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Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation 2018

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Background Guide: Topic A The Impact of Climate Change on World Heritage Sites

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO)

Mazapan Model United Nations Simulation

Dear Delegates,

It is truly our pleasure to invite and welcome you to Mazapan Model United Nations

Simulation 2018. As you may have read beforehand UNESCO’s chairs for this simulation are

Angela Fredrick and Natalia Nasser. We are looking forward to meeting each and every one of

you. We hope that this year’s theme on Building Bridges and the committee’s agenda grasps

your attention and interest as we have been working hard to host you.

Let’s take into consideration that Building Bridges, not walls is UNESCO’s overall goal.

UNESCO was founded with the sole objective of promoting international cooperation and

facilitating the exchange of information in the fields of education, science, culture, and

communications. This year agenda revolves around contributing to the building of peace,

through proper communication and intercultural development which can only be attained

through your contribution. May this be a platform through which you can make your proposals

and ideas heard.

We are excited to see you use this academic activity to meet new people and friends as

you simultaneously expand your general culture and knowledge. Do not hesitate in

communicating if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

Sincerely,

Your chairs Angela Fredrick and Natalia Nasser

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Table of Contents Introduction to the Committee 4

History 4 Present Day 5 Mission Statement 6 Country List 6

Topic A: The Impact of Climate Change on World Heritage Sites Overview 8 Introduction and Background of Issue 8 Description of Issue 10

World Heritage Properties 12 Current Status 13

Impacts on terrestrial biodiversity 13 Potential Climate Change impacts on the Doñana National Park (Spain) 13 Potential Climate Change impacts on the Cape Floral Region (South Africa) 14

Impacts on mountainous ecosystems 14 Potential Climate Change impacts on the Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal) 14 Potential Climate Change impacts on the Huascarán National Park (Peru) 15

Impacts on marine ecosystems 15 Potential Climate Change impacts on the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) 15

Possible Solutions 17 Block Positions 18

China 19 United States 20 Australia 21

Appendix 23 Table 1: The Long-Term Climate Risk Index (CRI): the 10 countries most affected from 1996 to 2015 (annual averages) 23

Countries most affected in 2015: 24 Table 2: The Climate Risk Index for 2015: the 10 most affected countries 25

Bibliography 27

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Introduction to the Committee


The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, known by its

acronym, UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that was outlined in the

constitution signed November 16, 1945. The constitution, which entered into force in 1946,

called for the promotion of international collaboration in education, science, and culture. It works

to safeguard the world’s cultural heritage, having the final say on whether a property is inscribed

on the World Heritage List. It aims to empower, educate, and inspire young people, reaching out

to them, responding to their expectations and ideas, and fostering useful and long-lasting skills. It

implements its activities through the five programme areas: education, natural sciences, and

social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information.

UNESCO's aim is "to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty,

sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture,

communication and information". Other priorities of the organization include attaining quality

Education For All and lifelong learning, addressing emerging social and ethical challenges,

fostering cultural diversity, a culture of peace and building inclusive knowledge societies

through information and communication

History

UNESCO’s initial emphasis was on rebuilding schools, libraries, and museums that had been

destroyed in Europe during World War II. Since then its activities have been mainly facilitative,

aimed at assisting, supporting, and complementing the national efforts of member states to

eliminate illiteracy and to extend free education.

As many less-developed countries joined the UN beginning in the 1950s, UNESCO

began to devote more resources to their problems, which included poverty, high rates of

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illiteracy, and underdevelopment. During the 1980s UNESCO was criticized by the United States

and other countries for its alleged anti-Western approach to cultural issues and for the sustained

expansion of its budget. These issues prompted the United States to withdraw from the

organization in 1984, and the United Kingdom and Singapore withdrew a year later. After the

election victory of the Labour Party in 1997, the United Kingdom rejoined UNESCO, and the

United States and Singapore followed suit in 2003 and 2007, respectively. In 2011 UNESCO

approved full membership for Palestine. Following the vote, the United States announced that it

would no longer pay dues to the organization, because of congressional legislation that

prohibited the financing of any UN agency that admitted Palestine as a full member. Because of

its unpaid dues, the United States lost its voting rights in UNESCO in 2013.

