NationStates Jolt Archive

Honored Ambassador,

The United Nations Association -- Mikitivity would like to conduct a survey to feel out the NS UN forum’s interest in various UN resolution categories. Previous surveys were conducted and have been analyzed in the UNA White Paper 2005-01 (http://pweb.netcom.com/~mierzwa10k/una/una-200501.pdf). This survey is designed to test to see if the opinion of nations has changed since the past survey and to extend the work of the previous surveys. These results will be archived and shared with UN members and non-members in order to facilitate better proposal writing.

Since national opinions are subject to change, this survey is limited for 30-days and will be conducted again at a future date.

As your schedule permits, please respond to the poll included with this survey. These responses are general, but comments (in the form of a post) are most welcomed and will be reviewed and shared along side the poll results. I think you’ll be pleased with the graphics we plan to share based on these survey results!

Background
(taken from the official UN description of Environmental resolutions):


Environmental
A resolution to increase the quality of the world's environment, at the expense of industry.

Precisely what it sounds like. Any Environmental resolution will cause a hit to your industries while improving the environment. Any proposal written for this category should preferably talk about industry having to somehow pay for environmental improvements. Of course, this could be abstracted by saying that the government taxes industry more to implement an environmental plan of some kind.

There are four different categories of environmental proposals. These categories are based on the industries that are impacted by the environmental proposal: automobile manufacturing, uranium mining, wood chipping, and all industries.

A printer friendly copy of all 18 UN Human Rights resolutions (passed, repealed, and failed) is available at the UNA Environmental archive (http://pweb.netcom.com/~mierzwa10k/una/EN.pdf).

Here is a chronological list of the 18 Environmental resolutions that have been brought to the UN floor to date:

Ban Single-Hulled Tankers (#11)
Mandatory Recycling (#13)
Protect Historical Sites (#15)
Hydrogen Powered Vehicles (#18)
Replanting Trees (#23)
Oceanic Waste Dumping (#34)
Stop Dumping – Start Cleaning (#35)
World Heritage List (#37)
Alternative Fuels (#39)
Hippos Are Really Quite Large (failed)
Save the Forests of the World (#48)
Ballast Water (#52)
SPCC Regulation Act (#58)
Illegal Logging (#66)
Banning Whaling (#70)
Sustainable Energy Sources (#71)
Reduction of Greenhouse Gases (#72)
Support Hemp Production (#85)

The question:
How likely are you to support a UN Environmental Resolution?

Always (We supported all of them)
Very Likely (We supported 75% to 100% of them)
Likely (We supported 50% to 75% of them)
Unlikely (We supported 25% to 50% of them)
Very Unlikely (We supported 0% to 25% of them)
Never (We supported none of them)
other – please explain

After answering this survey, please consider also answering the Social Justice, Free Trade, Moral Decency, Human Rights surveys which is designed to work along side this survey.
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=409257
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=409457
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=409886
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=409981

Thank you,
Janet Van Dyne
Chairwoman, United Nations Association -- Mikitivity

Well, I am new to the UN, so trully I haven't voted on any enviromental issues in the UN as yet. But I would say very likely, and my reasoning behind this is that though I am very much for the environment I would have to see the wording before I was to say I would definitly vote for it. I do not like stating that I would definitly vote for something until I had seen the complete item in question and had some time to study it. I dislike making hasty desicions. And it is trully way to easy to sneak something deceptive or off topic into a resolution. 8shrugs* I hope that explains my position and helps with your analysis. Truly if you have something of which you wish us to consider bring it forth and let us see it.

I hope that explains my position and helps with your analysis. Truly if you have something of which you wish us to consider bring it forth and let us see it.

Welcome to the UN.

I don't have a specific proposal in this category ready yet. I will be bringing a proposal to the UN floor in June though. :)

What I'm interested in finding out is how different categories compare ... the following is an analysis of actual voting records back in early Dec. 2004:

http://pweb.netcom.com/~mierzwa10k/una/votingsupport.gif

I ran an ealier survey and wrote a paper on the results:
http://pweb.netcom.com/~mierzwa10k/una/una-200501.pdf

But these new survey's are to test the stastical significance of the earlier work. Already I'm finding that the Human Rights numbers are kinda similar, but that the Moral Decency numbers have in fact *changed*. I have a theory or two on this, and actually I have a way to statistically explain these results that I'll get into in June ... but for the next two months, I'm just collecting as much data as possible.

Thanks again!
10kMichael

I think you might have found a category that bedevils Krioval even more than Social Justice. It is extremely unlikely that Krioval, who has one of the worst environmental records in our region, would voluntarily vote to restrict industrial power for environmental gains - at least with any regularity.

At present, Mattikistan would be likely to vote in favour of an environmental resolution. We have not historically supported environmental programs with any sort of zeal as we have instead focussed our efforts on social welfare and civil rights while trying to improve the economy at the same time. Now, though, we are currently on a drive to better the environment, thus it is likely that we would vote in favour.

However, governments come and go, and each has a different opinion to the last. I can't guarantee that we would always vote in favour of environmental resolutions in the future, nor have we always voted in favour of them in the past. Though, we like to think of ourselves as a progressive nation, so there will always be some degree of environmental concern. I will say 75%, the top end of the 'Likely' field, though as I said, it varies.

Of course, as was said above, it really depends on the content of the resolution. For example, if, for some completely bizarre reason that serves only as an extreme example, a proposal to improve the environment involved a mass slaughter of babies, there is no way we would support that.

