Heidelberg

Redefining Order
Model United
May 30th – June 02nd 2019
Nations
Conference

Study Guide

United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change

Diletta Muccilli
Dor Gvishi
Table of Contents
Letter of Welcome .................................................................................................................3
The Committee ......................................................................................................................5
Topic A: Setting an Agenda for Smart and Green Cities ...........................................................6
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 6
HISTORY OF THE TOPIC ...................................................................................................................... 9
DISCUSSION OF THE PROBLEM ......................................................................................................... 10
PREVIOUS UN INVOLVEMENT........................................................................................................... 14
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 16
BLOC POSITIONS............................................................................................................................. 19
RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS ............................................................................................ 22
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 23
Topic B: Fighting Deforestation ............................................................................................ 26
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 26
HISTORY OF THE TOPIC .................................................................................................................... 28
DISCUSSION OF THE PROBLEM .......................................................................................................... 30
PREVIOUS UN INVOLVEMENT........................................................................................................... 33
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 37
BLOC POSITIONS............................................................................................................................. 39
RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS ............................................................................................ 42
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 43

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Letter of Welcome

To our beloved HDMUN delegates,

Welcome to HDMUN 2019!

We would like to congratulate you on being chosen to participate in this

Conference and we are looking forward to meeting you in the coming weeks.

The Secretariat has planned a fantastic Conference in Heidelberg, which will truly
stand out as an MUN conference to remember.

We, as your chairs, are glad to present you this study guide with the hope it will
serve as a vital tool for you as delegates, and please use it to familiarize yourself
with the committee’s debate. Ultimately, this guide should act as a foundation for
your future research on the topic. The guide will also ask you to reflect on potential
discussion points, as well as possible solutions to the issue at hand.

We the chairs are familiar with beginners committee, so we are sure that you will
make your best efforts in bringing to us a fruitful debate while having the time of
your life at this Conference!

Now, we would like to introduce ourselves as your chairs, and officially welcome
you to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – or in short,
UNFCCC:

Diletta is a third year B.A. student in International Studies

for Development and Cooperation at the University of
Turin, Italy, and is now an intern at the United Nations
Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute. After
having attended several national and international
conferences both as delegate, chair and press, she
currently serves as a Member of the Executive Board of
M.S.O.I. Torino, her local society, and is in the organizing
team of TLVMUN 2019 as Director of External Relations. She
is very excited to be your chair for the UNFCCC at HDMUN,
and she is looking forward to working with Dor, one of the
best people she has ever meet through MUNs, as well as
the rest of this committee!

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Dor is a Master student in two programmes,
Diplomacy and European Union studies at the
Tel-Aviv University, and lives in the beautiful city
of Tel-Aviv. Dor joined the TAUMUN society last
year and since then it gave him prespective on
worldwide politics and diplomacy.
Consequently, he managed to delegate and
chair in many conferences around Europe and
Israel. Dor sees the TAUMUN as his socond
family and likes to share his skills with other
MUNers. On the same time Dor is a bartender
at a Diner resturant in Tel-Aviv and knows how
to party, dance, drink and have a good time. He is really excited to work with one
of his best friends in the MUN family and to share his HDMUN memories with you
delegates – looking forward for a fruitful and effective debate!

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The Committee

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 1 is an

international environmental treaty ratified at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992. The
Convention was then implemented by countries all around the world in 1994 to
address the issue of climate change. Having entered into force on 21 March 1994,
today it has near-universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the
Convention are called Parties to the Convention.

The UNFCCC states that its objectives are to “stabilize greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system” and prevent human
damage and interference with the climate system.

The UNFCCC meets yearly to take stock of progress in implementing their

obligations under the treaty, and to consider further actions to address the
climate change threat. The Kyoto Protocol and more recent Paris Agreement are
other landmark treaties that have emerged from these annual meetings.

The Convention acknowledges the vulnerability of all countries to the effects of

climate change and calls for special efforts to ease the consequences, especially
in developing countries which lack the resources to do so on their own.

Under the treaty, industrialized countries are expected to be in the forefront of

reducing emissions. Industrialized nations also agree under the Convention to
support climate change activities in developing countries by providing financial
support for action on climate change. The Global Environment Facility oversees
a systems of grants and loans to channel assistance to emerging economies.
Industrialized countries also agree to share technology with less-advanced
nations.

1United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, https://unfccc.int/.

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Topic A: Setting an Agenda for Smart and Green Cities

Introduction

1. Definition

The concept of “green city” is related to different key-words: “environmental

quality”, “human well-being”, “political action”, “social life”. Currently, a “green
city” is commonly defined as “an extension of sustainable development in the
urban context” (Lewis, 2015).

Typically, a green city aims at having a low ecological impact, being resilient in
the face of natural disasters, reducing chemical and physical hazards,
developing high quality urban environments for all, and ensuring progress towards
sustainable consumption2.

As you may have already noticed, human responsibility is essential in green cities:
political and social behaviours are of course one of the main influences in the
performance of a city, as well as for the choices or urban planning designers.
Therefore, citizens have to act responsibly if they want to achieve high
environmental quality in their cities, which by itself will then contribute to human
well-being.

2. Facts and Figures

2IASS Working Paper, “How Green is a „Green City“?“, Institute for Advanced Sustainability
Studies, https://www.iass-potsdam.de/sites/default/files/files/wp_dec_2016_en_green_city.pdf.

6
For the implementation of new efforts to create an innovative framework on
sustainable urban development, it is essential to understand the key trends in
urbanization itself, especially the ones that are likely to happen in the coming
years.

Today, the most urbanized regions include Northern America (with 82% of its
population living in urban areas in 2018), Latin America and the Caribbean (81%),
Europe (74%) and Oceania (68%). The level of urbanization in Asia is now
approximating 50%. In contrast, Africa remains mostly rural, with 43% of its
population living in urban areas.

However, as the 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects3 produced by the

Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs affirms,
this trend is likely to change very soon. Urbanization (considered as the “gradual
shift in residence of the human population from rural to urban area”), combined
with the overall growth of the world’s population, could add another 2.5 billion
people to urban areas by 2050.

Close to 90% of this increase will take place in Asia and Africa, especially in India,
China and Nigeria. By 2050, 68% of the overall world’s population will live in urban
areas, and predictions forecast that it will still grow in the following years. In
addition to this, the world is projected to have 43 megacities with more than 10
million inhabitants, most of them in developing regions, by 2030.

3UN DESA, “World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision”, Population Division of the UN
Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
https://population.un.org/wup/Publications/Files/WUP2018-KeyFacts.pdf.

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3. Why are cities so important to us?

For centuries, cities have been centres of commerce, culture, scientific research
and innovation, and the birthplace for some of humankind’s greatest ideas. Living
in a city may include having to deal everyday with public transports, different
energy systems, new infrastructures, work opportunities, health care, education,
and so on.

However, we must not forget that cities are vulnerable as they are powerful. In
fact, urban growth comes together with new challenges, both for the
environment and the human-beings who live in there.

For this reason, it is essential to understand that integrated policies on the

“human” side of the problem are needed: access to housing, education, health
care, decent work and a safe environment have to be ensured, focusing on the
needs of the urban poor and other vulnerable groups.

Moving on to the “ecological” side of the issue, new policies have to deal with all
the effects related to climate change, i.e. risk of flooding from rising sea levels or
tropical storms. As our environment is changing, we must bear in mind that
something effective to face this issue has to be done as soon as we can.

