The GA Committees develop resolutions based on their respective title (i.e. The Legal Committee debates legal issues) that may be forwarded to the General Assembly for consideration.  Since resolutions may be forwarded to the General Assembly, delegates from these committees may be allowed to address the General Assembly, but are not guaranteed that right. Therefore all comments and discussion points from a country of this committee should be forwarded to their General Assembly Ambassador. 

Topic 1: Alteration in Weather Patterns

In recent history, especially the first seven years of the 21st century, there has been a noticeable increase in extreme weather patterns and severe storms. These events include the devastation caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, the 2003 northwest Europe heat wave. The calculated death tolls of these events are 229,866; 1,836; and 23,000 respectively (CNN.com). In addition to the enormous loss of life caused be these potent natural occurrences, there was a drastic economic effect which accompanied this loss of life.
The United Nations sponsors a subcommittee, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), whose main goal is to promote cooperation between established meteorological research facilities, strive to expand the field and research efforts on meteorology, and set the standards for meteorological research ("WMO in Brief"). Also, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change also brought to light the need of funds to both research and help victims of disasters as a result of climate change. There is question of how we would be able to adapt to these changes and even if adaptation is a reasonable alternative. Many issues that stem from alteration of weather patterns are the need for water, spread of diseases and an increase in world wide migration ("United Nations Framework...").
The alteration in weather patterns is largely due to the actions of humans. These include emission of green house gases, changing the environment to suit our needs, and many more activities that harm the Earth. One of the side effects of our abuse of the world is the increasing threat of Global Warming and how it affects Earth. In addition, the destruction of forests not only kills trees, but it demolishes entire ecosystems and sources of oxygen, both of which balance the vital ecosystems and climate.

Questions:

• Is the WMO capable of undertaking a stronger more informed stance on the imminent problem of climate changes?
• How can information gathered from the many nations of the world be shared and applied to aid in the solution to this problem?
• Is there any way to reverse the environmental changes or better predict when and how they will take place in the future?

Works Cited:
“Cable News Network (CNN)” 1 Jan. 2006. CNN. 13 Mar.-Apr. 2007 <http://www.cnn.com>.

"United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change." UNFCC. 17 Apr.-May 2007. United Nations. 23 Apr.-May 2007 <http://unfccc.int/2860.php>.

"WMO in Brief." World Meteorological Organization. 2004. United Nations. 13 Mar.- Apr. 2007 <http://www.wmo.int/pages/about/index_en.html>.

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Topic 2: Internet/File-Sharing Regulation

The Internet is also known as the World Wide Web. The technology is spreading rapidly to all corners of the globe, but the Internet also comes with many issues that need to be addressed on a global scale.

Most recently, countries debated at the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia to decide whether or not the United Nations should take over the regulation of the Internet (International). The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has largely assigned domains, but other countries were not content as the United States controlled much of the Internet’s infrastructure (Internet). However some countries, like the United States, remain adamant about holding on to their control of the Internet while other countries such as Syria greatly support having the Internet under the control of an international organization. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations, has developed Digital Opportunity Index as a means of measuring the Internet and as a means of mapping out the World Wide Web (International).

Accompanying the growth of the Internet are the rampant violations of international copyright laws in the form of illegal file-sharing. Downloading copyrighted movies and music without payment, which is called Internet piracy, can adversely affect a country’s economy. This has become especially prevalent in countries in Asia as local governments have tried, with little success, to stop the spread of this crime. The World Trade Organization (WTO) administered the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) which extends copyright laws to intellectual property, or media that is recorded or written (TRIPS). However, this treaty has attracted criticism from developing countries and non-governmental organizations because it reduces trade liberalization. FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is commonly used to transfer information through a network, or most often, through the Internet. However, regulation for sharing information this way is not uniform, and so, without strict measures, shared files can be viewed by anyone using the network which poses a risk to all.

Especially prevalent are the conflicts over the censorship of online materials. One country’s censorship laws may challenge another’s censorship laws. Amnesty International supports an “irrepressible.info” campaign to advocate the right to free speech offline or online. This campaign denounces the actions of some governments, such as that of China, that undermine freedom of expression and also denounces major companies such as Google that comply with China’s strict censorship laws (Amnesty).

Questions:

• Who should have jurisdiction over the Internet? Should that include file-sharing?
• What can be done to prevent further spread of online copyright infringement?
• Should there exist international laws, separate from national laws, to govern the Internet? Of so, what kind of punishment should there be to enforce the laws?
• How can we persuade other countries to participate in global enforcement of intellectual copyright laws?
• Should a country’s censorship laws be applied to websites that are outside its domain?

Works Cited:
Amnesty International UK. Undermining Freedom of Expression in China: The Role of Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google. London: Amnesty International, 2006.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. 4 Apr 2007. 22 Apr 2007 <http://www.icann.org>.

International Telecommunication Union. 22 Apr 2007 <http://www.itu.int>.

TRIPS. 22 Apr 2007 <http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/trips_e.htm>.

Topic 3: Conservation and Distribution of Natural Resources

Natural resources are products of the earth that support living organisms and affect the quality of the world in which people live. They are used to make food, fuel, and raw materials for the production of finished goods. Every country has natural resources, but some have more valuable natural resources than others (Aaron 1).

Natural resources are categorized as renewable which naturally grow back, or non-renewable which disappear permanently. Some natural resources are water, fossil fuels, timber, minerals, coal, plants, and animals. Food comes from plants or animals; wood offers fuel and shelter; fossil fuels and coal supply heat, light, and power; life is depends on water. If water and food were to run out, then life would cease to exist (Aaron 2).

Non-renewable natural resources must be watched over so that they are not used up. Even renewable natural resources are being used up quicker than they can be replaced. The conservation of natural resources has become a huge problem in the last century (Adams 1). Protecting natural resources is important to the world and life on earth, but few countries have all vital natural resources. Water must be conserved and protected from pollutants. Some people drink polluted water and eat polluted food because their government cannot afford regular water or food for their citizens. Some live in famine and drought since there is no food or water provided by their governments (Brown 28).

Natural resource policies play a huge role in international politics. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) already exists and ensures the conservation of natural resources and preservation of biological diversity. The task of the IUCN’s is to influence, encourage, and assist societies throughout the world to conserve their use of natural resources, but it does not enforce a policy (Thiaw 1). The distribution and conservation of natural resources is not an organized enterprise (Adams 1). People who lack natural resources are dying, and the number of deaths will grow as natural resources begin to disappear (Brown 62).

The depletion of natural resources is one of the world’s largest threats. Natural resources distribution is inadequate, and therefore the demand for the natural resources is going up especially with the exponential population growth. This causes many people in poverty or below the poverty line to die while other people are living in leisure and do not have to worry about not having the natural resources (Thiaw 2).

Questions:

Who should control the distribution and conservation of natural resources?
How can natural resources be conserved?
Should natural resources be allocated across the world where countries richer with natural resource help out those other countries that do not have as many natural resources?
How can people be educated with this growing threat of losing natural resources?
Should the preservation of some natural resources have a higher priority than others?

Works Cited:
Aaron, Henry J. "Natural Resources." World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. 23 Apr. 2007. <http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article=ar384040>.

Adams, John H. "Natural Resources Defense Council." World Geography. 2007.
ABC-CLIO. 23 Apr. 2007 <http://www.worldgeography.abc-clio.com>.

Brown, Lester R. State of the World 2001. London, England: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2001.

Thiaw, Ibrahim. "World Conservation Union." World Geography. 2007. ABC-CLIO. 23 Apr. 2007 <http://www.worldgeography.abc-clio.com>.

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