Delegates to GCSS-8/GMEF concluded their work, adopting four decisions on: small islands developing States; waste management; regional annexes; and implementation of decision SS.VII/1 on international environmental governance.

In the closing Plenary, FAO emphasized the importance of addressing agricultural issues in relation to sustainable development and called for partnerships and synergies between the actions and programmes of UN agencies, government and civil society.

Mauritius for AOSIS highlighted the importance of the BPOA as the blueprint for the sustainable development of SIDS.
Highlighting the importance of the Rio principle of common but differentiated responsibility, he voiced concern that the UN Secretary-General report on SIDS does not adequately address the principle in relation to the special case of SIDS. Reporting on the side event on SIDS, he presented the recommendation of the event, including that UNEP inter alia, creates a dedicated SIDS unit and supports regional tailored programmes. He invited the UN Member State to be represented at the highest level at the International Meeting in Mauritius.

France presented its proposal on a specialized UN agency on the environment and its supplemental efforts to address international environmental governance.

Nigeria for the African Group called for the strengthening of the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON). With the G-77/China he said that the ministerial consultations failed to address the environmental dimensions of human settlements and called for UNEP's future contributions to the CSD to be consistent with the themes of the CSD multi-year programme of work.

The G-77/China emphasized the need to strengthen the UNON and said the trend of locating parts of UNEP outside of Nairobi needs to be reconsidered and called for a reassessment of this issue. The EU, GRULAC and Romania for the Eastern European countries welcomed the Jeju Initiative as an important contribution to CSD-12.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy of the Republic of Korea, Hun-Jai Lee said the Jeju Initiative was a milestone in the global communities' collective resolve to take forward the environmental dimension of the Millennium Declaration and the WSSD.

The GC President welcomed the outcomes of the meeting as an important contribution to achieving the IWRM targets. He officially closed GCSS-8/GMEF at 5:57 pm.