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Summary of WSSD Briefing, 14 August
Wednesday, 14 August 2002 by Richard Jordon,
CSD/NGO Steering Committee
A briefing on preparations for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development was given today by H.E. Mr. Dumisani
Shadrack Kumalo, Permanent Representative of South Africa, Mr. Nitin
Desai, Secretary General of the Summit, Mr. Adnan Amin, Director of the UN
Office of the United Nations Environment Programme and Mr. Alvaro Umana,
Leader of UNDP's Environmentally Sustainable Development Group.
Ambassador Dumisano stated that the
purpose of the briefing was to share information on preparations for the
Summit. The draft programme for the Summit has been on the official web
site since 2 August.
The opening session of the Plenary will
be held on 26 August and will deal with organizational matters such as the
election of the President, the Vice Presidents, the Appointment of one
Vice President as Rapporteur General of the Summit, and the establishment
of the various committees. The Vienna-style negotiation process will begin
Saturday the 24th at 10 AM in Johannesburg at the Sandton Convention
Center. There will be at least two contact groups established.
Ambassador Dumisano said that on advice
from the G77 and the EU the number of contact groups would be kept low so
that delegates could maintain focus. One contact group would deal with the
means of implementation -- finance, globalization and trade. The other
would deal with governance issues. The meeting may decide to increase the
number and the Ambassador stated that the process was in the hands of
delegates.
Following the conclusion of the opening
session, the remaining half of the morning plenary and the next six
sessions from 26-29 August would deliberate three broad areas of
sustainable development: first, the five important sectors of WEHAB: water
and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity and ecosystem
management as identified by the Secretary-General. The sequence is
indicated in the draft programme. Second, finance, trade, transfer of
technology, capacity building, information for decision making, education,
science, and consumption and production patterns would be the next
sequence. The third would focus on regional cooperation for achieving
sustainable development.
The format would ensure interaction,
inclusiveness, and would be wide-ranging. There would be a 15 minute
presentation of each of the issues by an expert, followed by 75 minutes of
discussion among up to 20 representatives of relevant UN entities, major
groups and experts, moderated by a facilitator. The remaining 90 minutes
would be an open discussion in plenary among governments and
representatives of major groups participating. The results would be
prepared and distributed. These sessions would be chaired by the President
of the Summit or by a Vice President.
The second part of the Plenary for the
afternoon of 29 August through the afternoon of 30 August would be devoted
to statements by non-State entities in the Plenary Hall. From 2-4
September, there would be general debate among States. Statements will be
limited to five minutes each. There will be four Roundtables from 2-4
September, all with the same theme, "Making It Happen". Each Roundtable
will be comprised of seventy seats, up to fifty for Government delegations
and twenty for other participants, including the specialized agencies of
the UN and related organizations and major groups. The distribution is
found in the draft programme. There will be a chairperson for each
Roundtable, opening remarks, and participants will have four minutes each
for interventions. It is hoped that no prepared statements will be made so
that interaction will be maximized.
Ambassador Dumisano outlined the
programme for negotiations. There will be pre-sessionals on 24-25 August
held according to the Vienna format. This will be a continuation of the
Bali arrangements led by Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa. Contact
groups may be established. The issues that might be dealt with in these
negotiations could include: what is the best format of the draft
Programme of Action; the date of the conclusion of negotiations on this
item; at what stage to move to the political level; how to properly
sequence events; and the appropriate time at which the President of the
Summit will submit the draft political declaration.
A wide range of other activities are
planned by major groups such as youth, trade unions, science, local
governments and business.
Under-Secretary-General Nitin Desai said
that he would only stress a few points. He stressed the partnership
plenaries of the first three days. The Plenary hall is long and narrow,
unlike the GA Hall in New York. Instead of a panel, the idea is to involve
the nine major groups, key UN agencies in a sector and a few other
experts, with a strongly moderated conversation.
It is hoped that in each of the five
sectors the discussion can flesh out earlier agreements in conferences or
in agreed text of the implementation plan, related agreements from other
global conferences, and what the UN system organizations are doing in this
area. It is hoped that these sessions will provide information and some
structure to follow-up decisions.
Mr. Desai said that there are questions
on the nature of the partnership announcements. It is impossible to use
the plenaries for this purpose. The purpose of the Plenaries is to focus
on the framework for action. On Thursday and Friday, provision is made for
the partners to get together. There could be opportunity to provide media
sessions or briefings of 30 minutes' duration. There will be many parallel
and side events.
Ambassador Kumisano stressed that the
government of South Africa preferred to start the negotiations on the 26th
at the Ministerial level; however, many Ministers will arrive later,
perhaps only by Wednesday, 28 August.
The floor was opened for questions. A
delegate from Norway asked if there was a broad understanding of how type
two initiatives linked to type one, how there would be value-added in
relation to previous UN conferences, and on issues not finalized in Bali.
Ambassador Kumisano stated that this briefing was to provide more
information on logistical matters that substantive issues. Mr. Desai
responded that there would be a focus on the negotiating process for the
implementation plan. The partnership plenaries the first four or five days
are structured around an overall framework for action, not individual
partnerships. There should be a good engagement of governments and
representatives of major groups. He also said the process of negotiations
is in the hands of delegates. He sensed a great desire among everyone to
find common ground. The GA Resolution spoke about concretely financed
deliverables and Agenda 21 is at the center of teh Summit. We want to see
implementation of some goals dating back to Agenda 21. This is a Summit
about implementation.