Present Day

In 2017 U.S. officials, citing “anti-Israel bias” and the size of U.S. arrears to the

organization, announced that the United States would leave UNESCO again at year’s end

(https://youtu.be/Lnv497QZh78). Israel itself remained a member. Besides its support of

educational and science programs, UNESCO is also involved in efforts to protect the natural

environment and humanity’s common cultural heritage. For example, in the 1960s UNESCO

helped sponsor efforts to save ancient Egyptian monuments from the waters of the Aswan High

Dam, and in 1972 it sponsored an international agreement to establish a World Heritage List of

cultural sites and natural areas that would enjoy government protection. In the 1980s a

controversial study by UNESCO’s International Commission for the Study of Communication

Problems, headed by the Irish statesman and Nobel Peace laureate Seán MacBride, proposed a

New World Information and Communication Order that would treat communication and freedom

of information as basic human rights and seek to eliminate the gap in communications

capabilities between developing and developed countries.

Each member state has one vote in UNESCO’s General Conference, which meets every

two years to set the agency’s budget, its program of activities, and the scale of contributions

made by member states to the agency. The 58-member Executive Board, which is elected by the

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https://youtu.be/Lnv497QZh78


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General Conference, generally meets twice each year to give advice and direction to the agency’s

work. The Secretariat is the agency’s backbone and is headed by a director general appointed by

the General Conference for a six-year term. About 200 national commissions, composed of local

experts, serve as governmental advisory bodies in their respective states. Most work occurs in

special commissions and committees convened with expert participation. Prominent examples

include the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (1961– ), the World Commission on

Culture and Development (1992–99), and the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific

Knowledge and Technology (1998– ). The findings of these commissions are regularly published

by UNESCO.

Mission Statement

UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty,

sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture,

communication and information. The Organization focuses, in particular, on two global

priorities:

● Africa

● Gender equality

And on a number of overarching objectives:

● Attaining quality education for all and lifelong learning

● Mobilizing science knowledge and policy for sustainable development

● Addressing emerging social and ethical challenges

● Fostering cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace

● Building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication

Country List

● Australia

● Argentina

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http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/

http://www.unesco.org/science/psd/

http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1837&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=34321&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=35020&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=37083&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1657&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html


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● Bahrain

● Belgium

● Costa Rica

● Czech Republic

● China

● Denmark

● Ecuador

● El Salvador

● Egypt

● Germany

● Greece

● India

● Indonesia

● Nepal

● Morocco

● Spain

● South Africa

● United States of America

● Venezuela

● Panama

● Peru

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Topic A: The Impact of Climate Change on World

Heritage Sites Overview

Introduction and Background of Issue

Climate change, an issue at hand, that is affecting

the whole world has become even more frequent.

Temperatures are rising, global sea level is striking

above records of years pass, and extreme weather

events are more severe. Evidence that has been

collected from the atmosphere and from the depths

of the oceans by scientists and engineers prove the

same thing: global warming is driven by human

activity. Meteorologists and oceanographers 1

compare the climate patterns they observe with

patterns developed using sophisticated models

of Earth's atmosphere and ocean. By matching

the observed and modeled patterns, scientists

can positively identify the "human

fingerprints" associated with the changes, and

they can also attribute the proportion of those

changes to human activities. Extreme human activity like the burning of fossil fuels, enhances

the Greenhouse Effect, fostering the increase of CO2 concentrations from a pre-industrial era

(AD 1000 – 1750) concentration of approximately 280 parts per million (ppm) to today's 400

1 The NASA visualization shows how global temperatures have risen from 1950 through 2013,

as compared to average global temperature for the period 1951-1980.

