United Nations Environment Program

OakMUN 2012

UN Environmental Programme
Oakridge Model UN 2012
Background Guide

Format of Position Paper

Name of Delegation : Topic: (State clearly): Problems/stand of the country: ______________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Solutions : ________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________

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Topics:
Topic 1: The Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors and Related Environmental Consequences.
Many of the worlds nuclear reactors are aging towards the end of their designated life span, at a time when the long withstanding problem of radioactive nuclear waste disposal is still unsettled. A few decades ago, it was said that the debate on nuclear power had reached intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies. However, the controversy over nuclear power has resurfaced today with a similar gravity. Advocates point to nuclear power as a much-needed energy source in an era of rising demand and the need to curb carbon emission levels, and of political instability in oil exporting countries warranting greater energy independence. Opponents cite public health and safety risks, and environmental damage from processing, transport and mining (uranium, as a fuel source). In regard to the issue of political instability, the spectre of sabotage and nuclear weapons is raised. Insofar as unintentional occurrences are concerned, one needs only to look back on the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japana disaster of major proportions, and of which the effects are not yet fully understood.

Topic 2: Environmental Governance- sustained use of resources, managing environmental threats,

especially cross- border threats, and Disaster Management.

Governing our planets rich and diverse natural resources is an increasingly complex challenge. In our globalised world of interconnected nations, economies and people, managing environmental threats, particularly those that cross political borders such as air pollution and biodiversity loss, will require new global, regional, national and local responses involving a wide range of stakeholders. Current environmental governance arrangements are inadequate and have led to continued degradation of the environment. Effective environmental governance at all levels is critical for finding solutions to these challenges. Good environmental governance takes into account the role of all factors that impact the environment. Non-sustainable uses of natural resources threaten individual livelihoods as well as local, national and international economies. Considerations for a reformed regime must take into account the economic and social benefits of preserving the environment as well as Disaster Management.

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Welcome Note:
Dear Delegates, Welcome. It is my pleasure to invite you to the UNEP Committee at OakMUN 2012. My name is Mehek Vajawatt and I have the privilege of being the Director of what promises to be one of the most stimulating committees here. I am a student of the IBDP programme here at Oakridge and enjoy debates, drama, and of course, MUNing. I enjoy the (rather rare these days) quite evenings curled in bed with a book while sipping lemon tea (my favourite). I read diversely, from fanfiction and fiction to political publications. But these days, I am rather occupied with my philosophy books! I have also found a recent love for classical music and French Opera. And when I am not occupied with school, I love to travel. Nature has always been my first love, since I grew up in the picturesque City of Lakes. I am always willing to learn something new. I am curious by nature and love a challenge! At this committee, we hope to replicate the UNEP Mission which is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. Two decades since the Rio Conference, we find ourselves faced with new and old challenges which require us to reach the boundaries of negotiating capabilities with a diverse mix of enriching discussions and intense debates. Today we stand at one of the most crucial junctures in human history, as today we dont fear each other but what we fear for is our common future. Our ecosystems are hanging by a thread and what we have ahead of us is a race against time. While some of the problems seem insurmountable, they are also opportunity avenues for international co-operation and for ordinary beings like me and you to make a difference, to be the change we wish to see. Consequently, what this committee requires is a fresh approach and commitment so strong that a global solution to the environmental issues is laid out unequivocally. I hope to help provide an enriching experience. Remember, the more prepared you come; the better you can contribute to the committee and more you can get out of it. Please research as much as possible, we live in an evolving world, where there is always something new to be learnt. Please do not hesitate to contact me over anything. Looking forward to seeing all of you this Fall!

Best, Mehek Vajawatt Director, UNEP OakMUN 2012

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Letter from ADs

Dear Delegates, My name is Aryan Chhabria, and I am going to be one of your United Nations Environment Program Assistant Directors at OakMUN 2012. I am currently in my first year of the IB program (basically grade 11) in Mumbai at Singapore International School. I went to my first Model United Nations conference in grade 9 and after that I have just gotten heavily involved, so OakMUN would be my 12th MUN. I believe that since the beginning of time when humans walked the earth, humans have polluted and created issues but the impact of these actions werent as harmful as the population of humans wasnt that big. Today when the population is reaching about 7.1 billion, the impact is a lot bigger and when that is combined with natural disasters, there are international crises. This gives rise to the need of effective environmental governance on all levels. The exponential growth for need of power and the depletion of nonrenewable resources has led to advanced scientific discoveries such as nuclear power but everything has its advantages and disadvantages. These disadvantages have to be tackled without any malpractices which has brought a lot of attention towards the decommissioning of nuclear reactors. Not to pose myself as a MUN cyborg or anything on those lines, I also enjoy playing cricket which is the Indian in me because all Indian have cricket in their blood. Photography along with music is the artistic side of me and I think as I live in Mumbai I have always wanted to make movies but I havent really done that, yet. If there is anything I truly love in the world that is food and I think that will never change. I hope to see all of you at OakMUN with very good preparation, debating with passion and showing that after MUN you can move to UN.