A delegate from Costa Rica inquired about
what regions would preside over the Roundtables at the Summit. Secondly,
would there be other events in which Heads of State and First Ladies would
be invited to participate. Ambassador Kumalo said that the President of
the Summit was looking at recommendations on people to invite to Chair the
Roundtables, since the Resolution in Bali was quite clear about this. Mr.
Desai said that this is a difficult question. A large number of Heads of
State have not yet inscribed in the Roundtables since they would like to
know who will chair the sessions. There will also be many bilaterals held,
and not all Heads of State are available at all times for the Roundtables.
Mr. Desai invited suggestions of any type on this matter. Should the
Chairpersons be fixed and then Heads of State inscribe? Ambassador Kumalo
said that President Mbeki was consulting on this matter. Ambassador Kumalo
also stated that the list of social events would be ready before he left
for Johannesburg this Friday, 16 August. There are certain events that
First Ladies are planning, two of which deal with water and HIV/AIDS.
Ambassador Kumalo stated that the average
size of delegations is 50 members. Mr. Desai stressed the need for
guaranteed access to persons with yellow badges and above, which would be
Ministers and heads of delegations and Heads of State. A delegate from
Canada said that her delegation would have many experts coming for the
negotiations, and guaranteed access is important. Mr. Desai said that
there could be twenty guaranteed entry passes per delegation, since the
Johannesburg Fire Department has said it will simply close the doors once
capacity is reached. This limit of twenty will be enforced on an "if
needed basis" only when there is overcrowding, and by the time of the
Summit segment, delegates will have finished their work, so that the
overcrowding issue should not then be a problem. Inside the Convention
Center, for the opening session, usual GA restrictions would be in place
and for the Roundtables, only the Head of State and one other assistant
would be allowed to sit at the Roundtable.
A delegate stated that there was a danger
in waiting too long to determine the Chairpersons of the Roundtables. He
also asked if there would be any additional meetings of the Friends of the
Chair. Ambassador Kumalo assured everyone that he would call Pretoria
again on the matter of the Chairpersons of the Roundtables and would
announce any results asa soon as possible. There are no other meetings of
the Friends of the Chair scheduled. The purpose of that meeting was to
gauge where delegations were after Bali. Once the Summit starts, it is
hard to see how to have such a meeting.
A delegate from Denmark asked if there
would be one large negotiating table in the Vienna process and when there
would be more information available concerning the format of the
negotiations from 26 August-1 September.
Ambassador Kumalo said that he
understands that the negotiations of 24-25 August are open-ended, and that
only one person would speak for each group. Again, there was a request for
a low number of contact groups. On Monday morning the 26th of August, the
Main Committee can create more or just shut all of the contact groups
down. These will be open-ended also. The Vienna process may continue to
Tuesday. Ambassador Kumalo recalled that in Bali The Netherlands had
chaired the group on governance and that Ambassador John Ashe of Antigua &
Barbuda had chaired the group on means of implementation.
Ambassador Kumalo also stated that the
regional meetings will be held on 23 August.
A representative from CARE International
inquired about access issues for civil society actors. Mr. Desai said that
11,000 representatives had already been accredited and that Sandton's
capacity overall was 6,000. There probably would be a daily pass system,
since each day, 500 new accreditations are being issued. There is a
standard system used by the coordinating entities. Bali also had
restrictions.
A delegate from The Netherlands asked
about the issuance of the political declaration and the sequencing. He
asked when delegations could expect more information. Ambassador Kumalo
said that the assumption had been that the Plan of Implementation would
have been finalized and the political declaration be based on it. Now, it
is anticipated that the draft will be released on Tuesday the 27th.
A delegate from Tuvalu was concerned that
delegates at a meeting in the Pacific might not have time to obtain visas
for South Africa. Many small delegations do not have representation in
South Africa. Ambassador Kumalo replied that this would not have to be a
concern.
Ambassador Kumalo now turned to Adnan
Amin, the Director of the United Nations Office of UNEP. Mr. Amin said
that preparations for Johannesburg had already taken place in the meeting
of the UNEP Governing Council in Cartagena, Colombia. GEO 3 had recently
been released and a number of regional GEOs were being launched, including
an African, a Latin American and a North American GEO. Other issues such
as the South Asian brown cloud were important, showing that regional
issues can have global implications. Designing responses was important. A
Global Biodiversity Atlas through the Monitoring Center in Cambridge is
being released, and a Polar GEO will also be released. This latter GEO is
important since polar changes are indicators of global change. This week,
UNEP was represented at the Stockholm Water Symposium. UNEP is supporting
WEHAB and helping to coordinate biodiversity. UNEP is convening a global
meeting of Chief Judges from 18-20 August. Ninety acceptances have been
received, sixty from Chief Judges. They will discuss the rule of law in
sustainable development, since an emerging preoccupation is the
relationship of national agreements and national legal structures in
achieving sustainable development objectives. With HABITAT, UNEP will hold
a meeting on Water for African Cities, an important initiative concerning
water management. There will be other events held with UNICEF and with WHO
on an initiative of Dr. Brundtland's on health and sustainable
development. There will also be a full day meeting on 30 August on energy.
