Derek Teini

Christie Marchetti

Tom Beer

Anthony Borghi

The Third World Takes Action (UDA)

We the people of the developing nations of the world feel that we need to take action concerning a problem that concerns us all. Global warming is irreversibly affecting the global social and physical environments. The effects of Global Warming will send shock waves rippling through our cities and country-sides in the form of massive droughts, erratic weather and hurricanes of the largest magnitude.

• Fossil fuel emissions are the main contributor to the global warming phenomenon.

• The use of fossil fuels as an energy source causes increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and prevents the escape of heat into space and increasing the global temperature (1).
• The use of fossil fuels is worldwide, both the "developed" and the "developing" nations depend largely on this energy source. For example, ninety-three percent of China’s electricity is produced by fossil fuels (3), and the entire continent of Africa only produces 15.5% of their electricity from renewable resources (4).
• Fossil fuels are also used as fuel for transportation. As third world countries, our transportation is not reliant on fossil fuels due to the lack of vehicles owned by our civilians. While "in India, [there are] only 7 [vehicles] per 1,000 persons; by contrast, there are about 750 motor vehicles per 1,000 persons in the Untied States" (5). (Transportation emissions are not an issue that needs to be addressed by developing nations.)

• These are all direct impacts of a rising global temperature.

1. Increased temperatures and heat waves (1).

Heat waves cause an increase in deaths, especially among the young, old, and sick.

2. Artic and Antarctic temperature rise causing sea level rise, coastal flooding, and glacial melting (2).

The rising sea levels may flood coastal cities and island nations. These effects will be global, ranging from the Mississippi River delta, the Nile River in Egypt, and the Marshall Islands. Storm surges threaten an estimated 46 million people around the world, and "tens of millions of people in Bangladesh would be displaced by 1 meter [increase in sea level] (8).

3) Erratic weather:

Erratic weather and droughts both affect crop production, usually lessening the yield of food produced annually.

4) Spread of infectious diseases:

Due to the potential temperature increase, mosquitoes and other disease carrying insects will travel to new regions, bringing foreign diseases to new populations (7).

5) Large-scale reorganization of plants and animal communities:

Many species of fish that require cold water for survival may be forced to relocate to an unfavorable environment or may even perish in the warm, rising sea. Plants and animals adjust to rising temperatures by moving to higher elevations or latitudes.

6) Coral reef bleaching.

7) Shift in agricultural areas:

Environmental shifts will also affect agricultural areas. Present favorable agricultural areas may no longer yield comparable products while countries such as Canada could begin to produce an increased amount of food.

• An Indirect Effect of Global Warming is deforestation and an increase in slash and burn agriculture

• The increasing population of the world and the high levels of poverty in developing nations force many people to produce their food through subsistence farming. The farms are almost always obtained by burning or cutting portions of the rainforest (6).
• Approximately 20 percent of the world’s tropical forests have been cleared between 1960 and 1990 (6). (This decline in the world’s forests contributes to global warming by limiting the amount of carbon dioxide that can be recycled by the forests, adding to the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.)

• Countries classified as Developing Nations include:

• All of the Asian countries excluding Japan,
• Africa
• South and Central America, minus Mexico and Brazil.

• The populations are characterized by:

• A lower standard of living. The standard of living is far below what we would consider bad: no food, no place to live, no drinkable water, and polluted soils. Often, these areas are where our nations’ residents live, among the garbage, filth and scum. (10)
• High poverty levels.
• High population and population growth: 90 percent of the population growth on earth is in developing nations. (10)
• Malnutrition
• Subsistence farming is usually the main source of livelihood. A large portion these countries’ populations rely on farming produce as the only source of income. When a season or crop is unsuccessful, for any reason, the farmers have no other means by which to obtain their basic needs.

