The French Republic: i have a Vision of my Country

Augmenting Human Capital to Reduce the Global Skills Gap

The Global Skills Gap is a controversial phenomenon that has emerged exponentially throughout the past 20 years. This new phenomenon has brought an increasing amount of instances in which people do not have the skills or abilities that are deemed necessary by organizations to fill the requirements of certain job positions they require to be filled in order to function optimally. This can be due to many reasons depending on the situation, seeing that each one can be very different from another. Some possible causes can be education, rapid technological advancements, and/or businesses’ high demands for short-term profits. It is pertinent that we understand that the Global Skills Gap size can vary depending on regions, countries, or even economic sectors. The French Republic believes we must identify and take into consideration the influencing factors that are present in order to correctly determine the root cause or causes of the Gap and to therefore study viable solutions to the problem in each country.

Since the early 1970s, the GDP in the French Republic has either increased or remained steady until the present day. Worth 2582.5 billion USD in 2017, it grew 2% in 2018 and is projected to be at around 2660 billion by 2020 according to the Trading Economics Forecast. However, this delegation believes that our country could aim for higher if we worked towards finding innovative ways to reduce the Global Skills Gap, which in France was projected to be at 20% according to the ManpowerGroup Talent Shortage Survey. From the same source, it was determined that the main causes for talent shortages in France are lack of applicants (44% of the time) and that the applicants lack required hard skills (20%) or work experience (12%). All these issues together have caused unemployment to rise to 10.1% becoming a growing problem in our country that we must tackle not only nationally, but by developing international strategies.

The delegation of the French Republic believes that in order to realistically reduce this phenomenon from growing, we must generate solutions that specialize in identifying the deficits in our system at all levels: in education, professional formation, as an employee in the workforce, and as an employer. All of these levels generate so much information in so little time that, so far it has been difficult ot process in an efficient manner to give the International Community a big picture perspective of this issue. In order to do this most precisely, we must promote the use and the creation of projects involving Big Data with the objective to recollect and analyze all of these key indicators that were just mentioned. It will aim to measure a variety of factors that must be taken into account by analyzing the mass information received from these levels of the system. In the 21st century, taking advantage of new technological developments is key to solve the new challenges of our time. In this regard, Big data is fundamental to resolve this issue seeing that it goes beyond mere human intelligence, this is not an issue that we as a people alone can resolve anymore, it is a problem born from technology. It only makes sense, that we employ technology itself to solve it.

The Economic Future of Green Energy Development

One of the most important moments in human history is, without a doubt, the Industrial Revolution. This period leads to levels of mechanization never before seen. These new machines required fuel to be able to function, bringing with them the rise of fossil fuels as the best source of energy to power them. Now, after more than a century of use, they have become ubiquitous in our modern world given that they are the most cost effective energy source. However, these fuel sources have come with a heavy burden, this being the negative effect they have on the world’s climate. A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that by 2030 and 2052 there will have been an increase in the global temperature of at least 1.5 degrees Celsius pre-industrial levels, of which an average of 1 degree Celsius is caused by human activity. It is therefore urgent that the United Nations work to minimize the effects of climate change and begin the transition to more sustainable sources of energy, because if not, the effects will be felt across the world, one of the few truly global challenges in the history of mankind.

In regards to the use of Green Energy, the French Republic is wholeheartedly committed to reducing fossil fuel dependency by investing, promoting, and expanding new mainstream forms of energy creation. As the proud host of the Paris Agreement, we find the goal of reducing the increase in global temperature as the number one challenge for humanity in the 21st century. At the national level, the French Government has already committed to enacting a Multi-Annual Energy Plan that seeks to: Achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, take greenhouse gas-emitting vehicles off the market by 2040, Stop importing products that contribute to deforestation, as well as assisting developing countries in the fight against climate change. As part of the European Union, we have collectively committed to a binding renewable energy target of at least 32% and an energy efficiency target of at least 32.5%

France, has sought to lead the international community by example and has striven to become the leader in green energy, however, this has not come without challenges. The nationwide protest that broke out in November 2018 have taught us a lesson on the importance of involving the general populace in these efforts, as well as making the transition as least traumatic as possible to the normal development of their everyday lives. Giving private entities a bigger stage in this issue would be a big first step to making this happen, understanding that they too have a tremendous responsibility in the promotion of green energy development. With this in mind, The French Republic will endeavor to have civil society actively contribute to reducing their carbon footprint, for it is everyone that lives on this planet, and with that same sentiment, it is with everyone’s aid that we are going to “Make Our Planet Great Again”.

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