Regards, Aryan Chhabria Assistant Director, UNEP.

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Hello Delegates, Welcome to UNEP. My name is Divija Zoldeo and it is my pleasure to be the Assistant Director of one of the most simulating committees in OakMUN 2012. I am a student of IB at Oakridge International School and love to MUN and debate. I enjoy reading a lot and am often found with my nose in a book. This will be the second time I am part of the Executive Board and I am looking forward to meeting the committee. I was introduced to MUNs in 9th grade when I attended THIMUN in Singapore. Since then, I have attended a variety of national and international MUN conferences. I am a person who enjoys learning new things and meeting new people. This is one of the reasons why I love MUN-ing! In todays age, man has destroyed the environment for his own selfish reasons. With man becoming extremely selfish and resources becoming scarcer and scarcer, there is a need for sustainable development. The UNEP aims to preserve todays environment so that our future generations have similar resources as we did. The UNEP committee at OakMUN 2012 promises to be a simulating committee with great debate. I look forward to meeting you all and hope that OakMUN 2012 will consist of heated debates and great research.

Regards, Divija Zoldeo Assistant Director, UNEP

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Introduction to the Committee:

Mission: To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring,
informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

UNEP is the United Nations systems designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the
global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. The mandate and objectives of UNEP emanate from: UN General Assembly resolution 2997 (XXVII) of 15 December 1972; Agenda 21, adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) in 1992; The Nairobi Declaration on the Role and Mandate of UNEP, adopted by the UNEP Governing Council in 1997; The Malm Ministerial Declaration and the UN Millennium Declaration, adopted in 2000; and Recommendations related to international environmental governance approved by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the 2005 World Summit.

Current President: Oliver Duli

Executive Director: Achim Steiner

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Brief History of UNEP:

FROM STOCKHOLM TO RIO, 1972-1992 UNEP was established after the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm, Sweden, proposed the creation of a global body to act as the environmental conscience of the UN system. In response, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2997 on 15 December, 1972 creating: The UNEP Governing Council, composed of 58 nations elected for four-year terms by the UN General Assembly, responsible for assessing the state of the global environment, establishing UNEP's programme priorities, and approving the budget; The UNEP Secretariat, with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, to provide a focal point for environmental action and coordination within the UN system, headed by an Executive Director, with the rank of UN Under-Secretary-General; and A voluntary Environment Fund to finance UNEPs environmental initiatives, to be supplemented by trust funds and funds allocated by the UN regular budget. The Stockholm Conference marked the formal acceptance by the international community that development and the environment are inextricably linked. It prompted a growing body of research that has greatly improved understanding and awareness of critical environmental issues over the past threeplus decades, and it provided the impetus for new national, regional and international environmental legislation worldwide. In the subsequent two decades, a proliferation of environmental conferences and conventions addressed various environmental issues, including conserving endangered species, controlling the movement of hazardous wastes and reversing the depletion of ozone layer. The most successful and well-known convention from this period was the 1987 Montreal Protocol of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of Ozone Layer, an example of international environmental cooperation whose inspiration reverberates to this day.

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Statement of the issue:

Topic 1: The Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors and Related Environmental Consequences. Decommissioning involves characterising, decontaminating and dismantling the reactors and the plant itself. This is followed by removing radioactive and other wastes; cleaning up the site; and ensuring that potentially harmful radioactive materials are not released into the environment and that the site complies with safety decommission as set forth.
Many of the worlds nuclear reactors are aging towards the end of their designated life span, at a time when the long withstanding problem of radioactive nuclear waste disposal is still unsettled.

Why is this important?

