ENB:05:27
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THINGS TO LOOK FOR BEFORE CSD-3
PROGRAMME TO PROTECT MARINE AREAS FROM LAND-BASED ACTIVITIES: Government-designated experts will meet in Reykjavik, Iceland, beginning Monday, 6 March 1995, to review and revise the draft Global Programme of Action to Protect the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities at a one-week session organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The meeting's goal is to define concrete activities for the programme at the global, regional and national levels that will be reflected in the final document to be presented for adoption at an Intergovernmental Meeting in Washington, DC, in November 1995. This final preparatory meeting for the Global Programme of Action, hosted by the Government of Iceland, is part of a comprehensive, sequential and coordinated approach to alleviate environmental and health problems related to pollution of the marine environment caused by land-based activities, as proposed in Agenda 21 and approved by the 17th session of UNEP's Governing Council in 1993.
For more information, contact: Ministry for the Environment, International Affairs Division, Vonarstraeti 4, 150 Reykjavik, Iceland; tel: +354-1-609-600; fax: +354-1-624-566.
FAO COMMITTEE ON FORESTS: The FAO Committee on Forests (COFO) will meet in Rome from 13-16 March 1995. Its agenda includes: major issues for CSD attention related to sustainable management and development of forests; regional perspectives on implementation of UNCED agreements for the attention of the CSD; a summary of post-UNCED initiatives in forestry; efforts towards harmonization of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management; and a review of advantages and disadvantages related to initiating the evolution of the Forest Principles into a legally-binding international instrument or convention on forests.
COFO will be preceded by a meeting with NGOs on 8-9 March and a meeting with the private sector on 10 March. Ministers responsible for forestry will meet on 17-18 March, in a high-level segment to search for agreement on major issues to be considered by the CSD. For more information, contact Richard Lydiker, Director of FAO's Information Division, at +39-6-5225-3510.
FAO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE: The FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) will meet from 27-31 March 1995 in Rome. The FAO representatives will report on the CSD ad hoc open-ended intersessional meeting on sectoral issues and the Committee is also expected to discuss UNCED follow-up and the issue of animal genetic resources. For more information, contact Richard Lydiker, Director of FAO's Information Division, at +39-6-5225-3510.
THIRD SESSION OF THE CSD: The third session of the CSD will meet from 11-28 April 1995, at UN Headquarters in New York. Focus will be on the following cross-sectoral components of Agenda 21: Chapters 3 (poverty); 5 (demographics); 8 (integrating environment and development in decision-making);16 (biotechnology); 22-32 (major groups); and 40 (information). Financial resources and mechanisms (Chapter 33) and the chapters on transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity building (34), science (35) and education (36) will also be discussed. The sectoral cluster for this session includes: Chapters 10 (land management); 11 (forests); 12 (desertification and drought); 13 (mountains); 14 (sustainable agriculture); 15 (biological diversity); and the Forest Principles.
At its meeting on 30 January 1995, the CSD Bureau agreed on a draft programme of work for the session. During the first two days, the reports of the two ad hoc intersessional working groups will be presented by the Chairs, followed by a panel discussion where people will react to the reports. The CSD will then move into the discussion of the other cross-sectoral issues on the agenda. There will also be a segment on local authorities, which is scheduled for 18 April. In the second week, there will be a new element — an exchange of experiences at the national level. A day will be devoted to sustainable development strategies and five countries will present national experiences, followed by a discussion. The second day will focus on agriculture and land management and five countries will present their national experiences. The Commission will then draft the decisions that the CSD will adopt. On Wednesday, 26 April, the High-Level Segment will begin. During this Segment there will be a panel on mass media and sustainable development and a panel on employment and sustainable development. On Friday 28 April, the report of the meeting will be adopted. For more information, contact the CSD Secretariat at +1-212-963-5949; fax: +1-212-963-4260; e-mail: dpcsd@igc.apc.org.