There will also be a roundtable devoted to culture and biodiversity.
Ambassador Kumalo introduced Mr. Alvaro
Umana, Leader of UNDP's Environmentally Sustainable Development Group. Mr.
Umana said that at the Summit there would be representatives from 130 UNDP
offices. The main contribution of UNDP at the conceptual level is
sustainable development in relation to the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).
UNDP will host a number of events and book launchings. "Community Action
and Global Impact" will occur on 29 August from 1:15 - 2:45 PM. There will
also be an event around the financing for development, featuring Brazil
and Mexico, ECLAC and the Administrator of UNDP.
There will be throughout the two weeks in
Ubuntu Village a Community Crawl, organized by the Equator Initiative. A
book launch on energy for sustainable development will occur on 28 August
from 6-8 PM, a session on the small grants programme on 26 August from
12-2 PM, and a meeting on indigenous peoples and the MDGs on 29 August.
There will be an event in Water Dome on
governance issues on Friday 30 August from 2-5:30 PM. A number of events
in hotels are also planned, such as the Equator Awards in the Crowne Plaza
on 30 August, a roundtable involving persons such as Claire Short, a
launch of an OECD, EU and World Bank paper on poverty reduction and
environmental management, Local Agenda 21s in the Crowne Plaza on 27
August from 11:30-5:30 PM, a book launch on energy, at the Sandton
Library, 31 August from 6-7 PM, and a roundtable on the MDGs on Sunday 1
September from 9-10:30 AM.
Ambassador Kumalo adjourned the meeting
and said that he wished everyone a good trip to Johannesburg.
Published by IISD ©. No reposting to
lists or republishing without permission.
Submitted by Richard Jordan, Northern
Co-Chair, CSD/NGO Steering Committee
Statement of Maurice
Strong, Chairman Earth Council Foundation to the
Committee on Senate
Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Foreign Relations
Thursday, 25 July 2002
Click
here for the full statement
Summary of the
WSSD Briefing, 24 July
Wednesday, 24 July 2002 by Richard Jordon,
CSD/NGO Steering Committee
Transcript by Richard T. Jordan, Northern
Co-Chair, CSD/NGO Steering Committee - NGO Representative to ECOSOC of
Intl. Council for Caring Communities.
H.E. Duminsano Shadrack Kumalo (South Africa) and Nitin Desai, Secretary-General of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, held a briefing on the state of preparations for the Summit
on 24 July in the Trusteeship Council. NGOs, delegates of Member States
and Observers, members of Specialized Agencies and Secretariat staff were
present. The briefing lasted from 12:00 to 13:15. The emphasis was on
information for Members States in terms of organizational matters for
Johannesburg. The abbreviations "SA" refer to Amb. Kumalo and "ND" refer
to Nitin Desai.
Informals begin 24-25 August: SA - Based
upon a letter that SA had just received from South Africa, SA said that on
August 24 and 25, informals will be held in Johannesburg in the form of
the Vienna-style process used at the Ministerial Meeting in Bali. The
purpose will be to try to reach resolution on outstanding issues in the
draft implementation plan transmitted from Bali to Johannesburg. Delegates
will try to deal with as many outstanding issues as possible. Informals at
the Sandton Center will start at 10 AM on both days. Informals will be
open to all Member States; there will be no press access nor access by
NGOs. The South African government also invites Indonesia, Brazil and
South Africa, who cochaired the Bali meeting, to continue the process in
South Africa. Regional preparatory consultations will be held on August
23rd.
On August 26, the conference opens. SA said
that there is a question as to when Ministers arrive, and stated that this
is considered a Ministerial process beginning on August 26 until September
2 when the High Level Segment for Heads of State and Government will
commence until September 4. The government of South Africa will send a
note to delegations about the opening ceremony to celebrate the opening at
6 PM on August 25 in the Ubuntu Village. SA said that South Africa has
been consulting with various governments since Bali through visits to
capitals. The President has spoken to a number of Heads of State and
Government. One of the mechanisms the South African government chose to
undertake was the invitation to 28 countries to the Friends of the Chair
meeting with the Secretary-General of the UN. Some met in NYC on 17 July
at UN Headquarters. The following five paragraphs deal with that meeting.
SA listened to an exchange of views at the meeting, this was not
negotiations. From SA's perspective: the 17th seemed to be in line with
the visits to capitals. One issue on the 17th: the Rio principles, the
principle of common but differentiated responsibility, the precautionary
approach (mentioned in several places in the document). The principles are
to be inserted into the plan of implementation. The Vienna process,
dealing with the negotiations, should deal with how to insert the
principles.
Targets and timeframes: there is general
agreement on the need for these and for evaluating and monitoring progress
toward sustainable development. The discussion also highlighted the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and links to povertry eradication.
Thee was broad support for this. There will be more discussion in
Johannesburg, since targets that are not explicit in the MDGs such as
sanitation really fall under the issue of water. Some thought at the
meeting that new targets should be easily integrated into the MDGs.
On the issue of finance, it was agreed that
the Monterrey Consensus was a good framework for mobilizing new resources
for the Johannesburg outcomes. There should be no reopening of the
Monterrey Consensus, but it should be built on and contribute to
expeditious implementation. It was also agreed that additional resources
are required to implement sustainable development. There was an emerging
consensus that the GEF needed further replenishment. The question is: by
how much? In Bali, nothing was agreed on the GEF. The issue of trade in
Bali was important. There is broad consensus that the WSSD should not
reopen or renegotiate Doha. There should be strong political support for
the Doha outcome.
