Is There Hope for our Planet?

By Asian News International

(Reporter- Shravan Verma, Photographer- Agastya Singh)

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Today’s committee session of the UNEP had a very productive outcome to it. The delegates discussed a lot of valid issues their countries are presently facing, while others offered suggestions and help in terms of improving their condition. It followed a very formal approach and structure to achieve the purpose, which was coming up with ideas to develop sustainable cities to address urbanization challenges. While there were some minor errors and hustle, the session turned out to be a success and had a positive impact on everyone.

The session commenced with the General Speakers List (or the GSL). Although all the delegates were willing to give their speech for it, only some were able to because of the high time constraint. After the GSL, the committee proceeded to the first motion and as different delegates suggested different motions, it grew increasingly difficult to settle on one, as a majority of them were disagreeing on the ones which were in order. Due to the indecisiveness and the lack of unity in agreement of the delegates, quite a lot of time was wasted in it. However, when eventually decided, the first motion was, “The initiative taken by governments to increase sustainability”. After a heavy but productive discussion, it came to a conclusion with many inputs as to how sustainable their nation is.

During the debate, there were many impressive claims made about their country’s status. One of the big claims made by the delegate of France were, quoting, “I, the delegate of France can say it without doubt, that France is the most food sustainable nation.”. The other notable and shocking claims were, quoting “Bhutan is the only carbon- negative country in the whole world.” Many more such claims were made until the next motion was brought in, which was decided to be sustainable cities and how are governments implementing those initiatives to make their nation more sustainable. Many views came in for this discussion, as many people talked about their nation’s approach to making the nation more sustainable.

As it continued, It got increasingly interesting with new ideas coming in and surprisingly, even requests for making allies with another country! Later came the Lobby, or the unmoderated Caucus, where all the delegates gathered and discussed new motions, which to be discussed in the remaining time of the session. Moreover, There were also many other discussions, whether it was just a general discussion as to what the other delegates’ nation has to say about their stats, or it was seeking and giving suggestions for the betterment of their nation. 

So it went, following the same structure, yet with new and fresh perspective and thought process. The whole committee session flowed smoothly, without many interruptions. In general, it was a good learning for everyone, including me, by participating in this MUN and formally discussing major global issues.