Links: International Press

• Security Council (SC)
  
• The General Assembly (GA) - Forum for multilateral negotiation
  • Main Committee I (MCI)
  • Main Committee III (MCIII)
  • Main Committee IV (MCIV)
  • Human Rights Council (HRC)
    
• World Health Organisation (WHO)
• Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
  • Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ)
• Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP)

Security Council (SC)
The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security. It is so organized as to be able to function continuously, and a representative of each of its members must be present at all times at United Nations Headquarters. On 31 January 1992,the first ever Summit Meeting of the Council was convened at Headquarters, attended by Heads of State and Government of 13 of its 15 members and by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the remaining two. The Council may meet elsewhere than at Headquarters; in 1972, it held a session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the following year in Panama City, Panama. When a complaint concerning a threat to peace is brought before it, the Council's first action is usually to recommend to the parties to try to reach agreement by peaceful means. In some cases, the Council it self undertakes investigation and mediation. It may appoint special representatives or request the Secretary General to do so or to use his good offices. It may set forth principles for a peaceful settlement.
Source: http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_background.htm

Agenda Item 1: International sanctions against North Korea
Since the 9/11 attacks in the US Washington has contended that North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons poses a serious threat to the world. Several times, the US administration proposed bringing North Korea before the UN Security Council to impose economic sanctions. However, China - North Korea's main ally and trading partner - indicated that it would likely veto any sanctions on Pyongyang.
International sanctions were imposed when the first nuclear weapons test were officially known in October 2006. These sanctions included many claims e.g. the elimination of all weapons of mass destructions and ballistic missiles.
North Korea did not fulfill each of these claims, which enforced the sanctions over the years.
Until today North Korea's reactions are not the desired ones.
Consequently, the Security Council has to discuss an aftermath and find prospects for the future and for a constructive cooperation with North Korea.

Agenda Item 2: The situation in Afghanistan
The War on Afghanistan started on October 7th, 2001 as a response to the September 11th attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda. The War on Afghanistan officially marked the beginning of the War on Terror. Following 9/11, a U.S.-led coalition under the name of “Operation Enduring Freedom” (OEF) was formed, upon which the most major branch is OEF-A: Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan, which includes participants from all over the world (check http://www. defense.gov/news/May2002/d20020523cu.pdf or http://fpc.state.gov/ documents/organization/6207.pdf for more de- tail). The OEF-A entered Afghanistan on October 7th, 2001, and since has defeated the Taliban government, eradicated most of their political influence from Afghanistan and even Pakistan, and embarked on the long and difficult process of re-establishing stability in the country.

After the beginning of the OEF-A operation in Afghanistan, on December 20th, 2001, the United Nations Security Council voted in resolution 1386 to establish the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which continues to be run to this day parallel to the OEF-A. In the southern region of Afghanistan, OEF-A military operations have been - since 2006 - succeeded by the NATO-led ISAF.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1890 adopted on October 8th, 2009, extends the mandate of the ISAF in Afghanistan “for a period of 12 months beyond 13 October 2009”. The situation was gradually improving, with occasional lapses when Taliban insurgency rose in different “waves”. However, 2009 saw the first major Taliban resurgence since 2007. Indeed, the Taliban are slowly gaining the upper hand, especially in the devastated southern region, and ISAF actions against Taliban are insufficient.

One of the most significant points to be noticed is that the opium industry in Afghanistan supports the Taliban. Drug traffickers have a symbiotic relationship with insurgents and terrorist groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Instability makes opium cultivation possible; opium buys protection and pays for weapons and foot soldiers, and these in turn create an environment in which drug lords, insurgents and terrorists can operate with impunity.
Opium is the glue that holds this murky relationship together. If profits fall, these sinister forces have the most to lose. The big traffickers are hoarding surplus opium as a hedge against future price shocks and as a source of funding for future terrorist attacks, in Afghanistan or elsewhere.

The priority for the Security Council remains the stabilization and revitalization of Afghanistan and Pakistan’s southern borders. Such stabilization and revitalization includes the eradication of the Taliban, reconstruction of the infrastructure, and the rebuilding of the economy. Such goals can be achieved in a multitude of ways, ranging from direct military-oriented resolutions to those that indirectly attempt to squander the Taliban by blocking their sources of power (i.e. the drug and opium industry).

