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LETTER FROM THE DAIS

Dear Delegates,

Hello everyone! My name is Wendy and I, along with Emily, am your senior staffer YMUN 39’s Commission on the Status of Women. Currently, I’m a sophomore at Yale, majoring in Psychology with a Neuroscience track with plans to go to graduate school.

Outside of the classroom and YMUN, I am also part of Yale’s Mock Trial team, a mentor in WYSE (Women and Youth Supporting Each Other), a mentoring group for local middle school girls, and I am running a non-profit, Codi’s Hats.

With the ever-evolving policies on reproductive health rights and women’s rights, I’m ex-cited to see the different stances and cultural clashes that the topics may bring out. I look forward to seeing how you all respond in the committee. See you soon!

- Wendy Cai, Yale ‘15

Hi guys! I’m Emily, and I will also be working as one of the directors for CSW. A North-ern California native, I’m currently a sophomore at Yale in Branford College, majoring in Economics with a possible double major in East Asian Studies. After graduation, I hope to live and work in China for several years before pursuing a graduate degree, possibly in business or law.

When not going to classes or preparing for YMUN, I also serve as a mentor in ReadySet-Launch, an organization providing college counseling services to low-income students, participate in Danceworks, a dance group at Yale, and I serve on the alumni fundraising board for my high school. I also enjoy cooking, baking, and playing softball.

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the topics we have prepared for committee this year. Women’s rights remain a hotly debated topic globally, and I know you all are going to come up with informed, innovative solutions to these pressing problems. Please don’t hes-itate to email either Wendy or me with any questions or concerns.

- Emily Harris, Yale ‘15

All the best, Wendy Cai (wendy.cai@yale.edu) Emily Harris (emily.harris@yale.edu)

Dear Delegates, Welcome to Yale Model United Nations XL! For the past several months your dais team and staffers have been working hard to make this the best YMUN committee possible and we are extremely excited to meet you in January. But first, we’d like to introduce ourselves. Tara Rajan is a Junior in Branford college majoring in Psychology-Neuroscience. She hails originally from Chicago, which is lucky because it also happens to be her favorite city on the planet. When not leading YMUN committees, Tara splits her time between her other extra curriculars: editing for the Globalist, coordinating events for the Public Health Coalition, and marathoning the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. She is so excited to be leading UNEP for this year's YMUN XL! Matthew, a junior in Calhoun College, comes to the YMUN team from Brussels, Belgium. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he moved to Belgium at the age of 10 and attended an international school. Matthew has been a delegate and organizer at various Model UN conferences in Europe, Asia, and North America. Most recently, Matthew served as President of Yale Model Government Europe in Budapest, Hungary. His academic interests include International Relations and Economics; Matthew also enjoys graphic design and playing the double bass. In his free time, he relishes in Belgian chocolate truffles, long walks on the beach, and chai tea lattes. If you have any questions about this committee or the conference, please do not hesitate to contact us. In the meantime, we urge you to use this topic guide as a stepping-stone for further research. Please read carefully all sections relating to the procedure and operation of this committee. We wish you the best of luck with your research and hope you are as excited for this committee as we are! Yours truly, Matthew Finney Tara Rajan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS History of the Committee 5 Topic One: Disaster and Conflicts

Topic History 6 Current Situation 11 Questions to Consider 20

Suggestions for Further Research 21 Topic Two: Food Security

Topic History 22 Current Situation 25

Questions to Consider 31 Suggestions for Further Research 32

Role of the Committee 33 Structure of the Committee 24 "##$%#$&'! ! ! ! ! ! ((!

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In 1972, the UN Conference on the Human Environment (the Stockholm Conference) recommended the establishment of an international organization to act as the “environmental conscience” of the United Nations. Thus, the United Nations Environmental Program – consisting of a governing council, secretariat, and environment fund – was established in UNGA Resolution 2997. i

The creation of the UNEP led to an increase in environmental research and legislation, with several environmental conferences meeting throughout the following decades. An inspiring example of international cooperation occurred in 1987, when the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer issued the Montreal Protocol, leading to the successful reversal of ozone layer depletion. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General, called the Montreal Protocol “perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date.” ii

The next major conference in the history of the UNEP occurred in 1992 with the UN Conference on Environment and Development, also referred to as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro. The Earth Summit resulted in two important documents: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Following the Earth Summit, civil society and the private sector became increasingly active participants in environmental issues. However, environment-related crises were only increasing in frequency and severity during this time. Global temperatures went up along with the frequency

of natural disasters, and natural resources became alarmingly scarce compared to the growth of the human population. In May 2000, the first Global Ministerial Environment Forum, convened by the UNEP in Malmo, Sweden, urged the international community to take stronger measures against these challenges.

At the September 2000 Millennium Summit, environmental sustainability became a key objective in the Millennium Development Goals, fundamental to all other goals. Since then, the central role of UNEP in achieving sustainable development worldwide has been reaffirmed in a number of global conventions. In 2005, the UNEP adopted the Bali Strategic Plan, which stipulates that the UNEP provide practical assistance to member states at the national level. Since then, the UNEP has continued in its role to provide knowledge, policy guidance, capacity building and technological support to member states.iii

History of the Committee!

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Disasters and conflicts play an integral role in human environmental history. The environment, when managed poorly, often leads to human conflict over natural resources and an increased risk of natural disasters. Furthermore, human activity, particularly through violent conflict, can cause serious environmental damage. In this way, environmental damage can be both a cause and a consequence of manmade and natural disasters. Since 1990, there have been more than 18 conflicts fought over environmental resources. Just over the past thirteen years, the world has suffered over 35 major conflicts and 2,500 disasters, affecting over two billion people and killing millions.iv Natural disasters include wildfires, nuclear and chemical accidents, geologic hazards (such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions), and hydro-meteorological hazards (such as droughts, tropical cyclones, storms, and floods).v Past Resolutions and Agreements

Mitigating natural disasters has been a priority of the United Nations since the 1960s,

predating the creation of the UNEP. After two major earthquakes in 1962 and 1963 and a hurricane in 1963, the UNGA passed Resolution 2034: Assistance in cases of natural disaster, requesting member states to report to the Secretary-General on the assistance they would be willing to offer. In 1971, the UNGA increased its attention to natural disaster relief through the creation of the United Nations Disaster Relief Office (UNDRO). The Disaster Relief Coordinator was authorized to promote scientific study and research into the prevention, prediction, and control of natural disasters, and to assist governments in pre-disaster planning and the development of warning systems. Later in the decade, the UNDRO placed a greater emphasis on technological cooperation between nations to increase disaster preparedness and coordinate early-warning systems.vi It was not until the 1990s, however, that natural disasters became a primary focus of the United Nations. In 1987, the General Assembly declared the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, compiling a

TOPIC I.

