Radioactive Waste

You may have heard recently of the Italian mafia's newest venture of illegal toxic waste dumping in the Mediterranean.

The international community hasn't done nearly as much as it should in the way of monitoring the safe disposal of wastes, especially radioactive and nuclear materials.

Here are some links, though, which should help you figure out what has been done in this area:
- Most important, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which has been signed (although not ratified) by most countries of the world;
- UNEP's Earthwatch, which has tons of documents about what the IAEA, UN, UNEP etc. have done and discovered about radioactive waste management;
- and the Nuclear Energy Agency's publications on everything related to nuclear waste management (it has some very helpful documents which outline the basics).

Well, hope that helps! Enjoy! =)

Eww... marine mucilage?

Check out this excellent article from The Economist on 'The Rise of Slime' which discusses the results of a warming ocean.
The scientist discussed in the report can be seen in this video, talking further about his study and the culprits causing ocean degredation.

Thought from the Secretary-General and More!

Delegates!

A couple weeks back, we HSMUN volunteers had a training meeting, and one part of our discussion focused on what we'd like to see delegates accomplish this year. To quote our beloved Secretary-General, Amy Sanderson (at least, I hope I'm quoting correctly): "It's very hard to pass a resolution with 'teeth'." Now, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was actually one of the Under-Secretaries who actually said that first, and Amy just decided to pass it off as her own, and... well, never mind, that's not important.

What is a resolution with "teeth"? I hear you cry. Simply put, it's a resolution that makes a lot of forceful demands, perhaps is accusatory, probably arouses the ire of other states, all the while being out of place with its direct and assertive nature. In short, it's the kind of resolution you won't see getting passed by the General Assembly, at least not in real life.

Consequently, one of our goals for this year`s conference is to really push content of the resolutions we`ll be writing. As nice as it is to have something to show during plenary for all of your hard working, simply getting that oh-so-much-needed two-thirds majority vote and passing a resolution is not the be all end all. What we want to see at this conference is well-written draft resolutions* that show an understanding of dynamics on the stage of international affairs, and, at a more basic level, good debate and caucusing (I love using this as a verb) demonstrating familiarity with foreign policy. (*It`s worth noting that more `realistic` resolutions may also have the added benefit of being more likely to get passed, but remember: that`s only secondary.)

Want to see what a typical UN Resolution dealing with climate change looks like? Follow this link to check out a recent resolution passed by the General Assembly:

Climate Change and Its Possible Security Implications

I don`t want to be all depressing, or anything, but, um, it`s not much, is it? Realistically, your average UN resolution is going to more-or-less adhere to the following format.



The General Assembly,

(followed by 14 seemingly different clauses which are really just variations of:)
Deeply concerned by such and such a travesty that`s causing a lot of problems for everyone everywhere, about which we really should do something right now,

1. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

And that`s about it. Am I just being silly now? Maybe. But it`s something to consider.

By the way, here`s a resolution with a little more substance that actually deals very directly with not just climate change, but also its effect on marine life and what to do about it (yay! It`s been a little difficult to find stuff that deals directly with your debate topics). But you`ll have to search carefully through an awful lot (this one deals with everything water-related. Good luck, delegates) to find the `gems` you`ll need!

Oceans and the Law of the Sea

All right, now, having said all this, the qualification: Despite what you`ve just read, please please please don`t let us keep you from thinking BIG and CREATIVELY. Okay?

By the way, if you`re looking for resolutions, use the UN`s Official Document System. It`s helpful to type the code a/res in ``symbol`` field when searching- that will filter your search to just resolutions. We highly recommend that you read a few resolutions to get a feel for both the resolution format and the kind of document you`re aiming to create. (Oh! I just felt a twinge of excitement there! Man, I am SO looking forward to February! You guys are going to make us so proud.)

And, a last-minute announcement: You might have noticed the picture up in the right-hand corner of this post. The story: I was walking about campus, when suddenly, a mysterious masked bandit (I may or may not be exaggerating) swung down from a nearby building on a vine and shoved an envelope (with "Secret Dossier No. 31" typed neatly on the front) into my hands. I opened it and found the flyer that I've scanned in and posted above. So, for all you keeners who are a) looking for some good discussion and research opportunities relating to Climate Change and the Copenhagen Conference, and b) free this Wednesday, you can head over to the university on the 18th for ECOS's November "Green Session". As you can see, you'll have to e-mail them TODAY to sign-up, but I'm sure, if you miss doing that on time, it'll be okay if you still show up. Just don't go eating all their cookies and juice!

"Radioactive Milk" and International Toxic Waste Trade

Delegates!