Agenda Item 3: Revision of the UNAMID mandate
The subject of the conflict, armed conflicts between various ethnic groups in Darfur and the Sudanese central government, during which there were serious crimes against humanity,  these aspects will be dealt with.

The General Assembly - Forum for multilateral negotiation
Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policy making and representative organ of the United Nations. Comprising all 192 Members of the United Nations, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter. It also plays a significant role in the process of standard-setting and the codification of international law. The Assembly meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year, and there after as required. While the Assembly is empowered to make only non-binding recommendations to States on international issues within its competence, it has, nonetheless, initiated actions — political, economic, humanitarian, social and legal — which have affected the lives of millions of people throughout the world.
Source: http://www.un.org/ga/about/background.shtml

General Assembly (GA) – Subsidiary Bodies
The subsidiary organs of the General Assembly are divided into categories: Committees, Commissions, Boards, Councils and Panels, and Working Groups and others.
After discussing the items on the agenda, seeking where possible to harmonize the various approaches of States, the subsidiary organs present their recommendations, usually in the form of draft resolutions and decisions, to a plenary meeting of the Assembly for its consideration.

Subsidiary Bodies of the General Assembly:

The simulated Main Committees at MUNOG_10 are:
Main Committee I (Disarmament and International Security Committee) is concerned with disarmament and related international security questions;
Main Committee III(Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee) deals with social and humanitarian issues;
Main Committee IV(Special Political and Decolonization Committee) deals with a variety of political subjects not dealt with by the First Committee, as well as with Decolonization.

Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN system made up of 47 States responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.
Sources:

http://www.un.org/ga/about/subsidiary_organs.shtml

http://www.un.org/ga/maincommittees.shtml

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/index.htm

Main Committee I (subsidiary to the GA)
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security Committee) is concerned with disarmament and related international security questions.
Source: http://www.un.org/ga/first/index.shtml

Agenda Item 1: Establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East
The notion of a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East sounds like a utopian dream. Although the issue has been on international agendas for 30 years it still has to approach realization. The Middle East has been and still remains one of the most volatile and violent regions in the world. It is a region, however, that could grow exponentially more dangerously with a nuclear arms race. A Middle East NWFZ will be advantageous for all countries in the region. No country wants to live with the insecurity of worrying about a possible nuclear war which would be destructive for every country involved.
It is our task to set up a resolution to promote regional security and diminish the dangers of possible regional nuclear arms fights. The challenge of MC1 is to find a solution for the situation in the Middle East with special regards to ethnical, social and religious backgrounds.
Important documents which should be prepared are for example the conclusion of the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 (A|RES|46|75), the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1995 and its Review Conferences and the concept for a ban on nuclear weapons by the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (A|RES|3263).

Agenda Item 2: Working towards an arms trade treaty: establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms

Efforts to regulate international arms transfers on a global level have been on the international agenda since the early 20th century. In 1925 the League of Nations produced a draft Convention on the Arms Trade that has never been adopted. In contrast to chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, which are regulated by global conventions prohibiting their transfer, there are no global conventions or treaties prohibiting or restricting imports, exports and transfers of conventional weapons.
In this conference there is a need to discuss possibilities how to regulate, prohibit or restrict the international arms transfer on a global level.

Agenda Item 3: Evaluating modern weapon systems under the general principles of international humanitarian law

The goal of international humanitarian law is to limit the effects of war on people and property and to protect particularly vulnerable persons.
Nowadays, multilateral arms regulations already restrict or prohibit the production and possession of specific weapons or the use of specific weapons considered excessively inhumane or indiscriminate in their effects. Modern weapon systems such as machine guns, assault rifles and autocannons must be evaluated under the principles of international humanitarian law to decide about the restriction or prohibition of such weapon systems.
The present proposals have to be improved and the Disarmament and International Security Committee has to discuss how to avoid the abuse of weapons for inhuman acts altogether.

