HASMUN’19 STUDY GUIDE · I want to express my thanks to Secretary-General Ata Mavi for his support throughout the preparation process of the conference, and my undying gratitude

STUDY GUIDEHASMUN’19

Sidar AslanoğluUnder-Secretary General :

Yiğit SezerBatur Özbilgiç

Academic Assıstant :

Group of 20 Ecological Economics

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction to the Committee……………………………………………………........3

II. Introduction to Ecologically Sustainable Development………………………………4

a. Economic Growth………………………………………………………………..4

b. Natural Capital…………………………………………………………………...5

c. Sustainable Development………………………………………………………..6

III. Environment & Economic Growth Interaction……………………………………….8

a. The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW)...........................................8

b. Environmental Kuznets Curve…………………………………………………...9

c. The Limits to Growth……………………………………………………………11

IV. Factors Driving Environmental Degradation………………………………………....13

a. Social Factors……………………………………………………………………13

i. Population

ii. Poverty

iii. Urbanization

iv. Deforestation

b. Economic Factors………………………………………………………………..15

i. Environmental Market Failure

ii. Industrialization

iii. Transportation

iv. Agricultural Policies

V. Current Environmental Deterioration Status……………………………………….18

VI. Treaties & Conventions Guiding Ecologically Sustainable Economic Growth…….20

a. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change…………………..20

b. Kyoto Protocol………………………………………………………………….20

c. Paris Climate Agreement……………………………………………………….21

d. UN Sustainable Development Goals…………………………………………...22

VII. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...24

VIII. Points That Should Be Addressed in a Declaration………………………………….25

IX. Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………26

1

Letter from the Secretary-General

Dear Delegates and Advisors,

It is a great pleasure and honor to officially invite all of you to HASMUN 2019 which will be held

between 26th and 28th of April 2019 at Kadir Has University Haliç Campus in Istanbul which is located

in the Golden Horn area.

I am personally thrilled to take part in the making of this conference and I am sure that the academic and

organisation teams share my passion about this installment of HASMUN in which we have chosen to

focus on topics that bring humanity together. And we have also included committees which will simulate

historical events that can be considered existential threats which brought the international committee or

some nations together. The general idea that we would like to introduce is that humanity can achieve great

things in little time if we are united, or can eliminate threats that threaten our very existence.

I strongly believe that the first half of this century would be remembered in human history where we enter

into a new era through technological advance. Unfortunately we haven’t quite grasped the importance of

this generation, as we progress we leave a print on this world and for the first time modern world is facing

an existential threat, for the first time every human being on the planet is facing the threat of a

considerable change in their and their ancestors living or worse, our very existence is on the line. I believe

it will be events like these marked down in history which bring humanity together if we unite with no

ambition of national gains and handle these crises. Our highlighted special committee of World War Z

will be based on the book with the same name written by Max Brook which tells the story of how world is

affected by a Zombie outbreak and the Humanitarian Advancement and Security community or

HASCOM will take place in the year of 2050 where the delegates will rebuild the world from it’s ashes

and have the chance of changing how it works.

The other committees will be focusing on current problems that are born out of neglect for an extensive

amount of time either due to lack of public interest or because of economical reasons and solving these

issues will have long lasting positive effects or if they are left unsolved they may have bigger

consequences in the near future.

With that I welcome and look forward to seeing all of our participants and guests on the 26th of April, at

HASMUN 2019, hoping that you will have an exquisite time, debates and most importantly have fun

while changing the world, only you can do it.

Best Regards

Ata Mavi

Secretary-General of HASMUN’19

Letter from the Under-Secretary-General

2

Highly esteemed participants,

I am Sidar Aslanoğlu, a 2nd-year student from the Department of Foreign Languages of Middle East

Technical University. I will be serving as the Under-Secretary-General for the G20, and it brings me

immense pleasure and excitement to welcome you all to HASMUN ’19.

The G20 has undergone significant modifications in structure and scope since its establishment, yet it

has never lost the status of being one of the most prominent platforms of international financial dialogue.

Consequently, it would be unimaginable for G20 to overlook the ever-rapid degradation of the environment

as a result of centuries of industrialization, rapid urbanization and exploitation of natural resources without

due regard for the environment. The current condition of natural ecosystems all over the globe not only

threaten the future of financial stability through the depletion of natural resources, but also through putting

at risk the very survival of humankind. The actions of G20 members are perhaps more important than ever,

as their responsibility is extended from the financial well-being of the global population to the continuation

of humankind itself.

I want to express my thanks to Secretary-General Ata Mavi for his support throughout the preparation

process of the conference, and my undying gratitude to my friend and Academic Assistant responsible for

G20, Yiğit Sezer for his exceptional contributions to this study guide and his outstanding sense of

responsibility.

Lastly, I hope you, our esteemed participants enjoy the committee and are satisfied with the academic

content, which we, as the academic team, did our best to create an intellectually stimulating environment

of enjoyable debate and to perfect it.