A few decades ago, it was said that the debate on nuclear power had reached an intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies (Kitschelt 1986). However, the controversy over nuclear power has resurfaced today with a similar gravity. Advocates point to nuclear power as a much-needed energy source in an era of rising demand and the need to curb carbon emission levels, and of political instability in oil exporting countries warranting greater energy independence. Opponents cite public health and safety risks, and environmental damage from processing, transport and mining (uranium, as a fuel source). In regard to the issue of political instability, the spectre of sabotage and nuclear weapons is raised. Insofar as unintentional occurrences are concerned, one needs only to look back on the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japana disaster of major proportions, and of which the effects are not yet fully understood.

However the Unquantifiable Costs of Decommissioning cannot be ignored.

The costs of decommissioning and waste disposal include the possibility of risks to public health, safety and the environment when not properly managed. Some unexpected incidents have been reported during decommissioning, including releases of radioactive elements and fires and floods affecting the storage sites. The primary problems arising from decommissioning relate to reprocessing and removing radioactive wastes for subsequent storage or disposal. One of the greatest dangers arising during equipment disassembly is exposure to radiation, since protective safety barriers are dismantled and a large amount of radioactive substances can migrate outside the confines of the units (Bylkin and others 2011).

Conclusions
The decommissioning of a nuclear power plant is a large-scale organizational and technical process comparable in time, financial and labour resources to the building of the unit. Decommissioning reactors will become a major operation over the next 50 years, with far-reaching implications including an increase in the production of radioactive waste, health and security issues, socioeconomic impacts and inevitable technical challenges. Given that the decommissioning process may take several decades, it is important that plans are defined in advance. Detailed procedures and best practice policies are needed to minimize the danger posed to human health and the environment by decommissioning nuclear facilities. Greater funding and international cooperation are required to share information and expertise on the decommissioning of nuclear reactors and submarines, as aging NPPs are taken offline and nuclear submarines finally dismantled. Making best use of the Joint Convention on the Safety of the Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management is one of the steps to take in this direction.

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History of the issue:

Topic 1: The Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors and Related Environmental Consequences.
Over the past 40 years considerable experience has been gained in decommissioning various types of nuclear facilities. About 85 commercial power reactors, 45 experimental or prototype power reactors, as well as over 250 research reactors and a number of fuel cycle facilities, have been retired from operation. Of these, about 15 had been fully dismantled, about 51 were being dismantled, 48 were in Safestor, 3 were entombed, and for others the decommissioning strategy was not yet specified.1 Definition: Nuclear decommissioning refers to the dismantling and decontamination of a nuclear plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency has defined three options for decommissioning, the definitions of which have been internationally adopted: Immediate Dismantling (or Early Site Release/'Decon' in the US): This option allows for the facility to be removed from regulatory control relatively soon after shutdown or termination of regulated activities. Usually, the final dismantling or decontamination activities begin within a few months or years, depending on the facility. Following removal from regulatory control, the site is then available for re-use. In the case of immediate dismantling (or early site release), responsibility for the decommissioning is not transferred to future generations. The experience and skills of operating staff can also be utilised during the decommissioning program. Safe Enclosure (or 'Safestor'): This option postpones the final removal of controls for a longer period, usually in the order of 40 to 60 years. The facility is placed into a safe storage configuration until the eventual dismantling and decontamination activities occur. Safe Enclosure (or Safestor) allows significant reduction in residual radioactivity, thus reducing radiation hazard during the eventual dismantling. The expected improvements in mechanical techniques should also lead to a reduction in the hazard and also costs. Entombment (or 'Entomb'): This option entails placing the facility into a condition that will allow the remaining on-site radioactive material to remain on-site without the requirement of ever removing it totally. This option usually involves reducing the size of the area where the radioactive material is located and then encasing the facility in a long-lived structure such as concrete, that will last for a period of time to ensure the remaining radioactivity is no longer of concern.2

"Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities." Nuclear Decommissioning: Decommission Nuclear Facilities. World Nuclear Association, Apr. 2012. Web. 9 Sept. 2012. <http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf19.html>.
2

"Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities." Nuclear Decommissioning: Decommission Nuclear Facilities. World Nuclear Association, Apr. 2012. Web. 9 Sept. 2012. <http://www.worldnuclear.org/info/inf19.html

