Category: FERMUN 2023

The final reports are ready, please read our resolutions! You can find the resolutions for the WMO committee in this link.

A better quality of life in a world that is urbanizing

UN habitat is a committee in the United Nations program who wants to create a better urban future. The mission of this committee is to promote access to decent housing for all as well as the sustainable development of human settlements on a social and environmental level.

In FerMUN 2023, the two issues of debate are : How to ensure that coastal regions dependent on tourism can adapt to the impacts of climate change and how to limit air pollution in urban development.

The first issue was debated on Thursday, with a very little animated debate. Thanks to the very relevant and interesting remarks from Haiti, China, Colombia and the United States as well as the foundation of the climate, the debate phase went very quickly. There was no major opposition, only a disagreement between China and Haiti on the belief of democracy.

The second issue was debated on Friday, with a much more active debate, many attacks between active countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Spain, China, South Korea, Haiti, Indonesia, India… Laughter and applause after the speeches put a much more pleasant and relaxed atmosphere in the room.

The two presidents of UN habitat are Marina PEREZ BARRERA, she is 16 years old and comes from Ferney-Voltaire high school. She already participated in 3 conferences, but it is her first conference as chair. The second president is Louis ARNOULT, he is 17 years old, and he comes from the French high school in Barcelona. For Louis too, it’s his first time as a chair.

Léa MONGENOT & Gautier LAGAILLARDE

In the biotech campus, the committee debate of the FAO took place, led by the presidents Mariana FARINHA ARAUJO and Alice COLOMBO

FIRST DAY :

11/01/2023

This first day began in a wacky way because the latecomers had to dance the Macarena. Thenhe delegations gathered to unite to create a resolution based on the issues. Throughout the day, the delegates gave all their energy to this phase of lobbying to join with the most relevant country/natural allies  and to take the best of this cooperation .

SECOND DAY :

12/01/2023

In the second session, debates started ! The first resolution was submitted by Senegal along with South Africa, Ivory Coast, Egypt, United States, Finland, Ghana, Island, Kenya, Madagascar, Norway, the Netherlands, the DRC and Sweden. This resolution, which promotes local agriculture, allows the  changing of cultivation methods. After 1h30 of intensive debates, Senegal’s resolution was retained with sixteen votes for and twelve votes against. After having a debate, it was time for lobbying !
THIRD DAY :

13/01/2023

Last day, all good things must come to an end. Côte d’Ivoire has seen its resolution passed after long hours of debate. MUN is coming to an end, time for the closing ceremony!

During the three days of the Fermun 2023 conference, the Un Water committee chaired by Raphaëlle Holroyd and Eléonore Hasler was able to debate and find common ground in order to find the necessary solutions to the following two issues

– Good eco-sustainable practices of water use: How to better train users?

– In the face of drought, how to make vulnerable populations and fragile ecosystems more resilient?

Originally Un Water is not a committee as such of the United Nations but it is an entity that was developed in the models in order to bring together all the issues that fall under the theme of water, during the conference there were 23 delegations that were able to discuss the various issues.

In the first part of the conference, the different delegations were able to address the issue of the resilience of ecosystems and populations to drought. The delegations of the United States and Malta were each at the head of a state union to draft a resolution and defend their ideas. With two resolutions globally taking up the same ideas as well as a majority of votes in the assembly in favour of them, the debates for this first issue are closed.

The second part of the conference will deal with the issue of good eco-sustainable practices for water management and more particularly with how to better educate users. During the lobbying two alliances were created between the states, the division was made according to the capacities and the desire of the countries to set up an awareness campaign. The representatives of the two alliances for this issue were the delegations of Colombia and Indonesia.  With more or less complete ideas that respond to international issues and a slightly platonic debate due to a general agreement in the assembly towards the issue, the two resolutions debated were approved with an absolute majority in the assembly. So, this conference ended with three days of intense research, debates, cooperation and conflicts in order to find solutions to our problems.

We can underline the fact that throughout the conference the delegation of Malta represented by Estelle Rossetti as well as Sidonie Leherpeur was particularly invested within the committee. With numerous speeches and regular speeches, the delegates were able to assert themselves and be persuasive in order to defend their ideas with ardor. It is certain that the entire Un Water committee will remember this delegation.

The committee chairs were also able to share their views in a short interview:

Why did you choose to be president?