“A common way of exporting wastes to non-OECD countries [countries not belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] has been to disguise it. This was the case with the mixing of 1000 tons of copper smelter fumace dust (containing high levels of lead) with fertiliser by a US company. This fertiliser was subsequently sold to Bangladeshi farmers, some of whom had already spread it on their fields before the scheme was uncovered. Some of the waste exports to non-OECD countries have even been labelled as aid and humanitarian assistance. For example, radioactive milk was sent to Jamaica from the EC in 1987, and outdated and illegal pesticides were sent by Germany to Albania in 1992. Waste export firms also thought up other creative ways to disguise their hazardous waste exports, such as the attempt by US companies to convince the Marshall Islands that imported wastes could be used to build up the land mass to ensure the islands would survive sea level rises due to global warming. While the firm which proposed this 'land reclamation project' claimed that no hazardous wastes would be involved, this could not be verified. Mislabelled waste has become a serious problem for developing countries as in nearly all cases they do not have the resources to ascertain the contents of every import container.”

Source: Clapp, Jennifer. "The toxic waste trade with less-industrialised countries: economic linkages and political alliances." Third World Quarterly 15.3 (1994): 505-518. Print.

When I first read Jennifer Clapp’s article, The toxic waste trade with less-industrialised countries: economic linkages and political alliances, her description of how countries disguise toxic waste as a means of exporting it to other nations absolutely shocked me. I mean, selling toxic waste as “radioactive milk” seems a little desperate, and certainly more suited to a spy novel than anything plausible in real-life international affairs! Trying to convince countries that buying toxic waste would help them to build up their land mass and survive global warming - how have we not already heard about this?!

I think that it’s remarkably unfortunate how little the general public knows about the international toxic waste trade. We drop off our old computers and our DVD players, assuming they will be handled according to protocol; when the sad reality is that they might not be. Any one of the computers rotting in a toxic waste dump near a rural village in a developing nation could have belonged to us, and we’d never know it. So, in a way, international toxic waste trade is a problem we’re all responsible for, no matter how indirectly. It’s our garbage, so it’s our responsibility to make sure that it is disposed of safely, and to hold our governments accountable.

I’d highly recommend that you watch the two youtube videos!

A BBC Article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6187358.stm

These two videos both show how toxic waste is disguised and trafficked:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ8nL2RBF4E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWEGhdBLm8E

Endangered Products

Delegates!

It's short, it's not too detailed, and it's got a bit of a different focus, but, all the same, here's an article for your enjoyment, showing one of the effects of climate change on marine life (from a hungry person's view, it seems):
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3762

You'll want to scroll down to the bottom, unless you also happen to be interested in the imminent extinction of DVDs and plastic shopping bags. Anyway, why am I posting this? I want to draw your attention (as briefly as it's mentioned in this article) to the key areas of "alternatives" and "the future". Read what the author has to say, and, in your preparation, see if you can't find other similar (or not-so-similar, preferably, especially ones with more to do about climate change matters) possible solutions and roads. This will be critical in your debate for the formation of resolutions. Which reminds me, I've really got to get on posting a good example of a resolution for all y'all's. Until then, however, you can amuse yourselves by reading the rest of the above article (the part about light bulb's not too bad).

Climate Change Conference... And?

Delegates!

If I'm not mistaken (and I'm not; I just checked the news services to make sure), this fine November day heralded in the beginning of the UN Climate Change Talks in Barcelona. I'll admit that I'm not entirely sure what topics are on the agenda, but whether "Climate change and its effects on marine life" is on there or not, I advise you to follow the proceedings. At the very least, you'll learn about the (no doubt frustrating) process of conducting climate talks on the international stage.

Now, delegates, I hope this doesn't come off wrong, but I can't help but wonder: what is this all going to lead to? Will there be serious progress made in the dialogue of how to manage climate change problems, or will this all get bogged down in politics, misunderstanding, and, of course, money? Maybe I'm foolish to even think there's some sort of boundary line in there at all. But I just don't want to see the delegates convene this conference with high hopes, and then walk away after, not having reached any agreement. (At least they'll have another chance in "Round 2" in Copenhagen, come December.)

Speaking of not reaching agreements, member states of the EU were holding their own talks this week, in Brussels, all in preparation for the momentous event we've now come to. No doubt about it: that conference was all about the moola. Specifically, the topic of interest was that of aiding poorer countries in their green efforts. You know, when I at first was reading about this, I was wondering if any clear and direct proposals for solving (slowing?) our climate change problems were really getting put forward at all, but the more I thought about it all, the more I came to think that the EU was on the right track: by trying to determine just how much money this is all going to take and hammering out some concrete plans for allocation of funds, Europe is showing its dedication to finding a solution. There were some hard estimates floating around: one figure heard was that up to 150 billion euros will be required over the next decade or so for European countries to handle proposed massive undertakings. Unfortunately, what with various states pushing for exemptions, special amendments, and political 'issues', the EU member states came away after, not having decided an awful lot, except that they were going to leave this one to the "legal and technical experts". Hm. Okay.

I have hope for the talks currently going on in Spain. Already, we've seen (or at least, Associated Press tells me) a giant push for concrete commitments. China`s been lauded for specific measures it`s taken. The US is being pushed to commit to some definite actions and stick to it (somehow getting it all rubber-stamped by Congress). And as all we united nations work through this task of updating and replacing the 1997 Kyoto agreements, I think we`ll see some much-needed progress, if maybe only a little. But we`ll stay tuned.