Disaster and Conflicts Topic History !

UNEP 7 corresponding Framework of Action in 1989. This framework includes national policy suggestions, steps for regional and international bodies, and the creation of a Scientific and Technical Committee (STC).vii These years experienced a troubling number of disasters – floods in the Sudan and Bangladesh, typhoons in the Philippines, hurricanes in the Americas and the Caribbean, and locust infestations in Africa.

The STC, established by the Framework of Action, convened the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction in 1994 in Yokohama, Japan.viii The focus of disaster reduction efforts remained on the improvement of early warning systems, which can provide between tens of seconds of warning (for earthquakes) to weeks of warning (for some hurricanes).ix It was not until the end of the decade, in 1999, that the discussion shifted towards the major challenge to long-term disaster prevention: creating a “global culture of prevention.” In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, proposed the Johannesburg Plan of Action to integrate risk reduction into development policies. The 10-year period commencing with the 1994 Yokohama Conference was reviewed and incorporated into the Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, in 2005. The Second World Conference put forth the Hyogo Declaration and Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) in order to build community resilience to disaster for the following 10 years, 2005-2015. The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction – a forum open to UN members states and other stakeholders – was created in 2006 in order to assist and monitor the implementation of the HFA, increase awareness, and share experiences.x In this way, the HFA aims to bring

together the many partners – governments, international agencies, and disaster experts – needed to reduce disaster risk and losses.xi Increasing Severity of Disasters

Figure 0: Courtesy of the World Meteorological Organization,

“Preventing and Mitigating Natural Disasters: Working Together

for a Safer World.”

Since the 1950s, when the international community began establishing strategies to mitigate and respond to natural disasters, natural disasters have increased in frequency and severity. Since 2000, there have been a number of record-breaking disasters, including Europe’s 2003 heat wave (the hottest summer in 500 years), the autumn of 2000 in the UK (the wettest since 1766), the 2010 flooding in Pakistan (the worst in history), the summer of 2011 in the southwest USA (the hottest and driest since 1880), just to list a few.xii There is scientific evidence to suggest that the increased occurrence of extreme climate events, including natural disasters, is due to climate change, especially global warming. It is important to treat this point carefully. Scientists cannot claim that climate change directly caused a specific natural disaster: disasters are isolated events, and climate change

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is a trend averaged over many weather events, over the course of years. This means that natural disasters cannot be used as “proof” for climate change. However, a number of studies suggest that climate change leads to an increase in extreme weather events. One of the most pressing international issues currently is the phenomenon of global warming: that is, the Earth has warmed by more than 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last 100 years, and the past few decades have been the warmest on record, at least over the past 1000 years.xiii Meanwhile, the concentration of so-called greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide, has increased dramatically due to emissions from human activities. Greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in Earth’s lower atmosphere – heat that would otherwise reflect off the Earth directly into space (see Figure 1). Such gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide, and CFCs. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide remained between 275 and 280 ppmv (part per million by volume) before the industrial revolution (pre-1800). (Scientists gathered this information from ancient air trapped in polar ice.) When Dr. Charles Keeling, the first person to continuously measure atmospheric carbon

dioxide levels, began his measurements in 1958, carbon dioxide concentrations were up to 315 ppmv.xiv As of June 2013, atmospheric carbon dioxide has climbed to 398.58 ppmv.xv It is known that increased carbon dioxide levels cause increased global temperatures (the greenhouse effect), and that global warming is real. For lack of evidence to support an alternative cause, the international consensus is currently that manmade greenhouse gas emissions cause global warming – although scientists are still working to understand the various variables that contribute to this complex phenomenon.xvi The growing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases does not only cause the number of warm days to increase globally, it also likely leads to an increase in heat waves, intensified precipitation and extreme coastal high water as the icecaps melt and sea levels rise. There is also some evidence of the link between greenhouse gas emissions and tropical cyclone activity, especially maximum wind speed. Current models for climate change also predict an intensification of droughts.xvii

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Figure 1: courtesy of UCSD

http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/rotary/global_warmin

g/06.shtml

Examples of past unep action:

So far, the UNEP, through the Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch (which were once two separate branches, but merged in 2007), have worked in post-conflict countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and Lebanon, and post-disaster areas such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. In the areas of prevention, the UNEP worked with the World Conservation Union and Wetlands International in order to rehabilitate

mangroves in the Maldives, Indonesia and Sri Lanka – part of the “Mangroves for the Future” project. The conservation and restoration of ecosystems in the Indian Ocean region helps to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to disasters such as the 2004 tsunami. When the 2004 tsunami struck, many communities suffered significantly greater damage because of the existing environmental degradation, specifically the destruction of coastal vegetation. (Between 1975 and 2005, tsunami-impacted areas in Asia had lost 12 percent of its mangrove forests due to agricultural expansion, aquaculture, and urban development.)

“Mangroves for the Future” courtesy of Wetlands International

Furthermore, UNEP’s International Environmental Technology Centre worked on preventing damage from floods and landslides by introducing reforms to the forestry sector in Banyumas District, Central Java, Indonesia. The project sought to implement Environmentally

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Sound Technologies (ESTs) to promote forestry waste management, starting with environmental assessment and policy analysis. Several of the EST applications included renewable energy systems, non-timber processing, compost processing, and organic fertilizers. The UNEP has also worked on rehabilitating communities following a disaster. Following the 2004 tsunami, the UNEP provided assistance to Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment in the reconstruction of houses in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The new eco-houses were designed following UNEP’s guide After the Tsunami: Sustainable building guidelines for South-East Asia, focusing on sustainable designs, construction methods, materials and technologies to protect the environment and reduce energy consumption.xviii

UNEP 11 Hyogo Framework for action:

The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), a ten-year plan created during the 2005 World Conference, contains five priorities for nations, international bodies and disaster experts to “build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters.” Resilience, in this context, as defined as the ability to “reduce, prevent, anticipate, absorb and adapt, or recover from the effects of a hazardous event.” Thus, building resilience has several components: poverty reduction, disaster risk reduction, sustainable living, and climate change adaptation.xix Priority Action 1: National Frameworks The first priority action is the development of institutional frameworks on a national level that provide a basis for disaster risk reduction. Without cooperation from national legislative and policy institutions, any international action taken to reduce disaster risk cannot succeed. Goals must be set on the international and local level, as well as reliable indicators that are able to measure progress on achieving those goals. Priority Action 2: Early Warning The second priority action involves early warning for natural disasters. Disaster preparedness begins with understanding the risk and the vulnerabilities of the society on all level. This includes research into the hazards, as well as the physical, social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities specific to the society. Knowledge of the hazards and vulnerabilities must be disseminated across all sectors.