• Responsibility of Global Warming and the Role of Developing Nations:
• If the effects of global warming reach their full potential, the developing nations will most likely feel the most damage.
• Global warming will already affect future generations, but if changes are not made now, the problems will only escalate.
• The problem of global warming was not caused by our countries, yet we have to bear the burden of the policies and regulation now needed to prevent further problems. This is difficult for us due to the lower levels of advancement of technology and industry, forcing us to skip directly to more advanced and expensive technology.
• Although environmental regulation is already developing in our governmental policies, detrimental effects have been felt in our economies.
• Recent trends include exploitation of our workforce by developed nations, and use of our resources by the technology and industry supporting these developed nations.
• Our economic structure and political stability are not strong enough to combat nature. Despite our present contributions toward global warming, the trends have already been established by developed nations, and we now have to share the responsibilities of reducing global warming to better the lives of the populations inhabiting our nations.
• We recognize that the developed countries must combat their own problems in their own ways, but we are also going to establish a course of action to combat global warming within our own nations.

In order to effectively enact these measures, there are several policies our countries are going to establish and enforce.

• A shift in our agricultural production to an independent and national economy.

• The products of our farms will change from export cash crops to internally useful food products such as grains and soys.

• The distribution of unused land to poor populations in order to establish a family farm based economy has been proven to increase the standard of living in countries such as Brazil. A U.S. Agricultural Census survey states that the average gross output and net output of smaller farms is much higher than the outputs of larger farms. For example, a 4-acre farm produces 1400 dollars per acres, while a farm of 6700 acres only produces 12 dollars per acre (9). This statistic indicates profitable results from distribution of land to families for small farms.

• By stabilizing our food production internally, the dependence of our nation on developed countries will be reduced and our leverage in other areas will be increased.

• Development of Global Cooperatives and Coalitions:

• Economic stability will increase the influence and leverage of the host nations of foreign industries. No longer having to concentrate on survival, the governments can focus on global warming and pollution problems.

• With a strong country, support for a coalition to combat the large industries that reside in our country will be with in reach.
• The coalition will consist of other developing nations that want to help the environment by taking more control of the companies that are within their boundaries.
• The coalition must be global in scale and include all exploited developing nations.
• It must have a high level of organization: without cooperation, there is potential for repeated exploitation and no advancement.

• Initially, the coalition will develop a schedule and standards expected of the foreign industries.
• The standards of the coalition would include regulations in the following areas:
• Air pollution emission caps: A regulated amount of emissions based on the production of an industry.
• Labor friendly working environments: Working conditions that are friendly to both the physical and cultural environment.
• Technological advancement in the industry.
• Other additions as needed.
• With the demand two things can happen:

1) Acceptance of the demand

2) Rejection

• If rejected, action would be taken by the coalition.
• Strike by the labor force
• Ban on exportation of resource
• Ban on mining or refining of resources
• Increase of export tariffs

• At the present time this would not be feasible. Most companies would leave and establish their industry in another country without the stringent standards. Through the new coalition, all the countries involved would require adherence to the new standards. This would eliminate any benefits of "border-jumping." All other countries within the coalition would not allow foreign industries to enter their borders without following the established standards. The strength of the coalition would come from the unification of all the countries. Since the company would not be able to travel elsewhere, they would either have to comply or suffer monetary loss or loss of their business.
• This is our first step in gaining independence from the foreign industries in our countries.
• Demands and goals of the coalition would include better technology, such as scrubbers on the stacks, computers, labor regulations, and environmentally friendly processing methods.
• The coalition and its goals would reduce the impact of industry and as a result, global warming, in our countries. It would place the responsibility of global warming on the parties actually causing the problem.

(1)"Climate Change and Health" www.wri.org/wr-98-99/climate0.htm pp. 1-7

(2)"Global Warming: Early Warning Signs" www.climatehotmap.org/

(3)www.ask.com

(4)"Regions at a Glance" www.wri.org/trends/index.html pp. 1-3

(5) "Proceed With Caution: Growth in the Global Motor Vehicle Fleet"

www.igc.org/wri/trends/autos.html

(6) "Deforestation: the Global Assault Continues"

www.igc.org/wri/wr-98-99/deforest.htm

(7) "The Spread of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever" www.wri.org/wr-98-99/dengue.htm

pp. 1-4

(8) "IPCC Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An assessment of Vulnerability;

Summary of Policymakers" www.usgcrp.gov/ipcc/html/RISPM.html

(9) The Multiple Functions and Benefits of Small Farm Agriculture" by: Peter M.

Rosset, Ph.D. September, 1999 www.foodfirst.org/pubs/policybs/pb4.html

(10) www.foundation.novartis.com/sustainable_development.htm