Best Regards,

Sidar Aslanoğlu

Under-Secretary-General

[email protected]

3

I. Introduction to the Committee

The G20 has been one of the most prominent forums of international economic cooperation

since its establishment in 1999. Founded initially as a forum for central bank representatives

and finance ministers in the wake of the 1997-98 financial crisis1 with the aim of broadening

the available mediums of dialogue and increasing cooperation between “systemically

significant economies”, the G20 has evolved in structure and considerably broadened its topics

of discussion since then. During the financial crisis of 2008, various financial institutions, as

well as heads of state voiced their opinion, stating the need for a new economic system and

calling for a global financial reform. This led to the first G20 summit in Washington, on the

14th of November 2008,2 which elevated the forum to a head of state level. Between 2008 and

2011 the G20 leaders’ summits were held semi-annually and since the summit of 2011, they

have been held annually. The G20 consists of 19 countries and the European Union, making

up 80% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The agenda of G20 has been primarily

focused on global financial stability since its inception, however, following the adoption of

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG), issues such as counter-terrorism,

climate change and migration made their way into the topics of discussion.3

1 'About G20' (B20germany.org, 2019) <https://www.b20germany.org/the-b20/about-g20/> accessed 10 February

2019. 2 'What Is The G20?' (G20.utoronto.ca, 2019) <http://www.g20.utoronto.ca/g20whatisit.html> accessed 10 February

2019. 3 'G20germany | Agenda' (Web.archive.org, 2017)

<https://web.archive.org/web/20170706224916/https:/www.g20.org/Webs/G20/EN/G20/Agenda/agenda_node.html

> accessed 10 February 2019.

4

II. Introduction to Ecologically Sustainable Development

a. Economic Growth

Economic growth, although with exceptions, has always been perceived to be a

positive occurrence. Indeed, economic growth improves our lives in many ways, as it

results in lower unemployment levels, higher average incomes and increased tax revenue

which result in better public services. However, it is undeniable that, along with the benefits

it brings, economic growth also has a direct adverse effect on the environment, whether

through the depletion of natural resources or the degradation it causes to the environment

in the process of harvesting the resources above.

There are four main divisions of capital contributing to economic growth: assets

such as tools and machines that contribute to the production process called manufactured

capital, the shared values and links shared by individuals in a society that enables them to

work together called social capital4, people and the skills they possess called human capital,

and lastly, our main topic of focus, natural capital.

A few decades ago, manufactured and human capital were considered to be the only

forms of capital, as what we call natural capital today was thought to be too great in scale

for human activities to disrupt the provision of natural goods and services. Manufactured

and human capital were the sole limiting factors for economic growth.5 However, with the

colossal growth of both the human population and the global economy, natural capital has

been added to the list of limiting factors.

b. Natural Capital

Economic growth relies on natural capital in many ways, which can be observed

under four categories; supporting, regulating, cultural and provisioning ecosystem services,

4 Human Capital (OECD 2007) <https://www.oecd.org/insights/37966934.pdf> accessed 10 February 2019. 5 Robert Costanza and Herman E. Daly, Natural Capital And Sustainable Development (Blackwell Publishing 1992)

<https://esanalysis.colmex.mx/Sorted%20Papers/1997/1997%20USA%20-3F%20Interd%201.pdf> accessed 10

February 2019.

5

with provisioning ecosystem services having the most direct contribution to economic

growth by providing ores, minerals, food, fresh water, fuel and many more6. These

provisioning ecosystems can be further divided into two categories: renewable and non-

renewable.

Non-renewable resources are those that can be depleted as time goes on and cannot

be renewed (in a manner that allows the resource to be sustainable over-time) by natural

means.7 Some examples of non-renewable resources are fossil fuels, metal ores, minerals

and certain nuclear fuels.

Renewable resources are those that can be replenished in a manner that can sustain

their use over time. Contrary to popular belief, “renewable” is not interchangeable with

“non-exhaustible”, some renewable resources such as forests can be exhausted if they are

consumed faster than their rate of replenishment, in contrast to other renewable resources

such as solar energy.8 The energy obtained from the movement of water and wind, solar

energy and biomass are considered to be renewable resources.

c. Sustainable Development

Although there is still much debate going on regarding the exact definition of

sustainable development, the United Nations defines sustainable development as “meeting

6 'The Five Capitals' (Forum for the Future) <https://www.forumforthefuture.org/the-five-capitals> accessed 19

February 2019. 7 'Natural Capital And Ecosystem Services' (European Environment Agency, 2015)

<https://www.eea.europa.eu/soer-2015/europe/natural-capital-and-ecosystem-services#note1> accessed 19 February

2019. 8 Ibid

6

the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet

their own needs”, and proposes a holistic perspective in contrast to previous understandings

of what “capital” is, stating that social inclusion, environmental protection and economic

growth are inseparable and it is unthinkable to achieve one without the others in the long

run.9

The Global Footprint Network (GFN), a non-profit organization which aims to end

ecological overshoot,10 calculates the Ecological Footprint of countries all over the world

by deriving how much biologically productive area is required to meet the demands of the

population, which range from space for timber regeneration to accommodating built

infrastructure, which is then expressed in global hectares.

