1. About UNEP: The Organization
Mission:
To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the
environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to
improve their quality of life without compromising that of future
generations.
Organizations such as the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
make it possible to forge agreements to enhance and protect precious
natural environments on a global scale.
Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya and established in 1972, UNEP is the
leading environmental authority within the UN system. Its mandate is to:
• analyze and assess the state of the global environment;
• further the development of international environmental law;
• advance the implementation of agreed international norms and
policies;
• monitor and foster compliance in these areas;
• promote greater awareness and facilitate effective cooperation in
the implementation of the international environmental agenda;
and,
• provide policy and advisory services in key areas of institution
building.

2. Topic: a) Sustainable developments in post disaster environments
Natural disasters have changed the face of this earth for 4.6 billion years
and affected our civilizations for centuries, with researchers and
archaeologists continuously finding evidence of damage done to the
earliest of civilizations. Recently there was a discovery of a successful
maritime farming community, the Supe, that were driven from the land
now known as Peru 3,600 years ago by earthquakes and floods. This
discovery was made evident by the barren mountain ranges surrounding
the valleys and dense layers of silt. Eventually the heavy rains that
followed damaged irrigation systems and washed debris into the stream,
where the silt settled into a large ridge, sealing off the rich coastal bays
the Supe depended on.! This is only one example of how natural disasters
have made land uninhabitable for ancient civilizations, and even
collapsing existing societies worldwide “Natural Disasters”. One of the
leading authorities on disaster reduction, the United Nations International
Strategy for
Disaster Reduction (ISDR), serves as an international information
clearinghouse on building disaster-resilient communities.! As a major
coordinator of disaster reduction, the ISDR develops awareness
campaigns, supports policy integration, improves scientific knowledge
about reduction, and coordinates partnerships aimed at reducing the
effects of natural disasters (“Mission and Objectives”).! The ISDR
secretariat defines a disaster, or hazard as “a serious disruption of the
functioning of society, causing widespread human, material or
environmental losses which exceed the ability of affected society to
cope using only its own resources” (“ISDR Terminology”).!Disasters can be
classified as manmade or natural, the latter of which, as the classification
suggests, are caused by naturally occurring events, including the ever-
present threats of floods, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions,
earthquakes and landslides.! A further classification of natural disasters
the ISDR
makes is by origin: geological, hydro-meteorological or biological.!
GEOLOGICAL DISASTERS!
This type includes natural earth processes divided into two groups. The
first group consists of internal earth processes or tectonic origin, such as
earthquakes, geological fault activity, tsunamis, volcanic activity and
emissions. The second group includes external processes such as
landslides, rockslides, rock falls or avalanches, surface collapses,
expansive soils, and debris or mud flows. One of the most disastrous
earthquake and avalanche combinations in Western Hemisphere history,
the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Yungay, Peru on 31 May 1970
is ranked the fourth most deadly earthquake in the 20th!century. The
earthquake itself triggered millions of tons of icy snow to break loose from

3. the steep slopes of Nevado de Huascarán, creating an avalanche that
moved between 280 and 335 km/hr to quickly bury the city of Yungay
and part of Ranrahirca.! The disaster took about 66,000 lives and an
additional estimated 20,000 casualties, primarily due to the structural
failures of the buildings and damage to transportation routes.! The
masonry and adobe structures were built with little resistance, leaving
them defenceless against the lateral forces inflicted
by the seismic shaking.! Greater damage occurred in areas where
saturated and unconsolidated sediments were prevalent, due to
“differential compaction, downslope slumping or sliding,! Lateral
spreading of liquefied! sediments toward free faces, and possibly
amplification of seismic! vibrations” (Plafker 543). The magnitude of
damage would have not been as great had there been more
structurally sound buildings and provisions to clear roadways of
sediments and deposits. address the acute needs of a local population,
adapting to the situation at hand to facilitate highly
organized coordination, communication, and proper evacuation, and
assure the delivery of medical services and carry out proper logistics of
the initial operations (Haley 10).! As for Iran’s engineering shortcomings,
unskilled and unlicensed labor workers built most of the structures without
seismic consideration, even including buildings that were built in the last
decade (Manafpour 55-56).!
HYDRO-METEOROLOGICAL DISASTERS!
This type of disaster consists of natural atmospheric, hydrological, or
oceanographic processes or phenomena which include floods, debris,
and mud floods; tropical cyclones, storm surges, thunder/ hailstorms, rain
and wind storms, and blizzards; drought, desertification, wild land fires,
temperature extremes, and sand or dust storms; permafrost and snow or
ice avalanches (“ISDR Terminology”).
Upgraded from the Central Emergency Revolving Fund, which was a
loan facility of USD 50 million established by the General Assembly
Resolution 46/182 in 1991, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)
was approved on 15 December 2005. This humanitarian fund aims to
“promote early action and response to reduce loss of life; enhance
response to time-critical requirements; and strengthen core elements of
humanitarian response in underfunded crises” (“What is the CERF?”). The
fund is made up of grant facility (of up to 450 million USD) that ensures
coverage of critical programs when funds are unavailable from other
sources; and a loan facility of USD 50 million that is used to access funds
rapidly when donor pledges are forthcoming. The CERF hinges on one
very important component timeliness. Large-scale natural disasters
continue to challenge the capacity of the humanitarian system to meet
the needs of the population.
Emergencies of such great magnitude require instruments of equal
magnitude that are capable of delivering aid quickly based on a life
saving criterion. As a loan-granting agency, the World Bank along with

