EARTH NEGOTIATIONS BULLETIN PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (IISD) WRITTEN AND EDITED BY: Chad Carpenter, LL.M. Peter Doran Daniel Putterman, Ph.D. Lynn Wagner Managing Editor Langston James Goree VI "Kimo" A DAILY REPORT ON THE 1996 SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5 No. 55 Thursday, 2 May 1996 CSD HIGHLIGHTS WEDNESDAY, 1 MAY 1996 Delegates to the fourth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-4) continued negotiating draft decisions, heard statements from ministers during the High- Level Segment, and attended a panel on "Youth and Agenda 21." (Due to space constraints, the latter will be summarized in the ENB summary edition only). HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT CSD Chair Rumen Gechev suggested that delegates discuss the role of the private sector in sustainable development, and that the CSD focus on implementing sustainable development in economic sectors, such as agriculture and forestry. Nitin Desai, Under Secretary-General of the DPCSD, said that a real challenge is bringing sustainability into decisions made by finance ministries. Mohamed El-Ashry, Chair of the GEF, noted that, in 1997, the GEF assembly will review its operations and policies. Negotiations on the next replenishment also will begin. ZIMBABWE: Chen Chimutengwende, Minister of Environment and Tourism, supported a dialogue regarding the role of international trade in the promotion of sustainable development, and noted that the question of resources polarizes debates. EU: Paolo Barbatta, Minister of Environment and Public Works, Italy, said that the mandate for the Special Session should be to maintain the CSD as a strategic forum for policy dialogue and coordination. POLAND: Stanislaw Zelichowski, Minister of the Conservation of Nature, Natural Resources and Forests, proposed that the Special Session discuss national reports, strengthening institutional processes, education and technology transfer. BOLIVIA: Moises Jarmusz-Levy, Minister of Sustainable Development, noted national activities, including giving decision making authority to the people. He called for practical decisions and commitment at the highest level. REPUBLIC of KOREA: Jong-Taeck Chung, Minister of Environment, noted national efforts to become a model environmental nation in the 21st century, and called attention to the transboundary air pollution situation in Northeast Asia. RUSSIAN FEDERATION: Victor Danilov-Danilyan, Minister for Environmental Protection, called for working out flexible sustainable development indicators before the 1997 Special Session. AUSTRIA: Martin Bartenstein, Federal Minister for Environment, Youth and Family Affairs, said that Austria attributes high priority to the role that international law should play in an integrated approach to environment and development. IRAN: Hadi Manafi, Vice-President, identified issues the Special Session should address, including: provision of financial resources and EST transfer; the eradication of poverty; internal migration and refugees; and the impacts of violence and aggression. FRANCE: Corinne Lepage, Minister of Environment, stated that the process of Rio should not be allowed to slip into a comfortable regime. The CSD should be a place where we challenge our ideas. COLOMBIA: Jose Mogelan, Minister of Environment, stressed the need to find constructive ways to relate trade to sustainable development. NETHERLANDS: D.K.J. Tommel, State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, recommended that the CSD establish a special task force to formulate recommendations and guidelines for sustainable industrial development. HUNGARY: Katalin Szili, Vice-Chair of the Hungarian CSD, stated that they are integrating environmental considerations into all relevant sectoral policies. PHILIPPINES: Cielito Habito, Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning, stated that they have developed a multi- stakeholder council, and proposed establishing an intergovernmental task force on the transfer and exchange of ESTs. INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIVE IN SUPPORT OF FISHWORKERS: Sebastian Mathew, speaking on behalf of 25 NGOs, urged governments to ensure that artisanal fisheries and dependent coastal communities are not adversely affected by aquaculture development or operations. CHINA: Qin Huasun, Permanent Representative of China to the UN, stated that the Special Session should push for an early fulfillment of the commitments made at UNCED. GERMANY: Angela Merkel, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, called for recognition that environmental security contributes to stability and peace, and for reinforcing the partnership initiated in Rio at the highest political level. CANADA: Sergio Marchi, Minister for Environment, asked how the CSD’s work could be strengthened and whether the CSD is sustainable. He proposed a youth co-Chair at CSD-5 and a UN- sponsored award for local level initiatives, called "New Futures 21." FINLAND: Sirkka Hautojarvi, Secretary-General, Ministry of Environment, called for the Special Session to: assess successes and failures; agree on future political priorities and a new five-year work programme; and strengthen public visibility of the CSD and participation of major groups. GHANA: Christina Amoako-Nuama, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, noted that a fundamental component of Ghana’s approach to environmental management is establishing inter-sectoral bodies to promote implementation in various economic sectors. ICELAND: Gudmundur Bjarnason, Minister for the Environment, suggested that the Special Session identify a few issues of major international concern, such as consumption patterns and the relationship between sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY: Ritt Bjerregaard, Commissioner for the Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection, noted the importance of the Second Assessment Report of the IPCC, called on the CSD to raise international awareness regarding unsustainable use of the sea, and identified EC activities regarding SIDS, aid and trade. DRAFTING GROUP I A meeting of Drafting Group I (oceans) convened in the morning to consider draft decisions on Chapters 9 (atmosphere) and 17 (oceans). On a paragraph concerning atmosphere-related problems, delegates agreed to note the "risk" of exacerbating other environmental problems through actions to address an individual atmosphere-related issue. Delegates debated a proposal to refer to "reduction of emissions particularly of developed countries," which was supported by a number of developing-country delegations. The Chair proposed inserting a reference to "common but differentiated responsibility" at the level of international action to protect the atmosphere. COLOMBIA proposed a reference to deforestation, forest degradation and all land degradation. NORWAY, supported by INDIA, said the paragraph covers general