9 'The Sustainable Development Agenda - United Nations Sustainable Development' (United Nations Sustainable

Development, 2016) <https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/> accessed 10 February

2019. 10 'About Us - Global Footprint Network' (Footprintnetwork.org, 2019) <https://www.footprintnetwork.org/about-

us/> accessed 10 February 2019.

Figure 1, Ecological Deficit/Reserve

7

The GFN then calculates the area of productive land which can produce resources,

and subtracts the ecological footprint from biocapacity; the result shows whether the

country in question has an ecological deficit or not. A country with an ecological deficit

has to ‘sustain’ its consumption by importing biological capacity from trade with other

countries or by the liquification of its ecological assets.

Figure 1 shows that most of the developed countries, as well as a great number of

G20 member states, are biocapacity debtors who have ecological deficits. Taking this

graphic as our starting point, it would not be a farfetched comment to say that as more and

more states become truly industrialized and therefore need more natural capital to sustain

their consumption, it will become nearly impossible to sustain the global consumption

(provided that it increases in a rate similar to it has so far) with the global biocapacity at

hand. It is for this reason that sustainable development has been paid more and more

attention to the global agenda as well as the agenda of G20.

Although there were several treaties & pacts concerning sustainable development

jumpstarted by the publication of the “Our Common Future” report by the World

Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987, the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stand out as

the most ambitious and comprehensive partnership plans to date. The Millennium

Development Goals, adopted in 2000, set out eight goals to be accomplished by 2015,

ranging from eradicating extreme poverty to ensuring environmental sustainability. The

MDGs aimed to harmonize sustainable development principles into country policies and

to reverse the loss of environmental resources.11

11 UNDP, 'The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015' (UNDP 2015)

<http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/MDG/english/UNDP_MDG_Report_2015.pdf> accessed 10

February 2019.

8

Following in the Millennium Development Goals’ footsteps, the UN Sustainable

Development Goals were introduced in 201212 in order to set achievable common standards

which would, inter alia, slow down climate change, reduce carbon emissions, and respond

better to natural disasters.

III. Environment & Economic Growth Interaction

a. The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW)

In line with the increasing attention to natural capital, measures which include the depletion

of natural capital were developed, and in the late 1980s, ISEW, which takes into account

the effects of pollution and the depletion of natural capital, was introduced.13

Figure 2 shows that although GDP per capita has been on a constant increase during this

time period in the USA, ISEW saw relatively wide fluctuations and has been on a dire

downwards inclination since 2007, and that at the end of this interval it is at the same value

it was back in 1960, leading us to the striking conclusion that when we take into account

the depletion of natural capital and pollution costs, the economy of the USA, when natural

capital is taken into account, is not improving at all, and this is a trend that can be observed

in most countries. If we ignore the consumption of natural capital in the process of

12 'Background Of The Sustainable Development Goals | UNDP' (UNDP, 2019)

<http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/background.html> accessed 10

February 2019. 13 Robert Costanza and Herman E. Daly, Natural Capital And Sustainable Development (Blackwell Publishing

1992) <https://esanalysis.colmex.mx/Sorted%20Papers/1997/1997%20USA%20-3F%20Interd%201.pdf> accessed

10 February 2019.

9

economic growth, it is unavoidable that we push welfare down while we think that we are

building it up.

b. Environmental Kuznets Curve

First introduced by Simon Kuznets in 1954, the Kuznets Curve (KC) suggested that

in the initial stages of per capita income increase, income inequality increased in

connection up until a certain point whereafter as per capita income keeps rising, income

inequality starts to decrease.14 By the year 1991, the Kuznets Curve had evolved into what

is now known as the Environmental Kuznets Curve, (EKC) which is used to describe the

relationship between environmental quality and per capita income.15

14 Maya Vijayaraghavan, Madhusudan Bhattarai and Bruce Yandle, 'Environmental Kuznets Curves: A Review Of

Findings, Methods, And Policy Implications' (Researchgate, 2019)

<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242758524_Environmental_Kuznets_Curves_A_Review_of_Findings_

Methods_and_Policy_Implications> accessed 10 February 2019. 15 Ibid

Figure 2, Trends in ISEW per capita and GDP per capita in the US (Beça, dos

Santos, 2014)

10

There are various studies which estimate that most of the moderately developed

countries will reach the “turning point” of their pollution peak by the middle of the 21st

century.16

Taking the EKC as a guide for the relationship between environmental deterioration

and income per capita may lead one towards adopting a policy in which economic growth

is encouraged without any regard to environmental protection regulations. However, it

should be noted that the EKC, although one of the most prominent ways economists and

environmentalists seek to explain environment-economy interactions, should not be the

sole basis of policy-makers as the relationship it presents between deterioration and income

holds true only for a “limited set of pollutants”, and does not sustain its validity when some

of the most significant factors in deterioration of the environment, such as greenhouse

gases, are added into the formula.17

16 Pushan Dutt, 'Trade Protection And Bureaucratic Corruption: An Empirical Investigation' (Wiley Online Library,

2009) <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1540-5982.2008.01503.x> accessed 10 February 2019. 17 Alex Rubin and others, 'Economic Growth And The Environment' (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2010)

<https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69195/pb13390-

economic-growth-100305.pdf> accessed 10 February 2019.