Market access is important. There should be a
phase out of agricultural and environmental subsidies harmful to
sustainable development. The issue of partnerships is important to the
Summit, but there is a strong feeling that partnerships can only enhance
the plan of implementation. This is still pending.
SA now turned the briefing over to ND.
Organizational Issues: ND said he would
speak about organizational issues. The framework is in the decision at
Prep Com 4. Our thinking about the structural process goes beyond August
26. There are two points to remember. One, we are running a negotiating
process. Formal decisions about structure are to be taken in Johannesburg.
ND suggested a brainstorming session informally as the best way to
determine structure. ND said to be realistic, the Vienna process will not
settle everything, but will get us something.
Then there is the whole question on how to handle
the political declaration. The decision of the Prep Com mandated
Partnership Plenaries in the first three days for statements from UN
bodies, International Governmental Organizations and NGOs for Thursday and
Friday. ND said that the proposal we are working on revolves around five
sessions, Monday PM, Tuesday and Wednesday that would be structured around
"teams", which will be more interesting for everyone.
The first day, the lead off theme that had the
widest support was water, sanitation and health. ND said we also have
Water Dome. Water is a priority issue for every country. Agriculture would
be Tuesday AM, energy on Tuesday PM. Wednesday AM could be biodiversity
and ecosystems (oceans, forests), and in the PM, cross-cutting issues.
The focus will not be on negotiations, but looking
for basic structure for follow-up on partnerships. The cross-sectoral
issues could cover technology transfer, a few on finance, education and
information. These would be addressed in these plenaries.
A second consideration, ND said, would be creating
a way to manage the session. It would be unmanageable to have an entire
interactive plenary, given the huge size of the room, not only long, but
wide, and those in the back would not even be seen.
Each plenary would consist of two parts: a
presentation on the theme with a complete sectoral framework for action,
which would be part of the implementation, focusing on the UN system, what
it should do and not do. A panel would follow this with UN stakeholders,
some involved in setting up the major partnership actions, along with
other experts. Then this would open to the plenary.
ND stressed this would be lively and would offer a
full opportunity for everyone to participate. Q & A only would be too
hard. Additionally, ND said the world could focus on this type of
mechanism. ND said this would allow discussion of substantive
implementation issues in broad areas.
Major groups would be invited to participate in
the same way. There has been some discussion with major groups, ND said.
There should be adequate space for them to participate, since during the
last part of the conference, the Summit, only Heads of State or Government
would speak.
On Thursday morning, part of the morning would be
a similar exercise by the regional commissions and the regional
development banks and other regional organizations. There would be one
hour interaction on the regional dimension of implementation, followed by
the opening plenary, a short period of wrap up by the plenary chairperson
similar to the overall review that is usually done by the chairperson.
Thursday afternoon, the evening, Friday would be time for statements in
plenary by those not having an opportunity in the Summit. There is the All
States formula for September 2, 3 and 4, since there will have to be time
for 180 statements on September 2, 3 and 4, in five sessions at the
Summit.
Hopefully, negotiations will be finished long
before. There are no formal events on 31 August and 1 September. Other
things will be occurring. On Monday, Tuesday and the first part of
Wednesday, ND said there would be the sequence of country statements. ND
also said to delegates that "in your decision", there would be
representatives of the 9 major groups invited to participate in the
closing event endorsing the outcomes and expecting affirmation of
commitments. During the Summit, on Monday PM, Tuesday AM and PM, and
Wednesday AM, there would be four roundtables, each with the exact same
theme: "Make It Happen: Accountability and Responsibility." These
roundtables would be attended by Heads of State and Government. Member
States would decide each roundtable's Chairperson. It would be from a
region other than Africa. ND stressed that we try to learn from
experiences of other roundtables. There would only be seating for the Head
of State or Government and one assistant. Other heads of delegation could
come by themselves, but there would be no seats for them. There would be
20 participants of International Organizations and major groups, the only
one allowed in would be heads of organizations or CEOs, with no
substitutes. There is a need to maintain dignity and to avoid lots of
traffic in and out of the room. Monterrey had too much traffic and too
many empty seats. (Richard note: this last comment was mentioned later in
response to a question from the floor.)
Delegates will have to inscribe their country on
the list for roundtables. There will be dialogue in the roundtables among
the Heads of State or Government. Delegation heads who are not Head of
State or Government will participate at the discretion of the Chairperson.
It is not a right to so participate. The twenty outside will also be given
the floor.
There will be a large number of side events.
During the Summit week, nearly all events will involve Heads of State or
Government. Due to security requirements in Sandton, which is all on one
level, all events during the Summit will be limited to those with passes
authorizing them to be in the area. Sandton has no neat distinction as UN
Headquarters does between the first basement and the General Assembly
area. All space has been committed. No new side events can be scheduled.
There will be events such as Heads of State meetings (e.g., the South
Pacific Forum, AOSIS, etc.). It is a normal obligation for the Secretariat
to accommodate these meetings.