4. other key stakeholders like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
World Food Program (WFP), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World
Health Organization (WHO) assists with the global prioritization of
countries (“CERF’s Response”). The criteria used to determine the priority
status of each country and impact analyses is an area that needs
improvement, as CERF has incorrectly differentiated between early
recovery and life-saving initiatives without proper first-hand knowledge of
ground realities in many cases (Barber 210).!!!!
CASE STUDY: HAITI!
Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been
struggling to emerge out of the rubble of the catastrophic 7.0-magnitude
earthquake that struck 12 January 2010. The death toll has reached
230,000 people, with an estimated USD 8 billion in damages and losses,
which equates to 120 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
according to the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) (“Country Brief
”).! Some challenges that relief and recovery teams face while delivering
assistance include: a weakened central authority, severely damaged
infrastructure, and little assistance from the host country (Sawyer).
Charges of corruption loomed over nearly every aid operation,
particularly food distributions, which seemed sluggish and lacking in
nature, despite the tens of millions of dollars being given to the country
by donor nations. In order for Haiti to achieve economic growth and
long-term stability it will need to become a “transparent and legitimate
state that can effectively deliver public good and services to its citizens”!
(“Country Brief ”). The World Bank is dedicated to achieving this goal
with the Infrastructure and Institutions Emergency Recovery Project.
Approved by the Board on 18 March 2010, this USD 65 million grant will
help reinstate chief economic and financial functions of key Haitian
public institutions; rehabilitate and/ or rebuild core infrastructure; and
support Haiti’s crisis governance framework (“Country Brief ”).
Since 1984, the World Bank has financed 528 projects addressing natural
disasters that have been for USD 26,281 million (9.4 percent of all
commitments) and mostly implemented disaster projects in the rural
sector (40 percent).! Over this period the Bank also approved 89
Emergency Recovery Loans (ERLs), which include International
Development Association (IDA) grants and credits.! An ERL is a “three-
year lending instrument that allows for expedited processing from project
initiation through Board approval, quick disbursement through a positive
list of imports, and delay in meeting
some safeguard and fiduciary requirement” (“Hazards of Nature”).! The
lending has also been highly concentrated to ten countries (India,
China, Bangladesh, Brazil, Honduras, Turkey, Yemen, Madagascar,
Mexico, and Vietnam) that account for 208 projects (39 percent of total
projects).! These projects have been most effective at restoring physical
property, with 115 completed projects successfully restoring damaged

5. infrastructure.! Overall the number of projects related to natural disaster
has risen, and continues to rise, with the tendency for sharp peaks every
five years (“Hazards of Nature”).! IMPROVING PREPAREDNESS:
PREDICTABILITY! Two recently completed studies on natural disaster risks
affirm that! a degree of predictability surrounds such natural disasters.
Published in February 2004, the UNDP’s. Reducing Disaster Risk: A
Challenge for Development. Took a statistical approach in drawing
comparisons between different natural disasters and a particular
country’s vulnerabilities. This report is important for featuring a disaster.
Topic B) The overpopulation’s repercussions and effects of on the
environment
UNEP was established to coordinate and promote environmental
activities in the UN system. Its objectives are: to improve scientific and
technological knowledge of environmental issues and to make that
available for environment development and conservation; to develop
an integrated approach to the planning and management of
development in order to achieve maximum economic, sociological and
environmental benefits; and to assist all countries, especially developing
countries, to address environmental problems through provision of
financing, information, technology and educational assistance. Unlike
the other Specialized Agencies, UNEP does not have to execute and
finance projects as its primary function.
Incessant human population growth is viewed as the leading cause of
most of humanity’s scourges, such as poverty, war and starvation. While
the wildlife-conservation movement is valiantly attempting to save the
world’s remaining diversity of life, this effort is overwhelmed by the
demands of mounting numbers of people. The obvious solution of birth
control and family planning remains largely unknown or ignored -- a
heritage of our ancient customs and religious beliefs. Under the
onslaught of an ever-increasing human population, it has become clear
that humanity and the world’s environments and ecosystems are under
serious threat.
In their landmark books, Ehrlich and Ehrlich (1970) and Wilson (1992)
demonstrated with overwhelming evidence that reducing the human
population, and hence lessening demands on natural ecosystems, is the
over-riding factor in the struggle to conserve the natural world. The
current frenzy for exploiting natural resources and the escalating
environmental degradation by the world community are in stark contrast
to traditional beliefs of Aboriginal Peoples about Mother Earth. The
spiritual inter-relatedness of earth, water, plants, animals and people
demanded that great respect be shown to each part of this unity of life.
They appreciated (as few people do today) that their very survival
depended on caring for the natural world.

