UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Rising temperatures around the world and increasingly-severe natural disasters mark a dire trajectory for our planet, with 2023 being the warmest year by far since global records began in 1850. Despite existing legislation and various UN Sustainable Development Goals being directed towards lessening the global dependence on harmful industrial practices and supporting the implementation of renewable energies and technologies, international and state progress has fallen short of planned deadlines. As a result, key sectors have been sorely impacted, particularly in developing countries. At the same time, novel opportunities in previously inaccessible regions have arisen, prompting discussion regarding the sustainable handling of resources.

The focus of the UNFCCC & WMO committee is thus to tackle this urgent blend of old and new problems through legislative, infrastructural, and anticipatory lenses. 

Examples of topics may include the disproportionate effect of climate phenomenon on vital industries in the global south, with wildfires, intense droughts and flooding, major landslides, and cyclones having caused significant fatalities and economic losses across Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa in recent years. This committee would require careful assessment of the adaptation gap and considerations of international compliance and support, as well as discussions on how to build resilient warning and infrastructure systems in order to mitigate negative consequences to crops, water sources, and homes at the heart of these developing countries. 

Another topic may constitute the looming question of the Arctic, and what the exponential melting of the ice caps in the Arctic region signifies for resource extraction, fishing expeditions within exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and potential trans-Arctic trade routes. The task of this committee would be to assess competing claims by various nations in the north and evaluate how existing legislation can be modified or new policies enacted to balance the exploitation of natural gas with the conservation of the remaining Arctic wildlife.