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Implications3:
1. Waste A large number of sites will be required to store radioactive waste from decommissioned NPPs and other nuclear reactors over the long term. It is likely that additional buildings and facilities to treat, package and store resultant wastes will need to be constructed to handle output from newly decommissioned reactors. In turn, the infrastructure itself will also eventually have to be decommissioned. Decommissioning activities produce 68 per cent of LILW-LL waste, of which only seven per cent has been disposed off to date (Figure 3). Extensive research indicates that significant numbers of countries have plans in place for disposal of LILW-SL and some LILW-LL. However, most countries have no designated sites for high-level waste due to political and public perceptions and long-term uncertainties surrounding the issue. The case of the United States illustrates these difficulties in a developed country (Department of Energy USA 2011): problems associated with the selection of a site for the long-term disposal of high-level waste and spent fuel have been ongoing for many years, leading to an increase in costs as solutions are considered; action is presently suspended. Countries facing greater economic constraints will have even more serious difficulties dealing with radioactive waste disposal. In some cases, no waste management systems exist and the dismantling will be deferred to a later date. 2. Limited information The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (2011) of the UK states that: "One of the biggest difficulties we face is the limited information we have for a number of legacy facilities. For instance, some do not have detailed inventories of waste. Some lack reliable design drawings. Many were one-off projects, built as experiments to test new approaches and ideas. Therefore the challenge is often not how to tackle a particular task, but rather deciding what the task is. This is known as scoping." 3. Soil contamination Based on past decommissioning experiences, it has been shown that the pattern and extent of soil contamination cannot be planned until late into the decommissioning process. The boundary between the bedrock and soil deposits and the flow pathways in the soil will affect the direction and rate in which the radioactive material will be transported. Soil testing below the buildings cannot be carried out until access has been made safe. Depending on the results of these tests, varying amounts of soil might have to be removed, which cannot be determined until the decommissioning process is well underway. For example, in the case of the decommissioning of the Connecticut Yankee NPP in the United States, the soil volume contaminated was higher than expected and 33 000 m3 of soil had to be removed, increasing the cost of the decommissioning. While the case cited is an extreme example, this factor has

UNEP. The Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors and Related Environmental Consequences. The Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors and Related Environmental Consequences. UNEP Global Environment Alert Service, Aug. 2011. Web. 9 Sept. 2012. <http://na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=70>.

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to be taken into account. Decommissioning should be carried out in steps to avoid such problems disrupting the overall plans (EPRI 2011). One of the possible consequences of soil contamination is the subsequent contamination of groundwater, either through migration of the contaminants through the soil to the water table, or through the variation in water table height, since as the water rises, it can come into contact with contaminated soil. Reporting any leaks during the lifetime of the NPP will enable decommissioning plans to be more precise (EPRI 2011). 4. Need for trained professionals An increased number of trained professionals will be needed (IAEA 2005) and techniques need to be improved to ensure safer dismantling. In France, major progress has been made, although no NPPs have yet been fully decommissioned despite the closure of ten NPPs since 1973. The dismantling of the Brennilis power station was meant to be a learning experience to acquire technological knowledge to apply to other sites in France. Operations have been interrupted since 2007, however, due to security issues concerning radioactivity levels and tracing wastes (EDF 2007). As some NPP sites will be placed in safe storage for up to 60 years, professionals will have to be trained now to decommission them at a much later date, to avoid losing current knowledge about how to conduct the decommissioning. The risks associated with radioactive leaks due to human errors might be higher during decommissioning. Indeed, the perception of risk is lower after high-activity inventory, such as spent fuel, has been removed. In fact, the risk is not negligible due in part to the process being unregulated (Iguchi and Kato 2010). 5. Socio-economic impacts Decommissioning NPPs affects local employment rates, the price of housing and land use. These impacts should be taken into account when selecting a strategy for decommissioning (IAEA 2005). The release of sites for other uses may help to limit the social impacts, but other constraints still need to be considered. Negative public perception remains the most serious challenge to opening radioactive waste repositories (Oldenburg and Birkholzer 2011). 6. Security Once the spent fuel is removed from the reactors prior to decommissioning, the risks to the public and environment are relatively small. But where facilities are under decommissioning, and in particular when they are placed in "safe-store" mode or entombed, site surveillance has to be maintained to protect the contents from theft and malicious use. This is a costly factor that countries will need to take into account. Concerns exist about the risks associated with the possible use of nuclear devices created from stolen nuclear material as well as sabotage of power stations (Bunn and Bunn 2008). These concerns have been proven to be real. In 1998 in Kinshasa, Congo, for example, two reactor rods in a temporarily closed-down research station were stolen. Although one was later recovered in Italy, the other has never been recovered. Security at the site is still considered highly unsatisfactory (McGreal 2006).

