 |
|
|
| |
|
 The
Commission on Sustainable Development's Intersessional Ad Hoc
Working Group on information for decision making and participation
and on international cooperation for an enabling environment met
at UN Headquarters in New York from 12-16 March 2001. The session
was held in accordance with resolution 1997/63 of the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) establishing ad hoc working groups to assist
the Commission with preparations for CSD sessions, and decision
8/8 of the Commission at its eighth meeting and a subsequent Bureau
recommendation to hold an intersessional meeting on information
for decision making and participation and on international cooperation
for an enabling environment in preparation for the ninth session
of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD-9).
PHOTO: The conference room officers hand out
the revised Co-Chairs documents in the afternoon
The session's deliberations were based on the Secretary-General's
reports on information for decision making and participation and
on international cooperation for an enabling environment, and resulted
in two documents for each theme, which outline the summary of discussions
and possible elements for draft decisions for action-oriented decisions
at CSD-9. The outputs are also intended to highlight political issues
that require ministerial input at CSD-9, which is to take place
from 16-27 April 2001 in New York. In order to make progress on
controversial aspects relating to indicators in the elements for
a draft decision on information for decision making and participation,
most of Wednesday afternoon, as well as Thursday and Friday were
dedicated to informal consultations. In Friday's Plenary, which
was scheduled to conclude discussion on the revised draft decisions
on both issues, the Co-Chairs announced their intention not to have
a second reading, but to forward the documents, as revised, for
consideration at CSD-9. Several delegations opposed inclusion of
text on indicators in the elements for a draft decision on information
for decision making and participation, as a basis for negotiations
at CSD-9.
 In
their assessment of the session, many participants acknowledged
the usefulness of the outputs as a starting point for CSD-9 negotiations.
However, it is expected that many will revert back to positions
held at the start of the session, while others may adopt a "package
deal" negotiating strategy. There is also expectation that CSD-9
will be the most difficult session in the history of the CSD, not
only due to the lack of consensus on several issues, but also the
looming Earth Summit 2002.
|
|
Iran
and France peruse the revised Co-Chairs documents
|
 |
Iran,
for the G-77/China, said
the CSD was going beyond the scope of its mandate from ECOSOC with
regards to the new section on Indicators of Sustainable Development
and said this section could not be used as a basis for negotiation.
Responding, Co-Chair
Drayton recalled discussions between major groups.
Iran,
for the G-77/China, reiterated
that the text cannot be used as a basis for negotiation
|
Saudi
Arabia said the section of indicators would have to be
negotiated from scratch at CSD-9
|
 |
|
|
Sweden,
for the EU, said
that the documents need to be studied and said that all elements
in the text have the same status
The EU huddle
after the closure of the session to discuss the future!
|
ENB writer
Violette Lacloche with the Sudan
The
Sudan asked that the report of the meeting reflect the
comments made, by Iran, Saudi Arabia and the EU
|
|
|
Iran
and India discuss the text
|
 |
|
|
Nigeria
and China speaking after the meeting adjourns
|
|
Co-Chairs
Jarbussynova
and Drayton with JoAnne DiSano, Division for Sustainable Development
and the Secretariat
|
| Gender Perspectives for Earth
Summit 2000-Energy, Transport, Information for Decision-Making |
 This
panel discussion was organized by the German Federal Ministry
for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU),
the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Germany, and UNED Forum, London.
The side event was a follow-up tot an international expert conference
on "Gender Perspectives for Earth Summit 2001-Energy, Transport,
Information for Decision-Making held in Berlin, Germany, 10-12
January 2001. In a multistakeholder forum of representatives from
NGOs and women's organizations, academia and policy-making bodies,
background papers on the three issues of energy, transport, information
for decision-making and participation (including indicators for
sustainable development) were presented and discussed. Discussions
at the conference also addressed women's priorities and possible
preparatory strategies for Earth Summit 2002 and the important
question of how we can develop a common vision of sustainable
development, gender mainstreaming and gender justice. Presentations
and discussions at this side event focused on background information
and concrete policy recommendations with regard to gender aspects
of energy, transport and information for decision-making. The
report of the Berlin conference is available at www.earthsummit2002.org/workshop
Photo:
Minu Hemmati, UNED Forum/CSD Women's Caucus (minush@aol.com),
Yakin Ertuerk, Director, UN Division for the Advancement of Women
(DAW), Stephan Cortius, German Environment Ministry, Hesphina
Rukato, Minerals and Energy Policy Centre, Johannesburg, South
Africa/ENERGIA Group, and Deike Peter, Technical University of
Berlin, Germany, CSD Transport Caucus
|
|
Minu
Hemmati, UNED Forum/CSD Women's Caucus, and Yakin Ertuerk, DAW,
and Zehra Aydin, UN Division for Sustainable Development; Minu
Hemmati (left) discussed the work of the CSD intersessionals
on information for decision-making and said too much discussion
has been focused on indicators. With respect to the involvement
of stakeholders in the CSD, she lamented that not once have women
been invited to be part of the multistakeholder dialogue process.
Yakin Ertuerk (center) discussed the current programme of
work of the Commission on the Status of Women and highlighted the
interdependence of policy dialogue and taking action.
|
|
RELATED
LINKS
Past
IISD Coverage:
|
|
