Topic:
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Delegate Name: Reagan Overmyer
Delegate: Reagan Overmyer
Country: The Democratic Republic of Congo
Committee: SPECPOL (GA)
Topic: Arctic Circle Resource Exploitation
The Democratic Republic of Congo feels that Arctic Circle resource exploitation is a pressing topic that needs to be addressed immediately in order to protect our Earth. This exploitation poses a major threat to the environment and animals inhabiting the area. There are a small number of laws protecting the circle. However, with advancements companies have been able to extract tons of resources from it. When these companies go to fish, acquire oil/gas, etc they bring light, sound, and chemical pollution into the waters. This ends up posing a large threat to the wildlife in them. Light pollution has been proven to significantly affect these creatures, and is known to screw up metabolism and the hormone cycle/production of many vertebrate species including fish and in some cases, people. If the Arctic Circle continues to be destroyed by large companies, it will affect global warming and much more. The DRC is urging other nations to take action before it is too late. It cares deeply about environmental issues and wants to contribute to the solving of climate change.
The DRC has had disastrous experiences with their own resource exploitation. Concessions that were previously granted to private companies are still having a negative impact on the people and environment today. The rubber crisis is a great example of this. Leopold II granted rubber concessions and its effects were horrifying, with nearly 50% of the population dying. A concession agreement is a contract that a company/country is tied to that allows them to operate a business under the government’s jurisdiction, or on another firm’s land under specific conditions. Because of this, concern for the environment in the DRC has risen rapidly. They realize they are not directly affected by it, but acknowledge that if nothing is done now, it will affect more people. The DRC wants to help with preserving the Arctic and the environment as a whole, before it is too late.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has solutions regarding this problem. To help preserve the Arctic Circle, laws limiting the amount of resources companies are allowed to extract yearly should be put in place as soon as possible. Making cargo ships and boats more environmentally friendly would also have a large impact on the ecosystem. Dimmer lights, and quieter models of boats/ships should be required for companies and countries going into this area. The DRC expects to find allies in countries such as the United States, Greece, Norway, Finland, Central African Republic, Botswana, and Sweden.