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Since few NPPs have been fully decommissioned, the exact costs of accomplishing this phase are unknown (Ramana 2009). Estimates vary from 9% to 200% of the construction costs (Lenzen 2008). Data are often not made available to the public owing to contractual arrangements, property rights and other reasons. Cost estimates are only accurate from -5% to +15% (Laguardia 2006). A report estimating the cost of decommissioning a site in the United States shows that for some projects, documentation on the data used to estimate costs is in fact missing (GAO 2010). Moreover, the projected trend toward increased private financing of NPPs can be expected to bring with it more extensive and different types of reporting and documentation needs. Additionally, it is important to note that recent worldwide economic instability could jeopardise these decommissioning funds, as well as premature or "on-time" NPP shutdowns; thus, relevant operators and governments need to act. There are examples of funds for decommissioning plants in the United States losing 10% of their value during the financial crises in 2008, resulting in delayed decommissioning plans (Thomas and Hall 2009). 8. CO2 production Although in general nuclear energy generation does not produce any CO2, the full life-cycle of a nuclear power station is not "CO2-neutral". Decommissioning is one of the processes that produces CO2, although studies vary greatly in estimating the amount produced. Based on several studies, it produces an estimated mean of 12g of CO2 emission per kilowatt hour (12 g CO2 e/kWh); while the mean emission level over the lifetime of a nuclear power plant is estimated to be 66 g CO2 e/kWh (Sovacool 2008). While this cost varies according to technique and reactor type, the total energy required for decommissioning can be as much as 50% more than the energy needed for the original construction (Fleming 2007).

International Action
The IAEA, the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency and the Commission of the European Communities are among a number of organisations through which experience and knowledge about decommissioning is shared among technical communities in various countries. In 1985, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency launched an International Co-operative Program for the Exchange of Scientific and Technical Information Concerning Nuclear Installation Decommissioning Projects. This international collaboration, covering 15 reactors and six fuel-cycle facilities, has produced a great deal of technical and financial information. The important areas where experience is being gained and shared are the assessment of the radioactive inventories, decontamination methods, cutting techniques, remote operation, radioactive waste management and health and safety. The aims are to minimise the radiological hazards to workers and to optimise the dismantling sequence and timing to reduce the total decommissioning cost.4 The IAEA has

"Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities." Nuclear Decommissioning: Decommission Nuclear Facilities. World Nuclear Association, Apr. 2012. Web. 9 Sept. 2012. <http://www.worldnuclear.org/info/inf19.html

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devised an action plan for the decommissioning of nuclear reactors and has setup guidelines to deal with challenges that arise from the decommissioning of nuclear reactors.

Bloc Positions

Figure 1: Number of reactors shut down

Figure 2: List of operating Nuclear Power Plants as of August 2011.

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Decommissioning is going to increase in the next 50 years as countries start to realize the costs of a nuclear power plant. In addition to this, waste management processes are going to improve significantly further reducing costs of decommissioning.

Questions a resolution must answer:

Is there any scope for further international cooperation? What steps can countries take to ensure that any possible effects can be controlled? Can there be any steps taken to speed up the process of nuclear decommissioning? Is it economically viable to dismantle nuclear reactors? Can any alternatives be considered instead of nuclear decommissioning? How can we regulate the environmental effects of nuclear decommissioning?

Bibliography:
IAEA. Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants and Research Reactors. WS-G-2.1. "Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities." Nuclear Decommissioning: Decommission Nuclear Facilities. World Nuclear Association, Apr. 2012. Web. 9 Sept. 2012. <http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf19.html>. UNEP. The Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors and Related Environmental Consequences. The Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors and Related Environmental Consequences. UNEP Global Environment Alert Service, Aug. 2011. Web. 9 Sept. 2012. <http://na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=70>. UNEP. Closing and Decommissioning Nuclear Power Reactors.