4. Sustainable urbanization as key in addressing climate change

As Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, Assistant Secretary-General for UN-Habitat, has wrote in

an article she published back in 2012, “without appropriate planning, design, and
investment in the development of sustainable cities, a growing number of people
will continue to face unprecedented negative impacts, not only of climate
change but also of reduced economic growth, quality of life, and increased
social instability”4.

Moving from this statement and from previous considerations, we can understand
why we should believe that sustainable urbanization is key to address climate
change. Rethinking urbanization in a more sustainable way, indeed, may offer
unlimited opportunities to tackle the risks associated with climate change.

Specifically, it is important to reduce root causes of climate change in cities,

taking into consideration how transport, industrial production, electricity

4A. Kirabo Kacyira, “Addressing the Sustainable Urbanization Challenge”, United Nations
Chronicle, https://unchronicle.un.org/article/addressing-sustainable-urbanization-challenge.

8
generation, as well as waste disposal and land use could be reorganised in a way
they could lessen their impact on the environment.

Therefore, since cities can provide a unique opportunity to positively mitigate the
impacts of climate change, a global framework for sustainable urban
development has to be adopted, including equally integrated environmental,
economic, and culturally sensitive measures. How we plan, build, and manage
our cities now will determine the outcome of our efforts to achieve a sustainable
and harmonious development tomorrow.

History of the Topic

1. A new problem

Rapid urban growth is a phenomenon that increased so fast only during the last
century, mainly as a result of poor living conditions in rural areas, such as lack of
basic services. Governments have tried to discourage this migration into the cities,
but they have largely failed in doing so.

For this reason, urban centres have become larger and larger with the time
passing, but this has led at the same time to new problems: congested traffic,
worsened air quality, loud noise, environmental pollution, and so on.

All of these new issues were not expected by policy makers and urban planners
in the first place, so there was an evident lack of actions to solve the problem until
the 1970s. But even then, only a few conferences on the topic were organized,
and people were still very misinformed about the real damages created by the
rapid urban growth that was happening in front of their eyes.

2. Habitat I

The very first step taken towards the analysis of our problem has been the first
United Nations Conference on Human Settlements. This Conference, also known
as Habitat I, took place in Vancouver, Canada, 31 May – 11 June 1976, and was
organised by the United Nations as governments began to recognize the
magnitude and consequences of rapid urbanization.

One of the main outcomes of Habitat I was the Vancouver Declaration on Human
Settlements, which recognized for the first time that “the improvement of the

9
quality of life of human beings is the first and most important objective of every
human settlement policy”5.

Taking this General Principle into consideration, some actions to facilitate policies
that ensure rapid and continuous improvement in the quality of life of all people
in urban settlements were finally developed in the following years.

3. The Earth Summit

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known

as the Earth Summit6, was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de
Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. It is essential to our understanding of the topic
since it was a crucial step towards making sustainability matters present in the
ordinary life of the international arena.

Earth Summit was created as a way for Member States to cooperate together
internationally on sustainability issues which were too big for individual member
states to handle alone. Some of ideas debated in this Conference belonged to
themes that for the first time ever were included in the UN agenda, such as the
importance of public transportation systems to reduce vehicle emissions,
congestion and health problems in cities.

Two of the documents resulting from the Earth Summit are the Agenda 21 and the
Rio Declaration.

Discussion of the Problem

1. Why are green cities so relevant today?

The most urgent challenge in this area of study scientists and experts have to face
nowadays is the timely calling for integral solutions to the urban environment,
public well-being and most importantly, the health of the planet and its citizens.
Indeed, it is a fact by now that the pattern of urbanization needs to change in

5 A/CONF.70/15, “Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements”, United Nations,

http://www.un-documents.net/van-dec.htm.
6 Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform, “United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development (UNCED), Earth Summit”, United Nations,

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/milestones/unced.

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order to better respond to issues such as climate change, urban expansion and
sprawl, and unsustainable lifestyles.

Therefore, the question here is how we can steer urbanization away from this
unsustainable path. The answer is easy: through sustainable urban planning.

Thus, the reasons why green cities are so relevant today are deeply rooted in their
essential role in re-thinking and re-shaping the discussion around the importance
of urban ecology, health and resilience combined together. They can in fact
contribute not only in driving up the economic engine, but also in improving the
environmental conscience of all stakeholders and empowering national or local
governments to make their citizens to think sustainably.

2. Can a green city also be smart?

Sam Musa7 defines the smart city as “one that engages its citizens and connects
with its infrastructure electronically, in a process whereby the city becomes part
of the Internet of Things (IoT)”.

Thus, the aim of a green and smart city should be building a livable space from
the ground up using innovations in construction techniques, climate friendly
energy systems and more to shape a community that is affordable and
accessible with a focus on connected tech.

As for now, a city that is completely smart and green has not been built yet.
However, multiple projects and initiatives that try to incorporate elements of
efficiency and sustainability with technological development have been
presented all over the world, especially in the European Union and in North
America.

Most of the efforts to develop smart and green cities have involved the monitoring
of transportation networks and power and water supplies, waste management,
crime, educational establishments, and hospitals, in order to reduce costs and
resource consumption in a more ecological framework.

7S. Musa, “Smart City Roadmap”, Academia.edu,

https://www.academia.edu/21181336/Smart_City_Roadmap.

11
3. Challenges in building green cities

Building a green city is very complicated, since achieving sustainability involves

many different aspects.

First of all, some actions have to be taken to reduce the ecological footprint of
cities. Indeed, urbanization can be a significant contributor to high resource use,
waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions production, with ecological
effects at the local, regional and global levels that all have an influence on
climate change.

Secondly, resilience against the adverse impact of natural hazards has to be built.
In fact, effects of climate change increase the vulnerabilities of cities in poor
nations and threaten the adaptation capacities of cities in richer nations. As for
now, the attention of policymakers has been seized only by those countries that
have long coastlines, and are therefore likely to experience floods, and by those
areas at risk from earthquakes. However, urban planners should take this issue into
account wherever they are operating.

Thirdly, the challenge of financing sustainable infrastructures has to be addressed.

As the WWF’s Report “Financing the Transition: Sustainable Infrastructure in Cities”
has shown, central governments, as well as provincial and municipal bodies, are
unlikely to fund the required infrastructure developments by themselves given
budgetary deficits and levels of debt8. On the other hand, it is a fact that millions
of dollars are invested every year in urban infrastructures, but actions have to be
taken to ensure that city planners around the world invest this money in
sustainable solutions.

Lastly, a special focus should be addressed to urbanization in developing

countries, since they are struggling more than the others to achieve basic human
needs. In these areas, the main challenge is to provide underserved urban
residents with affordable access to adequate public services and job
opportunities, as well as to clean water, electricity and good schools.

8World Wide Fund for Nature, “Financing the Transition: Sustainable Infrastructure in Cities”,
World Wide Fund for Nature,
http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/summary_financing_the_transition_sustainable_ifrastruct
ure_in_cities_1.pdf.

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4. Opportunities in building green cities

Building new green cities could be a great investment, especially for poor
countries, in industrial transformation, improved infrastructure, social
development and environmental management.

In poor countries, particularly, sustainable development could imply transforming

the entire area through a massive investment in infrastructures such as roads,
waters, electricity, as well as in services such as schools, public transportation and
health care. All of these, of course, could create new jobs and could eventually
lead to a general growth in the economy of the country.

