INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS TRAINING GROUP - 13TH SIMULATION

Thursday, 29 October 2009

"Climate Change- Sinking 'Tonabu'"

AFA Office (Kurt-Waldheim-Memorial-Library)

A-1010  WIEN, Johannesg. 2/2/32

The negotiators were strongly recommended to read the rules of procedure http://afa.at/vimun/rules2006.pdf

Results:

In his special session about the urgent crisis in Tonabu, the Security Council decided on an evacuation plan to be carried out within the next three months under the joint coordination of Australia and the PIF. The Security Council requested OCHA to coordinate and supervise the building of temporary refugee camps on Australian territory. The members of the Security Council confirmed their technical and financial support and agreed on the establishment of an emergency fund under the coordination of OCHA. The Security Council also decided to convene in another special session to further decide on the status of the refugees of Tonabu. Nevertheless, the Security Council could not decide on the term and the judicial status of "climate refugees" and requests the International Law Commission to deliberate on this issue.

A draft resolution on long term measures concerning refugees having to flee their islands due to extreme weather was put on the floor by France, after consultations with the IPCC. The meeting lasted for 2.5 hours.

Best Speaker: Alexandra Dancasiu

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I. Scenario

The fictitious small island state “Tonabu” is about to disappear: Due to extreme weather (in all likelihood a consequence of climate change) the islands are already two-thirds flooded.In this scenario, we are simulating a SC session called upon by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to decide upon immediate measures to help the people of “Tonabu” and long-term measures for “climate refugees”.

II. Background

Tonabu is a Polynesian island state in the South Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia, with a population of approximately 41, 500 spread across 17 islands covering 113km^2.Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Tuvalu and Samoa.

On 25 October 2009, Tonabu experienced a devastating storm which resulted in severe flooding. According to the government of Tonabu, the flooding combined with a rising sea level, will leave approximately two-thirds of the state devastated and uninhabitable. It is expected that the remaining four inhabitable islands, which include the main island and capital Tatana, might be flooded within the next months. The flood of 26 October 2009 has caused many casualties, with exact figures still to be determined. Those who could flee have fled to the main island and neighbouring states. Approximately 15, 000 people have already arrived in Samoa and Kiribati, where the first food shortages are being registered.

The representative of the Pacific Islands Forum will give an overview of the status of the first aid measures being implemented.

Australia and New Zealand (in this scenario represented as members of the Commonwealth by the UK) agreed to accommodate as many refugees as possible for the near future and will accept a considerable number of migrants.

III. Positions

UN Security Council permanent member states:

China

France

Russian Federation

United Kingdom

United States

Representative of the IPCC

Representative of the Pacific Islands Forum speaking on behalf of the PIF and Tonabu

China:

China, though the largest carbon emitting country at the moment, does not admit being responsible for Climate Change. On the contrary, China blames the industrial nations, especially the USA, for having polluted the environment long before emerging economies. Nevertheless, China is willing to discuss the topic of climate change and related issues but not within the framework of the Security Council. Regarding the urgent issue of Tonabuan refugees, China can conceive of providing humanitarian aid but also thinks that this issue would be better debated in another UN forum outside the Security Council.

France:

France considers itself playing a major role in international environmental protection. It is convinced that environmental protection and international security are interrelated issues and need to be handled accordingly. Therefore, France does not only consider the urgent crisis of Tonabu to be an issue for the Security Council but also the entire issue of “climate refugees”. Moreover, France is prepared to help Tonabu in its desperate situation and demands that quick and effective measures be taken by the Security Council to address this problem.

Russian Federation:

Within the last decade, the Russian Federation has increased its efforts towards implementing a sustainable climate policy. With its ratification of the Kyoto protocol, the Russian Federation not only indicated its desire to address its own climate policy but also showed its desire to join with international community in addressing the issue of climate change. However, when it comes to the involvement of the Security Council, the Russian Federation – similar to China – does not consider it the appropriate forum for discussions on Climate Change. Still, it sees the dramatic situation of Tonabu with great concern and is prepared to offer assistance.

UK:

The UK chairs the SC in our scenario. The UK , in 2007, initiated the issue of climate change to be dealt with in the Security Council. It has always insisted on assessing and discussing climate-related risks to international security. The UK therefore wishes to address long-term (& preventive) measures for “climate refugees” in the Security Council as well. Furthermore, the UK as Commonwealth member has a special responsibility to the people of Tonabu. It supports their need for international aid and calls on the international community to act according to its responsibility for addressing climate change, as the small island state is not capable of resolving the situation on its own.

USA:

The USA believes that security and climate change are closely linked issues, which can obviously be seen from the example of the current dramatic situation of Tonabu. While the USA was hesitant to commit itself to binding goals of carbon emission reductions it is more assertive in helping Tonabu and urges the Security Council to pass substantial and effective resolution. Furthermore, the USA considers it a necessity to develop an action plan and general approach on “climate refugees” in the Security Council. However, concerning preventive measures the USA follows a strategy of bilateral relations.

IPCC:

The IPCC is mostly considered the most credible source of knowledge on climate change. IPCC is a scientific intergovernmental body established in 1988 by WMO and UNEP - both UN organizations - to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic information. Every five or six years, it produces assessments based mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific/technical literature on climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. The IPCC publishes special reports topics relevant to the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty that acknowledges the possibility of harmful climate change; implementation of the UNFCCC led eventually to the Kyoto Protocol. It is mostly due to the role of the IPCC that climate change is currently so high in rank in the debate about global problems of the 21st century. In its widely reviewed 4h assessment report, the panel has said that one of the consequences of global warming would be more extreme weather events - droughts, floods and storms would become more frequent and more severe. The IPCC clearly labels climate change as human affected, and although required to be approached with coping instruments, such as reducing greenhouse gases, also inevitable to be stopped in its general trend which requires simultaneous adaption efforts as well. All together, the IPCC therefore clearly runs a strategy of institutionalization and internationalization in dealing with disasters caused by climate change. A representative of the IPCC will be present at this SC session in order to give his expertise. (Detailed information will be sent to the participants upon request.)

PIF:

The PIF is an intergovernmental organization founded by its members in 1971. Its member states are Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.The organization is coordinated by a secretariat, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS). Its mission is “to work in support of Forum member governments, to enhance the economic and social well-being of the people of the South Pacific by fostering cooperation between governments and between international agencies, and by representing the interests of Forum members in ways agreed by the Forum”. Aside from these strategies of regionalisation, securitisation and institutionalisation, the PIF also applies a strategy of internationalisation, which shows first successes: The United Nations announced that it would partner with Sāmoa to develop an Inter-Agency Climate Change Centre to help Pacific island nations combat the impacts of climate change in the region.One aspect of the strategy of securitization is that the PIF links climate change to the concept of human security, which was initiated by the UNDP Human Development Report of 1994. Within this concept an emphasis rests on environmental security: Environmental security aims to protect people from the short- and long-term ravages of nature, man-made threats in nature, and deterioration of the natural environment. In developing countries, lack of access to clean water resources is one of the greatest environmental threats. Global warming, caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, is another environmental security issue.Occasionally the concept of Human Security is also used to connect the concept of responsibility to protect (R2P). Summed up, it can be expected that the PIF will call for a shared responsibility of the international community to assist the affected member states. It can also claim to have created awareness of the effects of climate change before but now seems to be at the limits of their own capacities. Also, the importance of multilateral and international disaster relief assistance is most pressing due to the inability of small island states (SIS) that are particularly due to their limited capacity and fragile and vulnerable environment to be able to help themselves. International cooperation and assistance seems to be therefore of utmost importance. (Detailed information will be sent to the participants upon request.)