Priority Action 3: Education and Awareness The third priority action requires the development of a culture of disaster prevention and risk reduction at the grassroots level of society. This involves motivating people and disseminating relevant knowledge and information. Priority Action 4: Long-term Prevention The fourth priority action aims to examine and eliminate the underlying factors that lead to or exacerbate natural disasters. Many social, economic and environmental conditions – such as farming practices, land use, and infrastructure – increase potential hazards and vulnerabilities to natural disasters. It is often difficult to incentivize communities to change such habits. Additionally, large-scale trends such as weather, water and climate change impact the likelihood of natural disasters and their effect on communities. Priority Action 5: Disaster Management The fifth priority action aims to improve the response following a natural disaster. Especially in hazard-prone areas (a category which must be accurately determined by the second priority action), authorities and communities should have the knowledge and tools to prepare and respond to a disaster.xx

So far, most progress has been made in the first and fifth priority action areas. However, the fourth priority action area – addressing underlying causes – constantly lags behind. Furthermore, while many nations have managed to reduce the risk of death related to natural disasters, the opposite is true for economic losses,

Current Situation

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which have more than tripled in some countries over the past 20 years.xxi [See Figure 3] In early 2015, at the expiration of the current HFA, the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction plans to convene in Japan with the goal of creating a post-2015 framework, known as the Hyogo Framework for Action 2 (HFA2). Thus, as the HFA’s ten-year period draws to a close, it is imperative that we brainstorm improved disaster management methods.

Figure 3: courtesy of the World Meteorological Organization

(WMO)

Early warning systems:

The risk factors for natural disasters are constantly changing as ecosystems and communities change around the world. Human

population growth, demands for agricultural products and societal change all alter the occurrence and effects of disasters. For example, over the next 8 years, agricultural demands in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America will require up to 300 million more acres of land, much of which already suffers degradation and water shortages. Such strain on natural resources can contribute to the occurrence of natural disasters and alter the vulnerabilities of the society.xxii Effective disaster prevention and management requires understanding and monitoring the risk factors through early warning systems.

Early warning is imperative to disaster risk reduction, and can be extremely effective if set up properly. In Bangladesh, a 48-hour early warning system for cyclones allows people to evacuate safely to shelter before a cyclone hits land, cutting the cyclone death toll from 300,000 resulting from the 1970 Cyclone Bhola to 3,000 during the 2007 Cyclone Sidr.xxiii According to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), early warning comprises four areas: risk knowledge, monitoring and warning service (including location and intensity), dissemination and communication, and response.xxiv All four parts must function together, as an accurate warning has no value unless the information is disseminated to the community and people are prepared to react.

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Furthermore, the warning has to be delivered as early as possible (while maintaining reliability) to provide the other components with sufficient time. Unfortunately, many existing early warning systems lack communication schemes and response plans, and the tradeoff between earliness of the warning and its reliability can be hard to balance.xxv

Currently, disaster prediction and monitoring require increased international cooperation. Earth has only one atmosphere and ocean system that all nations must share, so it only makes sense to collaborate on information regarding weather. Additionally, modern meteorology relies on expensive technology that not all nations can afford individually. For example, only countries with a space program have access to meteorological satellites. Most nations cannot afford the advanced electronics and supercomputers necessary to process weather-related data in real time. Examples of warning and monitoring

systems:

Wildfires: Wildfires burn hundreds of millions of acres of vegetation every year, affecting human health and safety as well as regional economies. In developed countries, billions of dollars must be spent to try to control fires, while this money is often not available to developing nations although they face increased vulnerability.xxvi Wildfire warning systems require both the prediction of fire triggering and its pattern of propagation. Although the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) supplies wildfire data and monitoring

and its website, this information is not actively publicized. Other institutions supply similar information: the Experimental Climate Prediction Center (ECPC) provides global, national and regional scale fire forecasts, and the Webfire Mapper tracks active fires around the world in near real-time through the use of satellite data and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies.xxvii Esri and Google Maps also provide continuously updated fire information, locations, shelter information and other relevant knowledge gathered from governmental groups and social media such as Twitter and YouTube, but only on a regional basis.xxviii However, most global fires continue to be unmonitored and undocumented. Most developing nations lack both early warning and monitoring systems for wildfires, and an internationally standardized system for predicting, rating and monitoring fires is still being developed. The Global Fire Early Warning System (Global EWS-Fire) was officially launched in May 2011 and continues to undergo system development. It is part of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which is currently being built under 10-year implementation plan from 2005-2015.xxix

Wildfires courtesy of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (Johann

G. Goldammer)

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Tsunamis:

The tsunami wave tossed this boat on top of a building in Otsuchi,

Iwate Prefecture, Japan, on March 14, 2011. Photo courtesy of

Yomiuri Shimbun, National Geographic.

Japan’s 2011 tsunami and the Indian Ocean 2004 tsunami are two of the most devastating disasters in recent history. Tsunamis occur when an underwater earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption or explosion cause a series of extremely dangerous waves that can destroy coastal communities and affect millions of people. Following the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the global community realized the deficiency of existing warning systems and stepped up its implementation of tsunami early warning systems for the Indian Ocean, northeast Atlantic and

Mediterranean, and the Caribbean. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System monitors seismic stations for the Pacific basin to detect specific locations, depths and magnitudes of underwater earthquakes that could generate tsunamis.xxx The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), which has been a part of GEOSS since 2005, aims to integrate these regional systems under a unified international operation. This plan requires further outreach and capacity building.xxxi Volcanic Eruptions:

Volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland.

Photograph by Jon Gustafsson. Courtesy of The Guardian.