Urban planners of cities of middle- and high-income countries, on the other hand,
need to continue investing in improving the quality of life in urban centres and in
creating incentives to produce and consume clean energy sources. Furthermore,
they should highlight the importance of such investments in the long-term, so that
people know that they are actually helping to improve situations regarding the
environmental protection.

5. The necessity of setting an agenda

As Mr. Clos, who served as the Secretary-General of the Habitat III Conference,
has previously stated, it is more than necessary to set an agenda on sustainable
and green cities so that “everyone can benefit from urbanization”9.

Main areas of focus of this agenda should be:

• protection of the environment (climate change, resilience to natural hazards,

etc.);
• financial opportunities;
• how to face increasing and uncontrolled urbanization, especially in
developing countries and towards vulnerable groups.

9Sustainable Development Goals, “UN conference agrees new urban development agenda
creating sustainable, equitable cities for all”, United Nations,
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/10/un-conference-agrees-new-urban-
development-agenda-creating-sustainable-equitable-cities-for-all/.

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Previous UN Involvement

1. The Agenda 21

The Agenda 2110 is a non-binding action plan approved by the United Nations
during the Earth Summit that deals with sustainable development from four
different areas of study.

The one of our main interest here is the first, which handles with “Social and
Economic Dimensions” of the problem. Specifically, Section 1.5 is entitled to
“Demographic dynamics and sustainability”, and at its Programme Area #A,
dedicated to “Developing and disseminating knowledge concerning the links
between demographic trends and factors and sustainable development”, states
the following:

“Rapidly growing cities, unless well-managed, face major environmental

problems. The increase in both the number and size of cities calls for greater
attention to issues of local government and municipal management. The human
dimensions are key elements to consider in this intricate set of relationships and
they should be adequately taken into consideration in comprehensive policies for
sustainable development. Such policies should address the linkages of
demographic trends and factors, resource use, appropriate technology
dissemination, and development”.

2. Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 11

Although not legally binding, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of

the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development should be taken into account as
well. Goal #11 (“Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”)11 is here
particularly relevant, since it is recognized by the Agenda itself that efficient urban
planning and management practices have to deal with the challenges brought
by urbanization.

10 United Nations, “Agenda 21”, United Nations,

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf.
11 Sustainable Development Goals, “11: Sustainable Cities and Communities”, United Nations,

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/.

14
Precisely, Target 11.3 is most relevant to our topic, since it is aimed to “enhance
inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated
and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries” 12
by 2030. The other targets also recall the matter of using local materials to build
sustainable houses, especially in least developed countries, as well as increasing
policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and
adaptation to climate change.

3. Habitat III and the New Urban Agenda

Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban
Development, took place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 – 20 October 2016, and its
main goal was “to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable
urbanization”13.

The primary outcome of the conference was agreement by UN member states

on the New Urban Agenda14, which will serve as a global guideline for urban
development for the next twenty years.

The main scope of the New Urban Agenda is to make national governments and
local authorities rethink how they plan and manage cities, so that they can be
turned into centres of cultural and social well-being while protecting the
environment. The Agenda also provides direction for achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals and provides supporting actions to address climate change.

4. The Greener Cities Partnership

The United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Human
Settlement Programme have mutually developed the Greener Cities Partnership
to support environmental sustainability in urban development, and to introduce
environmental considerations into urban policy making.

Among the top priorities of the Greener Cities Partnership there are: resource
flows, efficiency and resilience; waste and wastewater management; transport

12 Ibid.
13 Habitat III, “The Conference”, United Nations, http://habitat3.org/the-conference/.
14 A/RES/71/256*, “New Urban Agenda”, United Nations, http://habitat3.org/wp-

content/uploads/NUA-English.pdf.

15
and mobility; and the monitoring and reporting on urban environmental SDG
indicators15.

The types of activities depend on the cooperating partner, as long as they

emphasize areas that help to build greener, more inclusive, and more resilient
cities. This includes working on a model shift to non-motorized and public transport
to reduce gas emission produced by private cars, developing adaptation
strategies to deal with climate change, reducing waste and wasted water.

5. The United Smart Cities project

The United Smart Cities (USC) program is “a global initiative, established by the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in cooperation with the
Organization for International Economic Relations and other international
organizations, cities, industry and finance sector”16.

The goal of this initiative is to bring together different international decision-makers

to “generate and realize more smart and sustainable city projects”17. This can be
achieved through the promotion of sustainable urban development, especially
in countries with transition economies and in developing countries, the creation
of new and smart financing mechanisms, and the support to innovative strategies
in terms of urban planning and urban progress. The USC project also promotes
cooperation between participating actors through exchange of expertise ad
best practices, networking and capacity building.

One core point of this program is also the establishment of solid relations and
partnerships between the public and the private network, i.e. creating an
exchange platform for smart cities worldwide.

Possible Solutions

1. Raising awareness on the value of Green cities

15 UN Habitat, “The Greener Cities Partnership – Objective”, UN Habitat,

https://unhabitat.org/urban-initiatives/initiatives-programmes/greener-cities-partnership/.
16 United Smart Cities, “Who we are”, United Smart Cities, http://www.unitedsmartcities.org/.
17 Ibid.

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Sustainable urban planning is still not as popular as it should be both at the
national and international level, and some people do not even know what a
“green city” is because of this widespread lack of information.

One way to raise awareness on the matter could be hosting educational events.
Inviting people to attend events where they can learn something useful and meet
new individuals at the same time is an easy way for involved actors to facilitate
their sharing and networking.

Another way to raise awareness on the issue could be publishing research, case
studies, and trend data that actually demonstrates the effectiveness of this new
type of urban planning, so people could trust what is being told to them by having
a more tangible evidence of it .

Another example of raising awareness on the topic is brought to our attention by

the World Urban Campaign’s partners, formed by a global network of actors that
share ideas on urban systems18. In March 2014, they launched The City We Need
1.0, a manifesto of nine principles suggesting concrete ways on how to achieve
sustainable urban development. Every actor willing to engage with the project
can now discuss his idea on the social media using the hashtag
#TheCityWeNeed.

2. Focusing on the local level

Local actors cannot simply implement projects to reduce typical vulnerabilities

faced by a city, but they have to mainstream this concern into local public
policies if they really want to protect their citizens from the impacts of climate
change. To achieve this, a different set of institutional measures has to be carried
out rapidly.

It is a fact well-known by now that many local authorities are lacking financial
resources for sustainable urban planning. Indeed, the little money that a
government destines to this problem is often allocated at either a national or
regional level, and as a consequence the municipal level cannot get a piece of
that money most of the times.

Subsequently, as Ms. Sabrina Archambault, Project Manager at the Agence

Française de Développement, suggests, it is fundamental to increase municipal

18World Urban Campaign, “The City We Need”, World Urban Campaign,

http://www.worldurbancampaign.org/city-we-need.

17
resources, for example by raising the dedicated transfers, but it is also necessary
to build local authorities’ capacities to manage their resources19.

Furthermore, at a local level also initiatives led by residents may be very effective,
since they can be run out by people who feel closer to the problem, i.e. because
they live in an area interested by high pollution.

3. Establishing and strengthening partnerships

Partnerships are an effective way to effectively improve sustainability internally

and in the community of a city. Partnerships can indeed lead to achieving
economic stewardship, a better environmental quality of life, and social equity
for future generations that will have to live in those cities.