I had already been a delegate before and honestly they are both very enriching experiences with very different responsibilities and workloads and since this is my last year at MUN and this is a face-to-face conference I took the opportunity to be president and I am very happy about it. Éléonore Hasler
Last year I was an assistant to the presidents, so this year I really wanted to see what it was like and have more responsibility. I realized that last year I had seen many facets of this role but that I still had a lot to discover. Raphaëlle Holroyd

Did the conference meet your expectations?

As far as the speeches were concerned, yes, they were very eloquent and daring, but in terms of content, I think that a little more depth would have made the whole thing even more interesting. Raphaëlle Holroyd

Frankly, I think that all the delegations will agree that we had a good time in the committee. We will leave this conference with very good memories, we were able to meet many people from all over the world and that was great.  But it is true that the content of the debates was a little bit superficial, I expected more remarks on the history of the countries or on what the countries have put in place for example. Otherwise, the conference was really great. Éléonore Hasler

ROBIN Mahe et VOROBIEVA Svetlana

This year, the World Meteorological Organization will address two issues.

The first one is “How to provide safe access to early warning systems for extreme weather events for the entire population?” Due to climate change and human activity, extreme events are increasing. As these natural disasters have important impacts on the populations,  it is essential to know how to guarantee the inhabitants have early warning systems.

Indeed, human-induced climate disturbances are now causing devastating damage in many parts of the world. As the temperature of the planet rises, the frequency of these incidents increases.

At the end of a first day dedicated to the opening ceremony and lobbying, all delegations united around a single resolution. The Mexican delegation presented the text and then responded to the various points of information. The amendments?

After the intervention of “…, an expert in …,” the delegates continued to debate the amendments.

Most of the amendments were adopted unanimously and,inally, the resolution proposes to improve the infrastructure, emergency accommodation and warning systems and to make them accessible to all. Also mentioned is the  continuation and expansion of research on natural disasters, as well as the creation of specialized meteorological studies,  the training of specialists in all countries. This latter point ensures  that experts can analyze the situations and help the populations. In addition, it seems essential to educate and sensitize the latter from a very young age through workshops or courses. Citizens would also be invited to help in the collection of data by sending photos of the sky in particular. This would of course be verified by professionals, and many images would be needed for comparison. Finally, countries agree to find common ground by sharing data, and by creating universally accessible sites, in the event that sites are blocked in some countries. Information could also be shared through social networks, by creating official accounts linked to each state. It was proposed to present a common risk scale for all regions of the world, as well as for all types of weather events, to facilitate understanding. The financing would be drawn from a common fund, to which each country would contribute according to its budgetary capacities. Moreover, all this would be managed directly by the UN, while taking into account the American expertise on the subject.

Finally, the resolution was adopted unanimously.

The second issue deals with weather data collection: why and how to involve citizens.

Collecting weather data is a priority to protect people from disasters and extreme weather events. It is clear that the more data governments and organizations have, the better they will be able to prepare for these tragic events. This is why the integration of citizens in the collection of weather data could be a very effective solution. Indeed, the more data there is, the safer people will be. The purpose of today’s debate will be to determine if citizens can help organizations in the collection of data, and if so, how.

The delegation from Japan will introduce the second issue and therefore the second resolution. There is a very good understanding between the different delegations and the debate is relatively calm because almost all the different delegations have similar objectives. We talk about education, awareness and education of the populations to help ensure the data collection is accurate and relevant. The delegations also proposed the mobilization and creation of funds to develop new technologies for the development of advanced technologies for the collection of meteorological data. However, some less developed countries with a high rate of uneducated citizens, such as Madagascar with 25 percent of the population illiterate, is in difficulties in relation to this idea, as the population is not able to collect data. The first resolution was therefore passed with almost no votes against.

The second resolution introduced by the delegation of Costa Rica puts forward more economic aspects of the problem. On the one hand,  creating infrastructure that could facilitate data collection is a possibility, but it is also very important to find the necessary money to finance these projects. Another major part of the discussion was focused on the question of whether citizens are really able to collect data because even if they could be rewarded for their contribution, they would need sophisticated training..

This second resolution passed.

The digital committee, chaired by Andres Viana Oporto, Norah Moye Ovedraogo and Cherine Abd el All, debated at the Campus Biotech, a university department in Geneva, on the 11, 12 and 13th of January 2023. The committee was made up of 85 delegates representing 43 delegations and treated the following issues: “How to limit the environmental footprint of smartphones?” and “How to make data centers more sustainable?”.