UNEP 15 Volcanic eruptions do not only endanger surrounding land and communities, but can also affect global air quality and climate, sometimes even leading to other disasters. Unlike with some other disasters, there is no scientific or technological barrier to detecting volcanic eruptions: “volcanoes actually scream ‘I’m about to erupt’,” according to Dr. Matthew Roberts of the Icelandic Meteorological Office.xxxii However, the problem comes with implementation of monitors that measure these signs, gathering information, and using it in real time. . Most of the world’s volcanoes are not well monitored. In Africa, for example, volcano-monitoring observatories exist in only two countries (Congo and Cameroon), and they do not supply the public with information.xxxiii Furthermore, because volcanic eruptions can last for such a long time and often require the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, educating and updating communities on volcanic activity is a difficult process. When the volcanic eruption in Palue, Indonesia, began in October 2012, only about a quarter of Palue’s population of 12,000 evacuated to the established safety zone. Many stayed behind in the exclusion zone, either for economic reasons or because of old beliefs that their presence would keep lava from destroying villages. In August 2013, six of these people died in their sleep as the volcano spewed more lava and hot ash.xxxiv Floods: Floods can be triggered by storms, cyclones, and tornadoes, and their rise in frequency over the past several years have led them to become, together with droughts, the deadliest natural disasters. While worldwide monitoring of flood activity exists (for example

through theDartmouth flood observatory), forecasts of flood conditions that could allow the delivery of flood warnings days in advance are still rare. Especially in developing or least developed countries such as China, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Western African nations, and Brazil, flood predictions, monitoring and warning systems are inadequate.xxxv

Delegates are encouraged to research further examples of warning systems for natural disasters, including earthquakes, landslides, storms and tropical cyclones, and extreme weather, in order to evaluate existing system shortages and suggest improvements. Communication and public awareness:

Scientific and technological advances in predicting and monitoring natural disasters are useless unless the information reaches policy makers and communities. In July 2006, one month following the completion of the Indian Ocean’s tsunami warning system, a tsunami in Java, Indonesia, took hundreds of lives because the coastal areas were not alerted in time. Warnings must reach affected populations in an accessible form (for example, interactive maps, emails, phone messages). The format of public disaster-related information must be standardized yet compatible with all information systems and technologies.xxxvi

Several projects have been undertaken in recent years in an attempt to increase the communication of disaster information and increase disaster education. During the 2011 tsunami, support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) alerted more than 120,000 people living in a coastal community in the Philippines through messages received on their phones. Education is one of the

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most important steps towards decreasing the vulnerability of a population. For example, public awareness campaigns, when coupled with incentives such as income-generation and food security, can convince resettled communities not to return to a disaster-prone area, as was the case with flood-prone areas in Mozambique.xxxvii UNEP, along with the Center for Natural Resources and Development (CNRD), recently created a 50-hour interactive course about disaster risk management that aims to educate the next generation of researchers and policy-makers, and has already been adopted by universities in Indonesia, Egypt and Germany.xxxviii At the level of basic education for children and ordinary community members, in 2006, UNISDR launched a yearlong international campaign “Disaster risk education begins at school.” However, very few national education systems actually teach disaster management, and even fewer conduct drills (i.e. earthquake drills) where pupils must practice what to do in an emergency. Examples of disaster education programs targeted at community members include Community Based Disaster Management, a training course conducted by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and NSET-Nepal, which consists of a variety of programs focused on earthquakes (publications, demonstrations, radio programs, earthquake clinics and technical training and support).xxxix

Work on the Dutch Room for the River Program. Photo by

Martinvan Lokven, courtesy of

www.ruimtevoorderivier.nl.

Aftermath of a disaster:

Disaster-preparedness efforts must take into account the dangers that may arise following a disaster. For example, once the immediate danger from the disaster subsides, structural damage to buildings may persist, so that walls and roofs can collapse without warning. Trained experts must be available to inspect buildings before community members return to them. The population should be prepared to act properly in response to other possible risks, including flash floods, electric shock from downed power lines, fires due to the rupturing of gas pipes, and toxic chemicals and waterborne diseases in floodwaters.xl Finally, post-disaster recovery and rebuilding must take place,

UNEP 17 consisting of humanitarian aid, capacity-building programs and technical support. Such programs are currently carried out on the national and global level, and include both early recovery (humanitarian action) and sustainable rebuilding to increase community resilience over time (“build back better”).xli Disaster risk prevention and reduction:

Recently, the UNEP has focused prevention efforts on Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) as an alternative to traditional engineered solutions, such as building dikes and walls. This approach is based on the idea that well-managed ecosystems protect communities against hazards and increase their resilience.xlii Healthy ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, coral reefs and seagrasses, can act as “natural infrastructure to buffer against common hazards.” A community-based forest rehabilitation program in Bolivia increased the resilience of the community to landslides, and in Jamaica, coral reefs and seagrasses have protected beachside communities against storms and land erosion. In the Netherlands, an ongoing “Room for the River” program re-establishes floodplains in an effort to reduce flood risk for four million people, proving to be more effective and sustainable than simply building higher and higher dikes. Switzerland manages its forest to protect against rockfalls, snow avalanches and landslides from its mountains. Supporters of Eco-DRR argue that well-managed ecosystems provide communities with additional environmental and economic benefits, particularly in promoting food security and sustainability. Eco-DRR can include instruments such as integrated watershed

management, coastal zone management (i.e. the Mangroves for the Future project), protected area management, drylands management, and forest fire management.xliii

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The main difference in approach to natural disasters is between developed and developing nations. Developed nations often have access to disaster warning and management resources that developing nations lack, and must work together with developing nations to improve their disaster risk reduction capabilities. All nations, however, must step up their efforts aimed at long-term disaster prevention. North America

Over the past few decades, North America has suffered the most extreme weather events, and experiences the fastest-growing frequency of natural disasters (which has nearly quintupled over the past three decades). Storms, particularly tropical cyclone and thunderstorms, floods, heat waves and droughts have cost over 1,000 billion US dollars over the past 30 years. The Americas are the region in the world that suffer the most economic loss from disasters. While protection and control measures are increasing, particularly for floods, natural disasters continue to pose a huge problem. The 2012 drought, for example, was among the most extreme events of the last 100 years, and, as it affected nearly two thirds of North American agricultural land, contributed to food

shortages around the world.xliv South America

South America, like North America, experiences a lot of economic loss from natural disasters that is exacerbated by under-preparedness. The Inter-American Committee on Natural Disaster Reductionxlv and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Departmentxlvi both have projects to improve the situation by preparing communities and providing post-disaster relief. Asia-Pacific

Asian and Pacific countries are at a higher risk for natural disasters than those in any other region, and natural disasters have a considerable impact on human development, undermining Asia’s rapid economic progress. Countries in the region tend to lack sufficient preparedness, leaving the poor extremely vulnerable to natural disasters and perpetuating a cycle of economic loss and poverty.xlvii Currently, more effort is placed on post-disaster recovery than on disaster prevention, but this is an extremely costly and ineffective strategy considering the frequency and severity of disasters.xlviii

Bloc Positions

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Africa, particularly southern Africa, is extremely prone to natural disasters, particularly flooding, drought and cyclones. Outside of Asia, Africa is the most disaster-afflicted region. Disasters greatly affect human development and public health – particularly impacting the urban poor – and developing African nations often depend on aid from other nations in the aftermath of a disaster. Global warming particularly affects coastal African cities.xlix Europe

The number of natural hazards affecting Europe has increased in the past few years, but many countries have worked on implementing national platforms to reduce natural disaster risks. Hundreds of European cities participated in the 2010-2011 campaign “Making Cities Resilient,” more than in any other region.l The European Union has also been fairly active in supporting research in the field of natural disasters and providing disaster aid and relief to European nations, as well as nations in other parts of the world.li

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Questions to Consider

1) What is the best way to bridge the disaster-preparedness gap between developed and developing nations? Currently developed nations have access to better scientific technology, early warning systems, and recovery. How can developing countries implement these resources?

