In terms of exchanges, the U.S. negotiation involved swapping two Russian nationals for every American national returned safely to the United States. While this was discussed as potentially being an unfair exchange, the cabinet assures the press that this will foster relations between both nations, as well as China. This swap also comes after the Biden administration initiated a prisoner swap with American W.N.B.A. player Brittney Griner and Russian Arms Dealer Vadim Krasikov, which was met with both ridicule and celebration within American borders.

In terms of the ship carrying oil, the cabinet ensured that it will be completing its trip to China as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the CIA Director shared that the Turkish Intelligence Agency will be investigating the contents on the ship to ensure the integrity of the delivery. This will continue previous relationships between the U.S. and Turkey, especially with having Turkey as a mediator.

The United States’ cabinet emphasized the importance of keeping lines of communication open throughout all recovery efforts. Their priorities throughout negotians were the safety of all nationals as well as Ukrainian citizens as well as gaining control of the ship. When asked if this will give an upperhand to the U.S. delegation, it was clear that this does give the United States a certain edege. This leverage would especially become relevant if the United States were to intervene in the war in Ukraine.

“I think that our paper RRECO was realistic and people could not handle that fact,” a representative from the bloc stated. “There was a certain piece of western bias… We just thought it was logical to have big developed countries and a few small countries so we really wanted to express the stress in the realistic portion.”

Despite these events, many of the same countries resumed their work together this morning in order to tackle the new issues at hand. Countries such as Mauritania, Venezuela, Syria, China, Iran, and Russia.

Collectively they “came together to start working on this one solution really because we knew that our countries get along, have similar policies, and things that definitely affect each other.” Syria stated, “For instance, droughts can really cause floods, that can be the main contributor, and Syria suffers from droughts. We feel like at this point we are probably the farthest along bloc, it’s the most comprehensive paper.”

Other delegates, such as Indonesia and Uruguay, were simply glad to see a display of diplomacy in the cabinet. Indonesia feels that “it was absolutely wonderful that this paper got passed and got passed unilaterally in various countries who had various different interests. I initially came out on the opposition but when I saw the paper and examined it more closely I realized we shared a common goal, so I ended up supporting it very strongly.”

Uruguay, a sponsor on the Net Green paper that was passed, shared a similar sentiment. The delegate said, “I’m just really happy I could be apart of the sponsors for this amazing paper. It was really really fun just to work out these differences between countries, talking to different blocs trying to make it so we can get our paper passed and it’s just amazing to see the world take a step in the right direction. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen this many countries come together to do something and not say something, but objectively do something.”

The committee is working relentlessly to solve the current issues and anticipates the presentation of working papers at some point during today’s session. 

The African Union is working diligently today to resolve issues surrounding protecting Africa’s biodiversity. Africa hosts nearly a quarter of global diversity within the continent, yet it is being destroyed through various factors, mostly those that are man made. The consequences of such events can be dire, resulting in issues like food insecurity, conflicts over land, and the increased transmission of zoonotic diseases.

In one bloc, Mozambique is attempting to combat some of the issues the delegation sees within its own borders. This includes deforestation and the loss of various animal habitats.

“In my bloc right now the working paper is focusing on, well our topic is biodiversity in Africa and we’re focusing on clean energy as something that we’re trying to build through Africa in terms of infrastructure and to not pollute the oceans anymore,” the representative of Mozambique told the Chicago Tribune. “This committee is also focused on preventing logging and poaching. The African Union doesn’t get published or talked about so we are not able to receive the same support as Ukraine in our wars and we need more press.”

As the committee unfolded, it became evident that there was much to negotiate before passing a resolution. While many delegates spoke of the need to find redundancies between the papers in order to be concise and thorough, it did not appear that there was action associated with the sentiment.

One of the other many blocs in the room consists of nations such as Guinea, Burundi, Niger, Zambia, Rwanda, Sudan, and Nigeria. Compared to the efforts of Mozambique’s bloc, this bloc is more focused on the impacts of tourism on the area saying, “We think our biggest thing in our paper is eco tourism. Eco tourism is the middle ground between protecting biodiversity and improving the economy. Right now a lot of countries in Africa benefit from tourism because we have phenomenal savannas and rainforests. However, these tourisms have a very huge environmental effect whether it be like single use plastics or carbon emissions. So, we hope by encouraging ecotourism for the benefit of the environment we can both improve the economy and protect biodiversity.”

“Ecotourism essentially is a win-win because it not only benefits the economy but also concerns the environment,” the delegate from Sudan added.

While it appears there is still more work to be done, the efforts of the African Union are commendable and are sure to yield results in the upcoming sessions.

UNEA is hard at work this afternoon as they hash out various working papers and the varying ideas within them. Two opposing blocs, the Realistic Renewable and Economics Cooperation Operation (RRECO) bloc and the Net Green bloc, shared some of their views with the Chicago Tribune. 

The RRECO bloc is comprised of nations such as China, Russia, India, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and more. During their interview, they expressed the desire to understand all sides of the issue, both from developed and developing countries. 

The bloc released the following statement: “We believe that our bloc is probably more realistic financially because it doesn’t necessarily focus on completely stopping the use of fossil fuels immediately because that’s a very one way approach …So, we’re focusing on incentivizing the use of renewable energy but also not affecting them detrimentally for using oil resources… We definitely think it’s important to acknowledge why we have been trying to move toward renewable energy for so long and the reason it hasn’t worked is because it isn’t sustainable at all and we are trying to move towards a sustainable future. For instance, Syria is a very solar heavy, wind heavy country, that’s going to work really well for us, but that’s not going to work for Russia… Many of the smaller countries are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and by cutting that entirely you’re ruining their economy and some of the western nations want to take advantage of that and that would mean that the smaller countries would have to rely on the larger powers… This is going to make developing countries dependent on large countries as they are dependent on fossil fuels now. If we uproot these developing countries economically they are not going to have the ability to make the hefty investment that is renewable energy sources.”

Opposing them stands the Net Green working paper, composed primarily of Uruguay, the United States, and Honduras. They have been debating for quite some time with RRECO regarding funding and other resources.

Statement from the representative of Uruguay: “Our paper is specifically about giving developing countries an edge into this climate resilient and net zero world. Our entire thing is about helping small nations… I think they are taking a situation and expecting it to go one way and making assumptions by which we continue to operate, understanding exactly what our paper is. We take underdeveloped countries into account. Honduras, one of the undeveloped countries, is actually a sponsor and a presenter and has taken charge of some of our most important clauses. … So, I think that they are misrepresenting our bloc and making assumptions and I don’t think that’s what our bloc means anyway… One of our main clauses is about funding, especially funding underdeveloped countries through developed countries using a grant system. This would be present internationally as something that helps countries that are especially in danger and countries that are trying to move towards turning into a net zero country.” 

One suggestion offered by the cabinet was to initiate a prisoner swap with the United States in order to foster relations between the two countries. The U.S. has long condemned China for their taking of prisoners, most of whom have been determined as wrongfully detained. According to CNN, China currently has three such detainees imprisoned. While U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to travel to Beijing, this trip has been postponed following the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon flying over the U.S. on February 2.

Another aspect of discontentment that members of the cabinet acknowledged was the claim that much of Chinese technology has been stolen from the United States. The delegates reported that there were efforts to crack down on such enterprises as China now possesses the resources to make these advancements on their own.

Most of these ideas come in response to the United States’ embargoes on China, most of which are a result of alleged human rights violations occurring within China’s borders. The most recent of these actions occurred in December of 2022 when the US imposed sanctions on individuals and organizations tied to illegal fishing, which is commonly tied to other illicit activities.