Figure 3, Environmental Kuznets Curves: A

Review of Findings, Methods, and Policy

Implications

11

Moreover, the EKC does not account for the possibility that once past the turning

point, the cost of repairing the damage caused by the “unsustainable growth” that has

happened until that point may be greater than what it would cost to mitigate environmental

damage before the turning point.

c. The Limits to Growth

Written in 1972, the Limits to Growth report, although relatively older and disputed

by many scholars since then, offers an alternative explanation to the interaction between

economic growth and environmental deterioration, albeit a pessimistic one. A team of

Massachusetts Institute of Technology academicians were commissioned by the Club of

Rome in 197018 to develop a model which aimed to simulate the interaction between the

outcomes of human development and its consequences on the environment. The simulation

model, called World3, used five main variables to simulate the world system: consumption

of non-renewable resources, industrialization, pollution, population and food production.19

As a result of the simulation, out of the three scenarios simulated by the system, only one

offered, in the writers’ words, “a stabilized world”. This scenario was achieved by the

following changes in the system:

1. Stabilization of the population through setting the birth rate equal to the death

rate.

2. Stabilization of industrial capital through the equalization of the investment rate to

depreciation rate.

3. Reduction of non-renewable resources and pollution to one-fourth of its 1970

value.

4. The shifting of economic preferences of the society from material goods to

services.

18 The Limits To Growth A REPORT FOR THE CLUB OF ROME's PROJECT ON THE PREDICAMENT OF

MANKIND (Universe Books 1972) <http://www.donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Limits-to-Growth-

digital-scan-version.pdf> accessed 11 February 2019. 19 Ibid

12

5. Diversion of the capital to agriculture in order to compensate for the reduced food

per capita which will be caused by the policies above and making soil enrichment &

preservation a high priority in order to deal with the soil erosion the focus on agriculture

will cause.

6. Increase of the average lifetime of industrial capital in order to counteract the low

final level product which will be caused by the policies above.

In contrast, the scenario in which no significant changes are made to the

aforementioned variables painted a much grimmer picture of the future.

Figure 4 shows that population, food and industrial output are projected to grow

exponentially until non-renewable resources take a deep dive, forcing industrial growth to

slow down with it as well. Pollution is shown to continue its climb until the early 21st

century and so does population until the mid-21st century, both of which are eventually met

with their impending fall as the rate of death rises.

X. Factors Driving Environmental Degradation

a) Social Factors

Figure 4, World Model Standard Run

13

i) Population

It has been many decades since the dynamics of the human population, economic development

and population pressure, in particular, were acknowledged as the drivers of environmental

deterioration. It has only been recently recognized that factors such as technological innovation

and urbanization are factors of major influence as well. The current population of the globe is

estimated to be around 7.5 billion, and this figure is expected to become 10 billion by the year

2050. Although we strive for longer life expectancies and lower infant mortality rates, the

improvements made on these figures over the last decades, as well as the contribution of

unequal access to education for women and the lack of empowerment for women to high birth

rates mean that the rate of population growth will remain positive, except for some regions in

Asia and Europe. As long as consumption and production patterns remain the same,

environmental pressure will increase in line with population growth. Today, cities are

becoming the biggest factor in economic development all over the globe, and urbanization is

happening at an exceptional rate. The population of the world is expected to hit 66% as the

number of people living in cities increases day by day. The increase in sea levels, extreme

weather events, as well as the storm surges and floods caused by climate change cause small

island states and coastal cities to grow more vulnerable to future natural disasters.

It is suggested by Thomas Robert Malthus, who founded the “Malthusian Law”, that if

the food production exceeds the growth of population, the population growth rate will

increase; but if the food production is less than the growth of population, the population will

decrease as a consequence of scarce food, diseases, and war.20 It would be safe to apply the

Malthusian Law to the relationship between population and environmental degradation as

well. If the production base per capita does not increase as much as the growth of population,

it is not possible to expect benefits of economic development.

ii) Poverty

20 "Thomas Malthus | Biography, Theory, Books, & Facts". 2019. Encyclopedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Malthus.