Some partnerships, as the Greener Cities Partnership between UN-Habitat and UN

Environment, have also highlighted the fact that urban environment issues have
implications on various spatial scales, and “therefore should be tackled on all
levels of governance: municipal, metropolitan, national, sub-regional, regional or
international levels, overcoming many institutional boundaries”20.

As for now, partnerships have been proved to be an effective tool for the growth
in the number of sustainable cities because they have to provide the public with
some figures, that of course is showing measurable progress. That is the case, for
example, of the funding the World Bank is giving to support some projects for
sustainable urbanization in East Asia and the Pacific, that are carefully supported
by exact documentation on the dedicated website21.

4. Promoting the use of technology

Some hi-tech companies are now working on how to integrate the use of
technology into sustainable cities planning.

19 S. Archambault, “Climate Change Adaptation in Cities: What Conditions for Success?”,

Ideas4Development, https://ideas4development.org/en/climate-change-adaptation-in-cities-
what-conditions-for-success/.
20 UN Habitat, “Greener Cities Partnership (UN-Habitat and UN Environment)”, UN Habitat,

https://unhabitat.org/urban-initiatives/initiatives-programmes/greener-cities-partnership/.
21 The World Bank, “East Asia and Pacific Cities: Expanding Opportunities for the Urban Poor”, The

World Bank, http://www.worldbank.org/en/region/eap/publication/east-asia-and-pacific-cities-

expanding-opportunities-for-the-urban-poor.

18
It is a fact that new, green technologies reduce emissions. For example, in the
field of transports, relying on renewable energy and thus electromobility, instead
of normal vehicles, will significantly reduce environmental impacts.

Another area in which new technologies could be implemented is the use of

energy in buildings. As for now, most of this energy gets wasted. Nevertheless,
intelligent building automation controlling heating, air conditioning, lighting and
any other resource of power in the house has considerable potential for saving
energy, thus protecting the climate.

To have an example of a company that is working on this, please refer to Siemens’

white paper on Technology Pathways for Creating Smarter, More Prosperous and
Greener Cities22.

Bloc positions

1. The European Union

At the end of 2007, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, Minister of State attached to the Ministry
of Foreign and European Affairs, and responsible for European Affairs, asked the
European Economic and Social Committee to draw up the exploratory opinion
Towards balanced development of the urban environment: challenges and
opportunities. The Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and
Social Cohesion, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on
the subject, adopted this opinion on 14 July 2008. The essential part to our
discussion states as follows: “further deepening and broadening of the European
debate is desirable with respect to resilient and sustainable cities, and city-regions
or metropolitan areas across Europe”23.

In this regard, in the same period the European Commission has launched the
European Green Capital Award24 to recognize and rewards the efforts made by

22 Siemens, “Technology Pathways for Creating Smarter, More Prosperous and Greener Cities”,
Siemens, https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/public.1551137070.16acf802-36d2-
4699-8d25-32d09779c3c9.cypt-wp-f2.pdf.
23ECO/218, “Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on Towards balanced

development of the urban environment: challenges and opportunities”, European Economic

and Social Committee, https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-
reports/opinions/urban-environment.
24 European Commission, “European Green Capital Award”, European Commission,

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/.

19
European cities in achieving high environmental standards. The main goal of this
initiative is indeed to inspire other cities to follow the same path, so that a larger
network of green cities can be created throughout all Europe.

2. Asia

As the region with the highest percentage increase in urban population over the
last two decades, Asia faces fundamental economic, social and environmental
challenges to its continued development. Over 40 per cent of Asia’s urban
dwellers, for example, live in substandard housing and overcrowded slums (Asia
Development Bank, 2010). Generally, according to the UN Habitat’s Sourcebook
on Sustainable Urbanization in Asia25, providing basic urban services such as water
and sanitation, solid waste collection and disposal, and transportation remains a
challenge in most Asian sub-regions.

Therefore it is necessary to understand how principles of urban sustainability may

be applied to existing Asian cities with minimum disruption. To do so, UN reports
have proved that is necessary to collaborate with the locals in order to fully
understand the concept of urban planning the Asian culture has, so that it can
be respected and at the same time used to create sustainable cities.

3. South America

A research project conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored

by Siemens26 has assessed the environmental performance of Latin America’s
major cities.

25 UN Habitat, “Sustainable Urbanization in Asia”, UN Habitat,

https://unhabitat.org/books/sustainable-urbanization-in-asia/.
26 Siemens, “Latin America Green Cities Index”, Siemens,

https://www.siemens.com/entry/cc/features/greencityindex_international/all/en/pdf/report_lat
am_en.pdf.

20
The overall key-findings have demonstrated that Curitiba, also known as the
“greenest” city in the world, is surely a leader in sustainability in the region. Since
the 1960s, city officials have implemented proposals to reduce urban sprawl,
create pedestrian areas, and provide low-cost rapid transports. The city has then
become a model for a number of Latin American cities, most of all in Brasil, but
some work still needs to be done to overcome the increasing urban sprawl in the
region.

4. Africa

According to UN-Habitat, Africa is urbanizing at a rate of 4% per year, and is

mostly interested by phenomena of overcrowding in cities and environmental
pollution.

However, African governments have to learn how to take advantage of this rapid
urban growth for the development of their countries, especially as regards the
economic growth of such.

Of course, cities in Africa should be planned accordingly to the specific needs of

the local people, most of all to ensure that the poor are not marginalized in terms
of accessing all the services a city has to offer.

In this regard, the Africities 8 Summit27 has been organized in 2018 to mobilize
communities and local authorities in African countries, as well as financial
institutions, civil society groups and development partners, “in order to improve
the living conditions of people at the local level”.

27Africities 8 Summit, “Creating a Vision for the Africa that we want to see”, Africities 8 Summit,
https://www.africities.org/the-summit/about-africities/.

21
Relevant international documents

1. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development28 was adopted following the
success of Millennium Development Goals in September 2015. The Agenda calls
for action by all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the planet,
taking into account the issues posed by climate change and environment
protection.

2. The World Economic and Social Survey 2013: Sustainable Development

Challenges

The World Economic and Social Survey29 focuses on the major issue of our time:
sustainable development. It is a valuable resource that moves from the
consideration that environmental sustainability is under threat, especially
because of the accelerating growth in global greenhouse gas emissions and
biodiversity loss.

3. The New Urban Agenda

The New Urban Agenda30 was adopted during Habitat III, on 20 October 2016. It
promotes the idea that urban systems can be the source of solutions to the
challenges that our world is facing today, starting from the fact that cities can be
a powerful tool for sustainable development for both developing and developed
countries.

28 A/RES/70/1, “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, United
Nations,
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sus
tainable%20Development%20web.pdf.
29 E/2013/50/Rev. 1 ST/ESA/344, “World Economic and Social Survey 2013: Sustainable

Development Challenges”, Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations
Secretariat, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2843WESS2013.pdf.
30 A/RES/71/256*, “New Urban Agenda”, United Nations, http://habitat3.org/wp-

content/uploads/NUA-English.pdf.

22
4. The Environment Action Programme to 2020

On 20 November 2013, the European Union approved a Decision to create a

General Union Environment Action Programme to 202031. One of the top priorities
of the Programme is to make the Union's cities more sustainable, so that the Union
will be able to better address international environmental and climate
challenges.

References

A/CONF.70/15, “Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements”, United

Nations, http://www.un-documents.net/van-dec.htm.

