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United Nations Forum on Forests
First Substantive Meeting
UN Headquarters, New York, USA 11-22 June 2001
 

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Update for Friday, 22 and Saturday, 23 June



As of 12:20 pm Saturday, 23 June




Chair Rahmtalla thanked the delegates, the Secretariat, and ENB for the successful conclusion of UNFF1. UNFF Coordinator, Jag Maini thanked the Chairs, the delegates and his staff for the support given to him through the years. Mr. Maini indicated to the plenary that this will be his last meeting as UNFF coordinator and wished everybody a safe journey. The plenary heard closing statements from G77/China, Sweden on behalf of the EU and the US. The Chair briefly opened the first plenary session of UNFF2 to name the members of the Bureau, at 12:20pm, the Chair then suspended the session to its scheduled meeting in 2002.  Photos Clockwise: Jan McAlpine (US) and Jag Maini, The dias of the closing plenary, and Jag Maini and Knut Øistad (Norway)


UNFF-1 SUMMARY

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FNUF-1 SOMMAIRE


BNT quotidiens états

 


11:30am: The Chair reconvened plenary and propose an alternative to the text. Brazil in the spirit of cooperation accepts the Chair's proposed text and in the view that no further changes will be made to the text as agreed in the negotiation.



11:00am:
Chair Rahmtalla officially convened the Plenary at about 10:45am. Delegates reviewed the MYPOW decision, and flags were raised by the US and G77/China with regards to the wording of the decision. The Chairman immediately called for a suspension of the plenary for further consultation. 


Friday, 22 June  2001

PLENARY
On the final day of UNFF-1, delegates met in parallel working groups throughout the day and late into the evening trying to reach agreement on the draft decisions on the plan of action (PoA), the multi-year programme of work (MYPOW) and the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. At midnight, the closing Plenary had yet to meet, and Working Group 2, on the PoA and the CPF, and a contact group working on the MYPOW continued to meet. 
Left photo: Delegates from the EU huddle over proposed text on PoA  
3:30pm: UNFF Chairman (Mubarak Hussein Rahmtalla) convened a short plenary and announced the agenda for the day. He adjourned the plenary after hearing a budgetary briefing from Warren Sach (Below) of the Office of Programme Planning and Budget Accounts.

WORKING GROUPS:
8:30pm: Delegates continue to work in parallel working groups until 8:00pm. WG1 on the MYPOW and WG2 on PoA started to break into contact groups (below) trying to reach agreement on the draft decisions on the plan of action (PoA), the multi-year programme of work (MYPOW) and the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.

CONTACT GROUPS:


 

Saturday, 23 June  2001




12:00am:
The closing Plenary had yet to meet, and contact groups on the PoA and the CPF, and  the MYPOW continued to meet. 
 


2:00am:
Members of the G77/China huddle to consider whether they could accept a compromise on text in the PoA relating low forest covewr countries.
3:30am: The waiting game: 
Above photos: Delegates dreaming of a bracket free text.
Delegates awaiting an update on whether there  will be compromise text on the PoA.



4:30am:
The UNFF Secretariat released the interpreters while negotiations continued its slow course with a projected 9:00am plenary. Right photo: UNFF Coordinator is consulted by Knut Øistad, Chairman of the Working group on MYPOW 



7:30am
:Ambassador Bagher Asadi (Far left) is called in to try to find common ground between members of the G77/China.
8:00am: Working group on PoA and CPF have agreed on a text while the MYPOW is still negotiating behind closed doors. The Closing Plenary is now set to convene at 8:45am


9:30am:
As informed by Chairman Rahmatalla, delegates have reached a compromise and would report to the Plenary within the next ten minutes.  

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Forest related links:

UN Economic and Social Affairs UNFF 2001 Page
UN Economic and Social Affairs Forests Page
Official Report on the Fourth Session of the IFF
Linkages Forests Page
ENB Report on the Workshop on Financing Sustainable Forest Management
ENB Report on the Fourth Session of the IFF
Center for International Forestry Research

 

© 2001, Earth Negotiations Bulletin. All rights reserved.