14

Poverty can be considered both a cause and an effect of environmental

degradation. There is also a direct relationship between poverty and environmental

degradation. Due to the nature of wealth distribution in the liberal economic order, the

poor rely on natural resources more than the rich. Natural resources run out rapidly

because the poor have limited access to other types of resources and capital. Then, a

degraded environment causes more poverty because the poor deeply rely on natural

resources. Alleviation of poverty is crucial to ending the direct relationship between

poverty and environmental degradation

.

iii) Urbanization

The number of people who immigrate to towns is increasing since it is hard to

find a lucrative job in the villages.21 Increase in the number of people in the city causes

the growth of slums. This type of unplanned and rapid expansion of towns causes

degradation of the urban environment and widens the gap between the demand of

infrastructures like energy, transportation, housing and education causes a decrease in the

water supply; thus, deplete the environmental resources base of the cities.22

Consequently, air and water pollution diminish, generation of waste increases and an

increase in the number of slums occur.23

Sustainable urbanization is key to increasing the well-being of citizens while decreasing

environmental degradation. The improvement of infrastructure, services and governance,

making use of technological advancements which offer us opportunities for sustainable

development and sustainable land planning are crucial to negate the negative consequences

of rapid urbanization on the environment.

iv) Deforestation

21 "Urbanization: An Environmental Force To Be Reckoned With". 2019. Prb.Org.

https://www.prb.org/urbanization-an-environmental-force-to-be-reckoned-with/. 22 "Urbanization Effects". 2019. Nationalgeographic.Com.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/urban-threats/. 23 Ibid

15

Urbanisation is considered to be the primary cause of deforestation. Willing of

people to live in the urban area to find lucrative jobs, causes rapid deforestation to

maintain more spaces in the town for housing, to build highways and railroads. Also, the

demand for wood for timber is another reason for deforestation.24

The major environmental problem which occurs due to deforestation is an

imbalance of carbon-oxygen balance in the atmosphere.25 Furthermore, deforestation

results in the increase of air pollution as well as soil erosion as there are no more trees to

hold the soil in place.26

b) Economic Factors

i) Environmental Market Failure

Economists describe free markets which do not maximize the welfare of the

society as market failures, and many have classified climate change as one. 27

Greenhouse gases such as CO2, CH4 and N2O are side effects of industrialized production

processes. Those who conduct activities which cause greenhouse gas emissions are not

affected by them, but future generations are, meaning that the cost of production is

“externalized” in a way, meaning that there is no economic incentive for companies or

consumers to reduce emissions28. Consequently, the overproduction of greenhouse gases

leads to market failure.

ii) Industrialization

24 2019. https://www.eartheclipse.com/environment/10-striking-reasons-environmental-degradation.html. 25 "Deforestation And Its Effect On The Planet". 2019. Nationalgeographic.Com.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/. 26 Ibid 27 Alison Benjamin, 'Stern: Climate Change A 'Market Failure' (the Guardian, 2007)

<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/nov/29/climatechange.carbonemissions> accessed 19 March

2019. 28 Duncan Clark, 'Why Do Economists Describe Climate Change As A 'Market Failure'?' (the Guardian, 2012)

<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/21/economists-climate-change-market-failure> accessed 18

March 2019.

16

Industrialization has played an important part not only in the change in our

ecosystems but also in the increase of population since its emergence in the 1700s. Coal

was being made use of since the 13th century, yet it was not until the 19th century that the

usage of coal reached a level which would cause severe damage to the environment with

widespread and rapid industrialization. Air pollution caused by the smoke and the

burning of fossil fuels is the quintessential example of the impact of industrialization on

the environment. Furthermore, several industries like mining, paint and chemical

industries tend to affect the environment more due to the release of harmful particles,

which are known as Respirable Particulate Matter. These particles do not only pollute the

air, but they are also inhaled by residents of towns. 29 Water pollution is another

example, especially in areas where factories are built near water resources such as lakes

and seas. A plethora of toxins -both in liquid and gaseous states- can contaminate nearby

water resources. The disposal of the said factories’ waste poses a great threat to the health

of the environment and the health of the local population as well, as they can easily leak

into local water supplies, as we can see in the case of River Nile. 30 Industrialization is a

big factor in cases of soil contamination too, as lead and other heavy metals originating

from factories end up in the soil, leaving it infertile for decades at times. Lastly, it is

known that industrialization has a significant part in deforestation as trees are cut down to

obtain lumber and ecosystems are destroyed to create roads and gravel pits. The

prevailing opinion of environmentalist economists is that rapid pollution of water, air and

land is the result of industrialization.31

iii) Transportation

29 Ebenstein, Avraham. 2012. "The Consequences Of Industrialization: Evidence From Water Pollution And

Digestive Cancers In China". Review Of Economics And Statistics 94 (1): 186-201. doi:10.1162/rest_a_00150. 30 Emily Folk, 'Environmental Impacts Of Industrialization' (EcoMENA, 2018)

<https://www.ecomena.org/environmental-impacts-of-industrialization/> accessed 19 March 2019. 31 2019. https://www.eartheclipse.com/environment/10-striking-reasons-environmental-degradation.html.