The Heads of State meetings may look at
megabiodiversity issues, education, Monterrey follow-up. Access to these
functions will be tightly controlled. There will be no press allowed in
them, and press will be let in only in accompanied groups, similar to the
General Assembly area.
There are many outside events, such as in Water
Dome, there will be a business forum and a science forum. There will be a
meeting of chief justices, of parliamentarians, of local authorities. The
Secretariat will put out information on these events.
ND made it clear that Ministers would be working
from the first day, August 26. The first plenaries would be high profile
for public consumption, since they will deal with detailed implementation
issues. Also, Ministers will play a significant role in the negotiations,
and ND urged regional groups to start work now. SA proposed that
facilitators appointed during Prep Com 4 in Bali continue in Johannesburg.
These facilitators, he said, dealt with a variety of issues in Bali.
The floor was now open for questions.
Desai said, in response to a concern of the
Ambassador from Venezuela, speaking on behalf of the G77 and China, that a
room for 125 persons had been reserved as the G77's room throughout the
two weeks. The Ambassador wanted reassurances that there would be such
space available throughout the meeting. He also preferred that no final
decision on working groups, contact groups and facilitators be made until
Johannesburg when an assessment could be made on the spot.
The delegate from Canada asked if an annotated
agenda in calendar format would be created, and when delegates could
expect an information note that is usually provided for conference
logistics. She also asked how speakers on Thursday and Friday would sign
up on the list, and she also said she was interested in plans regarding
the political declaration.
SA said concerning the political declaration, some
delegations and organizations had conveyed elements to be worked on. Some
like the EU had added elements in Bali, as did the G77. A draft was being
produced in South Africa. Every Mission would receive a note based on the
material in the letter he had read at the beginning of the briefing.
ND said concerning the annotated agenda and the
information note, drafts are being looked at now. Vivian Lewis would be
the person who arranges all requests for space in South Africa. There
would be a speakers' list for the IGOs and the NGOs. Delegations would
inscribe themselves on a list.
Denmark, speaking on behalf of the EU, said it had
been content with the results of the Friends of the Chair meeting. It was
a confidence building event. He supported the Vienna style negotiations in
the pre-meeting sessions. He emphasized the senior level of negotiations.
He had two questions: 1. concerning the structure
of negotiations, and brainstorming, since groups need to organize
themselves, how would this be done in Johannesburg and 2. concerning the
sustainable treaty event in New York during the two weeks of the meeting,
how does this fit into the work programme in Johannesburg and how will the
treaty-signing event be announced?
ND said that the lawyers were reluctant to carry
all the treaties to Johannesburg. There would be no "event" and
announcement would be made in a regular way. Concerning the structure of
the negotiating process: ND was not yet ready to speak about contact
groups, informals, and at what level they are run.
The Ambassador of Malawi asked if Pretoria will
send information to the capitals. SA said yes and that many countries are
represented in South Africa. Among AOSIS, only Jamaica has a Mission
there. Logistics people are trying to use Missions in New York to
disseminate information.
New Zealand asked about the Summit roundtables and
when Member States could inscribe themselves; when the consolidated list
of High Level events would be ready; and concerning the prenegotiation
meeting and the Vienna process, how will delegations work coherently,
since groups such as JUSCANZ have no coordination on policy, they share
information. When would more details on the role of the 25 Summit Vice
Presidents be made known, will there be a programme for them?
SA said that concerning smaller groups, members of
those groups are usually present in larger groups, there is an established
format. ND said that the list for the Ministerial Segment will open
probably next week on Monday. The Vice Presidents will have functions
similar to those of the General Assembly. Their functions will be more
than those of the functional commissions. An unidentified speaker asked a
question concerning the Bureau, when it would meet and at what level so
that delegations would work out a schedule for their own representatives.
SA said the level of the Bureau would be at
Ministerial level. ND said the Bureau of the Main Conference is by
country. At the Summit, the person must be a Head of State or Government.
In the first week, it is always a Minister. The Bureau would only be
elected on the morning of the 26th of August, so the initial meeting of
the Bureau would be after that. Then on an as-needed basis.
The Ambassador of Brazil asked two questions: 1.
concerning consultations on the 24th and 25th, if issues are still open,
how will negotiations continue, and 2. concerning the organization of the
roundtables, is there a limit to the number of Member States
participating, since delegations would need to know how to organize
themselves.
SA replies to her that the negotiations of the
24th and 25th are in delegates' hands, that they will go as far as they
can. ND said that there is provision for 50 Member States in each
roundtable. Four roundtables in an All-States format would give 200
places, more than enough, and each session is the same, unlike Monterrey.
Also, some Heads of State or Government will come for only one of the
days, so it is impossible to say now how the makeup will be. ND said that
if there is imbalance, the situation will be looked at.
SA then adjourned the briefing.
IUCN Helps Clarify Partnerships
Monday, 22 July 2002
IUCN convened a meeting in New York
on Friday, 19 July 2002, to help clarify outstanding issues relating to
proposals for WSSD partnerships (also known as "type II" outcomes). The
meeting was chaired by Bureau Vice-Chairs Diane Quarless (Jamaica) and Jan
Kara (Czech Republic), and attended by representatives of the Friends of
the Chair and other governments, plus key NGOs and private sector
entities. The event facilitated a dialogue and clarified key partnerships
issues, including:
- who will decide which partnerships
can be accepted;
- how the partnerships will be
launched in Johannesburg;
- whether the partnerships will be
financed with new and additional resources;
- how partnership implementation will
be monitored; and
- how to link partnerships to the
Type I outputs.