2) What are the successes and drawbacks of the Hyogo Framework for Action? Should the international

community continue with its plans to create the successor, HFA2, or develop an entirely different system?

3) What are ways of providing incentives to local community members to cooperate with disaster

warnings and other policies? Currently, many people refuse to comply with instructions to evacuate a disaster danger zone (because they do not wish to part with their farms or livestock, for example, or for ideological reasons), placing themselves at extremely high risk.

4) To what degree can natural disasters, or at least the scale of damage they cause, be prevented? How

can we use natural or engineered barriers to protect communities from natural disasters?

5) What is the best way of creating a “culture of prevention” and spreading disaster awareness and understanding? How can we improve communication between the scientific researcher community and ordinary community members affected by natural disasters?

6) What are historical examples of disasters that were handled poorly? Where did the failures occur

(prediction, communication of the warning, humanitarian response, rebuilding)? What are historical examples of successful disaster management, or action that managed to save a lot of lives/ prevent economic loss? How can we learn from these examples?

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Suggestions for Further Research

A good place to start is by visiting the UNEP website and reading about the Disaster and Conflict Subprogram (http://www.unep.org/disastersandconflicts/). Check out the latest news, current and past field activities, and progress reports.

PreventionWeb, a project of UNISDR, (preventionweb.net) is another excellent resource, containing news, policy documents, analyses, and more. Browse natural disaster information by disaster type or geographical region, read about the current plans for HFA2, and find a variety of reports on early warning systems, disaster risk reduction, and disaster recovery. Natural disaster news for each country are available, so this is also a good place to start research for your policy paper.

“Synthesis Report: Consultations on a Post-2015 Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (HFA2)” gives a thorough report on recent consultations regarding natural disasters and can be found at http://www.preventionweb.net/files/32535_hfasynthesisreportfinal.pdf

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In our developed world of plenty, where our food related problems center on obesity and cheap calories, it is difficult to fully understand the food security issues of developing and underdeveloped countries. While it is universally acknowledged that access to food is a human right, development at the expense of the environment has become increasingly common. Thus, environmental degradation as well as poor agricultural techniques has lead to food shortages in many countries.

In essence, food commodities have become increasingly more expensive over time, which leads to increased poverty and malnutrition, as well as social unrest. Higher food prices most directly affect poor consumers, who are forced to eat fewer meals with less variety, leading to malnutrition and related disorders. Recently, food aid to the most vulnerable, poorer urban citizens has decreased. At the same time, higher input costs (such as fertilizer) coupled with higher transportation costs have hurt small farmers significantly. For countries where the pressure on

natural resources is already high, it imperative to find a solution for the incredible poverty and unemployment brought on by such food crises.

While food crises have existed throughout human history, the 2008 and present food crises can be traced back to the post World War II era. In 1954, the US food aid program was formally initiated, whereby US shaped the future of food distribution among third world countries while at the same time challenging local farmers. This was the beginning of a series of problems within the food network.

The 20th century marked a drastic change in food production with the Green Revolution. International development coupled with the introduction of pest and disease resistant, high-yield crops lead to increase rice production, a doubling of cereal production between 1970 and 1995, and a decline in wheat prices. However, the environmental downfalls associated with such a revolution were also significant. The increased use of chemical fertilizers lead to significant pollution. Regional inequalities increased as some areas with

TOPIC II.

Food Security Topic History !

UNEP 23 poor agricultural conditions were unable implement new practices. Fear that such mechanisms lead to a loss of crop diversity, and that such chemicals spread easily from crop to crop leaving no food truly “organic” is common.

In 2008, the incredible increases in food prices and resulting shortages lead to widespread political turmoil, hunger, and environmental degradation, the impact of which is still being felt today. Indeed, before the food crisis approximately 854 million people were considered undernourished by the UN, and a report published by the UNEP suggests that after the crisis 1 billion people are. Further, a 50-200% increase in varying commodity prices in 2008 still affects the market today. 2008 was also the year of global economic recession, resulting in further volatility and increasing difficulties for the most at risk countries.

The exact cause of the crisis stems from a variety of factors. First and foremost, a steadily increasing population and thus greater demand for food. In 2008, the human population reached 6.6 billion, while in 1999 it was at only 6 billion. This, coupled with a drop in agricultural investment lead to a fundamental supply and demand imbalance, the world demanded more food but not enough was being made. Despite the fact that the developed world generates much more food than is needed to feed its own populations, the use of corn for ethanol lead to this instability. Further, cost of oil (one barrel of oil was over $100 in 2008) lead to increased transportation costs and lead to further volatility.

Additionally, several natural disaster and climate related factors played a role in the food crisis. Australia suffered significant drought, which lowered global wheat production and grain.

Desertification, the process of previously farmable land loosing its ability to support life, affected every continent except Antarctica. Overgrazing, as well as deforestation exacerbated such desertification.

The UN’s response to this food crisis was to create a High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Global Food Security Crisis. The task force assembled heads of specialized agencies within the UN, as well as members of the IMF, world back, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organization. Such a taskforce aimed to catalyze actions focusing on both immediate and long term problems, specifically focusing on the individual’s right to food and proper nutrition.

On February 10th, 2009, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon said, “We do not see many references these days to the food crisis in the news. It has been eclipsed by economic fears. But we are still not out of the woods. I call it our forgotten crisis - because it has not gone away.” However, several organizations did respond to the food crisis in significant manners.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) organized a conference on Food Security and Climate Change, and called for an increase in food production, fewer trade restrictions and further research. At the 2008 G8 summit, a statement was issued stressing the importance of food security, adding it to their 2009 agenda. Further, they underscored the need to assist the small farmer, specifically by providing fertilizers to increase overall food production.

