Hi Delegates!
The blog’s been having problems with posts, so if you could please forward your comments to the committee email (bmun58undp@gmail.com) the chairs will be able to review your contributions to factor that into our decisions for awards.
On another note, this week’s focus will be on investigating the costs of development projects within emerging economies. Energy is a huge concern, yet are the industrial consequences of implementing new power plants worth the social costs? Although dated, this article explores the issues associated with large-scale development projects. The three gorges dam in fact has displaced over 1.13 million people.
What are some of the clean-energy alternatives the article offers? What are China’s benchmark goals to reduce carbon emissions? A few weeks ago we investigated the Copenhagen conference, has China made progress since the date of this article (2007)?
Why is the following statement relevant for our committee resolutions?:
“Few if any hydropower projects have been more controversial than the Three Gorges. Entire cities were inundated along with ancient temples and other landmarks. Today, many of the people resettled by the project are still struggling to survive. For years, despite the problems, Chinese officials rarely criticized the project or expressed concern.”
Lastly, please watch the following video clip.
China is Leading Global Race to Clean Energy: States that China is now the largest maker of wind turbines. “China intends for wind, solar and biomass energy to represent 8 percent of its electricity generation capacity by 2020. ” Compare this to previous figures. What kind of progress has China made in it’s renewable energy development? Could China be used as a model for other developing nations? Why or why not?