17

Transportation activities contribute to environmental degradation directly through

noise and air pollution, and indirectly through incidents such as oil spills.32 Due to the

increase in population, an expansion in the transportation sector is required, resulting in

the expansion of transportation infrastructure through the construction of new ports,

airports and highways. Sensitive coastal ecosystems are harmed because of the port and

harbour projects. Construction of ports and harbour causes deterioration in hydrology,

diminishes the surface water quality and negatively affects fisheries.33

iv) Agricultural Policies

Agricultural development has a direct impact on the environment; from farming

activities which causes soil erosion to land salination and loss of nutrients.34 Agricultural

development has resulted in the exploitation of land and water resources, as well as the

increase in the use of fertilizers and pesticides, which cause significant and irreversible

water and land pollution. The practice of fallow has also been a significant factor in land

degradation.17 Salination, alkalization and waterlogging are other factors that contribute to

the degradation of land.35

V. Current Environmental Deterioration Status

Since the year 2000, the number of people living in slums has increased from 807 million to 883

million, yet the proportion of people living in slums has dropped from 28.4 % to 22.8%36.

Despite many improvements in the area of urban planning and slum conditions, urban

population growth is still ahead of improvements in slum conditions. Most people living in

32 "Transportation And The Environment". 2019. The Geography Of Transport Systems.

https://transportgeography.org/?page_id=5711. 33 Siegle, Lucy. 2019. "How Ethical Is Shipping Goods By Sea?". The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/02/environmental-impact-of-shipping-goods. 34 Faeth, Paul. 1993. "Agriculture Policies Encourage Resource Degradation". Environmental Science &

Technology 27 (9): 1709-1717. doi:10.1021/es00046a613. 35 "7 Major Causes Of Environmental Degradation". 2019. Your Article Library.

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/environment/7-major-causes-of-environmental-degradation/47564. 36 The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 (United Nations 2018)

<https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2018/TheSustainableDevelopmentGoalsReport2018-EN.pdf> accessed 18

March 2019.

18

slums were concentrated in the regions of Central and Southern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and

Eastern and South-Eastern Asia37.

The urban population of the world was estimated to be 4.047 billion as of 201738, and it was

found in 2016 that 91% were breathing air which did not meet the air quality guidelines of the

World Health Organisation, (WHO) and that more than half of said population were exposed

to air pollution levels that are more than 2.5 times higher than advised in the WHO safety

standards 39. Approximately 4.2 million have died because of the high levels of pollution in

2016.

Australia and New Zealand have been the outliers in terms of clean air levels as all of the

remaining regions’ levels of fine particulate matter were over the air quality guidelines of the

WHO.

Currently, 108 countries all over the world have policies regarding sustainable development,

production and consumption, and 93% of the 250 largest companies in the world are reporting

on sustainability. (Figures 5, 6)

An analysis conducted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) revealed that the

average five-year global temperature between 2013 and 2017 was the highest ever, and the

year 2017 was one of the three warmest years ever recorded.

37 Ibid 38 'Urban Population | Data' (Data.worldbank.org, 2018)

<https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL?view=chart> accessed 18 March 2019. 39 The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 (United Nations 2018)


March 2019.

Figure 5, Sustainable Development Goals Report

2018 Figure 6, Sustainable Development Goals Report

2018

19

It has been shown by various studies that there is a 26% increase in average marine acidity since

the emergence of the Industrial Revolution40. Furthermore, it was observed that the global

share of marine fish stock within biologically sustainable levels was at 69% in 2013, in

comparison to 90% in 1974.

Deforestation levels continue to demand immediate action. The forest areas of the Earth have

shrunk to 4 billion hectares in 2015, from 4.1 billion hectares in 2000. The most severe levels

of deforestation have been seen in the regions of Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and South

Eastern Asia. However, the rate of forest loss has declined by approximately 25% since 2005.

From 1999 to 2013, approximately one-fifth of the Earth’s land surface are covered by

vegetation has shown continuous trends of decline in terms of productivity and fertility. It is

estimated that around 29 million km2 of land has lost fertility, an area bigger than the United

States, China and India combined. The loss of productivity in soil has been observed

predominantly in Africa and South America.41

Although there has been a great deal of innovation in the area of renewable energy, we have yet

to see any meaningful increase in the share of renewable energy over the last few years, as it

grew from 17.3% in 2014 to 17.5% in 201542.

VI. Treaties & Conventions Guiding Ecologically Sustainable Economic Growth

a) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Signed by 154 states on 12 June 1992 at the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change aimed to stabilize the greenhouse gas

concentrations in the air to a level which would prevent it from interfering with the climate

system within a timeframe that would allow the environment to adapt to climate change

40 Ibid 41 Ibid 42 The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2017 (United Nations 2017)


March 2019.