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http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasaviz/


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ppm. With this data scientists can tease apart how much CO2 comes from natural sources, and

how much comes from combusted fossil fuel sources. Compared to other carbon sources, carbon

from fossil fuels has a

distinctly different

“signature,” essentially the

relative amount of heavier

or lighter atoms of carbon

(technically δ13C). The

more negative the δ13C,

the higher the proportion

of carbon from fossil fuels.

Over the years, δ13C has decreased while the overall amount of CO2 has increased. This

information tells scientists that fossil fuel emissions are the largest contributor of CO2

concentrations since the pre-industrial era.

Human climate drivers include heat-trapping emissions from burning coal, gas and oil in power

plants and cars; cutting down and burning forests; tiny pollution particles (aerosols); black

carbon pollution more commonly referred to as soot; and changes in land use that also affects

Earth’s albedo. Although the industrial era and human activities drive two-thirds of production of

greenhouse gases, natural climate drivers are very well present. Those include energy from the

sun; aerosols from periodic eruptions, dust, and salt spray; natural carbon cycle processes that

emit methane.

Each of these drivers have devastating effects on society at large. This phenomena especially has

caused major challenges in the twenty-first century, says the director of UNESCO. Directed to

the UNESCO committee the effects on glaciers, marine biodiversity, terrestrial biodiversity,

archaeological sites, and historic cities and settlements must be tackled.

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Description of Issue

The melting of glaciers around the world is affecting the appearance of sites inscribed for their

outstanding beauty and destroying the habitat of rare wildlife species such as the snow leopard,

in the Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal and others below . These changes could also have 2

disastrous effects on human lives with flooding resulting from glacial lake outbursts threatening

human settlements. The establishment of monitoring and early warning systems and the artificial

draining of glacial lakes are recommended to help avoid disasters.

Simultaneously this issue is taken under the sea

deep into the home of corals. With the changing

rates seventy percent of the world's deep sea

corals are expected to be affected by changing

conditions related to rising temperatures and

increased oceans acidification by the year 2100.

The Great Barrier Reef,

Australia, is expected to be

subjected to increasingly

frequent bleaching events, cases

in which corals turn white and

may die due to rising sea

temperatures. Fifty-eight

percent of the world's coral reefs

- home to hundreds of thousands

of fish species - are considered

to be at risk. Reducing the effect

of other stresses on the coral

2 World Heritage Properties

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reefs from pollution, development and mining for example, could greatly improve their resilience

to climate change. On the global scale, climate change is also affecting biodiversity on land. It is

leading to the expected changes in the distribution of species, including “invasive species”,

pathogens and parasites and on the timing of biological events, like flowering. Consequently the

relationships between predator and prey, parasite and host, and plant and pollinator, etc. will be

widely affected.

Climate change is also expected to damage archaeological World Heritage sites, according to the

report which examines prospects for Chan Chan Archaeological Zone, Peru, alongside other

World Heritage properties in Canada and the Russian Federation. Changes in precipitation and

drought cycles, in humidity, water-table levels and ensuing soil chemistry will, inevitably,

impact the conservation of archaeological remains. Likewise, temperature rises, especially the

melting of permafrost in the Arctic region and rising sea levels are also expected to take their toll

on this heritage. The report notably analyses how precipitations related to El Niño is

undermining the fragile earthen fabric of Chan Chan, the remains of the capital of the ancient

Chimu Kingdom, one of the most important pre-Hispanic earthen architecture cities in the

Americas.

Rising sea levels and flooding due to climate change could have a devastating effect on both the

buildings and social fabric of historic cities and settlements, according to the report, which

focuses on the cases of the World Heritage sites of the City of London alongside several other

sites in Europe, Africa (Timbuktu, Mali), and the Middle East (Ouadi Qadisha and the Forest of

the Cedars of god, Lebanon). The increase in soil moisture after flooding events can lead to a rise

in saline crystallization on built surfaces, which is particularly damaging to decorated surfaces.

Increased humidity can also lead to ground heave and subsidence. Dealing with these and other

threats requires taking into account the complex interactions among natural, cultural and social

aspects of conservation.

