Haganum Model United Nations
Gymnasium Haganum, The Hague
Research Reports
United Nations Framework Convention on
climate change
Combatting smog in East-Asia
4th, 5th and 6th of March 2016
Haganum Model United Nations 2016| 4th of March – 6th of March 2016
Forum:
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Issue:
Combatting smog in East-Asia
Student Officer: Maartje van Lelyveld
Position:
president
Introduction
We live in a world where urbanisation is a big issue. Although it has lots of good
consequences, such as the economic growth and health- and school systems are more
accessible. There are also some negative side-effects such as the enormous amounts of
traffic and crowded train stations. One of the worst side effects is air pollution, also known as
smog. Smog was first remarked in the 20th century in London (United Kingdom). It was
caused by the emissions of the first factories in the city. Smog can be made even worse by
the weather conditions. Sometimes a combination of smog and bad weather conditions can
get fatal. Such as the Great Smog in 1952 which costed about 4.000 lives and made 10.000
British citizens very ill.
Although most of the factories moved to a less urbanised area and the smoke does not
consists of coal anymore, which is very polluting, the issue is not solved yet, modern smog is
not only caused by industrial emission. Modern smog can be caused by vehicular emission
from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes, if this combination reacts in the
atmosphere with sunlight, secondary emissions will be formed. This entire mixture of primary
and secondary emissions is called photochemical smog. In large cities such as Los Angeles,
Mexico city, Santiago, Delhi and Jakarta is this a very relevant issue.
East-Asia is even more effected by the issue of air pollution due to large land and forest fires
in Indonesia (especially Sumatra and Kalimantan). Farmers and plantation owners often
cause these fires. Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are the
most affected areas.
Definition of Key Terms
Smog
Smog is a kind of air pollution that is named for the mixture of smoke and fog. This
was originally caused by industrial emission. Modern smog is a mixture of primary and
secondary emission (explained in the introduction).
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Vehicular emission
A sort of emission caused by vehicles with internal combustion engines.
Primary emissions
A mixture of vehicular emissions and industrial emissions, often in large highly
populated urbanized areas.
Secondary emissions
Emissions caused by primary emissions that react in the atmosphere with sunlight.
Background Information
Smog was first remarked in the United Kingdom in London. This event was a fatal
amount of smog in combination with very cold weather. This caused 4.000 deaths and
10.000 illnesses. From that moment on smog was a very relevant issue on the agenda of
many organizations.
Air Pollution is measured in AQI (Air Quality Index). Down below you can find a map with all
measured AQI values.
AQI
Pollution level
0-50
Good
51-100
Moderate
101-150
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
151-200
Unhealthy
201-300
Very unhealthy
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300 +
hazardous
Major Countries and Organizations Involved
Indonesia
The enormous land and forest fires cause the Southeast Asian haze, this
affects many countries in Southeast Asia such as Brunei, Philippines, Malaysia. Singapore,
Vietnam and Thailand are sometimes also negatively influenced. The Southeast Asian haze
has happened many times (see timeline of events). The last haze was in 2015, this was
caused by palm oil plantation owners, the President Joko Widodo has instructed government
agencies to revoke the permits of any palm oil companies involved in the burning of forests
and urged the arrest of those responsible. While Jokowi conceded in September 2015 that
the recurrent haze was "not a problem that you can solve quickly", he insisted that Indonesia
had "gone to great lengths" to tackle the problem, and declared: "You will see results soon
and in three years we will have solved this"
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) created the Agreement
on Transboundary Haze Pollution was signed between all ASEAN nations in 2002. The
ASEAN also formed a RHAP (Regional Haze Action Plan) and a Co-ordination Support Unit
(CSU).
United States of America
The USA (United States of America) is not that relevant in the Southeast Asian Smog
issue but the USA is also victim of smog. Because of her location in a low basin surrounded
by mountains, Los Angeles is notorious for her smog. The millions of vehicles in this region
combined with the additional effects of the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complexes
frequently contribute to further air pollution.
