Different priorities, one final goal

Rome, 08/03/2013 - Yesterday the first session of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) took place in Sala delle Colonne of LUISS University in Rome. UNEP is a governing council and anchor institution for environmental programs founded in 1973 whose headquarters are in Nairobi.

Delegates set the agenda of the two topics, which are both about the 7^th Millennium Development Goal, “Ensuring environmental sustainability”. Therefore, they decided to discuss firstly about the principles of sustainable development into country policies and then to move to the problem of safe access to drinking water and basic sanitation.

Twenty-five countries were present at the meeting. Italy, United States and China appeared to be very involved in the discussion, while France, Germany and Central African Republic had significant remarks.

The Russian Federation argued that as long as water problems will not be solved, the international community will not be able to reach a green economy and full sustainability.

According to the Central African Republic, the goal has not yet been reached because of the huge division between northern and southern hemispheres.

The Netherlands considers agriculture and farming as effective tools for sustainable development also in growing economies.

“We would encourage education to arise awareness and create a self-sufficient society”, Italy pointed out. “We all have different priorities and use money in a different way” – claimed the United States – “and we should have a monetary fund in order to know where money goes.”

In their intervention, Italy and Albania highlighted the importance of control and respect of international law. According to China, the control system is not effective. They proposed the creation of a national authority, which should work in cooperation with UNEP, whose aim is to report exactly how the money given by every single donor is spent. “We have the general feedback but not the financial one. We would like our money to be spent in the fight against scarcity of water, desertification and pollution”.

During the first break, the Chair told the cameras that delegates still need to get some clarifications about rules and procedures, while the Director, at his third experience in that role and with various experiences as a delegate, said that the committee should be on time to cover the entire agenda.

Article written by Sofia Franzoso, Céline Schoen, Melania Sebastiani ( from the CNN International RomeMUN2013 journalists' team)