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Here are the World Heritage Properties that are protected under UNESCO. Please look through

them and figure out which ones are closer to you and you propose to fix the issue at hand.

World Heritage Properties

● Area de Conservación Guanacaste

● Cape Floral Region Protected Areas

● Chan Chan Archaeological Zone

● Chavin (Archaeological Site)

● Golden Mountains of Altai

● Great Barrier Reef

● Greater Blue Mountains Area

● Historic Centre of Český Krumlov

● Historic Centre of Prague

● Huascarán National Park

● Ichkeul National Park

● Ilulissat Icefjord

● Kilimanjaro National Park

● Komodo National Park

● Maritime Greenwich

● Ouadi Qadisha (the Holy Valley) and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz el-Rab)

● Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret’s Church

● Sagarmatha National Park

● Sundarbans National Park

● Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch

● The Sundarbans

● Timbuktu

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● Tower of London

● Venice and its Lagoon

● Wet Tropics of Queensland

Current Status

Impacts on terrestrial biodiversity

Potential Climate Change impacts on the Doñana National Park (Spain)

The Doñana National Park and World Heritage property, in southern Spain, is the largest and

most comprehensive conservation area in Iberia and covers an area of 50,000 hectares.

Dessication of the wetland areas of the Park as a result of increased water use has resulted in the

loss of some 100 plant species during the last 80 years. Further dessication of the wetlands can

be expected in the region with increased temperatures of between 1.4°C and 3.8°C and reduced

annual precipitation of between 5 and 10 per cent by the 2050s.

The Park is home to 365 recorded species of resident and migratory birds. It provides an ideal

winter habitat for species such as the greylag goose and the teal that stop at the park on the

migration route from western Europe to West Africa. It also provides an important spring nesting

ground for African and Mediterranean birds such as the spoonbill. Nearly 20,000 greater

flamingos use the area as a feeding zone. The Doñana National Park is the most important site

for wintering ducks in Spain.

The winter droughts of the 1990s have already had a severe impact upon the area, a situation that

is likely to become considerably more acute in the future as the climate of southern Spain dries.

The park exists at an altitude between sea level and 40m. Sea level in the region has risen by

about 20cm over the last century and future rises in sea level may further threaten these

remaining wetland areas through saltwater inundation which threatens the survival of this

important migratory bird habitat. Scenarios suggest further rises in sea level of between 20cm

and 110cm by the end of next century.

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Potential Climate Change impacts on the Cape Floral Region (South Africa)

The Cape Floral Region World Heritage site consists of 8 protected areas covering 553 000 ha

and characterised by an outstanding plant diversity, density and endemism. Based on supporting

evidence by experiments, observations and modelling, Climate Change might be the most

significant threat facing this diversity over the next 50 to 100 years. Projected changes in soil

moisture and winter rainfall could result in a changed species distribution. This would affect the

range restricted and locally rare species with limited dispersal ability and the climate sensitive

relict wetland species that characterize the floristic region. Climate change might also affect the

values of the site through drought mortality, the breaking up of highly specialized mutualisms

and impacts on existing disturbance regimes such as fire. The first impacts of Climate Change on

the region’s biodiversity are already becoming apparent and many more impacts are expected.

Bioclimatic modelling provides an excellent risk assessment but key knowledge gaps need to be

closed by experimental and observational studies.

Potential strategies include investing in focussed research and developing a monitoring system,

perhaps with the involvement of the public. Conservation planning should also be integrated with

climate risk assessment and a coordinated regional effort should be established to analyse

information and asses the risk of biodiversity loss. It is also important to increase the topographic

diversity and landscape connectivity of protected areas by creating migratory corridors, to reduce

or remove other stresses on the ecosystem and to strengthen risk preparedness, in particular for

fires.

Impacts on mountainous ecosystems

Potential Climate Change impacts on the Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal)

In Sagarmatha, Nepal, air temperatures have risen by 1°C since the seventies, leading to a

decrease in snow and ice cover of 30% in the same period and replacing a 4000 m high glacier

on Mount Everest by a lake. Glacier lake outburst floods are now much more frequent, creating

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serious risks for human populations and having implications for the water supply in South Asia

and the flow of major rivers such as the Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra.

