The United States of America
Positions for the General Assembly Fourth Committee: Special Political and Decolonization (SPECPOL)
- Involvement of MultiNational Corporations in Human Rights Abuses
Multinational Corporations violating Human Rights, is becoming a more and more steady issue every day. THe United Nations, and specifically; Special Political and Decolonization (SPECPOL) has been heavily involved in trying to have the multinational corporations held accountable. MNCS benefit the countries where they operate as it increases economic globalization, and in hand offers new opportunities for prosperity. However, MNCs have many drawbacks. A main drawback is the fact that a state/nation can have difficulty enforcing laws that would protect their citizens from the company/corporation. A study done in 2018 found that while overseas expansions of MNCs have garnered wealth and employment, it has also hugely negatively impacted the treatment of humans and the environment. The study also showed how this was caused by nations not holding the MNC’s accountable. The problem of nations not holding MNCs accountable in turn led to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are a set of guidelines for Nations/States and companies to prevent, address, and remedy human rights abuses committed in business operations. The problem with these guidelines is that they aren’t enforceable. So this leaves room for MultiNational Corporations still not being held accountable.
The United States of America has always advocated for the protection of Human Rights under MultiNational Corporations. MNC’s are established under state law and their activities are regulated under state and federal law. They have always been limited by the constitution in the US. MNCs are good for the United States of America in particular. The United States of America has three documents that instruct multinational corporations in upholding human rights. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (United Nations), the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Along with these three documents, the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor works with companies, civil society, and like-minded governments to promote human rights and labor rights in business operations. The United States of America led policy efforts to implement the Guiding Principles and ILO Declaration. The United States of America works to find solutions to urgent human rights and policy issues involving multinational corporations. The United States of America also works with the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs’ Responsible Business Conduct Unit to implement the OECD Guidelines. The United States of America has three main goals when working on upholding Human Rights with Multinational Corporations. One is to, “Foster the implementations of international human rights law and developing commitments in the global business and human rights space with key stakeholders”. The second is to, “create a space for emerging and critical issues to be debated among relevant stakeholder groups.” The third is to,” Establish tools, training and guidance for U.S. government officials to be more effective envoys on business and human rights.”
As a Solution The United States plans to not only work on enforcing these previous policies but also the use of national, extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction. Using national legislation, states could control corporate human rights activity. State laws may and do foresee a variety of sanctions for companies violating their duties that range from mere publication of a list of companies not respectful with the appropriate standards, to loss of particular benefits, such as preferential loans, contracts with the Public Administration, permits o licenses, up to public intervention of the enterprise administration or criminal fines.
- Mitigation of Space Debris
Over the years of space exploration, space debris has become a more and more harrowing problem. More than 27,000 pieces of orbital debris, or “space junk,” are tracked by the Department of Defense’s global Space Surveillance Network (SSN) sensors. Space debris can pose many dangers.Space debris can be a hazard to active satellites and spacecraft. The excessive collection of debris in Earth’s orbit can also create a hazard to life on Earth’s surface. The UN has passed things to try to approach the problem. In 2007, the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space developed a set of guidelines for the mitigation of space debris for space agencies to follow in future missions. Because of these guidelines, other space agencies created guidelines of their own for future explorations.
The UNited States of America and its space agency has always promoted the mitigation of space debris. The United States of America has in the past pushed guidelines mitigating space debris. The United States Government established the Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices (ODMSP) in 2001 to address the increase in orbital debris in the near-Earth space environment. “The goal of the ODMSP was to limit the generation of new, long-lived debris by the control of debris released during normal operations, minimizing debris generated by accidental explosions, the selection of safe flight profile and operational configuration to minimize accidental collisions, and post mission disposal of space structures.” Another thing is that NASA, the space organization in the United States of America, has specific policies and sectors that work on limiting space debris. One is teh, Astromaterials research and exploration Science Orbital debris Program OFfice. Their goal is to control the growth of the orbital debris population is a high priority for NASA, the United States, and the major space-faring nations of the world to preserve near-Earth space for future generations. The United States of America has always been at the forefront of solving this issue. “In 1995 NASA was the first space agency in the world to issue a comprehensive set of orbital debris mitigation guidelines. Two years later, the U.S. Government developed a set of Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices based on the NASA guidelines.” After these actions, other countries have swiftly followed suit.
As a solution The United states of America aims to Safeguard the Physical integrity of rocket bodies and spacecraft in a number of ways. First is to reduce the creation of debris from explosions. A reduction in the frequency of explosions can be achieved by passivating spacecraft and rocket bodies. NExt is the Passivation of Spacecraft. Ensuring that any future deliberate spacecraft breakups are not carried out in high orbits would help contain the future debris hazard. Then is the Passivation of Rocket Bodies. Also, as solutions Mitigation measures can take the form of curtailing or preventing the creation of new debris, designing satellites to withstand impacts by small debris, and implementing operational procedures such as using orbital regimes with less debris, adopting specific spacecraft attitudes, and even maneuvering to avoid collisions with debris.