In July 2008, the G8 furthered their commitment to the issue of food security by launching the “L’Aquila Food Security Initiative.” This initiative was designed to promote

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partnerships with food insecure countries, while pledging 20 billion US dollars. The comprehensive approach, as outlined in the conferences final report, is as follows:

1) Strengthen agricultural value chains, increase agriculture productivity, stimulate pre- and post-harvest actions, prioritize nutrition, support natural resource management, expand employment opportunities, knowledge and training, increase trade flows, and support good governance and policy reform

2) Emphasize private sector growth, smallholders, families and women, and access to land, markets, and financial services, including microfinance

3) Reduce trade distortions and refrain from raising new barriers to trade and investment

4) Strengthen investment in and access to education, research, science and technologies; and

5) Support risk management instruments and social protection mechanisms such as safety nets and social policies for the most vulnerable

These principals were commended during the

64th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and again endorsed by the FAO in November 2009.lii liii liv lv lvi lvii

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While there are many facets to the problem of food security, today the fundamental issues are: 1) Environmental impact of farming 2) Issues within the food distribution network 3) Biofuels 4) Effects of Global Warming. Environmental impact of farming:

No matter how you look at it, the current food insecurity our world is facing must be attributed to humans and our environmental degradation. One of the most obvious examples of such ruin can be found in our exploitation of land for food-related purposes. Such exploitation now has hurt land and water, to the extent that it can no longer provide.

According to a recent UNEP publication, over 20% of agriculture-related lands have “decreasing productivity due to degradation.” They suggest that the ecological stability (or instability, as it may be) of our current world will become further under threat due to a variety of factors. First, competition for water, due to domestic water withdrawals, and land, due to increasing expansion of urban areas, as well as demand for biofuels. Second, current agricultural practices are not practical, and continue to devastate the environment. Monocropping is cited as an example, whereby biodiversity is reduced, and natural resistance to pests and diseases are compromised. Finally, high use of fertilizer can contaminate ground water, while excessive cultivation leads to heavy soil loss. Even more “traditional” agricultural practices that do not utilize pesticides, fertilizers, etc. can over till land leading to further degradation.

Furthermore, marine fisheries also face

ecological uncertainty. In 2008, the FAO estimated that 53% of global aquatic species were fully exploited, and 32% were overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion. This is primarily due to overfishing in response to increasing populations and higher demand for food. Additionally, costal environments including coral reefs and mangrove forests have been negatively effected.

Habitat loss on the ocean floor as widespread as well, and is often due to the use of dynamite and cyanide. Decline in water purity, also known as the emergence of dead zones, has become increasingly common. These examples of ruined aquatic life and depleted oxygen levels are generally a result of pesticides and other agricultural supplements running off into the water supply.

Even inland water sources are affected negatively by human development including agricultural expansion and runoff, erosion and sediment pollution of water, and infrastructure development.

Finally, it is important to note the importance of peoples overall wealth, and the correlation between demand for food and per capita income. As citizens of the developing world become richer overall, they demand more meat and grown foods, which in turn requires more land and more water. Meat, beef in particular, requires an incredible about of water and feed, bringing the human diet’s future sustainability into question. lviii

Current Situation

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Issues within the food distribution

network

It is difficult to discuss food crises, malnutrition and starvation in the developing and underdeveloped world, while the US and much of the developed world suffer instead from obesity. How is it that while half of the world does not have enough to eat, the other half has too much? It turns out that in fact we do have enough food to feed the planet at a basic level, the problem lies within our distribution system.

A successful distribution system would be one that pairs need with abundance, and suppliers with demand. In the case of food, it involves producers (farmers, fishermen, etc.) equally allocating food supply to each member of the global population. However, this transaction is almost never direct, instead food is shipped to some destination, where it is allocated inefficiently.

A large portion of the problem centers on cost. Especially in rural areas of developing and underdeveloped countries, lack of incentives for new markets force farmers to keep rather than sell their crops. According to the World Hunger Series, only one third of farmers sell to markets. Further, developed nations offer a safety net to farmers in the form of subsidies, providing incentives and increasing output. Unfortunately, this is safety net poorer nations cannot afford to

implement.

Another issue is within transportation. While it varies by country, overall underdeveloped and developing nations have less public infrastructure, and there therefore less connected. It is very difficult to move food from rural to urban areas, and nearly impossible to bring in foreign food to poor rural areas. Even existing infrastructure is often damaged and ill maintained, further hindering distribution

Finally, food waste further obstructs the distribution system. In many food insecure countries, such waste occurs during transportation and after the harvest, and comes in the form of disease, insects, and fungus. In fact it is suggested that 25-50% of all produced food is inevitably wasted due to inedibility. lix biofuels

While many hail biofuels as the answer to the world’s dependence on oil, there are significant problems that come with this solution. In terms of food security, biofuels contribute to the growing scarcity of sustenance in many developing, and underdeveloped countries. These fuels are extremely hazardous to the world’s food supply, indeed in a world where food crises plague our existence; a full 2% of arable land is used for the growth of biofuels. Is a lesser dependence on fossil fuels really worth its impact on global food security?

UNEP 27 Over the years biofuels have caused

staggering volatility in the price and availability of food. Inability to purchase food is a growing problem in many countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Biofuels are also produced on land that could otherwise be used for development of food. In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 100 European companies have bought about 25,000 sq. miles to be exploited for biofuels. The sub-Saharan region of Africa remains one of the least food secure places on earth. Land that could otherwise be used for food has instead been turned into fuel, only contributing to rise of food prices and the prevalence of malnutrition and starvation.

In the past few years, food prices have soared. Estimates range, but the World Bank speculates that 80% of this dramatic rise in food prices was caused by biofuels. If food prices continue to rise at this trajectory, without similar increases in familial income, poorer countries may reach a record for food insecurity. Further, many biofuels, such as ethanol, are made from corn, a fundamental food source in many communities. Corn is one of the most widely eaten foods in the world, and a lessened availability would impact hundreds of cultures across the world.

This “food vs. fuel” debate has gained much international attention, and the concern is represented in the markets. In response to huge increases in corn prices, overall investment in the United States ethanol industry went from $1.7 billion in 2007 to $311 million in 2008, outside the US investment in the ethanol industry fell 15%.

Additionally, issues such as agricultural subsidies can distort markets and prices, so it is unclear how much of the volatility is due to biofuels. Additionally, a commonly proposed

solution to the bioenergy problem focuses on the land used. If, in fact, bioenergy feedstock were grown on land unusable for consumable food, including land ruined by excessive salinity, perhaps the effects would not be so detrimental. Indeed, for such insolvent lands, the effect may even be environmentally restorative. Research and experimentation for this new generation of biofuels is necessary, but the result is promising.lx lxi the impact of global warming

As global warming progresses, the world is getting more food insecure. The Earth’s ecosystem is extremely fragile, and even discreet changes in climate affect it. While on a basic level, the increase in carbon dioxide, and warmer temperatures will encourage faster maturity in many plants; the negative effect of global warming clearly drowns out the positives, from an environmental food perspective alone.

