Committee: WHO

Country: Germany
Delegate: Dinu Teodora, Vasile Alecsandri Highschool Galati
Topic: Reduction of Urban Air Pollution in the Developing World

Air pollution has a number of detrimental effects on human health and is considered a major issue for the
global community. The World Health Organization estimated that, in the year 2012, ambient air pollution
was responsible for nearly seven million deaths, representing more than 10% of all-cause deaths and more
than doubling previous estimates. Air pollution accounts worldwide for an estimated 9% of deaths due to
lung cancer, 17% due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, more than 30% due to ischemic heart
disease and stroke, and 9% due to respiratory infections. The Global Burden of Disease report identified in
2012 that air pollution was among the leading risk factors for disease burden, being globally responsible
alone for 3.1% of all Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). All these findings confirm that air pollution
is now the world’s largest environmental health risk.

Even though Germany is certainly not a developing country, it has big problems concerning air pollution. In
May 2018 Germany and five other EU countries were facing fines for breaking the law on air pollution. The
EU introduced limits for particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2010. But many member
states regularly have air pollution far beyond these limits, especially in major cities. The German city of
Stuttgart, for instance, has recorded levels of 82 micrograms of NO2 per cubic meter of air — that is twice
as much as the allowed threshold of 40 micrograms.

Germany's environment and transport ministries laid out plans and solutions for this issue. In a letter to the
EU environment commissioner Karmenu Vella, the German government said it was "considering public
transport free of charge in order to reduce the number of private cars" in 5 German cities, including former
capital Bonn and industrial cities Essen and Mannheim. (The move is an attempt to meet the EU air
pollution targets and avoid being handed down a big fine for exceeding limits.) The German Greens have
long supported similar initiatives to reduce air pollution. In an interview on the topic, Anton Hofreiter,
Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen said he welcomes the move but questions
whether it can be a long-term viable solution. He also puts forward a Green perspective for tackling the
issue. For this scheme to work more people are needed to give up their cars and start using the Public
transport. In order for this to work, public transport needs dense networks, fast rhythm, and reliable and
comfortable services. And it needs enough buses and trains to be able to transport the potential newcomers.
This is a task that cannot be solved with a quick fix. The public transport infrastructure is delapidated in
many regions and often not barrier-free. That is why the federal and state governments must jointly provide
more funds for public transport. Germany has also presented a concept for a "Mobilpass”, which is cost-
efficient, connected across all modes of transport, and easy to use. And it is particularly affordable for
socially disadvantaged people and young families. In Hesse, the Greens’ Minister of Transport, Tarek Al-
Wazir, has just introduced a state-wide student ticket. Another scheme would see public buses running on
diesel fuel be equipped with exhaust-scrubbing systems, more charging points for e-cars, and overall
strengthening of e-mobility. The possibility of free public transport has also been floated. But, noting with
deep regret, as many environmentalists had expected, Germany's plans did not convince the commission
with this plan.

Emphasising, urban air pollution is an issue to be found in Germany. And whilist the country is battling
with it by finding costly solutions, it is also helping the developing countries fight with climate change. The
goal is to help countries affected by climate change to build greater resilience – in other words, to become
better equipped for the future. For example, Germany was the first country to pledge money for the Green
Climate Fund. Furthermore, Germany regularly pays into the slightly smaller Adaptation Fund. Both United
Nations funding mechanisms aim to help developing countries to prepare for the consequences of climate
change. Committee: WHO
Country: Germany

Delegate: Dinu Teodora, Vasile Alecsandri Highschool Galati

Topic: Adressing the Issue of Mandatory Vaccination

Vaccination policies in countries around the world are very varied and fractured. While some countries
focus on educating their populace about the benefits of vaccination while leaving the choice to individuals,
others offer financial incentives or have made vaccinations mandatory to ensure high coverage rates.
Germany is one of the countries that doesn’t have a compulsory vaccination policy. Their citizens are not
required by law to get a vaccine if they choose not to or if they don’t think it’s right for their child. However,
Germany is unique in the fact that they have stringent vaccine rules in their school programs. Not only do
they have stringent vaccines rules in their school programs, but they also don’t let people homeschool.
Having homeschool illegal, going to a school is the only choice. Therefore, people are required to get
vaccinated, but not through a direct compulsory vaccination rule or enforcement from the central
government.