A/RES/70/1, “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development”, United Nations,
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agen
da%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf.

A/RES/71/256*, “New Urban Agenda”, United Nations,

http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/NUA-English.pdf.

Africities 8 Summit, “Creating a Vision for the Africa that we want to see”,
Africities 8 Summit, https://www.africities.org/the-summit/about-africities/.

S. Archambault, “Climate Change Adaptation in Cities: What Conditions

for Success?”, Ideas4Development, https://ideas4development.org/en/climate-
change-adaptation-in-cities-what-conditions-for-success/.

E/2013/50/Rev. 1 ST/ESA/344, “World Economic and Social Survey 2013:

Sustainable Development Challenges”, Department of Economic and Social
Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat,
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2843WESS2013.pdf.

31L 354/171, “DECISION No 1386/2013/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 20 November 2013 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2020 ‘Living well,
within the limits of our planet’”, Official Journal of the European Union, https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013D1386&from=EN.

23
 ECO/218, “Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on
Towards balanced development of the urban environment: challenges and
opportunities”, European Economic and Social Committee,
https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-
reports/opinions/urban-environment.

European Commission, “European Green Capital Award”, European

Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/.

Habitat III, “The Conference”, United Nations, http://habitat3.org/the-

conference/.

IASS Working Paper, “How Green is a „Green City“?“, Institute for

Advanced Sustainability Studies, https://www.iass-
potsdam.de/sites/default/files/files/wp_dec_2016_en_green_city.pdf.

A. Kirabo Kacyira, “Addressing the Sustainable Urbanization Challenge”,

United Nations Chronicle, https://unchronicle.un.org/article/addressing-
sustainable-urbanization-challenge.

L 354/171, “DECISION No 1386/2013/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 November 2013 on a General Union Environment
Action Programme to 2020 ‘Living well, within the limits of our planet’”, Official
Journal of the European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013D1386&from=ENS.

S. Musa, “Smart City Roadmap”, Academia.edu,

https://www.academia.edu/21181336/Smart_City_Roadmap.

Siemens, “Latin America Green Cities Index”, Siemens,

https://www.siemens.com/entry/cc/features/greencityindex_international/all/e
n/pdf/report_latam_en.pdf.

Siemens, “Technology Pathways for Creating Smarter, More Prosperous

and Greener Cities”, Siemens,
https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/public.1551137070.16acf802-
36d2-4699-8d25-32d09779c3c9.cypt-wp-f2.pdf.

Sustainable Development Goals, “11: Sustainable Cities and

Communities”, United Nations,
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/.

Sustainable Development Goals, “UN conference agrees new urban

development agenda creating sustainable, equitable cities for all”, United

24
Nations, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/10/un-
conference-agrees-new-urban-development-agenda-creating-sustainable-
equitable-cities-for-all/.

Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform, “United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Earth Summit”, United
Nations, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/milestones/unced.

The World Bank, “East Asia and Pacific Cities: Expanding Opportunities for
the Urban Poor”, The World Bank,
http://www.worldbank.org/en/region/eap/publication/east-asia-and-pacific-
cities-expanding-opportunities-for-the-urban-poor.

UN DESA, “World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision”, Population

Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
https://population.un.org/wup/Publications/Files/WUP2018-KeyFacts.pdf.

UN Habitat, “Greener Cities Partnership (UN-Habitat and UN

Environment)”, UN Habitat, https://unhabitat.org/urban-initiatives/initiatives-
programmes/greener-cities-partnership/.

UN Habitat, “The Greener Cities Partnership – Objective”, UN Habitat,

https://unhabitat.org/urban-initiatives/initiatives-programmes/greener-cities-
partnership/.

UN Habitat, “Sustainable Urbanization in Asia”, UN Habitat,

https://unhabitat.org/books/sustainable-urbanization-in-asia/.

United Nations, “Agenda 21”, United Nations,

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf.

United Smart Cities, “Who we are”, United Smart Cities,

http://www.unitedsmartcities.org/.

World Urban Campaign, “The City We Need”, World Urban Campaign,

http://www.worldurbancampaign.org/city-we-need.

World Wide Fund for Nature, “Financing the Transition: Sustainable

Infrastructure in Cities”, World Wide Fund for Nature,
http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/summary_financing_the_transition_susta
inable_ifrastructure_in_cities_1.pdf.

25
Topic B: Fighting Deforestation

Introduction

1. A definition of “deforestation”

Forests are covering a land area of about 31% on our planet alone. They have a
big impact in our lives such in purifying water and air, supply jobs and place for
animals’ habitat.

However, forests are being under threats which manifest themselves in the form
of deforestation and forest degradation.

Deforestation can be seen as a concern in tropical forests such as the Amazon.

Deforestation is a phenomenon that can be happen quickly due to some reasons
such as agriculture in poor planned infrastructure and fires which can sweep fast
and occur naturally32. More reasons for deforestation can be traced in farming,
grazing of livestock, mining, drilling and of course logging operation (wood and
paper’s products)33.

2. Distinction between deforestation and degradation

Deforestation involves a decrease in the area covered by forest and also its’
maintenance. Deforestation also connects to the clearcutting case of areas
where forest will generate itself or be generated. This means that the forest being
cut also to be reproduce more trees and to be cut for using those trees.

On the other hand, degradation involves a quality decrease in its conditions.

Those conditions can be related to one or more numbers of different forest
ecosystem components such as vegetation layer, fauna, soil etc., and also the
interaction between these components34.

32 WWF, “Deforestation and Forest Degradation”, World Wide Fund for Nature,
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation.
33 C. Nunez, “Deforestation explained”, National Geographic,

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/.
34 J.P. Lanly, “Deforestation and Degradation Factors”, Congress Proceeding B, XII World Foresty

Congress: 75-83, http://www.fao.org/3/xii/ms12a-e.htm.

26
3. Facts and Figures

Forests still cover about 30-31% of the land area, however they are disappearing
at a high rate.

Only between 1990-2016, according to the World Bank, the world lost an amount
of about 1.3 million square kilometres of forest (an area which is larger than South
Africa). In addition, about 17% of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed
over the past 50 years, and still is being destroyed35.

The forests are a vital part of our lives, since we need trees for several reasons:
they absorb the carbon dioxide that human exhale and they heat-trap
greenhouse gases that human activities emit. When those gases enter the
atmosphere, global warming increases – in other words for scientists, climate
change.

As set in the Paris Agreement in 2015, tropical trees can cover and provide alone
a 23% of the necessary amount of carbon dioxide to meet the goals of climate
mitigation needed over the next decade36.

In the last century it was expected that over 3 billion cubic metres of wood would
have been needed. Tropical forests only comprise 55% of the global forest stocks
and contribute only 15% of the world trade in forest products. In addition, industrial
wood accounts for about 20% of the total wood removal in the tropical forests.
Although, only a third of it is being exported and logging is may not be the core
reason for deforestation but in some region, it is. Another high consumption of
wood comes in paper products, with a high increase from 40 to 130 million tons 37.

4. List of areas affected

Although some parts of the world as the Middle East and North America had the
largest percentage increase in forest area between 1990 and 2015, Latin America
and Caribbean, as well as Sub-Saharan Africa, are the regions that lost the most.

35 C. Nunez, “Deforestation explained”, National Geographic,

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/.
36 Ibid.
37 Cultural Survival, “Deforestation: the Human Costs”, Cultural Survival,

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/deforestation-human-
costs.