The increase in severity of the climate coupled with the affects of rainless periods, floods, and heat waves would quickly kill various species of plants. With fewer harvests, certain foods will immediately become scarce and this trend will contribute to a rise in food prices, and a drop in food availability. With less global food supply, even more countries will be considered “food insecure”, and currently “food secure” nations would be less equipped to compensate.

The death of plants would also indirectly harm animals. Many crops that are used for animal food would die, resulting in turn in the death of some animal species. Vegetation is the very base of the food chain, and with the effects of global warming, slowly but surely each level would be annihilated.

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Unsurprisingly, global warming will affect global meat supply as well. The price of remaining meat will skyrocket, and coupled with lack of arable land and edible crops, would induce a scarcity of food.

It is easy to speculate that, in response, the practice of hoarding (a practice instrumental in the progression of the 2008 Global Food Crisis) would become even more common. A scarcity of meat would cause a global frenzy in an attempt to stock remaining product, and some supplementary foods. As evidenced by the 2008 crisis, this would lead to significant political turmoil, and global warfare. This would be detrimental for poorer countries without the resources to produce food, or finances to hoard.

Climate change would also affect the quality of the food we consume. An increase in carbon dioxide will cause food to grow quicker, however it will be far less nutritious and effective. Drastic climate change also allow for an increase in parasitic organisms, potentially lethal for both humans and animals.

In addition to plants and land animals, fish will be very much in danger in the wake of global warming. Fish require an extremely stable environment to survive and the change that global warming brings would be detrimental to many species survival.

Many countries that rely on fishing would see their economies devastated. Not only would

the overall drop in number of fish in the ocean decrease availability, but would also limit

the purchasing power for many people. This would additionally contribute to an increase in food prices.

A drop in availability of plants, animals, and fish would affect all of the world’s population. Something must be done to prevent this catastrophe.lxii

http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/74723/sternre

view.pdf

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United States of America

The U.S.A. is known for wasting many of its plentiful resources. 50% of water used in agriculture and 30% of food is wasted. Around $100,000,000,000 is lost/year. Africa

Africa remains one of the least food insecure continents in the world. 25% of all crops are destroyed after they have fully matured. Millions of dollars are lost in Africa over spoiled milk and dairy

Asia

33 million tons of fruits and vegetables are wasted/lost each year in India. Around 9 billion dollars of food is lost or wasted each year, in India. Asia contains a diverse community of food insecure and food secure nations. Europe

Only about 68% of food is eaten in the United Kingdom. 61% of the food wasted could have been circumvented it had been utilized more properly.

Bloc Positions

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Questions to Consider

1) Currently underdeveloped and developing countries tend to be less food secure than developed countries. What is the best way to ration food so that all countries are relatively food secure?

2) What can we do to reverse global warming’s affect on food security?

3) How do we prevent biofuels from becoming overly detrimental to underdeveloped nations’ food

security?

4) Should biofuels be legislated on a worldwide stage, or should each country decide it’s own policy for managing biofuels?

5) Is it possible to maintain current output without the detrimental effects to the environment?

6) How can we best reform the food distribution network?

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Suggestions for Further Research

A good place to start is always the UNEP website, the Agriculture and Food Sub-Section is

particularly useful. http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/Home/Business/SectoralActivities/AgricultureFood/tabid/78943/Default.aspx

Another report that would be helpful for understanding specifics is UNEP sponsored, and is called “The Environmental Food Crisis” http://www.grida.no/files/publications/FoodCrisis_lores.pdf

The FAO also has very relevant information and reports, including “The State of Food Security in the World” http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/

Finally, creating a Google alert, or just keeping up with the news is always helpful, especially with a constantly developing topic, and news articles are an easier way to find your own articles position and current situation.

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Role of the Committee

The UNEP works by enlisting the help of the global community and suggesting solutions to

international, regional, national and local bodies. The UNEP investigates and compiles information on the state of the environment, spreads awareness about issues facing the environment, organizes the UN on matters of the environment, advises governments on pressing issues, provides help to countries in times of crisis, and advances environmental rules and regulations. The UNEP has country-specific programs, but can only carry them out with the approval of the national government. The UNEP also works in conjunction with existing organizations, and can endorse and expand the projects carried out by other bodies.

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Structure of the Committee

UNEP will be a single-delegate, medium-sized committee. We will stick closely to YMUN committee rules and parliamentary procedures, as explained in the delegate handbook. In particular, note that more than one resolution may pass for each topic, as long as they do not contradict each other. Delegates should familiarize themselves with policy and possible solutions for each topic, and we will spend most of committee time discussing these ideas and putting them into working papers and resolutions. However, do prepare for the possibility of a crisis that will require UNEP’s quick response. Prior to committee, we expect each delegate to thoroughly research the two topics as they pertain to the represented nation’s policy, and summarize this research into a position paper for each topic. For specific guidelines on the position papers, please visit the YMUN website. Make sure to include ideas for future action by UNEP and possible solutions, as long as they do not violate national policy. Delegates must submit position papers by the first committee session – either in person or by email – to be eligible for awards. We would love to read your position papers ahead of time; if you would like feedback on your papers, you must email them to naintara.rajan@yale.edu and maya.fishbach@yale.edu by January 9, 2014.

