening chemicals to drive away unwanted fish so that the damage to the marine ecosystem will be kept to a minimal level, ii. Scaredevices for species such as dolphins and birds, iii. Sonar devices , b. developing technologies to help mitigate the environmental impact on the ocean and minimise the amount of damage done while fishing by means such as but not limited to: i. encouraging capable member nations to reallocate subsidies from fisheries to corporations or companies willing to develop or enhance said technology in order to both incentivize the creation of such technologies and to boost competition among the companies which has the benefits of boosting the economy and increasing innovation,
ii.
holding annual meetings or expositions to regulate the competition as well as share the ideas and developments among different corporations, offering tax cuts to corporations willing to lower the price of the technology to developing countries so that these technologies would be available to these nations.