The lobbying session about the first issue on the 11th led to a clash of interest. Alliances between Xiaomi, Samsung, Apple, Lenovo, Microsoft, Huawei, China, South Korea, South Africa, Senegal, Mexico, WMO, Germany and Vietnam were formed during this session as well as Finland, Mexico, India, Australia, Italy, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, France, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Japan, Bulgaria, Egypt, European Union, Kenya, United Kingdom and Senegal.

From the few delegates we were able to interview, here are some of the outcomes they wished possible out of this conference:

• The delegation of Russia wished to raise funds in order to pay for infrastructures that will reduce their carbon footprint and raise the funds for research in order to create better recyclable smartphones.
• The delegation of South Korea hoped to find ways to keep a more sustainable future and make the cause of smartphones more sustainable as well as reduce waste and carbon footprints while still benefiting from this situation.
• The delegation of the Xiaomi Corporation aspired for a more economic aspect to the resolution because to them, making the world greener is pointless if the companies fall apart while doing it. This delegation tried making important but realistic improvements.
• Finally, the delegation of Germany aimed for the well-being of the plant as it is more important than profit. They wished to make long-life batteries and hoped to raise awareness to recycling smartphones.

Despite a few conflicts, the delegates succeeded in writing an encouraging draft resolution and delegates left hopeful that the next few debating days would create an adequate resolution.

The beginning of the second day started with the end of the lobbying and the decision to only debate on 1 resolution instead of 2. The strong will of companies and countries to work together ran the debate. The Dutch delegation began the debate by presenting the resolution written the day before.

An amendment was then brought forward by WMO, the delegation wanted to strike a clause that called for the creation of a new committee dedicated to finding solutions to the debating issue: “ What is the point of creating a whole new committee to shed light on solutions. Today, we are all gathered here to discuss those issues, you have to stop postponing this debate and take action to find solutions now.” This showed the delegate’s strong will to make a difference in our world.

Another notable amendment was made by the delegation of South Africa to bring companies in their countries to help in the development and the economy of South Africa. Norway made a point of information asking if it won’t lead to child labour which caused a stir amongst the delegates. South Africa reassured them that bringing the economy up will help other issues such as human rights and that bringing companies to South Africa had no reason to lead to child labour.

The committee finally voted for the resolution with Netherland as main submitter and a majority of votes for, a few votes against and one abstention.

On the third day, the committee started with speeches from the delegations of the United Kingdom, Cameroon, India and the European Union. The delegates then shifted their attention toward the resolution brought forward by the federation of France which had, at the time, 13 clauses.

The day was long with many amendments presented by the delegations. The federation of Portugal presented an amendment on the first clause to stop using generators and only use renewable energies. A speech against this amendment was made by the Huawei Corporation saying that backup generators can run and that they are more reliable. If there is no wind, for example, it won’t work. It is better to use fossil fuel because they are more reliable. This amendment did not pass.

Another amendment was made by the delegation of vietnam for clause 4, subclause a and to suppress “reporting profiles of dead people in order to suppress the “ as it is harsh to suppress the account of a dead person. The motion to pass to voting was seconded and this amendment passed.

At the end of the day, there were some delegations who made speeches for and against the resolution. The delegation of France made a speech for the resolution. As they said, they are ready to reinforce sustainability and it is a good example of multilateralism and reflective of many efforts. This delegation is convinced it is the way to go: “voting against this resolution means that you are not ready to fight for our world”. On the opposite side, there were no speeches against the resolution.

The resolution passed with no votes against and only two abstentions.

Despite some confusion amidst the delegations, they finally succeeded in fighting to ensure that their issues see the light. We thank the chairs for leading this debate headstrong, the admins with whom this conference would not be possible, and we congratulate the delegates for debating hard and coming up with resolutions despite organization and time issues.

Aurore Stamatiadis et Romane Rouvière

#stopEACOP. This is the new environmental movement to stop one of the biggest projects of the company TotalEnergie, a pipeline to transport oil through Uganda and Tanzania. The issue is not the use of fossil fuels, but rather the destruction of ecosystems that the pipeline will cause.

To begin with, the 1,443km pipeline, will be heated, and is expected to create more than 6 billion barrels of oil per year, resulting in the emission of more than 34 million tons of CO2.

TotalEnergie’s pipeline will cross East Africa through Uganda and Tanzania. This open cut project is the cheapest method for the company but will cause the most damage. The pipes will cut through 16 protected areas representing 2,000km2 of disturbed and fragmented habitat.