On the last point, the meeting
considered a matrix showing alternative ways to link Type I and Type II
outputs, delineating objectives, activities, timeframes, outputs, partners
and monitoring mechanisms. The matrix will be revised based on the meeting
feedback and re-circulated.
Click here for the full meeting report. The revised matrix linking
Type I and Type II outputs will also be available shortly on the
IUCN
WSSD website.
Guide for WSSD Participation
Monday, 22 July 2002
Click here for a
briefing
by the Danish
'92 Group
containing helpful notes on
logistics, what to expect and how to influence the
WSSD.
"Friends of the Chair" Meeting
Thursday, 18 July 2002, New York
Twenty-seven countries invited by President Mbeki
attended the Friends of the Chair meeting held on Wednesday 17 July in NY,
together with other countries that attended as observers. Click here for
news articles on the meeting:
ENS,
Reuters,
AP
ECO-Equity Coalition's
Annotations to the WSSD Draft Plan of Implementation
Monday, 15 July 2002
The ECO-Equity NGO coalition has prepared
Annotations and Comments on the Draft Plan of Implementation arising from
the Bali Prepcom. This document, which focuses on the text that remained
square bracketed in Bali is available at:
www.greenpeace.org/earthsummit/docs/textbali.pdf.
Civil Society Global Forum -
State of Readiness Statement
Thursday, 11 July
2002
The Civil Society Forum Secretariat has issued a
statement on the state of readiness of the Global Forum.
Click
here to find out more.
Informal "Friends of the Chair" Meeting
Wednesday,
10 July 2002
Desai announced
yesterday that an informal group of "friends of the Chair" will meet in New York next
Wednesday 17 July to work on the draft programme of action. 25 governmental representatives will come up with approaches to solve, but
not negotiate, the unresolved issues in the draft programme.
Click here
for more information.
More recent news on the meeting
(12 July).
Review of the Draft Plan of
Implementation
Summary of elements (sub-paragraphs) containing
brackets, prepared by the WSSD Secretariat
Monday, 1 July 2002
Download pdf version
I. Introduction (paragraphs: 1-5), agreed: 60%, Bracketed: 40%
II. Poverty (paragraphs: 6-12), agreed: 89%, bracketed: 11%
III. Consumption/Production (paragraphs: 13-22), agreed: 80%, bracketed:
20%
IV. Natural Resources (paragraphs: 23-44), agreed: 88%, bracketed: 12%
V. Globalization (paragraphs: 45), agreed: 7%, bracketed: 93%
VI. Health (paragraphs: 46-51), agreed: 97%, bracketed: 3%
VII. SIDS (paragraphs 52-55), agreed: 87%, bracketed:13%
VIII. Africa (paragraphs: 56-65), agreed: 80%, bracketed: 22%
VIII.bis Other regions (paragraphs: 66-74), agreed: 89%, bracketed: 11%
IX. Means of Implementation
Finance (paragraphs: 75-80), agreed: 11%, bracketed: 89%
Trade (paragraphs: 81-88), agreed: 15%, bracketed: 85% Technology Transfer
(paragraphs: 89-90), agreed: 75%,bracketed: 25% Science (paragraphs:
91-98), agreed: 72%, bracketed: 28% Education (paragraphs: 99-107),
agreed: 83%, bracketed: 17% Capacity Building (paragraphs: 108-110)
agreed: 86%, bracketed: 14% Info/Decision-making (paragraphs: 111-119),
agreed: 72%, bracketed: 28%
X. Institutional Framework (paragraphs:120-153), agreed: 68%, bracketed:
32%
TOTALS agreed: 75%, bracketed: 25%
ISSUES Sub-paras
Finance And Trade with brackets
Means of Implementation/Finance (paras.75-80) 16
Means of Implementation/Trade (paras.81-88) 22
Other finance and assistance 9
Monterrey 4
GEF 5
Globalization (para.45) 14
Trade: environment, subsidies, distortions 3
Market access 3
Action Programmes, Time-Bound Targets 14
Principles
Common but differentiated responsibilities 7
Precautionary approach/principle 4
Good Governance 18
Human Rights/Labour Standards
Human rights 4
Labour standards 2
Other Issues
Actions at all levels (Chapeau) 8
Climate Change/Kyoto 7
Partnerships 3
Sub-paras not in above clusters 27
LIST OF SUB-PARAGRAPHS WITH BRACKETS BY ISSUE
(* Some sub-paragraphs appear under more than one heading)
FINANCE AND TRADE
Means of Implementation/Finance (paras.75-80) (16 sub-paras in brackets)
Means of Implementation/Trade (paras.81-88) (22 sub-paras in brackets)
Other finance and assistance
6(b) [World solidarity fund to eradicate poverty]
14* Sustainable production and consumption [assistance, actions at all
levels]
56(k)* Africa/climate change [Assistance, climate change]
97 Research and development [new and additional resources]
109 Education [new and additional financial resources]
122(b) [Finance and trade institutions]
122(f) [MEA funds/resources]
123(c)* [ODA, (good governance)]
123(h)* [Special Drawing Rights, (good governance)]
Monterrey
45(a)** Globalization: Macroeconomic policies [Monterrey, good governance]
45(k)* Globalization [Financial market regulation, Monterrey]
124* [Take into account Monterrey Consensus]
126(f) ECOSOC role [monitoring Monterrey commitments] Globalization
(para.45)* (14 sub-paras. in brackets) GEF
39(f) [GEF/CCD: land degradation as focal area]
122(e) [GEF financing for projects with domestic benefits]
139,(a),(b) [GEF replenishment, UNCCD] [Note: indicated withdrawn by G77]
Trade: environment, distortion, subsidies
15(b) Investment incentives [trade-distorting measures]