27
Latin America and Caribbean saw in fact the largest total decrease in forest area,
which stand on losing about 970,000 square kilometres between this period of
time. Nevertheless, by 2012 more than 14% of the world’s land had been
nationally protected, and in Latin America and Caribbean hold a total of 21.2%
of its region alone38.

History of the topic

1. Historical roots and causes

Since humans have started with the development of agriculture and settlements,
they have converted forests into agroecosystems of various sort into urban land39.
Moreover, trees were once, and in some point still, used for shelter and fuel for
warmth and cooking. Also, they provided food, as well medicine and dyes.

Since humans started to use stones or flint axes they have started to cut trees40. It
is estimated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that
the annual rate of deforestation is about 1/3 million square kilometres per
decade. Although, since the beginning of the 21st century the pace has been
slowed down due to enhanced forest management practices and much more41.

38 A. Kirk, “Deforestation: Where is the World Losing the Most Trees?”, The Telegraph,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/23/deforestation-where-is-the-world-losing-the-most-
trees/.
39 Science Encyclopedia, “Deforestation – Historical Deforestation”, Science Encyclopedia,

https://science.jrank.org/pages/1971/Deforestation-Historical-deforestation.html.
40 S.L. Cohen, “The History of Deforestation”, Bizfluent. https://bizfluent.com/about-5389808-

history-deforestation.html.
41 Britannica, “Deforestation”, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/science/deforestation.

28
2. Damages brought by industrialization

With the introduction of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800’s, humans started to
seek the power and ability to clear land. Thus, forests have been exploited
worldwide. In numbers, an approximately 460,000 square kilometres of forests
have been felled by 1850, and moreover about nearly 300 million square miles by
191042.

As the Industrial Age arrived so does the rapid increase in human population, thus
the need for more space for new people. Forests were an easy target due to the
fact that they were not owned by anyone.

Furthermore, industries also needed space, and this brought to large-scale

deforestation. In those times, people really supported the industries for the
opportunities for employment, while governments encouraged industries to
pursue those steps in the name of economy until now (the 20th century was the
worst phase for deforestation). Forests were deforested worldwide in these times43.

Another example of major contributor to tropical deforestation is the process of

slash-and-burn agriculture. This technique allows the farmers to clear forests by
burning them and then grow crops in the soils that is fertilized by the ashes. The
problem is that this technique only applies for several years and then the land
must be abandoned, and farmers leave to find new places44.

3. The situation today

In wealthier countries of high latitudes as Europe, the Unites States and Canada,
there has been an increase in the forest covered area due to poor-quality
agricultural land that has been regenerated to forest.

In contrast, in tropical regions like Latin America, Africa and Asia, deforestation
has increased rapidly in recent decades. This could be influenced by the rapid
growth in size of the human population of these regions, as well as due to the

42 S.L. Cohen, “The History of Deforestation”, Bizfluent, https://bizfluent.com/about-5389808-

history-deforestation.html.
43 Environment Insider, “Impact of Industrialization on the Environment”, Environment Insider,

http://environmentinsider.com/impact-industrialization-environment/.
44 Britannica, “Deforestation”, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/science/deforestation.

29
increasing globalization of the trading economy that turns tropical forest into
agricultural land for crops that is exported into wealthier countries45.

Discussion of the problem

1. Loss of a renewable resource

It is understandable that forests are considered as a renewable resource that can

be sustainably harvested to gain several economically vital products as lumber,
paper and fuelwood to produce energy.

As already mentioned, they also sustain an important role in ecological service

related to clean air and water, and the control of erosion.

Therefore, any kind of loss of a forest region detracts from these vital benefits and
represents the depletion of an important natural resource.

When a forest is not treated in such a way that it can be managed correctly and
allow to encourage the regeneration of another trees and plants, it can be
considered as if the forest is being used for negative reasons rather than treated
as a renewable natural resource – and its area can be diminished for commercial
reasons46.

45 Science Encyclopedia, “Deforestation – Deforestation Today”, Science Encyclopedia,

https://science.jrank.org/pages/1972/Deforestation-Deforestation-today.html.
46 Science Encyclopedia, “Deforestation – Loss of a Renewable Resource”, Science

Encyclopedia, https://science.jrank.org/pages/1973/Deforestation-Loss-renewable-
resource.html.

30
2. Environmental issues

It is no secret that trees are part of the photosynthesis cycle. A single tree can
absorb an amount of about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. When there are
no trees the carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere or is absorbed by the
oceans, which makes them more acid.

It is worth to note that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which contributes to

create the “ceiling” in the atmosphere that prevents ground heat from dissipating
into space. It can be therefore said that deforestation leads to, straight forward,
global warming47: with a smaller number of trees, there will be a rise in greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere.

Deforestation can also lead to loss of habitat, which means that animals and
plant species lose their natural habitat.

The trees provide in fact home and shelter to many species of animals, and when
being diminished they can make a drastic removal of the animals’ habitat48. It is
estimated by scientist that by the middle of the 21st century 30 to 50 percent of all
species could be extinct49, and deforestation could be among one of the main
causes for that.

Furthermore, the trees control and regulate the water cycle in the atmosphere.
Therefore, with fewer trees there is less water in the air to be later returned to the
soil. With that, the soil will be more dryer and thus make it more difficult to grow
crops.

Deforestation can also lead to soil erosion and flooding. Trees are also functioning
to retain water and topsoil who is the resource for the rich nutrients to sustain any
additional forest life. Without trees, the soil erodes and washed away which later
cause the farmers to move on and retain the cycle in a different region.

47 C. Deziel, “Environmental Problems Caused by Deforestation of Tropical Rain Forests”,

Sciencing, https://sciencing.com/environmental-problems-caused-deforestation-tropical-rain-
forests-22487.html.
48 Pachamama Alliance, “Effects of Deforestation”, Pachamama Alliance,

https://www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation.
49 C. Deziel,“Environmental Problems Caused by Deforestation of Tropical Rain Forests”,

Sciencing, https://sciencing.com/environmental-problems-caused-deforestation-tropical-rain-
forests-22487.html.

31
In addition, the abandoned land is not good anymore for agriculture practice
and is then more susceptible to flooding, especially in coastal regions 50.

3. The humans’ perspective

With deforestation also comes the destruction or the loss of indigenous people’s
habitat.

The reason for that is that forests are the home for these people and when they
are being destroyed so does their food and shelter to survive. The lifestyle of these
indigenous people is thus damaged and cannot be restore.

These damages in their lifestyle could also lead them to move between or outside
regions of forests, provoking even more damages. Not to mention the fact that
those tribes are familiar with the forests region and have an extreme knowledge
of it – which give them the ability to use correctly the resources.

But this is completely ignored by the governments, which are not consulting them
regarding the policies they are adopting.

As it seems forests are crucial for the humans’ existence in the tropics, providing
shelter for hundreds of indigenous groups around the world, but this is still not taken
properly into consideration by policy makers.

4. Climate change

Humans can make up a whopping 90% of the total number of burned biomass
whereas natural fires make up only around 10%.

50Pachamama Alliance, “Effects of Deforestation”, Pachamama Alliance,

https://www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation.

32
Making burning organic materials on a large scale can cause to emit greenhouse
gases which are the main contributor to global climate change. With that, it is
estimated that 25% of the world’s total greenhouse gas production arrives from
deforestation alone51.

