United Nations
Environment Programme

Topic: Protecting our Forests

About

In this HMUN India committee, we’ll be working to protect two of our planet’s most valuable resources: freshwater sources and forests. Both of these are critical to the continued survival of our world and our civilization, but both face a daunting array of threats and challenges.

Our planet is nicknamed the ‘blue marble’ for good reason; most of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, distributed throughout oceans, lakes, seas, glaciers and even underground. The other half of the committee will be devoted to exploring the governance, management, and equitable distribution of inland fresh water resources including lakes, rivers, and aquifers. Delegates will consider issues including cross-border water conflicts, pollution, climate change impacts, and infrastructure for sustainable usage. The goal is to develop cooperative frameworks that ensure long-term access to clean water for all communities.

Meanwhile, forests represent some of the most biodiverse and valuable ecosystems on the planet, but they are sensitive to a similar set of problems. The specter of climate change, and everything that comes with it, looms large: erratic temperature changes, natural disasters, droughts - our forests can’t adapt quickly enough to stave off these challenges by themselves.
But our forests face a more active threat, too: deforestation. Invasive ventures in service of mining and drilling interests, as well as the endless demands of commercial agriculture, are slowly eroding forests around the world, eradicating species by the thousands and threatening entire geographic regions. This causes a vicious cycle, since forests act as carbon sinks and global climatic regulators – when they are cut down and burned, more greenhouse gasses are released, accelerating climate change and leaving the planet with fewer defenses against it.

How are we to address these manifold threats? It’s up to you to decide.

Director

nicholas hall

Nicholas Hall is a sophomore at Harvard College studying Applied Math and Economics. He is originally from the United States but grew up around the world, including in Italy, Belgium, Indonesia, and Austria. After participating extensively in the European MUN circuits as a high school student, Nicholas was eager to continue his MUN journey in college – so far he has directed at HMUN conferences in Boston, China, Dubai, and Australia. Outside of MUN, Nicholas serves as on the board of the Harvard College Consulting Group and serves as an Editor at the Harvard Review of Philosophy. In his free time, Nicholas can usually be found either traveling or masterminding his next trip on Google Flights. Nicholas is looking forward traveling to India soon, and he can't wait to meet all the new delegates and hear their ideas!