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The World Summit on Sustainable Development Fourth Preparatory Committee (WSSD PrepCom-IV)
Delegates
met all day in parallel working groups and contact groups. Working Groups
I and II met all day and into the evening to continue negotiation of
the Revised Chairman's Paper. Working Group III met in morning and
evening sessions
and concluded a first reading of the Vice-Chair's paper on an institutional
framework for sustainable development. The contact groups on oceans,
energy, Africa, good governance and finance also met. |
| Working Group I: | |
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The Mexican delegation On forests, delegates accepted a Mexican proposal recognizing and supporting indigenous and community based forest management systems to ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in sustainable forest management. |
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The delegate from Spain with Delmar Blasco, Secretary-General of the Ramsar Convention On
forests, the EU proposed a paragraph on strengthening international
cooperation to support sustainable forest management to fight illegal
logging and trade in timber to address violations of forest-related
law and forest crime, but the G-77/China and others opposed. |
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Jan McAlpine, US, with Maria Rita Fontes and Maria Luiza Escorel, Brazil (left and below) |
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Norway proposed text to ensure effective synergies between the CBD and other MEAs. |
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Kuwait and Egypt
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Delegates receive the revised Chairman's paper on Chapters I-IV
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| The EU and the US (above left) and Canada (above right) and Kenya (below) reviewing the new document. | 
On biodiversity, Canada supports the US formulation on the sustainable use of timber resources. |
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Listen to Chair Akasaka inform delegates of the consultations' state of play Working Group II Co-Chairs Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Brazil, and Kiyotaka Akasaka, Japan, and Lowell Flanders, Secretariat |
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Working Group II: |
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The EU consulting on text on means of implementation in Working Group II The EU and the US opposed text on establishing a mechanism by 2004 on transfer of environmentally sound technologies (ESTs). After protracted discussions on text regarding indigenous knowledge, delegates agreed on reference to increasing the use of scientific knowledge and technology, and increasing the beneficial use of local and indigenous knowledge in a manner respectful of the holders of that knowledge and consistent with national law. The EU introduced a paragraph from the globalization section on applying the precautionary principle in decision making, while avoiding recourse to it for protectionist purposes. |
| Working Group III: Governance | |
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Al
Binger, Jamaica, and Bikeni Paeniu, Tuvalu
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On participation of major groups, the US opposed language on developing global multilateral guidelines on promoting and ensuring public access to information. |
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Hossein
Moeni, Iran, for the G-77/China, opposed a US proposal recognizing
that good governance at the national level is essential for sustainable
development and that all states should strengthen their government
institutions, including by promoting the rule of law, improving legal
structures and enforcing existing laws that support sustainable development.
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On strengthening institutional frameworks at the national level, Tanzania (left) with Japan, Australia, Canada, Switzerland and the EU, suggested inclusion of a reference to the local (or sub-national) level, while the G-77/China opposed it. |
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Tuvalu
supported the EU's request for language on inviting the Chief
Executives Board to develop a collaborative action-oriented network
to facilitate interagency exchange of information to foster coordination
and mainstreaming of sustainable development
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Norway
said increasing involvement of civil society at all levels is one of
the major events taking place since Rio and must be reflected in the
text. He proposed a role for major groups in policy development, implementation
and monitoring of sustainable development programmes, and safeguarding
the interests of vulnerable groups. With Canada, he suggested strengthening
the gender focus.
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The
EU proposed a new paragraph acknowledging the importance of
the interrelationship between human rights promotion and environmental
protection for sustainable development and inviting further consideration
of these issues in the relevant fora including by continuing cooperation
between UNEP and UNHCR. Australia and the US opposed this proposal
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Andrey Vavilov, ENB writer, speaks with Adnan Amin and Werner Obermeyer, UNEP |
| Contact Group: Oceans | |
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Delegates during the contact group on oceans |
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Malaysia, speaking for the G-77/China (center), during the contact group on oceans |
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| Contact Group: Africa | |
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Richard Ballhorn chaired the contact group on Africa The group met in the morning and afternoon and completed the second reading of the remaining sections of the facilitator's text for the contact group on Africa, circulated 27 May. |
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South
Africa (center) intervening during the contact group's discussions
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Two new proposals were not agreed as some considered them to be prescriptive - on promoting programmes and policies to enable women to become actors in the agricultural sector, including the right to inherit land; and on prioritizing the needs of the poor by providing stable and transparent regulatory frameworks involving all concerned stake-holders and monitoring the performance and improving the accountability of public institutions and private companies.
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| Contact Group: Energy | |
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Contact Group Chair Gustavo Anchil, Argentina, with Khalid Abuleif, Saudi Arabia |
| Miscellaneous Photos: | |
| Scenes from the conference corridors | |
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Delegates consult in the corridors |
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Reflecting in the corridors |
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Hama Arba Diallo, UNCCD Executive Secretary (left), in the corridors |
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Kilaparti Ramakrishna, Woods Hole Research Center, working in the corridors |
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