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Statement of the issue:

Topic 2: Environmental Governance- sustained use of resources, managing environmental threats, especially cross- border threats, and Disaster Management.
Governing our planets rich and diverse natural resources is an increasingly complex challenge. In our globalised world of interconnected nations, economies and people, managing environmental threats, particularly those that cross political borders such as air pollution and biodiversity loss, will require new global, regional, national and local responses involving a wide range of stakeholders. Our goals Effective environmental governance at all levels is critical for finding solutions to these challenges. Environmental Governance comprises the rules, practices, policies and institutions that shape how humans interact with the environment. Good environmental governance takes into account the role of all factors that impact the environment. From governments to NGOs, the private sector and civil society, cooperation is critical to achieving effective governance that can help us move towards a more sustainable future. UNEPs mandate is to be the leading global environmental authority. From delivering expert scientific assessments to providing international platforms for negotiation and decision making, UNEPs Environmental Governance sub-programme promotes informed environmental decision-making to enhance global and regional environmental cooperation and governance. We need to bridge the science and policy gaps by keeping the state of the global environment under review, identifying threats at an early stage, developing sound environmental policies, and helping states successfully implement these policies. Almost half the jobs worldwide depend on fisheries, forests or agriculture. Non-sustainable use of natural resources, including land, water, and these forests and fisheries, threaten individual livelihoods as well as local, national and international economies. Current environmental governance arrangements are inadequate and have led to continued degradation of the environment. Considerations for a reformed regime must take into account the economic and social benefits of preserving the environment as well as Disaster Management.

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History of the issue:

Topic 2: Environmental Governance- sustained use of resources,

managing environmental threats, especially cross- border threats, and Disaster Management.
Environmental issues entered the international agenda in the early 1970s, global environmental politics and policies have been developing rapidly. The environmental governance system we have today reflects both the successes and failures of this development. There is great awareness of environmental threats and numerous efforts have emerged to address them globally. At the same timeand partly because of the rather spectacular growth in awareness and initiatives the Global Environmental Governance system has outgrown its original design and intent.

Definition
There are multiple definitions for environmental governance which are perfect for their particular field and at the international level it is the sum of organizations, policy instruments, financing mechanisms, rules, procedures and norms that regulate the processes of global environmental protection.International Institute of Sustainable Development(IISD). While the UNEPs definition is Multi-level interactions (i.e., local, national, international/global) among, but not limited to, three main actors, i.e., state, market, and civil society, which interact with one another, whether in formal and informal ways; in formulating and implementing policies in response to environment-related demands and inputs from the society; bound by rules, procedures, processes, and widely-accepted behavior; possessing characteristics of good governance; for the purpose of attaining environmentally-sustainable development.

Goals:
The goal of environmental governance is to foster sustainable development while having a special focus on the safety of the environment and to put mechanisms in place to combat any disasters efficiently as possible. Environmental sustainability is the process of making sure current processes of interaction with the environment are pursued with the idea of keeping the environment as pristine as naturally possible. Thus, environmental sustainability demands that society designs activities to meet human needs while indefinitely preserving the life support systems of the planet. This, for example, entails using water sustainably, only utilizing renewable energy, and sustainable material supplies (e.g. harvesting wood from forests at a rate that maintains the biomass and biodiversity). Consumption of renewable resources State of environment Sustainability More than nature's ability to replenish Equal to nature's ability to replenish Less than nature's ability to replenish Environmental degradation Not sustainable Environmental equilibrium Environmental renewal Steady state economy Environmentally sustainable

Problems:
The challenges of environmental governance itself can be split into five parts:

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a) Proliferation of MEAs and Fragmentation of EG i) There are too many organizations engaged in environmental governance in too many different places, with duplicative mandates. The MEA secretariats are located in disparate parts of the world, have varying levels of autonomy and focus on separate, but interrelated, environmental problems. ii) Fragmentation leads to conflicting agendas, geographical dispersion and inconsistency in rules and norms, as the different secretariats have limited opportunity to interact and cooperate. Geographical dispersion leads to higher travel and personnel costs, larger reporting burdens and negotiating fatigue. Basically this drains scarce human and institutional resources in developing countries and tends to distract the best resources towards global governance rather than towards national implementation. b) Lack of Cooperation and Coordination among International Organizations The concern here is the absence of any meaningful coordination mechanisms for EG. Theoretically, such coordination is part of UNEPs natural mandate as it is the principle body for EG coordination. However, UNEP has never been given the resources or the political capital to fulfil this mandate. UNEPs ability to coordinate other UN agencies is further hampered by the sheer number of agencies and programs in the UN that have some stake in environmental protection.