Main Committee III (subsidiary to the GA)
Year after year, the General Assembly allocates to its Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee, commonly referred to as the „Third Committee”, agenda items relating to a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues that affect peoples all over the world.
An important part of the Committee’s work focuses on the examination of human rights questions, including reports of the special procedures of the newly established Human Rights Council.
The Committee also discusses the advancement of women, the protection of children, indigenous issues, the treatment of refugees, the promotion of fundamental freedoms through the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and the promotion of the right to self-determination.
Source: http://www.un.org/ga/first/index.shtml

Agenda Item 1: Responsibility for providing safe drinking water for all

Because of climate change and an increasing water consumption, water became a very rare resource. This implicated a proper water crisis.
In some parts of the world water resources are wasted while in other parts of the world more than 800 million people have no access to safe drinking water. These people either have no access to water at all or only to polluted sources of water. This leads to deadly illnesses and a high infant mortality. Furthermore,  water shortage leads to conflicts about water supply between countries, which can even end in war.
In 2000 all UN member states agreed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including the aim to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water (Goal 7, Target 3 of the MDGs). Some measures have already been taken to accomplish this aim but there is still the necessity to take action. Therefore the member states of the United Nations have to feel responsible for providing safe drinking water to all.
Committee III should come up with innovative and effective solutions in order to improve the situation of many people who suffer from water shortag as fast and effective as possible.  In addition to that it would be desirable if clear criteria were set to prosecute violations of water right.

Agenda Item 2: Preventing corruption in humanitarian assistance

Flooding, earth-quakes or other severe catastrophes happen all over the world. These kinds of disasters often destroy the basis for life of many people. Therefore it is important to help immediately and to provide affected areas and people with reliefs.
However, corruption in humanitarian assistance reduces the possible help and is an obstacle to quick reconstruction. On top of that corruption injures the credibility of aid organizations and stops people from donating.
The problem of corruption is not easy to define because it is a complex phenomenon that occurs worldwide. Additionally, every country has its own perception concerning corruption,  which makes it even harder to combat corruption worldwide. Several NGOs have already developed some good ideas together with Transparency International (TI) to decrease the risk of corruption. Although their report “Preventing corruption in humanitarian assistance” makes up a basis for the future, there is still the need to take action.
Whistle-blowing policies (do you mean policemen?), codes of conduct for staff, and financial controls are just a few measures that have to be discussed in this committee. However, we need more constructive ideas to create transparency in the sector of aid organizations and we have to raise awareness of this problem worldwide because corruption in humanitarian assistance can have devastating consequences for the affected countries, their inhabitants and for the organizations themselves.

Agenda Item 3: Preventing forced marriages of children

The photo taken by UNICEF in 2007 shows an eleven-year-old girl from Afghanistan sitting next to her husband. She is one of the victims that suffer from forced marriages. Her family needed the money that her husband, a forty-year-old man, paid for his child bride. This picture is an obvious evidence that forced marriages of children is a current issue that demands solutions.

In accordance with the Convention on the Rights of Children a child is a human being below the age of eighteen. If a child has to marry against his/her will or without his/her consent it is a forced marriage. For this reason, forced marriages of children are violations of the Human Rights. Forced child marriage is a problem that affects both sexes, boys as well as girls, but girls are the majority of the victims.
There are several reasons that encourage forced marriages of children. In most of the cases poverty and economic transactions are next to notions of morality and honor the main factors that push children into forced marriages. Even if forced marriages of children are now widely considered as violations of children’s rights, this phenomenon is still present as you can see in the example mentioned above. Especially in Africa and Southern Asia children suffer from forced marriages and their consequences. The affected children are often deprived of basic rights regarding health care, education and equality. In addition to that, forced marriages can cause mental and physical damages.
Therefore this committee needs to find a solution to help these children and to strengthen the children’s rights all over the world.

Main Committee IV (subsidiary to the GA)
The Special Political and Decolonization Committee deals with a variety of political subjects not dealt with by the First Committee, as well as with decolonization.
Source: http://www.un.org/ga/fourth/index.shtml

Agenda Item 1: Support for the survivors of the genocide in Rwanda

On April 6, 1994, the airplane carrying Juvénal Habyarimana, the President of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu President of Burundi, was shot down as it prepared to land at Kigali. Both presidents were killed when the plane crashed.
In response to the assassination up to 1.000.000 people of the Tutsi minority, suspected to be responsible for the presidents’ death, were murdered in Rwanda and neighboring regions  during the following 100 days.
The hatred between those two ethnic groups first came up due to differences between the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) and the Hutu parties.
UN bodies failed to prevent the ongoing massacre in Rwanda.
The UN’s goal is to protect the survivors and observe the lawsuits of the Hutu majority.