Germany is seeking to put more pressure on parents to seek medical advice on vaccinating their children in a
bid to increase vaccination rates, as the country sees a growing number of measles cases. A bill put forward
by Health Minister Hermann Gröhe proposes obliging childcare centers and kindergartens to report parents
who fail to have such a consultation to health authorities. "The fact that people are still dying of measles
cannot be a matter of indifference to anyone," Gröhe told the Germany tabloid Bild. "That is why we are
tightening the regulations on immunization." The German upper house has voiced some criticism of the
draft bill, saying that it could damage the trust between parents and childcare facilities. The move comes as
the number of measles cases in Germany skyrockets, with 583 cases reported up to the end of April 2017,
compared with 325 for the whole of last year.. Since 2015, parents in Germany must present proof that they
have received medical vaccination advice to childcare centers, but the center is not allowed to refuse a child
a place if they have not done so, as parents have a legal right to one. Up to now, it is up to the childcare
centers to decide whether to report those parents without proof of a consultation to health authorities.
Refusing to receive the consultation is punishable under German law by a fine of up to 2,500 euros.

The Permanent Vaccination Commission (“STIKO”), which is made up of various medical experts and is
associated with the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), regularly publishes vaccination schedules in more than 20
languages along with other information leaflets. With the help of statistics, education and research, the
institue aims at preventing contagious diseases from spreading in Germany. The specific tasks of the
institute are summed up in the Infectious Disease Protection Act. The annually updated vaccination calendar
currently includes recommendations for vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, type b
Haemophilus influenzae, hepatitis B, poliomyelitis, and pneumococci, beginning at the age of 8 weeks.
From the age of 12 months onward, children should be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella,
varicella, and serogroup C meningococci. In later childhood, booster vaccinations are recommended, in
addition to the provision of any vaccinations that may have been missed. Girls aged 12 to 17 years should be
vaccinated against human papilloma virus. Adults should have their tetanus and diphtheria vaccinations
refreshed regularly, and their pertussis vaccination refreshed once; from age 60 onward, they should be
vaccinated against pneumococci and influenza. The vaccinations recommended by the STIKO are available
to all German citizens free of charge and provide effective protection against infectious disease.

Emphasising, though vaccination is not mandatory in Germany it soon could be, as their laws concerning
this topic are quite stringent. Germans used to focus on educating the population about the benefits of
vaccination but lately they have set up costly fines for those refusing consultation.
Germany is helping countries around the world to better cope with the effects of climate change. This
involves knowledge – and money. Five facts.

Investing in climate protection worldwide

Climate protection always involves money. You invest money today to prevent damage in the future that
will generate much higher costs. Germany is one of the major donor countries in this area.

Germany leads the way

For example, Germany was the first country to pledge money for the Green Climate Fund. Furthermore,
Germany regularly pays into the slightly smaller Adaptation Fund. Both United Nations funding
mechanisms aim to help developing countries to prepare for the consequences of climate change. In
addition, there are many programmes that provide funds through international cooperation, the International
Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment and development banks.

Making developing countries less vulnerable

The goal here is to help countries affected by climate change to build greater resilience – in other words, to
become better equipped for the future. Key areas are the expansion of renewable energies-, above all in
Africa, forest protection and also the relatively new instrument of climate risk insurance.

Rainforest wood extraction without climate damage

Forest protection is a core issue in Fiji, the actual host of the Climate Conference in Bonn. The German
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has been commissioned by the Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development to support sustainable forestry projects. They show it is possible to
harvest wood and achieve income in the rainforest without endangering the ecosystem. This can even lead to
reductions in CO2 emissions. Reform proposals for national legislation are also being developed using
project findings.

Insuring 400 million people against climate risks by 2020

The new instrument of climate risk insurance is attracting interest above all in Africa. It was introduced at
the 2015 G7 summit in Germany. The idea: people who pay an insurance premium are compensated within a
very short period of time if the country is affected by droughts, cyclones or storm surges. Compensation is
provided in the form of money or practical aids such as seeds. Some 400 million people in the world’s
poorest countries are to receive access to insurance of this kind by 2020. 100 million are already covered
today. With a total of roughly 15 million euros, Germany is providing the major part of the G7 contribution
through the KfW Development Bank. Most of the insurance sum goes to Africa.