6. The discovery of agriculture around 9,000 years ago changed
everything, generating a giant leap in human birth rate and survival.
Starvation lessened as an ever-looming factor in limiting population
numbers, as it had likely operated effectively over several million years of
human evolution. Countless millions of children and adults die of
starvation and neglect each year, and over half the world’s population
is seriously malnourished and drinks contaminated water, in spite of
massive humanitarian efforts by generous countries and charitable
agencies. To maintain the present course is madness and irresponsible.
Nature’s ecosystems and environments progressively curb plague
species like ours through drastically increased rates of mortality --
escalating famine, terrible wars over contested lands and beliefs, clashes
over disappearing resources, devastating outbreaks of old and new
diseases, massive loss of life from each major natural event of weather
and earth movement, debilitating stress, and poisoning from thousands
of toxic and waste products
When will parents, educators, politicians, and clergy gain the
knowledge, courage and dedication to speak out and support family
planning? When will leaders and the public recognize that
overpopulation is the root of so many community problems, and stifles
our most-earnest efforts to solve them? When will women be granted
their right to the reproductive control of their bodies and lives? While the
birth rate in Canada and a few other developed countries has finally
dropped below two young per couple, there are still many parents
exceeding this critical limit, and often without the resources to care for
them. As population growth slows, countries can invest more in
education, health care, job creation, and other improvements that help
boost living standards. In turn, as individual income, savings, and
investment rise, more resources become available that can boost
productivity. This dynamic process has been identified as one of the key
reasons that the economies of many Asian countries grew rapidly
between 1960 and 1990.
Wildlife species cannot be “saved” in the long term by protecting them
solely in a cocoon of captivity in zoos or small reserves. Without the
existence of sustainable wild populations -- free-ranging, interacting with
their environment, and evolving -- each species will end up hopelessly
inbred, a mere genetic shell of its ancestral stock, and eventually
doomed to extinction. As population and demand for natural resources
continue to grow, environmental limits will become increasingly
apparent.6 Water shortages are expected to affect nearly 3 billion
people in 2025, with sub-Saharan Africa worst affected.2 Many countries
could avoid environmental crises if they took steps now to conserve and
manage supplies and demand better, while slowing population growth

7. by providing families and individuals with information and services
needed to make informed choices about reproductive health.
No matter what the definitive cause, the Earth simply cannot sustain 6.2
billion humans. If humans are to survive on this planet, we need to
drastically begin to reduce our population. Coupled with conservation
efforts and the spread of environmental awareness, we might stand a
chance, but overpopulation is nothing short of a crisis, and needs to be
addressed with urgency. If every country made a commitment to
population stabilization and resource conservation, the world would be
better able to meet the challenges of sustainable development.
Practicing sustainable development requires a combination of wise
public investment, effective natural resource management, cleaner
agricultural and industrial technologies, less pollution, and slower
population growth. Family planning programs play a key role.
When family planning information and services are widely available and
accessible, couples are better able to achieve their fertility desires. Two
very important things to reach the goal of preventing overpopulations
are: Taking action: Many steps toward sustainability can be taken today.
These include: using energy more efficiently, managing cities better,
phasing out subsidies that encourage waste, Stabilizing population: While
population growth has slowed, the absolute number of people continues
to increase — by about 1 billion every 13 years. Slowing population
growth would help improve living standards and would buy time to
protect natural resources. In the long run, to sustain higher living
standards, world population size must stabilize.
Resources:
http://www.naturenorth.com/YOTF/Overpopulation.html
http://www.helium.com/items/1049767-is-overpopulation-a-world-threat
http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/hinrichsen_robey.html