The disaster for the ecosystems is immense: the creation of trenches to lay the pipes will have consequences for animals such as giraffes, zebras, buffaloes or even lions, and will lead to the direct destruction of their habitats. It will also affect birds and migratory animals such as elephants and chimpanzees.

In addition, marine ecosystems will also be threatened due to the high risk of oil spills caused by the fact that the Tanzanian coast is a tsunami and earthquake risk zone. The problem is that Lake Victoria is one of the sources of the Nile, so any leakage could have disastrous consequences such as poisoning the water resources of the region…

The problem is that not only  will the ecology be impacted, but also 100,000 people will have to be displaced during the construction of the pipeline.

As noted, TotalEnergie will cause many ecological problems, but of course TotalEnergie defends itself by explaining that their oil project will produce 80,000 jobs, including 11,000 direct jobs, and also promises 2 billion in benefits for local businesses.

The pipeline is therefore a huge project that will bring a lot of profit to TotalEnergie, but will destroy a lot of the environment, which is why environmentalists are demonstrating and some people are suing TotalEnergie for its EACOP project.

Léa MONGENOT

At the Fermun 2023 conference, for three consecutive days debates took place in the UN Water committee. From my experience as a delegate at my many conferences, I loved observing the particularly virulent delegates from the beginning to the end of the debates.

Instead of explaining the concrete course of the conference in the “entity developed specifically for the conference” that is UN Water, I would like to look at a description of the delegates. Indeed, each delegation has a different style of debate, confrontations during debates quickly become a memorable event.

One of the delegations with unprecedented weight is the US delegation.

Their representatives are very sure of their victory, clearly saying “You will see us win” in the interview they gave us. During the debates they took an aggressive stance, quoting Trump and showing their motivation. We saw a strong country, confident in its abilities. Saying that “Europe is very shallow” to explain to countries looking for an alliance why they should join the American camp. They imposed themselves both during the writing of the resolutions and during the debates. Their interventions were aggressive and even provocative at times, but they were relevant and put the delegations up against a wall. Lamanna Adriano and Pilozzi Ettore, with a style of speaking that brought smiles to the faces of the assembly at times with their “Hello” followed by a pause or their turns of phrase, were able to attract sympathy and socialize with ease.

The Malta delegation has also marked all minds with a lot of saying that the translators probably have difficulties to translate. Those styles of speaking which are worrying and striking with for example the accusation towards « certain power » has allowed the delegation to access at the best of the committee. Malta delegates had a very important role during two problematic lobbying, by organizing the resolutions writing and by giving relevance ideas, they brought their unions to a prepared debate on elaborate clauses. Then a perfect pertinence, Estelle Rossetti and Sidonie Leherpeur protected their causes, that’s either dryness or the necessity of coffee proposed in the gossip box. When they’re accused that their clauses were useless, their speaking established silence in the house « Stop, Stop all that if it’s useless. Go out and do something else. ». Finally, the Malta delegation was able to tell the key rôle of the water in our life and the privileged status of certain countries, remaining serious and investing up to the end. « we don’t refuse any outdoor help. We are a union .».

However, many other delegations stood out. For example Columbia, thanks to their practical speeches fitting their country’s insight.Their interventions and specific vocabulary provoked many points of information, which they successfully answered. Bulgaria managed to change the debate with their points of information and were carefully looking for the most favorable agreement for their country. The NGO attack obtained, according to one of the resolutions, the right to manage the funds for countries in water stress. We can also mention the WMO delegation, who denounced the previous delegation and blamed them for not being capable enough to handle the situation. Kuwait pointed to the problem of violence proposed in one of the resolutions, supported by a majority of other delegations. And of course, Indonesia, who was the main submitter for the last debated resolution. They protected their country’s opinion all the conference along, despite all the attractive/tempting propositions they got.

Finally, I would like to talk about our lovely presidency. Eléonore Hasler and Raphaëlle Holroyd presided over this conference from the beginning to the end, providing comprehensive reports allowing their delegates to prepare for the conference without any worries. The chairs arrived with the desire to take responsibilities but above all to leave with good memories of enriching debates. At the end of the conference, when we asked them about the feeling, they said they were happy to be presents at Fermun this year with the same warm memory that reassured us throughout the conference

Svetlana Vorobieva.

Read our last FerMUNGAZINE 2023 !

Our friends from Cotonou are getting ready!