Kelsey Olson
Tremper High School
Spain Position Paper
3rd Committee
Fighting Global Warming through Sustainable Development
In Spain, global warming poses a great issue. Recently, researchers have
discovered that global warming will affect the rainfall particularly in Spain and
Portugal. This will decrease food harvests by a predicted thirty percent due to lack
of water. An agreement between Spain and various economic groups has formed the
OSE, an organization dedicated to “stimulate social change towards sustainability
by providing the best available information for decision making and public
participation”. The OSE has many goals to help fight global warming through
sustainable development. Spain, as a country, takes global warming very seriously
and plans to attack the issue full force.
Not only being affected by lack of rain, Spain is also being hit with an increase in
heat waves. Many Spaniards died from the heat and many reservoirs like the one on
Ancora dried up. This could be detrimental to not only Spain but also all of Europe.
Global warming affects every aspect of our lives. Reducing the production of
agriculture alone has a dramatic social impact. One report said, “Where whole local
rural populations could be affected if the local farmland was abandoned or if the
local farming profitability was reduced substantially.” Desertification, the intense
drying up of land, affects thirty seven percent of Spain’s territory and is continually
advancing. Also, the impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems in Spain
will eventually lead to “mediterraneanisation” and “aridisation”. The same report
also said that global warming could further affect tourism and energy sectors.
Seeing as tourism makes up about ten percent of Spain’s GDP, this loss would
immensely affect Spain’s economy.
The OSE has projected many goals for the good of Spain and as an aide to global
warming. The OSE has aspired to be “a reference center” for all of Spain that
“rigorously collects, processes and assesses basic information on sustainability in
Spain (current situation, trends and future scenarios)” while always taking into
account its different dimensions including social, economic and environmental,
cultural, institutional and global. There is also a commitment to create more “green
jobs” in new employment. Spain has vowed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
renewable energies self-sufficiency, which is a cost saver as well. In addition, eco Energy refurbishment of buildings provides a way to re-organize the construction
sector and, therefore, reduce its heavy environmental load.
Spain, like much of Europe, is greatly affected by global warming. Aspects of
global warming such as lack of rain and increase heat waves immensely affect all
Spain’s economy, livelihood, nature, and agriculture. The country has enacted many
ideas as to help aide the fight against global warming. OSE has set forth many
reachable goals that will further help the dying economy as well as the degrading
earth.
http://www.sostenibilidad-es.org