20

while ensuring food production and economic growth are able to proceed in a sustainable

manner43. The framework pointed out that developed countries party to the framework

should take the lead in combatting the effects of climate change, and made commitments

to develop and publish national inventories of greenhouse gas emissions, to take into

account climate change when developing their economic, social and environmental

policies, and many more regarding education, training, raising public awareness and

cooperation. The framework then went on to implement stricter and more ambitious

commitments for developed countries as stated in its first article. Instead of legally binding

states which are a party to the Convention to their commitments directly, the Convention

describes how binding protocols can be negotiated and implemented to achieve the

UNFCCC objective44.

b) Kyoto Protocol

Extending the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan on 11

December 1997 and it entered into force in 2005. The Protocol was drafted in line with

the aforementioned description of the UNFCCC on how party states can negotiate

protocols that would help achieve the UNFCCC objectives faster and more efficiently,

however, just like the Framework Convention, the Protocol did not adopt any

enforcement mechanisms or legally binding limitations45. The Protocol aims to control

the human-emitted greenhouse gases in accordance with the party states historic

contribution the current state of climate change and greenhouse gases in the

atmosphere, focusing on gases such as Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Carbon Dioxide,

Perfluorocarbons, Sulfur Hexafluoride and Hydrofluorocarbons. A five-year

commitment period was set out in the Protocol, starting in 2008 and ending in 2012.

The protocol assigned different greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments for

different countries, depending on their current and past emissions. For instance, 15

43 UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (United Nations 1992)

<https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf> accessed 2 April 2019. 44 Ibid. 45 KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE

CHANGE (United Nations 1998) <https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1998/09/19980921%2004-

41%20PM/Ch_XXVII_07_ap.pdf> accessed 2 April 2019.

21

European Union countries, which were the sole member states of the Union when the

Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997, were assigned a total reduction commitment of

8%, whereas Croatia alone was assigned 5%46. The consequences of not complying

with the first commitment period, for instance, is the disqualification of the said country

from participating in the mechanism, and the deduction from allowed emissions by

30%47. Another five-year commitment period was proposed under the Doha

Amendment, but it did not yet take effect as it requires the ratification of ¾ (144) of

states party to the Kyoto Protocol. The current number of states who have ratified the

protocol is 126. The United States and Canada stood out as the sole countries which

were a party to the UNFCCC but were not to the Kyoto Protocol, as Canada withdrew

in 2012 and the United States did not ratify the Protocol at all.48

c) Paris Climate Agreement

The Paris Agreement was adopted as an agreement within the UNFCCC on 12 December

2015, in Paris, France. The agreement, in contrast to previous agreements and

protocols, let party states to set their own targets regarding the reduction of their

contribution to global warming, called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

(INDCs), with the only requirement being that each target should go beyond the

previous one. This has led to great variety in the contributions of party states, from the

ban of diesel and petrol powered cars by 2025 by Norway to the abandonment of coal

as a means to produce electricity by 2022 in France. The agreement aims to hold the

increase in global average temperature below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to

pursue keeping it to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.49 Another difference of the Paris

Agreement from previous agreements and Protocols, the Kyoto Protocol, for instance,

is that the Paris Agreement does not limit its scope to developed countries in terms of

committing party states to submit emission reduction plans. Although the “self-

determination” of targets in the Paris Agreement led many countries to not hesitate

when being party to it, it was faced with criticism for the consequences of this

mechanism as well, an example being that even if all of the member states had

46 'Kyoto Protocol - Targets For The First Commitment Period | UNFCCC' (Unfccc.int)

<https://unfccc.int/process/the-kyoto-protocol> accessed 2 April 2019. 47 Michael Grubb, The Economics Of The Kyoto Protocol (3rd edn, 2003)

<https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc16/3953606b476cae28f65fa16b7bcda6b6d623.pdf> accessed 2 April 2019. 48 'UNTC' (Treaties.un.org) <https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-7-

a&chapter=27&clang=_en> accessed 2 April 2019. 49 Paris Climate Agreement (UNFCCC 2015)

<https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf> accessed 2

April 2019.

22

implemented their self-determined targets, it would not keep the global temperature

rise to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.50 Currently, the Paris Agreement has 195

signatories. In 2017, the United States President Donald Trump announced that they

would withdraw from the Agreement as soon as legally possible, causing serious

concern among climate change institutions and experts.51

d) UN Sustainable Development Goals

In June 2012, at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, among a variety of

other sustainability-related initiatives, member states decided to launch the process of

developing a list of SDGs which would build upon the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs). In 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which had

the 17 SDGs at its foundation, was adopted by the General Assembly at the UN

Sustainable Development Summit.52 The SDGs cover a wider range of topics when

compared to the MDGs, and naturally, has many goals and sub-goals directly related

to ecologically sustainable development. Some of these goals are as follows:

