HMUN India 2023 Position Paper

Name of Delegate: Ria Dahiya

Name of Country: Myanmar
Name of Committee: United Nations Human Rights Council

Agenda: The Effects of Climate Change on Poor

Communities

Myanmar is an independent country that is located in Southeast Asia established around

75 years ago. Over the past several decades, the country has been experiencing many
struggles due to the newfound upheaval of climate change. The most notable start of this
issue was during the summer of 2010 when the country suffered a rise in temperature
resulting in over 1480 heat-related disorders arising among the poor inhabitants, as well
as 260 heat-related deaths. Not only did they experience a temperature rise but also a
noteworthy number of floods and storm surges.

The country is routinely seen as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world as far
as climate change impact goes. In Myanmar’s case, climate change has majorly been
caused due to deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. As
compared to other countries, Myanmar has suffered more severe as well as frequent
droughts, floods, extreme temperatures, and cyclones, which have, in turn, caused a
massive loss of life. The poorer population are immensely at risk from the effects of
climate change because their lifestyle is not as conditioned for such drastic changes. The
recurring floods, droughts and storm surges have made it significantly harder to produce
food. As a result, this has caused market prices to increase as the stocks are limited,
putting much of the more penurious population at a higher risk of hunger. Due to this,
malnutrition is a rather large health impact on society. Climate change has also given the
result of heavy damage to the country’s economy and infrastructure. Not only that, but
the floods and cyclones have also been causing human deaths, such as Cyclone Mocha
where at least 145 people died, and 800000 more people needed emergency food aid
provided by the UN. All these issues have been mentioned several times before by The
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) and the
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR).

UNHCR or United Nations Human Rights Council, has existed in Myanmar since 1993
and holds operations at over 10 locations throughout the country. Myanmar has a history
with UNHCR helping the country’s poorer residents by assisting the needs of people of
concern in various regions such as the Bago and Sagaing regions. They assist in
relocating and assisting the country's poorer communities which have suffered due to
climate change-induced disasters.
Myanmar’s government supported and signed the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change) in 1922 and ratified it in 1994. The UN had proposed the
idea in order in opposition to climate change which Myanmar had fully supported. The
country’s government additionally ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2003, which entails
committing countries to reduce greenhouse gases produced. Myanmar also submitted
their NAPA (National Adaptation Programme of Action) in 2012. The government in
Myanmar also participated in the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change in
April 2016, awaiting ratification.

Several climate change-relevant policies that Myanmar have enacted include MCCP
(Myanmar Climate Capacity Programme), as well as, in 2018, they enacted the MSDP
(Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan). Several other policies Myanmar adopted are
the National Environment Policy in 1994, later revised in 2018 and INDC in 2015.
Myanmar has seen fit to validate these policies as they not only affect the impact climate
change has but also improve and assist the country.

In conclusion, the government in Myanmar strives to achieve a healthy and happy society
that is successfully able to resist climatic regions and where development in economic
terms will, most likely, be executed through unsegregated low-carbon approaches.
Myanmar especially plans for this result through climate-smart agriculture and livestock,
sustainable management of natural resources for a healthy ecosystem and to combat
climate change, climate risk management for the poorer populations' health and
wellbeing, along with several other methods to ensure safety.

Bibliography:
https://myanmar.un.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/
MyanmarClimateChangeStrategy_2019.pdf

https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/myanmar-gears-action-climate-change

https://www.unhcr.org/countries/myanmar

https://reporting.unhcr.org/operational/situations/myanmar-situation#:~:text=In
%202023%2C%20UNHCR's%20focus%20inside,an%20estimated
%20600%2C000%20stateless%20Rohingya.

https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/myanmar/vulnerability

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar