● UNHCR-The Issue of Climate Migration and Disaster Displacement
● Topic Introduction: The UNHCR estimated that by 2050, up to 250 million people will be left displaced and homeless due to climate change impacts including sea-level rise, floods, famine, drought, desertification and other negative impacts on ecosystem. Though conflicts and wars indeed directly cause refugee crisis, climate change is another urgent problem that deserves international attention. Though the world is already taking actions to react to climate migration and disaster displacement, there are still many problems these migrants and displaced are faced up with. First of all, the word “climate refugee” has no standard definition and is not recognized as any category of refugee under the international law, which means they are often neglected and aren’t qualified for protection. This also causes vague obligations of international community which made resettlement and integration difficult to achieve. Second, foreign governments often show hostility to these migrants since food and water shortage has already been a global issue, and their move-in will become a potential factor that might provoke conflicts over limited resources, and also threaten national security. Third, even if they manage to migrate to a new country, they affect the country in many aspects including development, national security, and human, indigenous, and cultural rights. The international have given a response to this problem, the Nansen Initiative, which is an inter-governmental agenda for disaster-induced cross-border displacement. Its aim is not to construct a new legal standard but to reach consensus between states and provide principles for countries to follow. The world is reacting to the issue, but the exacerbation of climate change does not wait for the world to be well prepared. With the issue growing more serious, consensus and a more comprehensive strategy of resettlement and integration are urgently needed for the international community to cooperate to help these climate change induced migrants and displaced.
● ECOSOC-The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Economic Development and Its Potential Impact
● Topic Introduction: The fourth industrial revolution is happening, and one of its main focuses is the use of artificial intelligence. At Davos 2018, discussion about artificial intelligence and both its benefits and impacts was in the spotlight. Experts have pointed out that artificial intelligence can improve all aspects of our industries including healthcare, education, farming and manufacturing. Take IBM Watson, a product of IBM, as an example, it can read, analyze and learn automatically, which allows it to complete work such as making web search more intelligent, enhancing customer care and helping company owners make decisions. However, researchers also predict that artificial intelligence will definitely cause potential impacts such as job loss, which worsens the issue of unemployment. On the other hand, if an AI device is involved in an accident, who is to blame? The liability issue can become another problem of concern. How can artificial intelligence be used in enhancing economic development? How will it shape our future industries? What measures should we take to avoid the potential impacts it may bring? Finding answers to these questions would be the goal of this committee.
● GA1: DISEC -The Shifting Military Balance in East Asia After The Trump-Kim Summit
● Topic Introduction: On June 12, 2018, the Trump-Kim summit took place in Singapore. Many countries paid attention to this summit because it was the first meeting between the North Korean leader and the US president after the Cold War. At this summit, the US president, Donald Trump, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, signed a 4-point peace pledge, which included establishing new U.S.-North Korea relations, building a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, a commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and retrieving American POW/MIA remains in North Korea. The focus of this summit is the denuclearization of North Korea. Since North Korea developed nuclear weapons, the regional security of East Asia has been under threat. North Korea’s nuclear weapons have become a troublesome issue which many countries worry about. The Trump-Kim summit raised the issue, but it is just a beginning. In the Trump-Kim summit, North Korea only promised to denuclearize but indicate neither the extent of the denuclearization nor a clear schedule of the denuclearization. After the Trump-Kim summit, there are still many problems waiting to be solved, such as how to define the denuclearization of North Korea and how to ensure that the denuclearization of North Korea will be fully accomplished. The issue of the denuclearization has much to do with the military balance of East Asia. With the implementation of North Korea’s denuclearization, there is indeed a change underway in the relative balance of power in East Asia. How to ensure the regional security in this situation is also worth our attention. In the World Youth Summit, the Chair hopes that delegates can discuss these issues from the perspective of high school students, present their own unique insights, and learn how to communicate or make concessions to reach consensus.