Potential Climate Change impacts on the Huascarán National Park (Peru)

A number of effects of Climate Change are being monitored and studied at the Huascarán

National Park, in particular the accelerated glacier melting, resulting in changes in the quality

and quantity of water coming from the mountains and in greater risks of land slides and lake

outburst events and the migration of certain species to higher altitudes. Such outburst floods in

the Huascarán National Park threaten a nearby cultural World Heritage site: Chavin. Other

effects such as the disappearance of certain native species, the increased pressure on certain park

resources and the alteration of rain patterns are not yet quantified. Two million people are

depending on water originating from the National Park and their demand on water resources is

increasing.

Possible solutions include: strengthening the park authority and improving its financial situation,

further strengthening the cooperation between public entities and private sector through the

Huascarán Working Group and implementing a number of specific projects in the field of

research and education related to Climate Change.

Impacts on marine ecosystems

Potential Climate Change impacts on the Great Barrier Reef (Australia)

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the world’s largest coral reef (2300 km, 35 million ha in area

and 2900 individual reefs), it is also among the world’s most diverse ecosystems (1500 species

of fish, 5000 mollusc species and 350 species of hard reef coral) and was listed under all 4

natural World Heritage criteria. The GBR Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) is the responsible

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Australian Government authority, and the site is divided into zones which permit a range of

activities under controls.

The sustainability of this World Heritage site is sensitive to any change in the following climate

parameters: sea level rise, sea temperature increase, storm frequency and intensity, precipitation,

drought, land run-off, changing oceanic circulation, and ocean acidity. Of central concern are the

acute and cumulative impacts of coral bleaching, which are triggered when the GBR experiences

anomalously high water temperatures. It is important to note, however, that “Coral bleaching is

a major threat to coral reefs everywhere. The threat is not amenable to management in the short

to medium term…” (Australian Institute of Marine Science Annual Report 2001-2, p 18).

In 1998 and 2002, major bleaching events occurred in the region. In 2002 between 60 and 95 per

cent of reefs were affected. Most of these recovered well but a small percentage (less than 5 per

cent) suffered high mortality, losing between 50 and 90 per cent of their corals. As a response, a

AUD 2 million Climate Change Response Programme (2004 – 08) was developed to better

understand and respond to Climate Change threats and to prepare an annual Coral Bleaching

Response Plan and a Climate Change Action Plan. The Coral Bleaching Response Plan aims at

detecting and measuring bleaching and other short and long term impacts (Satellite imagery,

aerial and underwater surveys, community observations) and has received worldwide recognition

(and was adapted for the Florida Keys for example). The Climate Change Action Plan aims at

sustaining ecosystems, sustaining GBR industries & communities and supporting policy and

collaborations and will be developed by 2007.

The vulnerability assessments prepared include Coral Bleaching Forecast system, ecosystem

vulnerability assessments, resilience indicators, defining social resilience, frameworks for social

assessments; whereas the resilience strategies include the Tourism Leaders Forum and a

Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching.

In addition, partnerships have been developed such as “Bleach Watch” and NGO partnerships

(IUCN, TNC, WWF). Outcomes include policy congruence, international recognition, research

coordination & investment, stakeholder partnerships, community partnership teams and

knowledge bases.

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The GBR management actions are recognised as world’s best practice and that the GBR has

relatively low bleaching to date, but further events will be inevitable. The main challenge is to

increase broad resilience, which requires multifactor efforts and in many respects adaptation,

continuation and enhancement of current efforts. To increase the broad resilience of the GBR

Marine Park, in 2004, the GBRMPA increased the percentage of no-take area within the Marine

Park from 5% to 33%. Also, the Australian Government is working closely with the Queensland

Government on the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, which aims to halt and reverse the

decline in water quality entering the Marine Park by 2013.