According to the World Carfree Network (WCN), cars and trucks are accounted
for approximately 14% of global carbon emission whereas deforestation stand on
15%. When trees are felled they release all the carbon they restore back into the
atmosphere. Then, the carbon mixes with greenhouse gases from other sources
and contribute to the ongoing global warming52.

Previous UN Involvement

1. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

There have been some works and progress on the matter of this topic in the United
Nations’ framework.

For example, a resolution was adopted at the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development on December 22, 1989 by the General Assembly.

This conference brought up four important issues and dealt with the situation in
the world on an international level. First, it was stated in article 7 that: “States have
the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their environmental

51 L. Bennet, “Deforestation and Climate Change”, Climate Institute,

http://climate.org/deforestation-and-climate-change/.
52 R. Scheer and D. Moss, “Deforestation and Its Extreme Effect on Global Warming”, Scientific

American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deforestation-and-global-warming/.

33
policies, and also reaffirms their responsibility to ensure that activities within their
jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or
of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and to play their due role in
preserving and protecting the global and regional environment in accordance
with their capacities and specific responsibilities”53. This part of the resolution
made some groundwork for the process on international level.

The second part stated that the developed countries are the main source of the
pollution and “have the main responsibility for combating such pollution”54.

The third part of the resolution dealt with the environment issues which should the
committee deal with and stated them in article 12: ozone layer, freshwater, all
kind of other bodies of water, land and more.

Finally, the last part of the resolution stated that the UN decided to establish the
Preparatory Committee which will deal with all the above mentioned: “Draft the
provisional agenda of the Conference, in accordance with the provisions of the
present resolution; Adopt guidelines to enable States to take a harmonized
approach in their preparations and reporting; Prepare draft decisions for the
Conference and submit them to the Conference for consideration and adoption
until March 1990”55.

2. The UN-REDD Programme

The UN-REDD Programme, the United Nations Collaborative Programme on

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), was
launched in 2008 and is based on the work and the knowledge of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).

This programme promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of the

parties such as indigenous people and other forest communities. Moreover, there
are efforts in 65 partner countries spanning from Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin
America56.

53 A/RES/44/228, “United Nations Conference on Environment and Development”, United

Nations, https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/ares44-228.htm.
54 Ibid.
55 Ibid.
56 UN-REDD, “UN-REDD Programme”, UN-REDD, https://www.un-redd.org/.

34
3. The UNEP Carbon Calculator App

On December 13, 2011, the United Nations mobile telephone application

released a calculator app that can count the users’ carbon footprint, visualize its
equivalent in a particular ecosystem and learn new ways on how they can
reduce their emissions. This app allows the user to trace his carbon during his trip
and to input via which transport he/she travelled by. Also, the app provides
efficient suggestions and guidelines on environmental issues regarding
deforestation and degradation.

The app was produced by the UNEP and is considered an educational app. The
application is available online in some languages such as English, Arabic, French,
Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and Russian57.

57UN News, “UN mobile app lets users calculate size of carbon footprint”, United Nations,
https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/12/398132-un-mobile-app-lets-users-calculate-size-carbon-
footprint.

35
4. The United Nations Forum on Forests

The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is considered as a high

intergovernmental policy forum. All the UN Member States and other Permanent
Observers are included in the forum.

This forum was established on October 18, 2000, after the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development planned to establish a “non-
legally binding authoritative”, and after that the UN established the
Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and its Successor the Intergovernmental
Forum on Forests (IFF) which both lasted from 1995 until 200058.

The principles of this forum are the following: facilitate implementation of forest-
related agreements and forest management; provide a common ground for a
dialog between governments and other bodies on policy development;
enhance cooperation and policy programme coordination on forest-related
issues; foster international cooperation; monitor the progress and objectives;
strengthen political commitment to management, conservation and sustainable
development for all kind of forests59.

5. Sustainable Developments Goals: Goal 15

Goal 15 is part of the UN Environment 2030 Agenda “Sustainable Developments

Goals”, which was launched in 2015.

The main targets of this goal, whose title is “Life on Land”, are to maintain the
ecosystems around the world and generally protect the environment60.

58 United Nations, “United Nations Forum on Forests”, United Nations,

https://www.un.org/esa/forests/.
59 Ibid.
60 UN Environment, “Goal 15: Life on Land”, United Nations Environment Programme,

https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/sustainable-development-goals/why-do-
sustainable-development-goals-matter/goal-15.

36
Possible Solutions

1. The Zero Deforestation status

According to the UN’s Sustainable Developments Goals, there is a pledge to halt

deforestation by 2020. About 447 companies had made 760 commitments to
curb forest destruction in their supply chains which linked to palm oil, soy, timber,
pulp and cattle. There has being a growing number of companies from
McDonald’s to Unilever that are voluntarily committing themselves to eliminate
deforestation from their supply chains. Those companies want to achieve “zero
deforestation” by 2020, and if not to halt it by 2020 so to end it by 2030.61.

In addition, there has been a debate between the two terms “deforestation free”
and “zero deforestation” which are not the same thing. More even, some
countries like China and India who are less engaged in the deforestation debate
are still not contributing to this movement62.

The following are some of the most prominent zero deforestation pledges: World
Wide Fund for Nature, Consumer Goods Forum, Tropical Forest Alliance, Banking
Environment Initiative, New York Declaration on Forests. With the 2010 resolution
of Consumer Goods Forum regarding deforestation under zero deforestation
pledge, there are more strategies and corporate social responsibility, thus this
lead to produce important impacts on global and local governance for reducing
deforestation. In addition, those actions under the resolution helped to establish

61 T. Riley, “Companies’ ‘Zero Deforestation’ Pledges: Everything You Need to Know”, The
Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/sep/29/companies-zero-
deforestation-pledges-agriculture-palm-oil-environment.
62 ibid.

37
more coherent thinking regarding reducing deforestation within the private and
public sector63.

2. Greenpeace’s solutions to fight deforestation

Greenpeace made some key points to provide their own solution and agenda
for the topic.

They are working in collaboration with First Nations, governments, forest product
companies and more. Also, they believe in good marketing like “zero
deforestation” and that companies should set ambitious targets to maximize the
usage of wood products and recycle. Moreover, Greenpeace stands with the
indigenous people and promotes sustainable choices like eating sustainable
food, choosing recycled sustainable wood product etc.

Greenpeace believes that there is a change and a way to change the politics
regarding deforestation and climate change. They think that laws concerning
wildlife and forests are contributing to the effectiveness to lower deforestation
and.

Greenpeace encourage people to act and sign up for making a change

regarding the climate change. They sum up with some action that an everyday
human can do, and moreover with the action of people to educate their
surroundings about how their actions can impact forests around the world64.

3. Earth-eclipse (plants trees, recycle, etc.)

Earth Eclipse is a website source containing all the information that are related to
environment, global warming, climate change etc. This website uploads plenty
materials as a community website. As part of the website goals, there was a plan
or some ways that suggest halting and/or reducing deforestation and
degradation.

The eight ways that have been mention are: (1) green business who will use
recycled products and green methods ; (2) eco-foresty plan which allows to cut

63 FAO. 2018. “Zero-deforestation Commitments: A New Avenue Towards Enhanced Forest

Governance?”. http://www.fao.org/3/i9927en/I9927EN.pdf
64 Greenpeace, “Solutions to Deforestation”, Greenpeace,

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/forests/solutions-to-deforestation/.

