Introductory General Assembly Briefing Paper: Endangered Species and the Loss of Biodiversity Due to Human Actions
HopeCollege Model United Nations 2011
Established in 1972, THE United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has the mission, “To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.” A significant amount of these efforts focus on the loss of biodiversity, including habitat loss/damage, climate change, pollution, and unsustainable use of natural resources.
The main cause of biodiversity loss is human activity. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of March 2005, 10-30% of the Earth’s species have been threatened with extinction because of human activity. Laws and regulations are needed to help protect these species and habitats.
One of the largest affects on species is deforestation. Timber trade is depleting the world’s forests at an increasing rate, one that will ensure the extinction of many species, particularly those in the tropics. Another negative effect is the inevitable increase of climate change. Forests provide one of the Earth’s primary conservations of solar energy, without this conservation, the Earth is bound to suffer consequences.
Although the 1992 Earth Summit created the Conservation of Biological Diversity, little has since improved. Consistent pressures on biodiversity negatively impact any small achievements. Global strides need to be taken. In May, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity said that the topic of biodiversity is often ignored and receives little funding.
We are asking the General Assembly to consider possibilities that would implement policies that help preserve biodiversity on a large enough scale for the effect to be global, and for nations that depend on scarce resources to be compensated and assisted so that these policies do not bring further hardship. The Assembly is being asked to arrive at sustainable solutions to this looming problem.
Sources to Consider:
Causes, Consequences and Ethics of Biodiversity by: David Tilman
Questions:
1. In what ways can human activity be limited so that there is a compromise between sustaining biodiversity and honoring developing countries growth? What future actions can be prevented in order to be friendly to these topics?
2. What alternative options exist to using such natural resources as timber, oil, etc., that would provide protection of endangered species? How could use of these alternatives be implemented on a global scale?
3. Should global standards be amended and/or established that allow for the monitoring of the habitats of species, specifically those that are endangered, and the amount of natural resources that countries are able to utilize? What kind of global force, if any, should exist that polices this initiative? Discuss what possible standards and implications of such an idea would look like.
4. What kind of sacrifices and changes could industrialized countries make in order to provide for a more sustainable environment, with regard to endangered species and biodiversity? Should these sacrifices be demanded of developing countries, as well?