ENB:05:08
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INFORMAL NEGOTIATING GROUP II
After introducing the Chair's draft decision on technology transfer, cooperation and capacity building, Vice-Chair Arthur Campeau asked for general comments and delayed a paragraph-by-paragraph review until after the G-77 discussed the draft. Hungary said the draft does not address responsibilities of national governments and proposed text on this issue. Campeau responded that paragraphs 3, 4 and 10 address elements of national responsibilities. Japan appealed to the G-77 not to draft its own text on this issue. Japan also made a number of specific comments on the text, including that the CSD should avoid duplication of efforts of other UN bodies. He also mentioned that he did not understand the reference to market and non-market barriers, as intellectual property rights promotes rather than hinders technology transfer.
Korea said the draft missed three points made in Plenary: public owned technology, incentives and intersessional activities. Australia proposed an additional paragraph on the importance of technology transfer on a commercial basis and the need for a supportive legal environment in developing countries. Sweden warned against unnecessary bureaucratization, meetings and reports at the international level and said that the text should reference technology transfer and cooperation between developing countries. The Russian Federation said that countries undergoing transition to market economies should be mentioned. Sri Lanka noted the importance of collaborative research. Denmark, on behalf of the EC, made a number of specific proposals to the text, including: support for UNDP and UNEP's initiatives on capacity building; development of a favorable environment for investment in developing countries; and avoiding proliferation of reports.
The US suggested that paragraph 2 include other objectives found in Agenda 21, supported Denmark's amendments to paragraphs 3 and 4, and agreed with Japan's cautionary note in paragraph 5 on mechanisms. The US proposed a new paragraph that would welcome the initiation of activities to facilitate implementation of Agenda 21, including consultations focussed on issues to be discussed by the CSD, and encourage governments and NGOs to provide information to the CSD through the Secretariat. Saudi Arabia proposed mentioning the WMO's initiatives in paragraph 7. Norway suggested that the document reference private incentives to transfer technology and that existing international organizations, together with the Secretariat, be used in the consultations and preparation for each session. They proposed that paragraph 10 be amended so that information provided by governments relates to the clusters. Austria said that in paragraph 5 the CSD is assigning itself the task of promoting environmentally-sound technologies when governments should be doing it.