c) Lack of Implementation, Compliance, Enforcement and Effectiveness

People on all levels are more worried about negotiating different agreements than implementing the ones already in place or reviewing the progress. All of these compounds in continued destruction of nature resulting in long-term higher costs and more lasting effects than in many other arenas of global issues. d) Inefficient Use of Resources The concern that is usually raised is that the system as a whole seems to have significant (even if insufficient) resources, but the duplication and lack of coordination within the system can mean that resources are not always used most efficiently. Thus in spite of this impressive pool of money, particular elements of the system remain under-funded. e) Non-state Actors in a State-centric System Most actors in EG are NGOs, international organizations, and increasingly the private sector but governance mostly is a system run by a nation, a government thus there are a lot of problems as lack of funding, coordination and unrealized potential.

Then the focused areas can be split into 3 parts: Sustained use of resources It is basically a subset of sustainable development, which is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As resources are the backbones of every economy. In using and transforming them, capital stocks are built up which are supposed to add to the wealth of present and future generations. However, the dimensions of our current resource use are such that the chance of future generations and developing countries to have access to their share of scarce resources is reducing. Cross- border threats Nature is an asset of the world, when anyone harms the environment the whole world losses out. This stems from the fact that wind and water dont respect national boundaries. One countrys pollution

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quickly can, and often does, become another countrys environmental and economic crisis. And because the problem originates in another country, solving it becomes a matter of diplomacy and international relations, leaving the local people who are most affected with few real options. Disaster Management When a disaster takes place all forms of human actions and interaction get interrupted and even destroyed. Disasters in addition to their tragic human toll, they destroy infrastructure, undermine human security and tear apart the fabric of sustainable development. Their impacts are disproportionately borne by the most vulnerable sectors of society, affecting livelihoods and compounding poverty. As a victim or a driver of crisis, the environment can play a pivotal role in human security and well-being. Degraded or poorly managed ecosystems can lead to conflict over dwindling water, food or fuel resources, or to increased exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards, such as landslides or flash floods. Conversely, sustainable management of natural resources can help reduce the risk of disasters and conflict, and provide a strong platform for recovery, development and lasting peace.

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Past UN action:
1. UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, launched a UN-wide reform initiative (1997). Kofi Annan placed the issue of improving the coordination and effectiveness of environmental institutions on the international political agenda by releasing his 1997 program for reform Renewing the United Nations. 2. The Nairobi Declaration on the Role and Mandate of UNEP (1997) restated UNEPs role as the leading authority in the field of the environment. The Declaration was adopted by the UNEP. 3. Governing Council and endorsed by the UN General Assembly to revive UNEP and re-establish its authority, which had diminished since the creation of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). 4. The UN Task Force on Environment and Human Settlements (1997) was appointed by the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to focus on inter-agency linkages and the revitalization of UNEP. 5. The Task Forces recommendations were adopted by the General Assembly, leading to the creation of two new coordinating bodies: the Environmental Management Group (EMG) and the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF). 6. The Inter-agency Environment Management Group (1999) was established as a mechanism to provide UNEP with an effective and strong coordinating role within the UN system on environmental matters. 7. The Malmo Declaration (2000) was adopted by the GMEF. It requested that the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) review the requirements for an enhanced institutional structure for GEG, including how to strengthen UNEP and broaden its financial base and how to better incorporate non-state actors into the GEG system. 8. The UN Summit (2005) called for strengthening coordination within the framework of international environmental governance and for the integration of environmental activities at the operational level into the broader sustainable development framework. 9. A High Level Panel on UN-wide Coherence in the Areas of Humanitarian Assistance, the Environment, and Development (2006) was created after the World Summit in New York (2005)

Main International Actors:

UN Environment Management Group (EMG) The Environment Management Group is a UN system-wide coordination body. Its role is to enhance inter-agency cooperation on environmental issues. The EMG membership consists of the specialized agencies, programmes and organs of the UN, including the secretariats of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements, plus the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organization. It was established by the UN Secretary General to enhance UN system-wide inter-agency coordination Each of these organizations has a defined environmental mandate and many have specified environmental activities. (Appendix for list) Governing council (GC/GMEF) The Governing Council was established in accordance with General Assembly resolution 2997 (XXVII) (Institutional and financial arrangements for international environmental co-operation) of 15 December 1972. Governing Council reports to the General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council. 58 members of the Council are elected by the General Assembly, for four-year terms, taking into account the principle of equitable regional representation. Commission Sustainable Development (CSD) The Commission on Sustainable Development was created as an outcome of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and its mandate reaffirmed and expanded in the 2002 Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. In its eleventh session, it was decided that the CSDs multi-year programme of work beyond 2003 would be organized on the basis of seven two-year cycles, with each cycle focusing on selected thematic clusters of issues.

