United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Day 2

Climate Change and Pollution in South-East Asia: Tensions Run High

by Musa Umar Yar’adua

Today’s meeting carried on from India’s claim against China yesterday. It was noted by the Japanese delegate that India started its environmental program before China, which suggests the delegate is sympathetic to India’s claim. Besides, the Philippines delegate declared that the state can relate to India as China is using it as a dumping ground for products that may not meet international environmental standards. The Philippines delegate further highlights the dangers of this as one-fourth of the Filipino deaths are caused by the effects of pollution. With that said, the delegate declared that the Philippines is not here to play the blame game and is ready to work with all members to combat climate change.

The session was interrupted by the committee’s designated press team member who announced rumors concerning India. The committee was told that there is information that India is starting a new industrial process that will greatly add to carbon dioxide emissions. Perhaps as a testament to India’s growing importance on a global stage, China, Japan, and the Philippines declined to comment pending further information, while reaffirming their good relationship with India. However, all three countries asserted that while not yet confirmed, the news will be very worrying if true. A few minutes after the statement was made by the press-team member, the news was confirmed as fake and relayed back to the committee. 

The committee took a drastic turn when the United States’ delegate called out the chair to the other delegates' surprise. The disagreement between the two lasted for a few minutes with the American delegate declaring “this is not MUN” at a point. The exchange between the two led to the Japanese delegate expressing her confusion at the event while accusing the United States’ delegate of trying to push his narrative. This misunderstanding was eventually sorted out but had already laid the stage for the discussions that would follow.

The tensions remained high with the United States’ delegate condemning China for not being transparent enough in terms of their progress on climate change. However, this wasn’t well-received by the other delegates leading to them asking for proof. The United States delegate was unable to provide proof beyond referring to China’s past and inferring from it, which led to the committee voting in favor of striking out the clause.  

Also, the United States’ delegate called on the Philippines and China to provide a report detailing how they plan on reducing their carbon emission. The request was largely seen as another attack on China, the Russian delegate pointed out that 20% of the United States’ resolution directly makes accusations against China. Also, the New Zealand delegate reminded the American delegate that the United States withdrew from the Paris climate agreement under their last president. The New Zealand delegate makes the point that this makes the United States’ position on China seem hypocritical, especially when you factor in the delegate was unable to provide proof concerning the allegations. However, to the United States’ delegate’s credit, he didn’t shy away from the comment, but rather reassured the committee that the United States is fully committed to the fight against climate change.

Despite tensions running high, both Japan and the United States were able to pass their resolution, which further highlighted the importance of the issue. The committee will resume tomorrow where the delegates will discuss resolutions for protecting marine life in Asia-Pacific and Indian Oceans.