Dalton Model United Nations United Nations Environment Programme Notes

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

• Established in 1972 after the UN Conference on the Human Environment.
• A subsidiary of the UN General Assembly.
• Goal: to promote environmental action in three main categories:
  • Climate change.
  • Nature and biodiversity loss.
  • Pollution and waste.
• Headquarters established in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1973.
• Key foundational environmental protection projects facilitated in 1973:
  • MARPOL: treaty to prevent spills and pollution in the shipping industry.
  • CITES: convention for the conservation of endangered species.
  • Environment Fund: member-state-contribution-based fund, the primary financing mechanism for UNEP’s initiatives.
• Important steps toward conservation:
  • Regional Seas Programme (1974): protects marine life in 13 sea regions with 143 participating countries.
  • Montreal Protocol (1987): achieved universal ratification, regulating man-made chemicals referred to as “ozone-depleting substances.”
  • International Environmental Education Programme (1975-1995): to mobilize global environmental awareness.
  • Paris Climate Agreement (2015): 195 parties adopted a legally binding global climate deal to limit global warming to below $2°C$.
• Instrumental in helping create and support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • A series of non-binding targets for global prosperity.
  • Includes ending poverty and hunger, improving global healthcare and equality, and supporting clean energy, climate action, and responsible consumption.
• Leading force in international collaboration and action regarding the environment for the last 50 years.

Natural Disasters History

• Over 16,000 lives were lost to natural disasters last year (Ferris).
• Events: earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, storms, and wildfires.
• Immediate aftermath:
  • Severe damage and destruction to homes, businesses, and public infrastructure.
  • Widespread physical injuries, overloading local health systems and requiring temporary treatment facilities.
  • High risk for those with chronic diseases due to power outages and infrastructure damage, interrupting treatment.
  • Heightened spread of disease, worsening global health.
    • Example: Haiti's Cholera outbreak post-earthquake in October 2010 exacerbated by damaged sanitation system (Cravioto et al.).
• Vital Problem
  • Food shortages: damage to farms and factories could result in long-term food shortages and increased food insecurity
• Negative economic consequences as properties are lost and production is disrupted.
  • Developing nations with growing populations and less resilient infrastructure are disproportionately affected (Botzen et al.).
• Delegates should address:
  • Infrastructural damages.
  • Potential disease outbreaks.
  • Food and water shortages.
  • Economic losses.
  • Potential to act as an impetus for large-scale displacement.

Climate Change & Disasters

• Over 90% of natural disasters are weather-related and can be impacted by climate change (UNEP, “Disasters and Climate Change”).
• Increased carbon emissions disrupt the global water cycle.
• Increases in precipitation are caused by higher air temperatures (“Water Cycle Changes”).
  • Hotter, less dense air can hold more moisture than cool air (NASA).
  • Higher temperatures lead to more evaporation, meaning more water vapor enters the atmosphere.
  • Drier areas suffer from increased droughts and worsened soil resilience (NYC Environmental Protection).
• More moisture in the air exacerbates thunderstorms and hurricanes.
• Global warming melts polar ice caps, leading to sea-level rise, tidal flooding, erosion, and extreme storms (Craig).
• Climate-related disasters have tripled in the last 30 years due to global warming (Oxfam International).
• Categorization of disasters:
  • Sudden-onset disasters: flash floods, severe storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires.
    • Cause short-term displacement; people can return after the event (Global Refuge).
  • Landlocked countries suffer from both droughts, due to increased temperatures, and floods, with dry soil, prone to flash floods (UN).
  • Vulnerable regions often lack the infrastructure and preparedness to respond effectively (Conservation.org).
  • Slow-onset disasters: desertification, rising sea levels, air pollution, and changing weather patterns.
    • May cause permanent damage; displacement is often indefinite as people flee uninhabitable environments (Global Refuge).
• Delegates should work to find preventative and reactive measures for both types of disaster.

Displacement

• 26.4 million people were displaced due to natural disasters in 2023 (“Global Report on Internal Displacement”).
• Lives are completely uprooted as homes are destroyed or regions become unlivable.
• Two main categories:
  • IDPs (Internally Displaced People): displaced within their nation.
  • “Climate refugees”: forced to leave their countries after a disaster.
• Current definition of a refugee does not include IDPs or climate refugees (Ferris).
  • Definition: “a person who has been forced to leave their country to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster”.
  • Binding agreements that require aid and asylum for refugees do not apply to those displaced by natural disasters.
• Displaced people may lack adequate shelter, food, clean water, and healthcare (UNHCR).
• Forced migrants, including climate refugees, are not able to bring savings or assets with them during displacement (Verme and Schuettler).
• Displaced people often struggle to adapt to new environments due to language barriers, employment gaps, and prejudice (Ashworth).
• Influxes of refugees have become hotly politicized, with host nations concerned about the economic impact of taking in immigrants.
• Studies show that wages, rent, and price fluctuations in host nations taking in displaced people are minimal or short-lived (Ashworth; Verme and Schuettler).
• Delegates must take into account their country’s stance on immigration when considering climate refugees.

