Towards Earth Summit 2002
Co-Chairs' Message for CSD Intersessional (2001)
NGO Steering Committee 
to the United Nations Commission on 
Sustainable Development  
 
       Home        Site Map                                Issue Caucuses             Major Groups              Steering Committee 
     What's New?        Earth Summit 2002            OUTREACH                     Translations                  Links

 Dear Friends,

We thought that as we approach the CSD Intersessional it would be useful to update everyone on some of the preparations for CSD 9 and CSD 10.

CSD 9
If you have been interested in the  preparations for CSD 9 on energy and transport then you should have been active in the list servers facilitating that preparation. You can join the relevant caucus list server through the csdngo web site http://www.csdngo.org/csdngo .  Once you have done that you can look back through the e-group archives on what has already happened. I am sure we would like to thank the energy and transport co-coordinators  for all their work in preparing for the negotiations.

At present we have a serious problem in the area of Information for Decision Making and International Co-operation. The Secretary Generals report is out but we have no analysis of it. I would ask groups to look at the report through the UN web site (http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd9/csd9_2001.htm) and send comments to Mita Sen (northclear@csdngo.org) by the end of February.

The critical dates are as follows:
 

Resources

Attached are Agenda 21 chapters 9 (Atmosphere), 37 (national mechanisms and international co-operation for capacity building) and 40 (Information for  decision making). A key place to collect more information is http://www.earthsummit2002.org/workshop/resources.htm where you find compilations of international agreements on energy, transport and information for decision making from most UN Summits and Commissions (this ADDITIONALLY has a gender perspective).

There have already been decisions on who will be part of the extended Bureau for CSD 10. These are for Africa: Nigeria and Egypt, for Asia Indonesia (Chair) and Japan, for South America: Jamaica and  Brazil and for Europe, North America and Australia and New Zealand two from Sweden, Germany, Canada and Switzerland. Eastern Europe has still to decide.

UNEP Governing Council agreed to set up a Ministerial group to look at International Architecture a copy of the outcome is enclosed for those interested.

There have been a number of NGO workshops since last years CSD on 2002. These are all helping groups to prepare nationally and regionally for the Summit. It is important for NGOs to remember that national preparations have to be finished by around June to enable input to the Regional Preparatory meetings that start in the summer.

Information on the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit 2002) can be found on the UN web site http://www.un.org/rio+10/index.html and the UNED website http://www.earthsummit2002.org

Best Wishes
 

Felix Dodds and Esmeralda Brown
Co-Chairs CSD NGO Steering Committee
 

____________________

attachment:
Agenda items 4(d) Governance of UNEP

Draft decision on International Environmental Governance presented by the President of the Governing Council

The Governing Council,
Underlining the importance of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in 2002 to review the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable development and, as a critical opportunity to advance international co-operation for sustainable development on the basis of concrete commitments at the highest level;

Recalling General Assembly resolution 55/200 in which the Assembly stressed the important role that UNEP has to play in the ten year review of progress achieved in the implementation of the outcome of UNCED;

Recalling the Nairobi Declaration in which the role of UNEP is confirmed as the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, that promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and that serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment;

Welcoming efforts already made to realise the objectives of the Nairobi Declaration, as well as the implementation of General Assembly resolution 53/242 and the subsequent establishment of the Global Ministerial Environment Forum, the Environment Management Group and the strengthening of the UN Office at Nairobi;

Recognizing that these reforms constitute first steps in a process of necessary streamlining and strengthening of the system of international environmental governance including in the context of sustainable development with the objective of enhancing policy coherence and implementation;

Emphasising that stable, predictable and adequate funding is a prerequisite for improved governance and should constitute a central aspect of deliberations on improving international environmental governance;

Recalling the recommendations from the Malmo Ministerial Declaration that the 2002 conference should review the requirements for a greatly strengthened institutional structure for international environmental governance based on an assessment of future needs for an institutional architecture that has the capacity to effectively address wide- ranging environmental threats in a globalizing world; and that UNEP's role in this regard should be strengthened and its financial base broadened and made more predictable;

1. Calls Upon the UNEP and member governments of the United Nations and its specialised agencies to intensify efforts to implement General Assembly resolution 53/242 as a basis for further institutional strengthening;

2. Decides to establish an open-ended Intergovernmental Group of ministers or their representatives, with the Executive Director as an ex-officio member, to undertake a comprehensive policy-oriented assessment of existing institutional weaknesses as well as future needs and options for strengthened international environmental governance, including the financing of UNEP, with a view to presenting a report containing analysis and options to the next meeting of the Global Ministerial Environmental Forum.

3. Requests the Committee of Permanent Representatives as the subsidiary body of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environmental Forum to provide its due contribution to this process in an expeditious manner.

4. Requests the Executive Director, in consultation with governments to review the state of international environmental governance and elaborate a report to be submitted to the Intergovernmental Group at its first meeting.

5. Decides that the process should benefit from incorporating the views and perspectives of other UN entities, International Financial Institutions, expert institutions, major groups, and individuals outside the UN system.

6. Decides that the next meeting of the Global Ministerial Environment Forum should undertake in depth discussion of the report with a view to providing its input on future requirements of international environmental governance in the broader context of multilateral efforts for sustainable development to the 10th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development acting as the preparatory body for the World Summit on Sustainable Development at is meeting at the Ministerial level in May 2002 as a contribution to the WSSD;

7. Requests the President of the Governing Council of UNEP to inform the Commission on Sustainable Development, at its first session as the preparatory body of the WSSD, of this decision of the Council and of the views expressed by Ministers of the Environment on international environmental governance at this session of the Global Ministerial Environment Forum;

8. Requests the Executive Director to seek additional financial resources from governments in a position to contribute to supporting this process in particular to facilitate the participation of developing country representatives.
 

Home Site Map Issue Caucuses Major Groups Steering Committee
What's New? Earth Summit 2002 OUTREACH Translations Links