Environment & Technology

Natural disaster is classified as a natural event such as a flood, earthquake, or hurricane that causes great damage or loss of life. With climate change on the rise, natural disasters are happening more frequently and in places in which they do not usually occur: California 2023 Snowstorms, Canadian Wildfires, hurricanes in New Orleans, Houston, and the New Jersey shore. Since 2017, the United States has suffered devastating and costly disasters every year. Roughly 3,500 wildfires have burned 28,700 acres in 2024 in the U.S alone and tornado season was more destructive than usual with 1,331 tornadoes in 2022. In 2022, the natural disasters that struck the country each caused at least $175.2 billion in damage and economic losses.

Natural disasters are not just one off events that affect developing countries, they devastate countries of all shapes and sizes. In 2020 and 2021 alone, natural disasters affected over 363,184 basic services in 44 UN reporting countries, including health and educational services and more in non reporting countries. Furthermore, rebuilding the affected areas can take months to years to even decades depending on the economic state of the countries affected. Therefore, prevention methods such as early warning systems, disaster-resilient infrastructure, etc are vital especially in developing countries. However, it is also important to remember that any natural disaster prevention infrastructure must be created to work with the environment around it. Green infrastructure is defined as practices that utilize or mimic natural systems to achieve a desired outcome. Gray infrastructure is defined as man-made, hard infrastructure systems such as systems of gutters, pipes, and tunnels. Green infrastructure is what must be implemented and taken into consideration by counties in order to not increase the potential for future natural disasters.

Flooding is one of the most dangerous and prevalent natural disasters in the world as any country that has rain can suffer from flooding. Flooding is difficult to prevent but relocating buildings in dangerous areas, utilizing elevated construction techniques and permeable materials are all vital to minimize flooding damage.

Sustainable energy is understood by the UN as energy sources that are renewable and have low environmental impact like solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass energy. Environmental impact is a negative effect of energy sources such as pollution, resource depletion, habitat destruction, or climate change. Sustainability is important because it not only protects the future of earth, but also promotes resource efficiency and economic strength country to country. Stepping stones such as electric cars are a start to achieving complete sustainability, but do not completely solve the problem due to finite lithium for batteries. Many fossil fuels and unsustainable resources are extracted using ethnically questionable methods. These include: child labor, unfair hours, poor working conditions and unfair payment. All of these only increase the necessity to ensure energy infrastructure is developed and maintained in a way that does not harm vulnerable populations.

The global push for sustainable energy started after the 1970s oil crisis. The Yom-Kippur War and the Iranian Revolution of 1979 halted oil trade due from the Middle East which made many countries realize that sustainability was the future. Their dependence on fossil fuels and foreign resources weakened their economies causing prices to skyrocket. Now, in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian War many countries lost access to oil because of supply chain disruptions and embargoes. Both of these events helped change the ideology of the countries in terms of safety. Now (self) sustainability is seen as a top safety concern for them.

In addition, clean energy is necessary due to climate change, increasing global energy demand from a rapidly increasing population, finite fossil fuel supplies, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and political tensions. Greenhouse gas emissions refer to the release of gases into the atmosphere that trap heat and lead to global warming. Sustainable energy is also important to achieving Goal 7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Affordable and Clean Energy. This goal calls out the current disparity in energy access as well as the lack of sustainability in wealthier countries from years of fossil fuel dependence. Access and implementation are heavily based on geography, infrastructure, geopolitical relationships and resources of the respective countries in the Environment and Technology Committee.

Out of almost 8 billion people on the planet, over one billion of them live in extreme poverty and 2.6 billion people do not have internet access. Digital equity is defined as ensuring all individuals have equal access to use and benefit from digital technologies. This makes sure that every person has access to the necessary tools to utilize online skills to assist with education, employment, healthcare, and civic participation. Digital divide is defined as the gap between those who have access to digital technologies and those who do not. The digital divide disproportionately affects marginalized communities such as low-income individuals, rural populations and minority groups. Digital literacy is defined as a person’s ability to use technology to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information. This person must also know how to operate web browsers, messaging applications, etc. A digitally literate person has many opportunities in terms of higher education, employment, healthcare, etc. However without accurate technology infrastructure, people are unable to develop digital literacy skills. As technology advances and becomes more complex it becomes increasingly harder to help people who have never engaged with digital tools before. With the rise of 5G and the inefficient rollout, for example, those unfamiliar with digital technologies may only fall further and further behind.

Without digital equity, the digital divide will only grow and more marginalized communities will be left behind, exacerbating existing inequalities such as poverty. In the United States, nearly 55% of offline students come from Black, Hispanic, and Native American households, despite these groups only making up 40% of the general student population. Furthermore, 50% of offline students come from families whose annual income is below $50,000 per year. This lack of access hinders their opportunity to have a fulfilling education which furthers the racial and social inequalities already faced by these groups.