Position Paper for General Assembly Plenary

The topics before the General Assembly Plenary are: International Cooperation against the World Drug Problem, and Protection of Biodiversity in a Changing Climate. The United Kingdom recognizes that drugs and biodiversity are globalconcerns, requiring the total mobilization of the international community through a comprehensive approach and advocatesfor a collective answer to these global challenges.

I. International Cooperation against the World Drug Problem

The world drug problem continues to be an international challenge to social, economic, and political stability. A/RES/66/183 states that public health and safety is threatened, as well as the well-being of humanity, especially the younger generation and their families. The use of illicit drugs by injection has caused a distressing increase of those infected with HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne pathogens. Special attention should be devoted to the high-rising tide of illegal synthetic drugs and their precursors. The World Drug Report 2012 addresses a new issue in the fight against the spread of illegal drugs: the manufacturing of synthetic drugs. The use of said illicit drugs, as well as cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) destroys economic and social development, and adds to issues of crime, instability, and insecurity. Uncivil society, those who benefit from drug trafficking, terrorism, and human trafficking, are major contributors to the problem. The benefits for such society need to be exponentially reduced in order to help control these problems of crime, instability, and insecurity. Particular non-governmental organizations should play a supporting part in forming drug demand and supply reduction policies.

Drug trafficking is a direct threat to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Adopted in 1961, its design is to restrict, inter alia, the distribution, manufacturing, and trade of illicit drugs. Drug trafficking fuels corruption and conflict, delays economic growth and development, and hinders countries attempting to combat illegal drug use in their countries. In many cases, areas adopt illicit drug cultivation due to extreme poverty, the inability to grow crops that would produce as much profit, and lack of resources. The UK calls upon Member States to extend research and technical assistance to those countries who cultivate such drugs for profit. Prevention is priority in combatting this issue. Alternative development and preventative alternative development programs are important to combatting the world drug problem. It is a way to both address the world drug problem and benefit the environment. Alternative development solutions are useful in the attempt to eliminate illicit drug crop production, and have already shown success in reducing cultivation. Out of the 23% of famers in the Andes and 5% of farmers in Asia, all were highly successful when provided with alternative development. Also, alternative development programs must be integrated into drug control strategies, such as demand reduction strategies, in both the country and state levels, to make sure said programs continue to function.The abuse of drugs, both natural and synthetic, and the many harmful issues that arise from it do not just affect developing countries. It leaves no country untouched. The UK stresses the importance of global cooperation as well as alternative development to battle the growing trends of synthetic drugs. A legally-binding commitment must be made to address these issues and solutions, and reduce the supply. World leaders must work together to oppose the manufacturing, trafficking, and abuse of illegal drugs. The UK promotes multilateral approaches in all the appropriate forums, the most important of which is the United Nations. The UK is a proud member of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and recognizes the authority and ability of the body to solve the truly global threat of narcotics. The UK is also an active member of the United Nations Drug Control Programme and works under the provided framework to develop international standards on narcotic drugs. The UK will continue to work with member states to ensure that the global narcotics situation is regularly evaluated. In this regard, the UK will persist in its efforts in conjunction with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to operate a domestic drug control policy that fits within the given framework provided by the organization. Members of the international community must continue to harmonize their policies towards narcotics and narcotics funded businesses. The UK typically works to promote alternative development in four main areas: areas in which illicit cultivation exists; areas in which cultivation has existed and could come back; areas in which illicit cultivation could exist if no action is taken; and areas in which people could migrate towards drug cultivation activities. However, the UK is positive that for alternative development to succeed, a way must be found to answer to the need for alternatives to the miserable life caused by poverty and marginalization. In this regard, the UK is confident that for alternative development to succeed, it must be accompanied by a number of factors, including: technological skills transfers, improvements in transport and communication structures, institutional development, social infrastructure development, migration pressures, and protection of human rights and constitutional rights (i.e. land titling). Again, alternative development must be part of the larger development picture and when addressed within the narcotics issue must be included in other areas of narcotic prevention, including a world-wide reduction in demand.