Malaysia
Malaysia was very much affected by the Southeast Asian haze. During the last haze
4.778 schools shut down in order to protect the students against all the air pollution. The
highest AQI measured was 308. Prime Minister Najib Razak ordered Indonesia to take action
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against companies responsible for the land and forest fires causing many parts of Southeast
Asia in smoke, adding "Only Indonesia alone can gather evidence and convict the
companies concerned. Meanwhile, Malaysian Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid has stated
"We will not compromise with anything that may bring harm to our children in schools".
Timeline of Events
Date
Description of event
July 26, 1943
Los Angeles had such a severe and sudden smog issue that citizens
thought that Japan had attacked them.
October 30-31,
Donora, Pennsylvania; 20 deaths, 600 hospitalized due to smog and
1948
air pollution.
December 8-9,
The Great Smog was a large amount of smog in combination with very
1952
cold weather in London, UK; 4.000 deaths and 10.000 hospitalized
November 24, 1966
New York City, New York; at least 169 deaths due to the smog issue.
October, 1997
First Southeast Asian haze
November 25, 2003
Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution entered into force.
August, 2005
Malaysian haze
October, 2006
Southeast Asian haze
June, 2013
Southeast Asian haze
September, 2015
Southeast Asian haze
Relevant UN Treaties and Events
•
Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, November 25, 2003
Previous Attempts to solve the Issue
The Association of South East Asian Nations formed a Regional Haze Action Plan
(RHAP) and established a co-ordination and support unit (CSU). RHAP, with the help of
Canada, established a monitoring and warning system for forest/vegetation fires and
implemented a Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS). The Malaysian Meteorological
Department (MMD) has issued a daily rating of fire danger since September 2003. Indonesia
has been ineffective at enforcing legal policies on errant farmers.
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Possible Solutions
There are several smaller issues within the issue that should be solved; such as the
large amount of vehicular emissions or the high population in large cities in East Asia. In
order to lessen Air Pollution in East Asia, the Southeast Asian haze shouldn’t occur again.
Stop the Southeast Asian haze
Reduce the use of fire as a tool in land clearing
Indonesian law prohibits the use of fire to clear land for any agriculture but weak
enforcement is a major issue. Many companies have also claimed that zero burning is
impractical and uncompetitive given the lack of meaningful penalties for illegal burning. The
Issue can be solved by implementing more penalties for using fire as tool in land clearing.
Resolve problems relating to land-use allocations and tenure
The most common cause of fire was conflicts about land allocation. Land-use
allocation decisions made by the government often are in conflict with decisions made by
local civil servants. In order to solve this issue regional reforms are needed to reduce the fire
risks. This is a very difficult task in Indonesia due to the lack of inaccurate maps and
technical expertise at the Provincial and Distract levels.
Reduce forest degrading practices
Policies to improve land management and measures to restore ecological integrity to
degraded natural forests are extremely important to reduce the incidence of repeated fires.
Promoting community involvement in such rehabilitation efforts is critical for their success in
reducing fire risks.
Implement economic disincentives and incentives
In addition to effective criminal and monetary penalties for illegal burning and liability
for fire damage, some policy analysts believe in the potential for economic policy reforms and
market-based incentives. A combination of eco-labeling and international trade restrictions
could reduce markets for commodities that posed high-fire risks in their production.
Reduce the amount of vehicular emissions
Decrease the amount of private vehicles
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If public transportation is too expensive or is not very good/accessible, the result will
be that many people will buy another vehicle such as a scooter or a car. This issue can be
solved by subsidizing bicycles and making public transportation more accessible.
Create a vehicle-free city Centre
In order to reduce vehicular emission, there should be less traffic from private cars.
This creation can be done by forbidding private cars but also by asking a contribution. In
cases like these it is necessary to make sure that the city is still attainable for industrial
transport.
Bibliography
"Air Pollution: Understanding the Problem and Ways to Help Solve It." Air & Water. N.p., n.d.
Web. 30 Dec. 2015. <http://www.air-n-water.com/air-pollution.htm>.
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2015.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/smog>.
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2015. <http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqibasics.aqi>.
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2015.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN_Agreement_on_Transboundary_Haze_Pollution>.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 030 Dec. 2015.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:2015_Southeast_Asian_haze>.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2015.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smog>.
To, Systemic Approach. VEHICULAR EMISSION CONTROL (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 30 Dec.
2015.
Appendix or Appendices
For the necessary sources please refer to the bibliography.
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