Topic: Green Initiatives Within the United Nations System
Country: Ukraine
Delegate Name: Hailey Dann
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Ukraine position papers GLIMUN 2011 committees
Ukraine acknowledges the need for the world to take part in green initiatives. We believe that the world as a whole, specifically the countries that are a part of the United Nations, needs to provide support for environmental endeavors as their budgets allow. In the past, Ukraine has supported ratification of protocols and treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol, which not only encourages ratifiers to support climate control, but mandates that they do so. Ukraine supports many regional efforts, such as cooperation with the Global Environment Fund, and as stated by the UNDP, Ukraine is a party to 19 international environmental programmes and protocols. Also, Ukraine has taken part in working with the UNDP to industrialize buildings in accordance with the National Action Programme to combat desertification. In essence, the only major limiting factor of Ukraine’s willingness to enact green initiatives is the process of garnering the funds to exact such measures. Such measures will not only ensure the sustainability of the environment, but also the future of the world.
Not only has the UNDP assisted Ukraine in our efforts for environmental conservation, but we would like to ask other the UN to assist other countries in strengthening the green initiative policies world wide. We also would like to remind all United Nations members how necessary the ratification of protocols such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Cartagena Protocol is. We also request that member countries not only attend, but support environmental conventions such as the Convention to Combat Desertification, as well as the Convention of the Protection of the Environment of the Danube Basin. We would also ask member countries to comply with the NCSA Self-Assesment test, the test that facilitates the development of concrete initiatives in regards to climate change, land sustainability, biodiversity and biological conservation, and biosafety. As a major facilitator of open dialogue concerning the green initiatives of the United Nations, we request that members of the United Nations take care to engage in active dialogue concerning these initiatives. Finally, we would like to remember that while many countries are not able to financially support environmental change, they are able to participate in open discussion as well as ratification of the protocols stated above.
The Ukraine will call on many of the countries that are aligned with the EU, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Netherlands, Greece, Luxemburg, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Spain. We would like to remind that by being a member of the European Union, they have made a commitment to bringing environmental security.
The Ukraine would like to cite that the major opponent of the Kyoto Protocol, and the only member country actively choosing not to ratify, is the United States. Other countries who have not yet ratified it include Angorra and Afghanistan. These countries can inhibit the process of environmental awareness in the United Nations by withholding funding (especially the United States) as well as continued reluctance to ratify Protocols.
