Notes

Country: Republic of Korea
Issue: The New International Energy Order and World Peace
Committee: General Assembly Plenary
ISSUE AND POSITION: Global climate change and the worldwide search for sustainable energy has become an issue of paramount importance in the international community. The effects of this issue are multifarious, impacting the global economy, damaging the environment, and threatening international stability and security. As governments across the globe search for new sources of fuel and energy, spending billions upon billions of dollars on experimental energy programs, it is important to remain wary of the limited time we have at our disposal. Additionally, it is not just our environment that is in need of timely repair; this issue also threatens our international stability and security. South Korea has made progressive steps towards sustainable energy and development including the establishment of multiple initiatives for the development of renewable resources, promotion of energy conservation, and achieving an increase in energy efficiency.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Historically this issue is rooted in the international community’s irresponsible and environmentally unfriendly consumption of fossil fuels and exploitation of the environment. Because of this we find ourselves in a desperate search for a new source of reliable and renewable energy to which we can revert when our oil reserves have expired. We have taken a toll on our environment and it has now, in turn, began to take its revenge on our economies and international security. Economically we are strained, not only by global recession, but also by the cost of research and development of new sources of energy. Due to the increasing necessity for natural resources, while our planet is still plagued with widespread hunger and starvation, the lack of access to resources will inevitably lead to conflict. This issue is obviously of paramount importance because it not only plays a crucial role in the dynamics of international relations today but will surely have a detrimental affect on international relations in the future if countermeasures are not taken promptly. Previously action has been taken on both the national level and the multinational level. International meetings and regulations such as the Kyoto Protocol as well as last December’s meeting in Copenhagen have shown international effort towards improving our international energy crisis while nations continue to take steps individually towards sustainable energy and reduced carbon emissions. These efforts have ranged from projects working towards the discovery of new fuel sources to tax incentives for citizens as an incentive to utilize alternative sources of fuel and energy. While these past actions are with good intentions and have seen success in certain areas they have unfortunately either not been adopted on incredibly large scales or have been slow in their transition to popularity. Despite these changes and progressive steps taken there are still major issues left unresolved. A reliable and renewable source of energy has not yet been developed, those which have been experimented with have yet to gain popularity on a large scale, no precautions have been made to protect against the possible security consequences of this situation, and worst of all there has yet to be a concrete international regulation for carbon emissions to have any large scale success.
PROPOSED ACTION ON THE ISSUE: Considering the severity of the situations at hand it is crucial that several steps be taken immediately to aid the international communities efforts in development and utilization of renewable forms of energy resources. One measure that can be taken as a countermeasure to a nation’s carbon emissions is the use of tax incentives to persuade citizens to drive more fuel-efficient vehicles or live more energy efficient life styles. Secondly, South Korea would like to encourage all nations who have yet to take steps towards the development of new energy sources to begin not only initiatives within their own nation for the discovery and development of new energy resources but also to work cooperatively with nations within their region towards methods of efficiently distributing and utilizing renewable resources in the region. With these, as well as other ideas implemented successfully we will be capable of achieving our goals of environmental health and energy sustainability. This will not only benefit nations economically but will also prevent conflict from breaking over resource access or allocation.