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NOTES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i “A Brief History of UNEP,” in UNEP Organization Profile, accessed July 25, 2013, http://www.unep.org/PDF/UNEPOrganizationProfile.pdf. ii “Communication Strategy for Global Compliance with the Montreal Protocol (Decision 37/71 (b)),” (UNEP/DTIE, 2002), 18. http://www.multilateralfund.org/sites/38/Document%20Library2/1/3869_E.pdf iii “A Brief History of UNEP,” in UNEP Organization Profile, accessed July 25, 2013, http://www.unep.org/PDF/UNEPOrganizationProfile.pdf. iv “Disasters and Conflicts,” UNEP, http://na.unep.net/geas/disasters-conflicts.php v Grasso, Veronica F. and Singh, Ashbindu. “Early Warning Systems: State-of-Art Analysis and Future Directions,” UNEP, http://na.unep.net/geas/docs/early_warning_system_report.pdf vi “History,” The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, (2012), http://www.unisdr.org/who-we-are/history vii “International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction,” GA Res. 44/236, 85th plen. Meeting, December 22 1989, http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r236.htm viii “History,” UNISDR. ix Grasso and Singh, “Early Warning Systems.” x “History,” UNISDRI. xi “Hyogo Framework for Action,” UNISDR, http://www.unisdr.org/we/coordinate/hfa xii Harmeling, Sven and David Eckstein. “Global Climate Risk Index 2013,” Germanwatch, November 2012. http://germanwatch.org/en/download/7170.pdf xiii “The Greenhouse Effect,” University of California, San Diego, 2002, http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/rotary/greenhouse_effect/01.shtml xiv “Keeling Curve,” University of California, San Diego, 2002, http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/rotary/keeling_curve/01.shtml xv “Atmospheric CO2 for July 2013,” CO2 Now, http://co2now.org/ xvi “Global Warming,” University of California, San Diego, 2002, http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/rotary/global_warming/03.shtml xvii IPCC, 2012: “Summary for Policymakers.” In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea,K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/images/uploads/SREX-SPMbrochure_FINAL.pdf xviii “Natural Disasters and Post-Conflict Response,” UNEP Annual Report (2007), http://www.unep.org/PDF/AnnualReport/2007/7_AnnualReport2007_en_DisastersPostConflict.pdf xix “Synthesis Report: Consultations on a Post-2015 Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (HFA2),” UNISDR, April 2013, http://www.preventionweb.net/files/32535_hfasynthesisreportfinal.pdf xx “Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA),” UNISDR, http://www.unisdr.org/we/coordinate/hfa xxi “Synthesis Report: Consultations on a Post-2015 Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (HFA2).” xxii “Synthesis Report: Consultations on a Post-2015 Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (HFA2).” xxiii “Early warning systems can save lives when cyclones strike,” International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, United Nations. Press Release, May 6 2008. xxiv “Platform for the Promotion of Early Warning,” UNISDR (2006), http://www.unisdr.org/2006/ppew/whats-ew/basics-ew.htm xxv Grasso, Veronica F. and Singh, Ashbindu. “Early Warning Systems: State-of-Art Analysis and Future Directions,” UNEP, http://na.unep.net/geas/docs/early_warning_system_report.pdf xxvi Goldammer, Johann G. and de Groot, Bill. “Towards the Development of a Global Early Warning System for Wildland Fire,” http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/fwf/EWS.htm xxvii Grasso and Singh, “Early Warning Systems.”

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!xxviii http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/28/colorado-wildfires-2012_n_1635094.html xxix “Overview of the Global Fire Early Warning System,” GlobalEWS, http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/gwfews/overview.html xxx Grasso and Singh, “Early Warning Systems.” xxxi “The Global Ocean Observing System,” GOOS (2013), http://www.ioc-goos.org xxxii http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22555779 xxxiii Grasso and Singh, “Early Warning Systems.” xxxiv Herin, Jacob. “Volcano sparks ‘alert’ after lava kills 6 islanders as they sleep,” August 12 2013, http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/12/19984307-volcano-sparks-alert-after-lava-kills-6-islanders-as-they-sleep?lite xxxv Grasso and Singh, “Early Warning Systems.” xxxvi Grasso and Singh, “Early Warning Systems.” xxxvii “Protecting Development From Disasters: UNDP's Support to the Hyogo Framework for Action,” UNDP, July 21 2013, http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/crisis-prevention-and-recovery/drt-global-impact-study-/ xxxviii Newport, Samantha. “UNEP Launches First Graduate Course on Disasters, Environment and Risk Reduction,” UNEP News Centre, July 11 2013 http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2718&ArticleID=9539 xxxix Okazaki, Kenji. “Disaster Education,” Building Research Institute (BRI) and the Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) (2007), http://www.preventionweb.net/files/3442_DisasterEducation.pdf xl “Preventing and mitigating natural disasters,” World Meteorological Organization (2006), http://www.preventionweb.net/files/2548_WMO993.pdf xli Slotte, Henrik Alexander. “Disasters and Conflicts,” UNEP, http://www.unep.org/pdf/brochures/DisastersAndConflicts.pdf xlii Thummarukudy, Muralee and Marisol Estrella, “Disaster Risk Reduction: Global Advocacy,” UNEP: Disasters and Conflicts, http://www.unep.org/disastersandconflicts/Introduction/DisasterRiskReduction/Globaladvocacy/tabid/104427/Default.aspx xliii Thiaw, Ibrahim, “Applying Ecosystem-based Approaches for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation,” General Assembly Thematic Debate on Disaster Risk Reduction, April 12 2012, http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/66/Issues/drr/panellists/04-12-2012%20Ibrahim%20Thiaw.pdf xliv “Press Release: North America most affected by increase in weather-related natural catastrophes,” Munich Re, October 17, 2012, http://www.munichre.com/en/media_relations/press_releases/2012/2012_10_17_press_release.aspx xlv “Respond to Natural Disasters,” Pan American Development Foundation (2013), http://www.padf.org/programs/program/natural-disasters xlvi “New action plan launched in South America to promote resilience, risk reduction, and preparedness towards disasters,” European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department, June 3, 2013, http://reliefweb.int/report/world/new-action-plan-launched-south-america-promote-resilience-risk-reduction-and xlvii “Asia-Pacific most prone to natural disasters but lacks preparedness – UN report,” UN News Centre, October 26, 2010 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36563&Cr=disaster+%20risk&Cr1#.Ug0HHmTwJ74 xlviii Wassener, Bettina. “Natural Disasters Hinder Progress in Asia, Development Bank Says,” The New York Times, November 13, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/business/global/14iht-report14.html?_r=0 xlix “Using Information and Communication Technology to Protect Citizens against Natural Disasters,” The World Bank, June 27, 2012, http://go.worldbank.org/FIIUAIC570 l “Europe’s vulnerability to natural disasters quickly rising – UN agency,” UN News Centre, October 11, 2011, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?Cr1=&NewsID=40016&Cr=natural+disasters#.Ug7PImTwJ74 li “EU response to natural disasters,” EUR-Lex: Access to European Union Law, March 16, 2012 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/dossier/dossier_60.htm lii http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/202922.pdf liii http://www.un-foodsecurity.org/background liv http://www.preservearticles.com/2012032028049/what-are-the-problems-of-green-revolution.html lv http://www.infoplease.com/science/environment/global-food-crisis.html

UNEP 37 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lvi http://www.grida.no/files/publications/FoodCrisis_lores.pdf lvii http://www.unep.org/publications/search/pub_details_s.asp?ID=4019 lviiihttp://www.unep.org/publications/ebooks/avoidingfamines/portals/19/UNEP_Food_Security_Executive_summary.pdf lix http://12.000.scripts.mit.edu/mission2014/problems/inadequate-food-distribution-systems lx http://www.unep.org/bioenergy/Issues/BioenergyRisks/FoodSecurity/tabid/79404/Default.aspx lxi http://www.unep.org/climatechange/mitigation/Bioenergy/Issues/FoodSecurity/tabid/29470/Default.aspx lxii http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/agriculture.html