18(c) [Environmentally harmful and trade distorting subsidies]
19(p.bis)* [Phasing out energy subsidies, review in 2007] Market access 38
(m) [Market access for agricultural products]
56(f) Africa: industrial productivity [competitiveness/market access]
56(g) Africa: industry [increased market access]
ACTION PROGRAMMES, TIME-BOUND TARGETS
7/alt Improved sanitation [Dramatically reduce/halve by 2015] 8 Energy
[Action programme]
19(e) [Renewable energy, increase global share to 2/5/15% by 2010]
19(p.bis)* [Phase out energy subsidies, review in 2007]
22* Chemicals and health [reduce adverse effects by 2020, precautionary
approach]
23* [Halt natural resource loss by 2015, precautionary principle]
24 Improved sanitation [halve by 2015]
30(a) Fisheries stocks [maintain/restore, by 2015]
36* [Kyoto Protocol, entry into force in 2002]
42 Reduction in biodiversity loss [by 2010]
52(e) Reduction of waste and pollution [by 2004]
61(a) Africa: Agricultural polices/food security strategies [by 2005] 103
Gender disparity in education [eliminate by 2005]
145(b) National strategies for sustainable development [by 2005]
PRINCIPLES
Common but differentiated responsibilities [CBDR]
2 Commitment to action [CBDR]
13 Sustainable consumption and production [CBDR]
19 Energy [CBDR]
37 Air pollution [CBDR]
75* Implementation of Agenda 21 [CBDR, finance]
120 Insitutional framework [CBDR, means of implementation]
138(c) [CSD, operationalizing CBDR]
Precautionary approach/principle
22* Chemicals and health [precautionary approach, by 2020]
23* Protection of ecosystems [precautionary principle, by 2015]
45(e/alt)* Globalization [Precautionary approach/principle]
93(e.bis) [Precautionary principle]
GOOD GOVERNANCE, RULE OF LAW
45(a)* Globalization: Macroeconomic policies [good governance]
123,(a-h)** [Enabling international economic environment]
124* [Reference Monterrey consensus and Millennium Declaration] 146,
146.bis-sept [Good governance at the national level]
HUMAN RIGHTS/LABOUR STANDARDS
Human rights
5 Peace, security, stability [respect for human rights and cultural
diversity]
56(a) Peace [human rights]
121(d.bis/alt) [Rule of law, internationally recognized human rights]
152 [Interrelationship between human rights and the environment]
Labour standards
9(b) Employment [labour standards]
122(g) [Implementation of the ILO core labour standards]
OTHER ISSUES
Actions at all levels (Chapeau)
14* Work programme on production and consumption [assistance, actions at
all levels] 89 Environmentally sound technologies [including urgent
actions at all levels to:] 90 Transfer of technologies [actions at all
levels] 93 Policy decision-making [action at all levels to] 94 Developing
countries' capacity for environment [actions at all levels] 107 Education
in SD [actions are required to] 114 Devt. and use of earth observation
technologies [actions at all levels] 116 Disaster mitigation [actions at
all levels] Climate Change
36*,(a-e) [Climate change/Kyoto, 2002]
56(k)* [Assistance to Africa for climate change]
Partnerships
19(w/alt) [Partnerships within the context of WSSD]
56(j)(i) Energy [plan of action/partnerships/programmes]
138(b) Partnerships [modalities for follow-up of partnerships]
SUB-PARAGRAPHS WITH BRACKETS NOT COVERED IN ISSUES ABOVE
6(e) Poverty [Indigenous people, sustainable harvesting]
14(c/alt) Consumption and production [Life cycle]/[efficiency]
(e) Consumer info tools [Eco-labelling]
19(s) Energy: actions/proposals [CSD-9]
22(h) Heavy metals [international response]
29(a) Law of the Sea [Ratify]
30 Fisheries [Equitable]
(e) Fisheries [Rights]
33(a) IMO [mechanisms and instruments]
38(o) Combating illicit [drug] crops
42(o) [Benefit sharing, biodiversity]
51 Health [WTO/TRIPS Agreement]
52(c) SIDS: Coastal management [Law of the Sea]
53(b) SIDS: Sources of energy [all]/[local]
56 Africa [benefits from trade, debt burden, ODA flows, TICAD]
(h) capacity strengthening for environmental reform [strategic
environmental assessments]
58(a) Africa: Health care [and services]
61(b) [Africa: Access to land and tenure]
64(e) [Africa: Biodiversity, benefit sharing]
70. Asia & Pacific: priority Initiatives [Regional Programme, Kitakyushu
Initiative]
90(d) Access to technology and knowledge in the public domain [as mutually
agreed] 98/alt. Science [Global public goods/interest]
116.bis/alt Information [Indicators/decoupling]
118. Information [Strategic planning]
119. Information [Sustainability impact assessment]
122(c) Institutional framework [Relationship between trading systems and
MEAs]
151 Participation of major groups [access to info, participation in
decision-making]
Summary of the WSSD Briefing, 28
June
Friday, 28 June
2002 By Pamela Chasek, ENB Editor
WSSD Secretary-General
Nitin Desai held a briefing on the WSSD process on Friday morning, 28 June
2002, in Conference Room 1 at UN Headquarters. This was the second of a
series of briefings that Desai expects to hold in New York prior to the
World Summit on Sustainable Development. This briefing addressed three
major areas, the recent "Passing the Torch" meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the
factual analysis of the Draft Plan of Implementation for the WSSD, and
logistics in South Africa.
