ENVIRONMENT

RESOLUTION

Be it resolved that the Kyoto Protocol be adopted in order to combat global warming.

This resolution attempts to promote the development of sustainable energy sources while at the same time protecting the environment from climate change related to energy consumption and deforestation. Energy is the fundamental engine of social development and economic growth. It powers industry, warms and lights homes, fuels cars, etc. At the same time, the way energy has traditionally been produced - namely through burning fossil fuels - carries enormous consequences. The combustion of coal, oil, and wood is a leading source of pollution, resulting in a wide variety of severe public health threats.

The control of these energy sources already has major political and national security implications for countries around the world, and this will increasingly be the case as energy demand rises and supplies decrease. Furthermore, exploiting these energy sources has caused widespread environmental damage, from forest destruction to contaminated waterways. And now it appears as though humankind's unquenchable desire for fossil energy is actually altering the Earth's climate, as human activities cause atmospheric concentrations of certain heat-trapping gases to rise dramatically.

Perhaps no other issue will affect so profoundly the quality of the global environment and that of people everywhere than how we use energy in the 21st Century. This resolution calls for nations to ensure a more sustainable energy future and address the enormous challenge of climate change by levying a 10% tax on all fossil fuels and forest related industries. These tax revenues will be directed to United Nations Agencies to encourage wider use of renewable and highly efficient energy technologies, and to assist in creating incentives for the private sector to invest in cleaner energy alternatives.

Print Resources

World Prospects: pp. 98- 102.

Articles available from your teacher

Online Resources

Scientists for Global Responsibility

World Forests Under Threat

Climate Change and Energy

What the World Agreed to do about Climate Change

Information Statistics on Countries of the World

Media Resources

The Green House Effect (video)

Turning Down the Heat: Energy Revolution (video)