Agenda Item 2: Measures to strengthen the transitional federal government of Somalia in order to guarantee economic and social security in the country and the region

The UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) includes several aims to support the state building mission of the UN in Somalia. To name some:
The UNDP wants to assure that the transitional federal government of Somalia is respected in an environment where government functions are emerging or non-existent. To make this possible institutions are to be set up and a constitution must be created.

Please remember that the UNDP is only one of the UN agencies working actively in Somalia.

Agenda Item 3: Settlement of border conflicts in post-colonial areas

The impact of western colonialism in the past created sovereign states. Nowadays, conflicts in border areas of these countries seem very likely and these border conflicts lead to instability and insecurity. Disputes over borderlines even escalate to armed conflicts between nations. The innocent and mostly defenseless victims of these conflicts and civil wars are clearly the civilians.
Decades of oppression by a colonial power are followed by further violence and suffering.

Human Rights Council (subsidiary to the GA)
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN system made up of 47 States responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council was created by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.
One year after holding its first meeting, on 18 June 2007, the Council adopted its „Institution-building package” providing elements to guide it in its future work. Among the elements is the new Universal Periodic Review mechanism which will assess the human rights situations in all 192 UN Member States.
Source: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/

Agenda Item 1: Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been in the focus of the world-community for a long time. Probably the most current issue in the Islamic Republic of Iran is the situation of women. Their rights are very limited and are based on the interpretation of the Koran. Women are not allowed to show in public without covering their heads and are deprived of many rights which are self-evident in the western world. The intolerant behavior towards minorities and political communities has been another part of the present discussion. In October 2009 two policeman and 49 people were killed in a bomb attack. This was one of several attacks by the southern Iranian Baluch – one of many tribes which are fighting for greater autonomy and independence. There are several laws in Iran that are compliant to the practices in the Islamic world, but do not meet the requirements of the human rights. For example: constricted press freedom, punishment of women for not covering their heads in the public, beatings of citizens for using the right to freedom of speech in public places, imprisonment of religious minorities, imprisonment of political opponents, homosexuality and atheism.
The international community will now have to work out how to better the situation in the Iran till it meets the standards of the human rights. This could possibly be achieved by sending an international commission into the country or by imposing economical sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Agenda Item 2: Combatting human trafficking

One of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world is human trafficking. Affairs like bonded labor, forced labor, child labor and sex trafficking take place in international coherences.  According to United States State Department data, an "estimated 600,000 to 82,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 70 percent are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors." The data also illustrates that the majority of transnational victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation.

Agenda Item 3: Measures to combat discrimination and social isolation of the disabled

Disabled people have a substantially poorer standard of living to that of non-disabled people. The handicapped are disadvantaged in finding employment and education. Discrimination of the disabled is widespread in the society and includes many practices, all of which are designed to ensure that disabled people are isolated or even killed. The most current ones are embryo screening, neglected aid of newborn retarded babies and euthanasia. There is growing pressure to legalize euthanasia. This is a threat to everyone but especially to disabled and ill people. In many countries it is legal to abort hampered children even in advanced time of pregnancy.
In the past Islamic countries asked for a law to execute the mentally disabled .

World Health Organisation (WHO)

Agenda Item 1: Obesity in the Developing World

Facts

• Globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults, at least 300 million of them obese.
• Obesity and overweight pose a major risk for chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer.
• The key causes are increased consumption of energy-dense foods high in saturated fats and sugars, and reduced physical activity.

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than 1 billion adults overweight - at least 300 million of them clinically obese - and is a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and disability. Often coexisting in developing countries with under-nutrition, obesity is a complex condition, with serious social and psychological dimensions, affecting virtually all ages and socioeconomic groups.
Increased consumption of more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, combined with reduced physical activity, have led to obesity rates that have risen three-fold or more since 1980 in some areas of North America, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, Australasia and China.The obesity epidemic is not restricted to industrialized societies; this increase is often faster in developing countries than in the developed world.
Because of economic growth, modernization, urbanization and globalization of food markets, obesity is a serious problem.

Agenda Item 2: Food Safety from Production to Consumption

Definition

Food safety is the assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use.