Possible Solutions

● The establishment of monitoring and early warning systems and the artificial draining of

glacial lakes are recommended to help avoid disasters.

● Reducing the effect of other stresses on the coral reefs from pollution, development and

mining for example, could greatly improve their resilience to climate change.

● Create protected areas to relocate endangered species that have become extinct due to the

climate changes.

● Getting the COP22 to commit to adapt measures to control the vulnerability of marine

World Heritage sites.

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Block Positions

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China

China is now the second-largest economy in the world and its military power is also growing, but

it has an increasing list of worrisome issues such as corruption cases and global warming. As the

major producer of greenhouse gases in the world it is in the Republic of China’s best interest to

work towards the controlling of climate change. This environmental pollution is not only

weakening the health of the chinese with the number of cancer patients and deaths because of

lungs, stomach, liver and esophagus diseases accounted for 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent

and 50 percent of the global total, respectively, but world health. The chinese government is

aware that they cannot become an “environmentally weak country”, but has charted an ambitious

plan for environmental protection with the aim of bringing back the pollution free sky.

But the environmental issue in China is not an isolated case, and is a component of the overall

global picture. Extreme weather and droughts occurring in China are also the results of global

warming, which is a common challenge to all humanity. China has signed several international

conventions relating to environmental protection, such as the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change, and has strengthened cooperation with other countries and

regions and international organizations in the field of environmental protection.

In July, China and the United States held a dialogue on climate change policies within the

framework of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and signed the EcoPartnerships

Plans. It is believed that growing and deepening China-US cooperation in environmental

protection will play a positive role in alleviating the global environmental issues.

China is also working hard to improve the awareness for environmental protection among the

public and to vigorously develop the environmental protection industry. Across the country, the

public is taking and ever greater part in activities for environmental protection. The

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environmental protection industry is witnessing rapid development, and the output value of the

industry is expected to hit 4.5 billion yuan by 2015, with an annual growth rate of more than 15

percent.

The government is also promoting energy conservation and emissions reduction and speeding up

pollution treatment, and this will give rise to a tremendous market for energy conservation and

environmental protection, bringing enormous opportunities to businesses from both China and

the world.

The Chinese government and the people will not cease their efforts until the battle to protect the

ecological system and the environment is won. China won’t allow the environment to weaken

the nation.

Sources:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/feng-zhaokui/china-climate-change-fight_b_5798234.html

https://qz.com/1157788/china-is-the-acid-test-for-a-technology-that-could-save-the-world-from-

catastrophic-climate-change/

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5jvab/trump-is-quietly-surrendering-to-china-on-climate-ch

ange

United States

As the second largest nation emitting greenhouse gases, the United States’ president Donald J.

Trump has his own peculiar set of actions on climate change. The United States has stepped back

from the advances made by former president, Barack Obama. Everyone seems to be perplexed

regarding China’s $361 billion spending on renewables and how China is leading up to become a

global climate leader, instead of the United States.

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https://www.huffingtonpost.com/feng-zhaokui/china-climate-change-fight_b_5798234.html

https://qz.com/1157788/china-is-the-acid-test-for-a-technology-that-could-save-the-world-from-catastrophic-climate-change/

https://qz.com/1157788/china-is-the-acid-test-for-a-technology-that-could-save-the-world-from-catastrophic-climate-change/

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5jvab/trump-is-quietly-surrendering-to-china-on-climate-change



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During the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, China blocked US efforts to create a globally

binding treaty, arguing that it would unfairly restrict China's economic growth. But China was

struggling with horrific air pollution. It was also investing billions in low-carbon technology.

Stern began meeting in secret with negotiators in China and "we found a way to work together,"

he said. Those discussions resulted in a historic joint promise from the US and China in 2014 to

strengthen "bilateral cooperation on climate change."