Case Studies

Super Typhoon Haiyan

• Landed in Southeast Asia on November 8, 2013, causing mass destruction, particularly in the Philippines.
• Category 5 storm with winds up to 195mph.
• Affected over 16 million people and displaced roughly 4 million.
• Killed over 6,300 Filipinos.
• High sea levels may have exacerbated the storm’s effects; sea levels in the Philippines have risen 200 millimeters since 1970.
• Philippines lies in the “Ring of Fire,” increasing risk of earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.
• Weeks before the typhoon, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country.
• Scale of destruction meant that many former settlements were no longer habitable, and entire communities had to be resettled.
• Filipinos have built more resilient infrastructure following the cyclone.
• Mangroves were cut down for fish farming, which removed the natural protection from storm surges.
• Filipino communities have begun restoring mangroves to integrate nature-based protection for coastal regions.
• Farmers have begun to embrace bamboo as a crop for flood control and soil resilience.
• Philippines has adopted early warning systems, like the PhilAWARE modeling system, and emergency procedures since 2013 (UNDRR).
• Interplay of rising sea levels, worsened natural protection from overfishing, and poor infrastructure contributed to the disaster.

Australian Bushfires

• 2019 and 2020: most catastrophic bushfire season in the country’s history, referred to as the “Black Summer.”
• 46 million acres were burnt, mainly forest and bushland (WWF).
• Fires began in June 2019 and escalated in September.
• Heavy winds of up to 56 mph were hitting Australia, feeding and spreading the flames quickly.
• Fires worsened at the beginning of November 2019 as temperatures increased and drought continued.
• Heavy rainstorms in mid-late February 2020 allowed firefighters to contain all of the fires in New South Wales.
• On March 4, 2020, the Australian bushfires were all put out.
• 33 human lives were lost, 3,100 homes were destroyed, 65,000 people were displaced, and an estimated 1.25 billion animals were killed (IDMC).
• Australian Government established the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, investing over $2 billion for families, farmers, and business owners.</li> <li>Australian Government also announced a$50 million investment to support immediate wildlife protection and long-term environmental restoration.
• Australia has worked with Google, Conservation International, and the WWF to incorporate an AI model to capture images of endangered animals returning to their habitats.
• Bushfires were heavily affected by high heat, droughts, and unpredictable rain patterns, all results of climate change.

Past Action

• UNEP currently operates the NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions) Action Project.
  • Helps direct partner countries’ contributions under the Paris Agreement into concrete strategies (NDC).
• UNEP acknowledged the failure of host countries to meet the needs of IDPs and refugees in its 2023 NDC policy brief.
  • Climate change could contribute to 216 million internal displacements by 2050.
  • Brief emphasized incorporating sustainable environmental practices and displacement strategies, specifically DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction).
• Some strides being made in the fight against disaster displacement:
  • IOM (International Organization for Migration) has been seeking alternative power sources in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
  • Bangladesh has rehabilitated over 440,000 displaced families, improved disaster resilience and sustainable water access, and planted 1.58 million trees with UNEP’s help.
  • UNEP underscored the IOM’s pivotal role in providing clean water access for over 350,000 Yemeni people and electronic waste management in Ugandan refugee settlements.
• UNEP endorsed emphasis on rights and humanitarian assistance for displaced individuals in climate action, individual country response plans, and local engagement for energy access.
• UNEP also recognized the importance of national sovereignty for nations hosting refugees.
  • Suggested demand-driven aid, coherent international action, and addressing the root causes of displacement through climate risk assessment.
• UNEP called for dedicated funding to analyze data on environmental drivers of displacement, coordinate clean energy, engage governments to make new NDCs, address specific requests by governments for climate vulnerability assessments, and address the knowledge gaps necessary to address mitigation of displacement.