“6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating

dumping and minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals and

materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and

substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

7.a By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean

energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy

efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology and promote

investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology

8.4 Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in

consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic

growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-

Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and

Production, with developed countries taking the lead

50 'Paris Agreement Climate Proposals Need A Boost To Keep Warming Well Below 2°C' (Pure.iiasa.ac.at, 2016)

<http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/13307/1/nature18307_proof1.pdf> accessed 2 April 2019. 51 Barnini Chakraborty, 'Paris Agreement On Climate Change: US Withdraws As Trump Calls It 'Unfair' (Fox News,

2017) <https://www.foxnews.com/politics/paris-agreement-on-climate-change-us-withdraws-as-trump-calls-it-

unfair> accessed 2 April 2019. 52 'Sustainable Development Goals .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform'

(Sustainabledevelopment.un.org) <https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300> accessed 3 April 2019.

23

11.6 By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities,

including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and

other waste management

13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards

and natural disasters in all countries

13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and

planning

15.3 By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil,

including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive

to achieve a land-degradation-neutral world”53

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, along with the SDGs, when compared to previous

UN documents on sustainable development proposes a new approach to sustainable

development by taking into account the interconnectedness of the sustainability-related issues,

and with its 17 goals and 169 targets, covers a wide range of issues. Currently, each and every

member of the G20 is participating in the implementation of the SDGs.

VII. Conclusion

Billions of people were relieved of poverty and had access to education and healthcare as a

result of economic development, however, the aforementioned policy of “Growth now,

sustainability later” used in some countries did not account for pollution, climate change or

degraded ecosystems. This policy, ultimately, will be more costly as it will not be able to

support more than 10 billion people by 2050, as long as there are no significant changes made

in the production and consumption patterns.

The importance of decoupling resource use and environmental degradation from economic

development along with the associated consumption and production patterns cannot be

overstated. The decoupling of economic development from environmental degradation and

53 'United Nations Official Document' (Un.org, 2015)

<http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E> accessed 3 April 2019.

24

resource use have already been observed partially in certain countries, and their impact can be

seen.

The amount of technological growth and innovation has been unprecedented since the last

decade of the 20th century. These innovations have impacted our lives positively in countless

ways, yet it cannot be denied that they have brought along with them negative consequences

as well. Said technological innovations can be of great contribution to the reduction of

environmental pressures which are tied to unsustainable production and consumption.

Increasing the accessibility of these innovations could be of noteworthy help to countries trying

to achieve their environmental objectives, and the application of precautionary measures can

help negate the possible unintended negative consequences of these innovations on the health

of the population and the environment as a whole.

Affecting human health, natural systems such as biodiversity, water, land, air and the

interactions between them, climate change is an issue of utmost importance. Past and current

emissions of greenhouse gases have led our world to a drawn-out era of climate change, which

caused the sea levels to rise, water and carbon cycles to change, glaciers to melt, fresh water

to be scarce and extreme weather events to be more frequent.

Fundamental transitions in our consumption patterns, and the scaling up of existing

sustainability practices compulsory to ensure we leave a world to our future generations which

they can live in without worrying about the externalized costs of production of previous

generations.

Last but not least, evidence-based and comprehensive targets which set the foundations of

future action on solid ground are of utmost importance in achieving ecologically sustainable

development and consequently, economic growth.

VIII. Points That Should Be Addressed in a Declaration

There are a variety of international declarations and agreements that have been adopted by the

UN and other international organizations to achieve sustainability, but the goals set out in these

25

agreements have rarely been achieved. What are the reasons behind the failure to achieve these

goals?

What can be improved in the future to ensure that the goals set out in the above-mentioned

agreements are achieved?

Are tough enforcement mechanisms in sustainability agreements necessary to ensure party states

follow up on their commitments?

Currently, 108 countries all over the world have sustainability policies in various sectors of their

economies. What can be done to incentivize more countries to adopt sustainable practices and

policies?

GDP and GDP per capita are the most commonly used indicators of economic welfare, yet it does

not account for the loss of natural capital, which every industry depends on in one way or

another. Should we adopt a different indicator for more holistic representation of economic

welfare?

Since there are no direct economic incentives for companies to reduce their greenhouse gas

emissions, how can we prevent the externalization of costs to future generations?

Developed countries of the world have had a much more negative impact on the degradation of

the environment in the past than developing countries, therefore it is only natural to expect

them to make more ambitious commitments for the sake of sustainability, yet today, we see

many examples of developed countries which do not make nearly as many contributions as

some of the developing countries do. What can be done to combat this issue?

How can we ensure the decoupling of environmental degradation and economic growth in the

future?

How can we make use of recent technological innovations to achieve sustainability?

26

How can we combat pollution without affecting the industry of the country adversely?

How can we increase our resource use efficiency when the consumption preferences of the global

population heavily rely on material goods?

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Documents

HASMUN’19 STUDY GUIDE · I want to express my thanks to Secretary-General Ata Mavi for his support throughout the preparation process of the conference, and my undying gratitude