That may sound like diplomatic jargon. But this unlikely alliance between the US and China was

a massive step forward in the global fight against climate change. It made possible the

international climate treaty that was negotiated in Paris in 2015. After Trump won the US

election and vowed to exit from the Paris treaty, observers wondered if China would also pull

out. But any doubts were dispelled in early 2017 when China's President Xi Jinping said that "the

Paris agreement is a milestone in the history of climate governance. We must ensure this

endeavor is not derailed."

Sources:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5jvab/trump-is-quietly-surrendering-to-china-on-climate-ch

ange

Australia

The Great Barrier Reef stretches some 2,300 km down Australia’s north-east coast, covering an

area the size of Italy. It is home to about 600 types of coral and 1,625 species of fish. UNESCO

calls it a “site of remarkable variety and beauty”. That may not last. For the second consecutive

year, expanses of coral have lost the vivid colours that draw thousands of annual sightseers.

Instead, they have bleached a deathly white. Worse, this year the bleaching has extended further

south than in 2016. Bleachings were also reported in 1998 and 2002. But for it to happen two

years running is unprecedented. But experts agree that the biggest culprit is warmer ocean

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temperatures linked to climate change. Corals are marine animals that get their colour and most

of their food from the algae that live within them. The higher temperatures stress algae, causing

the rich hues to disappear. Some marine scientists liken this to the impact of a prolonged

heatwave or drought on a forest. The Climate Council, an Australian research body, says the

reef’s surface sea temperatures in early 2016 were the hottest since records began in 1900.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/opinion/australia-climate-change.html

https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/05/economist-explains-3

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Appendix

Table 1: The Long-Term Climate Risk Index (CRI): the 10 countries

most affected from 1996 to 2015 (annual averages)

There have only been slight changes compared to the analyses presented in the CRI 2016, which

considered the period from 1995 to 2014.7 All ten countries that made the Bottom 108 list last

year appear again in this year’s edition. Haiti, the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere, as

well as Honduras and Myanmar remain the top three most affected countries over the past two

decades. These rankings are attributed to the aftermath of exceptionally devastating events such

as Hurricane Sandy in Haiti and Hurricane Mitch in Honduras. Likewise, Myanmar has also been

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struck hard, most notably by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, responsible for an estimated loss of 140

000 lives as well as the property of approximately 2.4 million people.9 Particularly in relative

terms, poorer developing countries are hit much harder. These results emphasise the particular

vulnerability of poor countries to climatic risks, despite the fact that the absolute monetary losses

are much higher in richer countries. Loss of life and personal hardship is also much more

widespread especially in low-income countries.

Countries most affected in 2015:

Mozambique, Dominica as well as Malawi were the most affected countries last year followed

by India, Vanuatu and Myanmar. 10 Table 2 shows the ten most affected countries, with their

average weighted ranking (CRI score) and the specific results relating to the four indicators

analysed.

24


(UNESCO)


Table 2: The Climate Risk Index for 2015: the 10 most affected

countries

25


(UNESCO)


https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/17/global-warming-will-hit-poorer-countries-ha

rdest-finds-research

26

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/17/global-warming-will-hit-poorer-countries-hardest-finds-research



(UNESCO)


Bibliography

Mingst, K. (2017). UNESCO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION. In Encyclopædia

Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/UNESCO

Climate Change. In GlobalChange.gov U.S. Global Change Research Program.

https://www.globalchange.gov/climate-change

(2017) How Do We Know that Humans Are the Major Cause of Global Warming?. Union of

Concerned Scientists.

https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/science/human-contribution-to-gw-

faq.html#.WjWBulQ-fOQ

Harvey, F. (2016). The Guardian Global warming will hit poorer countries hardest, research

finds.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/17/global-warming-will-hit-poorer-countries-ha

rdest-finds-research

Aly, W. (2017). Australia Has a Climate Change Lesson for the World. The New York Times.


27

https://www.britannica.com/topic/UNESCO

https://www.globalchange.gov/climate-change

https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/science/human-contribution-to-gw-faq.html#.WjWBulQ-fOQ

https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/science/human-contribution-to-gw-faq.html#.WjWBulQ-fOQ




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