Current Situation

LA Wildfires

• In early January 2025, an onslaught of wildfires began in Los Angeles, California.
• The Palisades Fire began on the morning of January 7th as a brushfire.
  • Burned upwards of 23,000 acres and 6,800 structures before being fully contained on January 20th.
• The Eaton Fire grew to over 14,000 acres and damaged over 10,000 structures.
• Smaller fires spread in Lidia, Archer, Woodley, Sunset, Kenneth, Hurst, and Auto, claiming a combined 2,399 acres before ending.
• The Hughes fire ignited on January 22nd, quickly growing to over 10,000 acres.
• Fires cost $$20 - 50 billion in damages, claimed at least 29 lives, and had 200,000 people under evacuation orders (Stelloh et al.).
• Los Angeles rent prices have increased by 15 to 20%, as countless homes were destroyed and supply could not keep up with the already unsustainable demand (Isidore).
• The fires served as a wake-up call for California, whose policies prevented it from effectively using forest restoration efforts.
• Even developed nations need to reform their preparation and response plans regarding natural disasters.
• Proper environmental action is necessary to ensure that wildfires do not begin to spread in such dry environments.

Dry Corridor

• Central America’s “Dry Corridor” includes parts of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
• Inconsistent weather patterns with alternating periods of drought and heavy rainfall.
• A drought in 2015 caused corn yield losses to spike by 60 percent.
• In 2019, a prolonged drought left 1.2 million people in the region needing food aid, and in 2021, communities suffered intense crop losses.
• The UN and other INGOs have made efforts to fight drought and desertification in the region.
  • The Central American Integration System (SICA) and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have supported agricultural practices like using cover crops, planting trees uphill, and agroforestry (UNEP).
• Climate change and slow-onset disasters like desertification can have on agriculture and food security, specifically in developing countries and vulnerable regions.

Current Global Issues

• CO2 emissions need to be reduced by 47% before 2030 and 5% before 2035 to keep up with the SDGs and the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, according to UNEP’s 2024 emissions gap report.
• The world is on track for a 2.6 - 3.1°C temperature increase by the end of the century unless NDCs are revitalized and expanded.
• There are over 122.6 million people currently displaced, a significant portion of whom were forced to flee from natural disasters (UNHCR).
• By 2050, over 1 billion people could be displaced due to climate change, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.
• 67% of all refugees live in settlements called “protracted refugee situations,” camps with over 25,000 refugees from the same nation, living displaced for at least 5 years.
• Women and children are especially vulnerable to early marriage, child labor, and sex trafficking in these overcrowded protracted refugee situations (UNHCR).
• The UN General Assembly endorsed the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015.
  • A guiding international agreement for nations to reduce the effects of natural disasters from 2015-2030.
  • Emphasizes understanding disaster risk through data analysis, disaster risk testing, transparency, and scientific collaboration.
  • Strengthening disaster risk governance with local legal frameworks for governments, companies, public awareness, and financial incentives.
  • Investment in resilience with economic and social safety nets, structural prevention in facilities, and new building codes.
  • Enhance recovery through developing contingency plans, emergency communication systems, community centers to stockpile resources, and training for disaster response (UNDRR).
• New technologies are also helping reduce the effects of natural disasters.
  • Satellite imagery has enabled greater data to be gathered on damage (UMass).
  • DEEP Robotics developed the Jueying X20 Robot Dog, an unmanned robot that can navigate complex terrain and carry rescue supplies.
• Practices in infrastructure, such as ductility through steel reinforcement, have been shown to improve buildings’ resilience to disasters like earthquakes (Cofer).

Bloc Positions

Developed Nations

• Typically have the best infrastructure, contributing the most to CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions and benefiting from greater disaster preparedness.
• Many advocate for environmental reform and are most equipped to incorporate renewable energy.
• Disparities persist, as the United States recently pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
• Many support humanitarian aid and are host nations for those displaced by natural disasters.
• Often divided over their immigration policies.

Developing Countries

• Most impacted by natural disasters, with less infrastructure to respond to crises and geographic locations in vulnerable regions.
• Do not contribute as much to carbon emissions; however, they also often do not have the resources to adopt renewable energy sources.
• Should advocate for policies that would best support recovery and preparations for natural disasters, particularly in the developing world.

Questions to Consider

1. What long and short-term solutions will help strengthen global systems to prepare for and respond to natural disasters?
2. How can natural disasters be prevented in the face of climate change? How can the contributors of CO2 emissions be held accountable?
3. In what ways can vulnerable areas, such as coastal and landlocked regions or areas with high seismic activity, be better prepared for natural disasters?
4. How can legal frameworks be updated to protect those displaced by natural disasters?
5. How can existing IDPs and climate refugees be supported in displacement?
6. What role should host nations play in aiding climate refugees?
7. What new technologies can be leveraged to help mitigate natural disaster displacement?