Topic: Promoting Ecologically Sound Development Strategies
Country: Ireland
Delegate Name: Ella Ludwig
School: East Grand Rapids High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Ireland position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
Sustainable development is an issue that many countries around the world have made a priority. It is clear that climate change is a very real problem facing the world today, and countries have already made efforts to reduce the impact people have on the planet. Sustainable development means that economic, agricultural, city and land development are achieved through methods that preserve the Earth’s resources for future generations. That development includes technological and economic advancements that increase people’s health, wealth and access to resources, along with their overall standard of living. International cooperation is essential for this to happen and to reduce climate change, widespread air and water pollution and resource depletion.
Ireland has a history of working to reduce its effect on the environment and working towards more sustainable development. A fairly recent addition to its policy is a framework for sustainable development in Ireland that was introduced in 2012. Called, “Our Sustainable Future” this identifies about 70 different measures to be implemented across various levels of the Irish government. This shows the challenges facing the world and how to address them, working towards 2020 and tying in with international goals and regulations. It focuses on how to develop the economy and achieve equality between all groups of people, and to have respect for the world, environment and other people. A progress report in 2014 indicated that Ireland continues to move in the right direction.
The United Nations has also recognized that it is important to develop ecologically sound development strategies. The UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) was the first UN conference focused on this topic. This conference, held in Rio in 1992, addressed the need for economic and social development in an environmentally responsible manner. This led to the Climate Change Convention that directly led to the Kyoto Protocol and amendments to it that set specific guidelines to follow regarding the environment. The Second Conference was held in Johannesburg, South Africa where participants pledged to restore fisheries, and the Third Conference was again held in Rio de Janeiro. At this conference, called the Earth Summit 2012 or Rio+20, 192 countries agreed to work towards sustainable development with a combination of individual and collaborative effort. The UN has also set the UN Sustainable Development Goals that are the successor to the Millennium Development Goals, and they set goals for development between 2015 and 2030.
Ireland hopes that resolutions can be created to help develop ecologically sound development strategies. Ireland supports moving away from dependence on fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources. Scientific research about natural resources to determine the rate of consumption, whether a resource is being used sustainably and how this use can be changed would be supported by Ireland. Changing agricultural practices to make them more sustainable and changing main forms of transportation are high priorities for Ireland, as well as making energy use more efficient.