Ambassador Leyton
Confederacy UN Representative

Other: No way in Hell.

surely, Nomansia is more than happy to support any enviromental proposals, provided it is SENSIBLE, as we are a part of the Laputa composition

and, here is another enviromental proposal which requires your support:
http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=UN_proposal/start=57

Which proposal were you referring to Nomansia? There wasn't any environmental ones on that page. I do believe theymove from page to page, so if you give the title it'll be easier to find. Though I'm not a delegate so can't do anything but telegram my delegate about it anyways... Which if I like I will happiliy do. Poor guy.... :)

Which proposal were you referring to Nomansia? There wasn't any environmental ones on that page. I do believe theymove from page to page, so if you give the title it'll be easier to find. Though I'm not a delegate so can't do anything but telegram my delegate about it anyways... Which if I like I will happiliy do. Poor guy.... :)
this is just a survey on how likely you would support a proposal that was in the environmental catagory, not an actuall proposal

this is just a survey on how likely you would support a proposal that was in the environmental catagory, not an actuall proposal

Exactly! :)

The Confederated City States of Mikitivity will support any IDU sponsored legislation, but doesn't plan to introduce any proposals to the UN until June.

We are currently drating a regional resolution in response to the Genocide in Belem and would appreciate additiona UN support, but our intentions for the next several months are to only collect data on behalf of the international community and to support the decisions of this body. Bottom line, together we are stronger than apart.

and, here is another enviromental proposal which requires your support:

sorry for that.. i mean this one :p

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=410706


but anyway i am just here to show my support... not discussing that one.

<<< Grumpy and cynical regular

I'm very unlikely to support any environmental proposals. *grumble* ...ruin my automobile manufacturing industry, they did...*grumble*

I voted for "Very Likely", because although Olwe's national motto says all it really needs to about its environmental policies ("Nature Is Our Commonwealth" doesn't really leave much room for misinterpretation ;)), I agree with Rysonia that it would be a very bad idea to say that we would always vote a certain way. In fact, I'm reasonably certain that there was one environmental resolution I voted against, although I don't remember which one and don't feel like looking it up.

As the representatives of a nation that takes pride in being labelled 'treehuggers', we might be expected to declare that we are very likely to support environmental resolutions. However - and we risk accusations of arrogance here - our time spent in the UN forum have confirmed to us that most proposers of environmental legislation haven't the faintest idea of what they're talking about, whereas in Ecopoeia this knowledge is fundamental. Such an irresponsible attitude is actually detrimental to the environment, since it hardens the scepticism of those that may well be persuaded by well-thought legislation.

A thousand curses upon those who wish to 'save teh trees'.

Varia Yefremova
Speaker to the UN

Mathieu Vergniaud
Deputy Speaker to the UN

Damn Treehuggers!! :p

The City States have voted in favour of 10 of the 18 resolutions, putting our support level between 50 and 75%. In general the City States considers itself a green state and is interested in more global environmental legislation. In fact, we firmly believe that environmental bills have standing in the UN due to the transboundary nature of problems. However, we also believe that frequently environmental resolutions aren't carefully written. (We say this as a co-author of one of the environmental resolutions that does have typos ... our apologies.)

We are optimistic that we will have our own environmental accord to bring forward, concerning mass transit, as some point, but for now we are happy with the general direction UN resolutions have been taking overall (i.e. focusing on other issues as well).

Thus far 39 nations have taken this survey. Next week I plan to begin a telegramming campaign to random UN Delegates asking that they take the time, but I figured it couldn't hurt to bump the poll.

*bump*

60 is a really great number of responses! Tonight I'll have a new survey up too!

*bump*

*bump*

This is about to close! :)

A clean sustainable environment is vital to a happy nation and all attempts are made to keep the nation of Venerable Libertarians clean and free of toxins. Large areas are held for wilderness and this in turn promotes many out door pursuits for the people. I put it to the nations of the UN that a Nations environmental health is paramount for the health of the nations people.

By the by: The Confederacy of Mattikistan is no longer a United Nations member; so if you want to, you can discount a vote from the "Likely (We supported 50% to 75% of them)" category. Otherwise... do whatever you want :p. Just informing you in case it was important to your analysis.

By the by: The Confederacy of Mattikistan is no longer a United Nations member; so if you want to, you can discount a vote from the "Likely (We supported 50% to 75% of them)" category. Otherwise... do whatever you want :p. Just informing you in case it was important to your analysis.

I appreciate that, but I'll still count your vote, for several reasons:

1) You might (hopefully) rejoin,
2) For every nation that leaves, it is possible another nation joins ... who is to say what the new nation's political views are ... thus the success of the polls comes by having a large number of _random_ replies.

When I went to regions, I tried to pick a few moderate, liberal, and conservative regions to ask to send in their replies. I'm very pleased with the responses I've been getting, and expect that I'll spend a few days in June writing another white paper.

However, you do bring up a point I wanted to address in a paper / study as well. How many nations that respond to these surveys stay in the UN for several months?

What I plan to do, is search all of the nations and check their UN status. I didn't really advertise this, but the reason I made the results public was so I could compare results between surveys and also create a few other studies / papers analyzing the data. I *love* multi use data -- I crunch environmental data at work as well. You'd be surprised how many ways you can skin a cat so to speak. :)

Anyways, I am very appreciative of all of the responses!

OK then. I guess random results are good, I was just thinking along the lines of "what good would a survey of women's views be if men kept voting". Consider this a free bump or a kick in the shins or something :D.

OK then. I guess random results are good, I was just thinking along the lines of "what good would a survey of women's views be if men kept voting". Consider this a free bump or a kick in the shins or something :D.

That holds true if UN members are significantly different in their political views than non-UN members. Though that would be a good test to conduct one day. RomeW and I did do this with the issue of prostitution, and there were significant differences on that subject.

http://pweb.netcom.com/~mierzwa10k/una/SexWorkers.gif

The questions were slightly different though. Trust me, in the next year I'll sneak a few surveys across to test this.