Facts

• Guaranteeing food safety is a duty of the authorities
• The infrustructure of food production is one of the most widespread systems
• Food, that can harm our health or change our way of life or our ability to work for the worse should not be marketed
• Presently, the rate of health-conscious customers is very low

Food is any substance or material eaten or drunk to provide nutritional support for the body or for pleasure. The right of food is a human right derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), recognizing the "right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food", as well as the "fundamental right to be free from hunger." In the wake of the globalization of the food-supply chain, the consumers - who are worried about their health and their interests - are constantly facing new challenges and risks. Roughly 7 million people die of food poisoning each year, with about 10 times as many suffering from a non-fatal version.

Food-production infrastructure

From the soil to the table: feed production, animal- and plant health, animal welfare, primary production, processing, storage, transport and sales.

For more information
http://www.wpro.who.int/health_topics/food_safety/general_info.htm

Agenda Item 3: Preventing the Spread of Disease Following Natural Disasters

Natural disasters have been happening as long as the Earth has existed.
When discussing natural disasters, the body count is infrequently limited to the event itself.
Natural disasters often have serious economic, social as well as health consequences and they are difficult for us to understand because we can neither control when nor where they will happen.
During the past two decades, natural disasters have killed millions of people, from the Indonesian tsunami to Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti.
Because of the developing country’s lack of resources, their insufficient disaster preparedness systems and their infrastructure, they are unreasonably affected. Even those who find shelter must often deal with a lack of electricity, clean food and water, or inadequate medical care.
That is why people need to be informed about the risks in their area and about what to do when a disaster strikes.
Since nature is not slowing down for humankind, a new strategy must be developed on how to prevent disease and its spreading.
Having regard to the fact that not all nations have adequate resources, it is obvious that many of them do not have the capabilities to deal with disasters individually. So who should be expected to provide the necessary assistance in times of crisis? And what sort of assistance could they be expected to provide?                                                            Society cannot avoid natural disasters - tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes or any other natural disaster can't be prevented from occurring -, but with good preparation and organisation it is possible to survive and go back to normal life afterwards.                               It is not possible to say when the next disaster may strike; so humankind must act now.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Source: http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/about/index.shtml

Agenda Item 1: Exploitation of less economically developed countries through industrialisation

Agenda Item 2: Improving Cooperation between national banks and supervision of them to stabilize international financial markets

Agenda Item 3: Role of microcredit and microfinance in the elimination of poverty

Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ)(subsidiary to the ECOSOC)

The Commission, which arose from a ministerial meeting held in Versailles in 1991, is a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council. It was preceded by a more technically focussed Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, formed in 1971 to replace an earlier expert advisory committee and tackle a broadened scope of UN interest in criminal justice policy. The Economic and Social Council, on the recommendation of the General Assembly, established the Commission by its resolution 1992/1, entitled "Establishment of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice," and provided for the Commission's mandates and priorities in its resolution 1992/22, entitled "Implementation of General Assembly resolution 46/152 concerning operational activities and coordination in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice." Its mandated priority areas are:

• international action to combat national and transnational crime, including organized crime, economic crime and money laundering;
• promoting the role of criminal law in protecting the environment;
• crime prevention in urban areas, including juvenile crime and violence; and
• improving the efficiency and fairness of criminal justice administration systems.

Source: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/commissions/CCPCJ/index.html

Agenda Item 1: Finding definitive solutions to the global drug trade

Agenda Item 2: Measures against money-laundering and the financing of terrorism

Agenda Item 3: Addressing corruption as an obstacle to development of less developed countries

Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP)

The Convention
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The Convention enjoys near universal membership, with 192 countries having ratified.
Under the Convention, governments:
- gather and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices
- launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected impacts, including the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries
- cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change
The Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994.
More recently, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures.
Source: http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/2627.php

COP 15 –The crucial climate change conference
At the time of the adoption of the Bali Action Plan, the Danish, Polish and Indonesian governments agreed to strive to ensure that the COP15 conference in Copenhagen in 2009 would be absolutely crucial for the work of the next many years towards a better climate. The background to this decision was partly the increased focus on quick action in the latest report from the IPCC. It was also partly an acknowledgement of the fact that 2009 represents more or less the last chance to achieve an agreement, if this agreement is to be approved and ratified in time for it to come into force after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
The UNFCCC’s history shows that countries can quickly move forward together, but also that they risk coming to a stand still because of internal disagreement. The ambition of the Danish government is that the COP15 conference in Copenhagen will result in an ambitious global agreement incorporating all the countries of the world.
Source: http://en.cop15.dk/climate+facts/process/cop15+%E2%80%93+the+crucial+conference

