• On the environmental impacts of COVID-19 and sustainability strategies.

• The question of financial & other sanctions for carbon dioxide emitting nations.

• On sustainable solutions for environmental and health challenges in developing countries.

As the student officer of the Environment Assembly and Governing Council, I was excited to meet our mentor, Mr. Christie, a biology teacher at UNIS to help understand topics based on the environment more thoroughly. At our first meeting, I asked my mentor some questions and they shared final thoughts on the conference and topics. 

On the environmental impacts of COVID-19 and sustainable strategies, Mr. Christie stated that delegates can do a lot of stuff with CO2 production and levels due to COVID-19. The COVID-19 caused a big drop in factory workers which caused an impact on CO2. For the related countries, he recommended really look into their industries. If the topic is linked to COVID-19, it is already based on industries because of just a lack of economic movement. Factories, and energy requirements dropping, for example, the coals for China and Vietnam.

For the topic of the question of financial & other sanctions for carbon dioxide emitting nations, he recommended looking into the Paris record, which looks into the legislations and fixing of CO2 levels based on Carbon taxes and legislation. Delegates can look at which countries are part of it, the goals, and their legislations based on the Paris record.

On sustainable solutions for environmental and health challenges in developing countries, he stated that for developing countries like Vietnam, the reason that they are still using coals is that they do not have enough money to go for sustainable resources like solar panels and geothermal. They are forced to use cheaper causes to keep their industry going and moving out of the developing state. Looking at the global progress the MEDCs will have to help the LEDCs because they can’t pump their money into the sustainable resources starting up because they need the money to develop their own countries.

In the end, Mr. Christie stated that public speaking is probably the biggest value of MUN. Having the opportunity to speak in front of a big group of people is valuable. MUN is also very special for grade 11 and 12 students as you don’t have many opportunities to formulate your own idea and converse about it outside of MUN. He also had a message to the students attending the conference: Remember to be confident and open-minded and good luck at the March conference.

Greetings directors, student officers, and fellow delegates! I am Hee Su Park, a grade 11 student at UNIS Hanoi. 

This is my fourth year in MUN, starting from grade 8 as a new delegate, to being part of the UNIS MUN leadership team this year. It is my first year chairing, therefore I am extremely excited, and it is a great honor to serve as the head chair of the Environmental Committee. The topics discussed in the environmental committee are issues that are currently threatening our world security, such as the global pandemic and climate changes. Through well-constructed resolutions and fruitful debate, I look forward to seeing all of your interest and passion in these crucial topics. No matter how experienced you are, speak up, engage, and have fun! Although it might seem hard, I can assure you that it will be a rewarding and valuable experience in the end. Please don’t hesitate to reach out before, during, and after the conference, I will always be more than happy to help you!