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United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) The UNCSD also known as Rio 2012, Rio+20, or Earth Summit 2012 was the third international conference on sustainable development aimed at reconciling the economic and environmental goals of the global community. It is a three-day high-level UN conference, was organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and included participation from 192 UN member states including 57 Heads of State and 31 Heads of Government, private sector companies, NGOs and other groups. The decision to hold the conference was made by UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/64/236 on 24 December 2009. International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) The IISD is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental research organization founded in Canada in 1990. IISD is headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba and has additional offices in Ottawa, New York, and Geneva. Between 1990 and 2009, IISD focused its policy and research efforts in six core areas: International trade and investment, Economic policy, Climate change and energy, Measurement and assessment, Natural resources management, and the role of communication technologies in sustainable development. UNEPs Disasters and Conflicts sub-programme Works to understand and reduce the impacts of environmental degradation from disasters and conflicts on human health, livelihoods and security. It also emphasizes the role of healthy ecosystems and sustainably-managed resources in reducing the risk of disasters and conflicts. From the Balkans to Afghanistan, Lebanon, Sudan and Nigeria, UNEP has responded to crisis situations in more than 40 countries since 1999, delivering wide-ranging environmental expertise to national governments and partners in the UN family. It provides four main services to Member States: post-crisis environmental assessments, post-crisis environmental recovery, environmental cooperation for peace building, disaster risk reduction. International Panel on Sustainable Resource Management The Panel provides scientific evidence to underpin the delivery of policies on resource efficiency. It is made up of leading scientists; set up in 2007 under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to provide authoritative and independent advice to decision makers globally. The Panel will delivers reports on topics including the decoupling of environmental degradation from economic growth, the environmental impacts from production and consumption and metal recycling.

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On-going UN Action:

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Questions a resolution must answer:

Are the numbers of bodies involved enough? Is there scope for new bodies to work which would improve the overall working of the system? What are the ways of obtaining more funds while reducing the duplication of efforts? How could coordination be improved is the fastest possible manner? Is the implementation of a monitoring and early warning system or framework improvable? How can cross border environment threats be dealt with on an international level? How can nations be urged to move to a more sustainable development model? Could the overall reform of the environmental governance system be a possibility? If yes how?

Terms
Public goods: In economic terms, is a good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalled in that individuals cannot be effectively excluded from use and where use by one individual does not reduce availability to others. Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs A multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) is a legally binding agreement between three or more states relating to the environment. They are predominantly produced by the United Nations. It is called a bilateral environmental agreement if the agreement is between two nation states.

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(ISDR) Secretariat International Trade Center (ITC) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Secretariat Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) Secretariat UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs/ Division for Sustainable Development (UNDESA/DSD) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) United Nations Human Settlements Programme (HABITAT) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) United Nations Industrial Development Organization

Appendix
EMG members:
Basel Convention Secretariat Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) Secretariat Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) Secretariat Economic and Social Commission for Africa (ECA) Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Economic and Social Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) International Labour Organization (ILO) International Maritime Organization (IMO) International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

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(UNIDO) United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) United Nations University (UNU) Universal Postal Union (UPU) World Food Program (WFP) World Health Organization (WHO) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) World Meteorological Organization (WMO) The World Bank World Trade Organization
(WTO)

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Sources:
Hal R. Varian, Microeconomic Analysis ISBN 0-393-95735-7; UNEP http://www.unep.org CSD http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/csd/csd_aboucsd.shtml UN documents http://www.un.org/en/documents/ UN publications https://unp.un.org/ UNEMG http://www.unemg.org/ IISD http://www.iisd.org CBD https://www.cbd.int EU http://ec.europa.eu/environment World Bank http://www.worldbank.org / Reuters www.reuters.com

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Recommended Reading:
1. http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/yournews/50620 2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/07/yangtze-finless-porpoise-china 3. http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFBRE88605820120907 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19508906 5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/09/climate-change-expert-calls-for-nuclearpower-boost

6. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/energy-from-the-bomb-russia-to-produce-electricitywith-former-nukes-a-854318.html

7. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/10/global-carbon-trading-system