atmospheric pollution and should not address climate change. The EU proposed a reference to the "precautionary principle approach." SAUDI ARABIA proposed referring to Article 3 of the UNFCCC, but AOSIS, supported by AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND and the MARSHALL ISLANDS, said the article is specific to climate change and refers only to "measures." The MARSHALL ISLANDS proposed including Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration. The paragraph on the scientific basis for response was amended to include reference to the precautionary principle and to text from the Ad Hoc Working Group’s intersessional report "welcoming" the second assessment report of the IPCC as "the most important and reliable to date." Delegates added a footnote referring to uncertainties in the IPCC report. The paragraph linking energy use to economic growth and environment was amended to state that energy "has been and will continue to be" a fundamental requirement for economic growth. A sentence stressing the need for a "holistic and coordinated approach" to energy issues was deleted at the request of SAUDI ARABIA in the paragraph calling for an inventory of energy programs in the UN system. The paragraph on policy instruments was amended to include "environmental cost internalization and removal of environmentally damaging subsidies" and the "use of energy sources with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in all sectors." The paragraph referring to increasing energy efficiency through education was amended to read "energy and other natural resources." The paragraph referring to the role of MFIs in promoting ESTs was amended to "develop and diffuse ESTs provided that such considerations do not constitute barriers" to accessing financial resources. The paragraph urging governments and the private sector to address EST research and technology transfer was amended to include: "improved GHG sequestration technologies;" "countries with economies in transition;" and environmentally sound and "cost-effective" technologies. The Group adjourned, and met in an informal-informal session to consider the remainder of the revised decision. Drafting Group I resumed consideration of the Programme of Action (POA) on SIDS. On overall considerations, delegates deleted a reference to the adverse impacts of declining ODA on sustainable development. On climate change and sea level rise, delegates deleted a paragraph on the second assessment report of the IPCC pending a decision on "Protection of the Atmosphere." On energy resources, delegates replaced "imported petroleum products" with "conventional sources of energy" and accepted a new paragraph on the role of the private sector. The Group also considered draft decisions on oceans (Chapter 17). Delegates adopted a decision on international cooperation and the Global Plan of Action from the Washington Conference. The Group accepted amended text on protection of the oceans, including new paragraphs on support for addressing POPs and radioactive contaminants. DRAFTING GROUP II By the end of the day, the Group had agreed to all texts. A contact group negotiated outstanding issues in the draft decision on changing production and consumption patterns (Chapter 4) and outstanding issues in the draft decisions on finance (Chapter 33) and trade, environment and sustainable development (Chapter 2). Delegates debated: a proposal to note that the 1997 review would provide an opportunity for a "more action oriented approach" to the programme of work. Also debated were the balance between the supply and demand approaches to changing unsustainable consumption and production and emphasizing the need to change consumption patterns and unsustainable lifestyles in industrialized countries. In the draft decision on finance, delegates debated: a reference to sustained economic growth and sustainable development in the context of external debt and debt servicing; a reference to the "rights" of indigenous holders and developers of technology in the context of the matrix approach; and replenishment of the GEF. The Chair of the contact group, Geir Sjoberg (Norway), presented compromise texts to an afternoon meeting of Drafting Group II. In a paragraph on external debt and debt servicing in the finance draft, the Commission recognizes that solutions can contribute to the efforts of developing countries aimed at achieving economic and social development and environmental protection, and that these are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development. In a paragraph on the matrix approach, the Commission recommends that coverage include benefits to traditional holders of indigenous knowledge. A paragraph on innovative mechanisms includes "adequate replenishment" of the GEF. On the decision on consumption and production, the EU said parts of the document are not perfectly tuned with other decisions taken at the CSD. MEXICO said the decision on trade and sustainable development does not prejudge related discussions at the WTO. THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT: The High-Level Segment will continue in the Trusteeship Council Chamber from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm and 3:00 - 4:00 pm. PANEL: A Panel on the 1997 Special Session will meet in the Trusteeship Council Chamber from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. DRAFTING GROUP I: The Drafting Group is expected to discuss the second revision of the decision on atmosphere at 10:00 am in Conference Room 2. =========================================================== This issue of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (c) is written and edited by Chad Carpenter, LL.M. , Peter Doran , Daniel Putterman, Ph.D. and Lynn Wagner .The Managing Editor is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI . The sustaining donors of the Bulletin are the International Institute for Sustainable Development , the Dutch Ministry for Development Cooperation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. General support for the Bulletin for 1996 is provided by the Overseas Development Agency (ODA) of the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Swedish Ministry of Environment, the Swiss Federal Office of the Environment, the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Environment of Iceland, the European Commission (DG-XI) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. French version by Mongi Gadhoum with funding from ACCT. The authors can be contacted at their electronic mail addresses or at tel: +1-212-644-0204; fax: +1-212-644-0206. IISD can be contacted at 161 Portage Avenue East, 6th Floor, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0Y4, Canada; tel: +1-204-958-7700; fax: +1-204-958-7710. The opinions expressed in Earth Negotiations Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and other funders. 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