II. Protection of Biodiversity in a Changing Climate

The United Kingdom affirms the recommendations of A/RES/63/281, and calls upon Member States to implement the United Nations Framework to Combat Climate Change by reducing carbon emissions to limit the amount of harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines biodiversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of [which] they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems.” The issues of development, biodiversity, and climate change must be addressed as one combined issue; viewing each individually would cause growth and progress to become stagnate. Climate change is one of the greatest contemporary issues that need to be addressed. It is a problem all nations experience, and global cooperation is necessary to find a solution. The main causes of climate change are deforestation and the loss of biodiversity. Forests bring about many beneficial aspects. They produce oxygen and purified water, maintain climate, and provide a home for many species of plants and animals. Deforestation is caused by forest fires and the tearing down of trees for profit. The general population needs to be educated on the disastrous consequences of deforestation. It not only affects the species living around the forests, but also destroys the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions and affects climate change. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon states “the facts are clear: climate change is real and accelerating in a dangerous manner,” declaring that it “not only exacerbates threats to international peace and security; it is a threat to international peace and security.” The United Kingdom fears that climate change could result in disruption of global peace and security, and that changing land masses caused by increasing sea-levels may cause dangerous situations such as the conflict over land and resources. The UK is playing a leading role at a global scale for addressing this issue. We are working through the European Union, the G8, the Commonwealth and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to find ways to reach an international solution. Stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas levels to prevent harmful climate change, while evolving to the current climate change, is the primary objective. Along with the European Union (EU), the UK believes global warming should never rise 2°C above pre-industrial era to prevent catastrophic consequences. An international contract must be set in order to accomplish this goal. This plan will be for the years after 2012, when the first set of targets under the Kyoto Protocol expires. The United Kingdom and the EU are both being proactive in this situation with the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008 and the EU’s 2020 package. The UK continues to show its leadership through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Those parties involved in CBD produce a National Biodiversity Strategy and/or Action Plan (NBSAP). In 1994, the United Kingdom became the first country to produce a national biodiversity action plan. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) realizes the importance of detailed strategies such as recovery of species and habitats to keep them from becoming extinct. This leadership is further shown through the UK’s dedication of continual strategies that take a local/regional approach to execute goals that address biodiversity loss. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is an independent study “to analyze the global economic benefit of biological university, the costs of the loss of biodiversity, and the failure to take protective measures versus the costs of effective conservation.” This report shows us how protecting our resources in turn will protect our economy. The UK has not only contributed hundreds of thousands of Euros so the messages of TEEB may be shared with developing countries, but also has formed the UK National Ecosystem Assessment. This assessment is the first of its kind in the world, which takes the economic, health, and social benefits of the UK’s environment and summarizes it. It is important that this information is shared with other member states. Biodiversity is not an issue that stops at the political boundaries of another country or region; what one country is doing in their area can be harming the biodiversity in the other. In the same way, the knowledge about biodiversity can be relevant and useful in more than one country. We must join together and do what will be best for the natural environment. A new, independent intergovernmental panel on biodiversity and ecosystem services must be created for the purpose of a global approach towards preserving biodiversity, as well as sharing technologies and scientific evidence and theories. The protection of biodiversity is not just an environmental issue; it is also an economic one. It is not a free, endless supply, and must cease to be thought of in that way. A commitment from all countries, as well as willingness for change, needs to be obtained in order for such a panel to exist and thrive. We understand the need for the balance of environmental objectives with emphasis on the protection of biodiversity. As supporters of the Kyoto Protocol, the UKcalls upon member states to join efforts and commit funds and technology to help developing nations reduce emissions. One practical measure is to establish enhanced information exchange to better protect biodiversity. Careful consideration of the trade-offs involved in technology transfer, including between energy efficiency and economic efficiency; short-term responses to climate change and long-term development progress; and the relative costs of fiscal and environmental policies that subsidize technology transfer rather than exclusive reliance on market mechanisms.