38
only selected trees to minor the damage in some areas ; (3) law and regulation
on deforestation can make a more straight forward approach to humans ; (4)
community foresty is a programme to collaborate communities with other bodies
to plant trees and management their local forest ; (5) replanting or reforestation
is to plant trees and or to restore damaged areas of forests ; (6) sensitization and
educative campains on deforestation and degradation ; (7) joint organization for
the same goals ; (8) land use planning in a more efficient and proper way65.

Bloc positions

1. The European Union

On a resolution adopted by the European Parliament on April 4, 2017, it was

stated that the European Union will follow the UN Environment 2030 Agenda
“Sustainable Developments Goals” and thus make this its practice in its Member
States.

Also, the EU agreed to “help meet the private-sector goal of eliminating

deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities such as palm oil,
soy, paper and beef product by no later than 2020”. The EU also “calls on the
Commission and all Member States who have not yet so, to demonstrate their
commitment to working towards the establishment of an EU-wide national
commitment of sourcing 100% certified sustainable palm oil by 2020 toward
eliminating deforestation”.

The Commission will also make studies on deforestation.

In addition, European companies have embraced the spirit of “zero

deforestation”. In addition to this, the EU seek to examine the connection and the
impact between consumption in the EU to deforestation 66.

Furthermore, the EU has provided an “Action Plan to Tackle Upon Deforestation

and Degradation” in 2017. There are 5 main key points which are presented in the
action plan: (1) provide more financial and technical assistance to producer

65 Earth Eclipse, “8 Fantastic Solutions to Deforestation”, Earth Eclipse,

https://www.eartheclipse.com/environment/fantastic-solutions-to-deforestation.html.
66 2018/C 298/01, “European Parliament resolution of 4 April 2017 on palm oil and deforestation

of rainforests (2016/2222(INI))”, European Parliament, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-

content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52017IP0098&rid=7.

39
countries; (2) establish a regulatory framework to ensure that all supply chains
linked to the EU market are sustainable; (3) introduce forest-specific provisions in
EU trade and investment and require agreements and require due diligence
measure; (4)tackle the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation; (5)
strengthen implementation of policies and legislation such as the FLEGT Action
Plan, the EU Timber Regulation and EU Wildlife Trade Regulation67.

2. South-East Asia

South-East Asia is a region with a big vast rainforest and rich biodiversity but on
the other side this region is also known for its alarming rate of deforestation.

It is assumed that until 2022 about 50% of the forest’s regions will be lost.
Deforestation is one of the leading problems in this region with Indonesia,
Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand considered as hotspots for
deforestation68.

ASEAN nations have their own forest department and try to work individually on
this matter. In addition, there is an ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources, however it was never formally agreed upon or
even enforced – only to be overtaken by the CBD, the Convention on Biological
Diversity, which was ratified by all ASEAN countries.

3. Africa

Until the end of the 1980’s, Africa had an estimated of 528 million hectares, or 30%
of the world’s tropical forests. From this period and onward the rate of
deforestation in Sub-Saharan African countries exceeded on an annual average
rate of about 0.8%.

Most African countries are considered developing countries, which means those
countries rely heavily on wood fuel for energy sources such as cooking, heating
and more. It was estimated that almost 90% of the continent use fuelwood for
these usages.

67 Fern, “NGO Statement. Tackling Deforestation and Forest Degradation: A Case for EU Action in
2017”, Fern, http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/EUAPDD_final_15062017.pdf.
68 P. Victor, “Deforestation – A Modern-Day Plague in Southeast Asia”, The ASEAN Post,

https://theaseanpost.com/article/deforestation-modern-day-plague-southeast-asia.

40
Furthermore, in Africa, governments invest substantially more in cash crops than
in food crops – this can be reflected in the pricing and marketing policies.
Nevertheless, deforestation is not necessarily a political issue, whereas primarily
caused by activities of the general population69.

4. Latin America

In 2015, eight countries of the Latin America region pledged to replant about 20
million hectares of forest by the year 2020 on the side-lines of the UN climate
conference in Lima. These countries were: Mexico, Guatemala, EL Salvador,
Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.

In this pledge Mexico made the largest promise to restore about 8.5 million
hectares followed by Peru with 3.2 and Guatemala with 1.2 million.

The Peruvian’s agriculture minister has stated that: “In Peru, we are losing forests…
due to illegal mining… the region needs to work on replanting the forests and
moving toward ‘carbon-neutral’ agriculture”.

Moreover, the Colombian Environment Minister has stated that: “the restoration
of land in the region is also essential to promoting equity and reducing poverty,
promoting development in poor rural communities, and achieving a low carbon
future”70.

5. The United States

In the United States, 56% of its forest lands are in private ownership. But the U.S.
Forest Service can give technical and financial assistance to the private forest
landowners.

Although it is stated that the forest estate is seen as stable in the U.S., the country
faces other natural challenges that are affected by climate change.

From 2001-2010, the department of the Forest Service in the U.S. has treated an
average of around 1 million hectare per year, and by 2014 they increased that

69 African Technology Forum, “Deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa”, African Technology Forum,

http://web.mit.edu/africantech/www/articles/Deforestation.htm.
70 DTE Stuff, “Latin America Countries Agree to Stop Deforestation at Lima Summit”,

DownToEarth, https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/forests/latin-american-countries-agree-to-
stop-deforestation-at-lima-summit-47749.

41
by 9%. Currently, the U.S. is looking for other product-material and researchers at
the Forest Products Lab have helped to find ways to use small-diameter materials
in cross-laminated timber. Unfortunately, it is all comes down to money and many
citizens in the U.S. do not appreciate the many benefits they get from forests71.

Relevant international documents

1. The United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-2030

During the UN Forum on Forests on January 20, 2017, 197 Member States reached
an agreement on the first UN Strategic Plan for Forests (UNSPF) that will apply for
a vision for global forests in 2030.

This plan has 6 core goals that are the main pillars of how the plan will apply and
thus set a framework for action to safeguard the world’s most productive land-
based ecosystems. With that, the plan’s mission is also to highlight the contribution
of sustainably managed forests to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Despite all challenges and hurdles the plan seek to overcome and arrive to the
requirements and beyond the UN system.

http://aims.fao.org/activity/blog/first-un-strategic-plan-2017-2030-forests

2. The United Nations Forest Instrument

The United Nations Forest Instrument is a body that provides countries with a
framework for promoting forest management.

The main goal of this instrument is to maintain and to strengthen forest

governance, technical and institutional capacity, policy and legal frameworks,
forest sector investment and stakeholder participation at the international and
national level for all countries.

This instrument was established under the adopted resolution by the UN on

February 16, 2016 and is still active.

https://static.un.org/esa/forests/documents/un-forest-instrument/index.html

71T. Tidwell, “State of Forests and Forestry in the United States”, U.S. Forest Service,
https://www.fs.fed.us/speeches/state-forests-and-forestry-united-states-1.

42
3. The Global Forest Watch

In 1997, the World Resources Institute (WRI) established the Global Forest Watch
(GFW) in order to be a part of the Forest Frontiers Initiative.

The GFW has started as an NGO to produce up-to-date reports on the status of
forests in four pilot countries: Cameroon, Canada, Gabon and Indonesia. Since
then, by 2005 the GFW expanded to 21 countries, and by 2014 the WRI launched
the GFW 2.0.

https://www.globalforestwatch.org/about

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45