The COP - Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP)
The Conference of the Parties (COP)is the „supreme body“ of the Convention, that is, its highest decision-making authority. It is an association of all the countries that are Parties to the Convention. The COP is responsible for keeping international efforts to address climate change on track. It reviews the implementation of the Convention and examines the commitments of Parties in light of the Convention’s objective, new scientific findings and experience gained in implementing climate change policies. A key task for the COP is to review the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties. Based on this information, the COP assesses the effects of the measures taken by Parties and the progress made in achieving the ultimate objective of the Convention. The COP meets every year, unless the Parties decide otherwise. (…) Just as the COP Presidency rotates among the five recognized UN regions (…) there is a tendency for the venue of the COP to also shift among these groups.

Agenda Item 1: Reviewing the emissions trading procedure, as set out in Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol

Article 17:
"The Conference of the Parties shall define the relevant principles, modalities, rules and guidelines, in particular for verification, reporting and accountability for emissions trading. The Parties included in Annex B may participate in emissions trading for the purposes of fulfilling the commitments under Article 3. Any such trading shall be supplemental to domestic actions for the purpose of meeting quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments under that article."
Parties with debts under the Kyoto Protocol have accepted targets for limiting or reducing emissions. These targets are expressed as levels of allowed emissions for the 2008-2012 commitment period. The emissions are divided into “assigned amount units” (AAUs).
Emissions trading, as set out in Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol, allows countries that have emission units to spare - i.e. emissions permitted but not needed - to sell this excess capacity to countries that are over their targets.
Thus, a new commodity was created in the form of emission reductions or removals. More than actual emission units can be traded and sold under the Kyoto Protocol’s emissions trading scheme.
Emissions trading schemes may be established as climate policy instruments at the national level and the regional level. Under such schemes, governments set emissions obligations to be reached by the participating entities.
These basic principles of a trading regime are established by the Kyoto Protocol, but there are still some unresolved problems. The European Union emissions trading scheme is the largest in operation.

Agenda Item 2: The effects of the current global financial crisis on the environment

The global financial crisis really started to show its effects in the middle of 2007 and leading into 2008. Around the world, stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bail out their financial systems.
Over the past 20 years, the world’s economy has experienced a golden age of sustained growth. Despite this, major efforts to confront global environmental issues such as climate change have been largely deferred. The impending recession is already being used as justification for more delays in taking real action against global warming.
We are now facing the need of taking action on climate change and global environmental stabilization because a delay could end up costing us all very dearly. But there are already a lot of developing countries which are arguing that the current financial crisis and impending global economic crisis is restricting their ability, since they even cannot meet their financial obligations to the United Nations.
There is an urgent need of actions against the financial crisis and for the environment, but there have to be longer-term solutions in order to change the situation.

Agenda Item 3: Renewing measures towards stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere

Definition “greenhouse effect”:
Steady increase in the Earth's average lower atmosphere (near surface) temperature due to heat retention caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. These gases form a blanket around the earth that lets the incoming sun rays (short wave radiation) to pass through but blocks the reflected heat rays (long wave radiation) from going out into the space. Heat-retention is a natural phenomenon replicated in greenhouses where the glass roof traps radiant heat within an enclosed space. This build-up of heat has drastically increased since industrial revolution in mid 19th century by fossil fuel burning. And  it was further accelerated by CFC-emissions in the 20th century, leading to global warming (the year 1998, for example, was the warmest year in the recorded history).
The Stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere is a very serious problem to solve because decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases could mean that factories and industries need to be cut down and heavily regulated, which will result in: people losing their jobs, the economy breaking down, inflation and social displacement.
The path to emissions reduction can and should be unique to each country's needs, capabilities and desires. More important is that each country commits itself to accepting some of the responsibility we have towards the next generation and that each country has the capability to commit to significant reductions in emissions. There are already examples all over the world, for example with solar and wind energy in Germany and in Poland. Sustainable agriculture must be a priority, especially in Africa. Lastly, we must reaffirm the need for each individual to do small things.
Many countries have already faced some of the climate threats – natural disasters, desertification, pollution, and so on. Others, mostly developed ones, are soon to experience such problems – so in reality, climate change as a result of increased greenhouse gases is not only a phenomenon that harms us as an international community, but rather it is one that will also jeopardize the development of future generations.