COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Chair: Eric Cao
Committee Type: Economic and Social Council
From around 2.3 billion people in 1940 to 8.2 billion in 2025, the global population continues to grow at an alarming rate. The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) was first created in 1946 as a sub-committee of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to address all issues related to the growing global population. CPD derives its name from the fact that it focuses on all issues related to population and development, which doesn’t seem like much at first, but are broad and encompassing topics. Population can refer to areas such as understanding the youth demographic, concerns around gender equality, migration, and aging, while development can refer to areas such as economic growth, changes in poverty levels, employment, and international alliances. The overall health of a nation can fall into either one of these two categories, which highlights the importance of CPD’s work. With the statistics and analyses of our delegates, CPD can help shape new economic policies going forward, which can directly impact the global economy and its future decisions.
Topic 1
The Future Of Entrepreneurship
A few years ago, entrepreneurship was not a glamorous field. At the time, when people think of an entrepreneur, they usually think of someone who doesn’t have a real job. But now, things have started to change. In recent years, the number of new startups has skyrocketed, partly because of advances in AI technology and a drastic shift in societal values. Entrepreneurs have begun utilizing AI in innovative ways to offset variable costs in their businesses, renovate their products, and handle core business functions like keeping inventory or summarizing customer analytics. Additionally, more and more people now pursue entrepreneurship as an alternative to a college degree, using online videos and resources instead of going down the traditional path of higher education. However, even with all these changes, many social inequalities still exist within the field of entrepreneurship. People from lower socio-economic backgrounds, developing countries, or minority groups may not have access to the same opportunities and support as others. How can governments make entrepreneurship more accessible and equitable in these changing circumstances? Delegates will examine the nuances of how governments should assess what kind of aid to provide to foster innovation, whether that is in the form of subsidies, more accessible information, or something else entirely.
Topic 2
Safeguarding & Strengthening Global Trade
On the topic of improving the economy, one of the main reasons why the global economy has developed so rapidly is because of global trade. Global trade started as early as the Silk Road, but nowadays, the global trade landscape has evolved with new trade alliances and imbalances. Changes in tariffs, societal shifts, and rising political animosity between countries can all lead to dynamic trade alliances. Moreover, countries have a need to prioritize domestic innovation, often raising tariffs for imported goods. However, this prioritization can have a negative impact on businesses that utilize imports in their supply chains. For instance, because of new trade policies, even a company as big as Toyota would have to find alternative domestic products to use in their supply chain, often increasing the manufacturing price of their products, and thus increasing the price sold to consumers to make a profit. Smaller companies may also consider different tradeoffs, such as lowering the working conditions for their employees or paying employees less in general. How should governments adapt to these changes in the global trade landscape? Should new policies be put in place to safeguard global trade, or should more domestic innovation be encouraged? Delegates will address a prominent issue in international relations that has become much more relevant in the modern day and come up with solutions as to how countries can help stabilize their economy with businesses and consumers in mind.