Example BP UNEP

UNEP
Topic B: Preserving the environment
with economic growth
By: Arturo Hermosillo del Bosque
“Economic growth is the increase of activity in an economy. It is often
measured as the rate of change of gross domestic product (GDP)” (Neva R.
GOODWIN) Economic growth refers to the quantity of goods and services
produced; it does not involve the way in which the goods are produced.
Economic development, on the other hand, refers to change in the way goods
and services are produced; positive economic development involves the
introduction of more efficient or "productive" technologies or forms of social
organization.
“Ecology is the scientific study of the way that living organisms interact
with their environment. (The New York Public Library Science Desk) Anything
that goes from a natural disorder to a man made disorder can affect ecology.
Today we are facing a very big problem around the entire world which is the
economic crisis but as well a drastic change on the ecology around the world.
Economic growth can either be positive or negative. Negative growth can also be
referred to by saying that the economy is shrinking. Negative growth is
associated with economic recession and economic depression.
Economic work is achieved by the production and selling of goods to consumers.
World Ecology is suffering, and these producers either don’t care or seem not to
notice. Why? The answer is money. In this fast-paced world, it all comes down to
money. But, what about our home? Around the world companies produce their
own products. We’re not talking about small productions, we’re talking big. These
are companies who will affect the world of our children. Ecology is suffering, and
we’re doing nothing to stop it.
Factories pollute our air, destroy our ozone cap, contaminate oceans and rivers,
and banish our forests. They get rid of their garbage by throwing it to –and
polluting- air (incineration), land (holes in the ground) and water (oceans, lakes
and rivers.
There are alternate ways for achieving an important reduction in pollution. It
involves processing used materials into new products to: prevent waste of
potentially useful materials, reduce consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce
energy usage, reduce air and water pollution and lower greenhouse gases.
This process is called Recycling. With recycling we can achieve an increment in
economy and at the same time a decrease in the pollution around the world.
Goodwin, J. A., Harris, N. & Harris, J. The encyclopedia of Earth ( 2008)
Environmental Economics (Retrieved September 24 2009)
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Economic_growth
Barnes-Svarney, P. (1998). The Environment - What Is Ecology?. Science Fact
Finder. Retreived September 24th 2009 from http://www.enotes.com/science-factfinder/
environment/what-ecology
Glossary of Environment Statistics, Studies in Methods, Series F, No. 67, United
Nations, New York, 1997. (2005) “Environmental statistics”
Retrieved on September 25, 2009 from
http://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=2260

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UNEP
Topic: Water shortage
By: Lucia Valenzuela
Planet Earth is known as the “Blue Planet” for it is covered with water on the 71% of its surface. This basic element for surviving also composes 75% of the human body. But what people often forget is that although there seems to be too much, it is a finite source and only 0.3 % is usable by humans.

Nowadays, while some people are taking showers or having a swim, in some other parts of the world there are people dying of thirst; it’s a matter of life or death. One of three people around the world struggles to get water for their daily needs. The reason may be a lack of infrastructure or non adequate distribution which may force people to drink or bathe in unsafe water sources causing diseases and infections.
Some of the causes of water scarcity include population growth. As the number of people on earth grows, the need of water for agriculture, urbanization, household and industry also grows.

But our owncustoms on how to take good care of it, save it and conserve it have also contributed to wasting water and using more than we really need to.
Although there hasn’t been a clear arrangement, some countries have made water sharing agreements,
such as Egypt and Ethiopia. Others, like U.S.A. and Namibia have decreased their water consumption
considerably in the past years. How do they make this? Recycling programs have been a good solution
for some countries. In some other places, rivers have been restored with water that even though it
cannot be drank, it is clean enough for life to reappear.
Experts have observed that technology has also helped reduce the amount of water used where there is
being used not properly. Water reducing toilets, wastewater recycling, water desalinization are some
ways that can reduce up to a 70% of daily water usage.
The UN has created a program called Water for Life 2005‐2015 which has the goal to reduce the number
of people without access to safe drinking water. But in order to achieve the goal there is much work to
do.
It is time for the world to work together in this issue that will soon be affecting all of us, or it is already.
Reference:
Mark de Villers. (2001). Water Woes recuperado el 19 de abril de 2009 de
http://whyfiles.org/131fresh_water/3.html
World Health Organization (2009) The International Decade for Action: Water for Life 2005‐2015
recuperado el 19 de abril de 2009 de
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/decade2005_2015/en/index.html