1. "Passing the Torch" meeting
Brazil
reported on the meeting in Rio de
Janeiro, which took place from 23-25 June 2002. The idea was to have an
event to symbolize passing the torch from Rio to Johannesburg.
Participants included Brazilian President Henrique Cardoso,
Swedish Prime Minister
Goran Persson, and South African President Thabo Mbeki, as well as British
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, a large delegation from the United
Nations, academics, NGOs and members of the scientific community.
On 23 June there was a
seminar on sustainable development from Rio to Johannesburg, which
included a discussion of commitments and a formulation of scenarios for
the next 10-30 years. Topics included energy, regional initiatives,
corporate accountability, the role of the media, global governance and
poverty alleviation. On 24 June there was a public hearing, which included
50 experts and the heads of state present. On 25 June was the passing the
torch ceremony.
Three important
aspects of the meeting were:
a) The three leaders agreed
that failure in Johannesburg is not an option.
b) The initiative reflects the
Brazilian desire to contribute to the process and make the meeting a
success.
c) The three heads of state
drafted a letter to the G-8 Summit, which was delivered by President
Mbeki. The main idea was to work together for the success of Johannesburg.
Desai
commented that this was a good
description of the meeting and the mood in Rio was positive and
demonstrated political commitment. There was extensive involvement of the
three heads of state.
2. Factual Analysis of the Draft Plan of Implementation for the WSSD
Desai
said that at the last briefing he had referred to a factual analysis of
the Draft Plan of Implementation for the WSSD, as it emerged from Bali.
This document is available to interested delegations. Contact Lowell
Flanders at the DESA Secretariat. They may put this 2-3 page document up
on the www site as well (http://www.johannesburgsummit.org).
He also said that the
secretariat to work on the implementation dimension, which he mentioned at
the first briefing, is up and running and headed by Luis Gomez Echeverria.
3. Logistics in South Africa
Andrey Vasilyev, DESA,
who had just returned from South Africa, reported on the status of the
logistical arrangements for the WSSD. By way of introduction, Vasilyev
commented that there are lots of visible signs of improvement in
Johannesburg, including eco-friendly buses and better roads, and a lot of
excitement about the WSSD.
The Sandton Convention
Centre is being adapted to meet the Summit's requirements. The set-up will
have to be flexible to meet the different needs during the first and
second weeks. There will be the following meeting rooms: a Plenary Hall, 2
full membership rooms (one set up like Conference Room 1 and one set up
like the ECOSOC chamber), three rooms a little larger than Conference Room
7 (which can accommodate about 100 people) and three caucus rooms (like
the alphabet rooms). (Note: All rooms refer to conference rooms at UN
headquarters in New York). All of the rooms, except for the caucus rooms,
will be set up for interpretation.
The Sandton Center
does not have room for delegation office space. There are three hotels
directly connected to the Sandton Center. If any delegation needs office
space, they should contact the Mission of South Africa to the UN in New
York.
With regard to
accreditation, they are working on setting up a facility – either a tent
outside or they will have to use the Sandton Art Gallery. It will not be
feasible to do advance accreditation in New York. They hope that they can
transmit the digital photographs from New York for the badges. The UN and
the South Africans are still working on this.
The UN Protocol office
will issue an INF document when everything is set up.
Desai
said that the other locations for the
business, science and NGO forum activities will all be linked through the
Ubuntu Village. But the Secretariat's priority is the Sandton Center. He
then opened the floor for questions.
Venezuela
wanted to ensure that the G-77 and China had a place to meet in
Johannesburg. Desai
responded that one of the mid-size rooms can be configured to meet the
G-77 and China's needs, but they want to save the full membership rooms
for the process. He said that he is very cautious about committing space
for other users both during normal and after hours. His first priority is
to support the process.
In response to a
question about visas, South Africa
encouraged delegations to contact the South African consulate in New York.
The INF document from the UN Protocol office will also have information
about visas. Visas cannot be issued at the point of entry. The South
African Government has prepared brochures about visas and will try to make
them available to delegations.
In response to an NGO
question about access, Desai
said that the full membership rooms are sufficiently large for NGO
participation. Vasilyev
added that the Plenary Hall is designed to accommodate representatives of
the nine major groups. The Sandton Center management is doing a safety
analysis of how many people can be in the Center at any given time. As a
result, there may be a need for a system of secondary passes at certain
periods of time.
Switzerland
asked about the date for the lottery for speakers during the high-level
segment. Desai, noting that
the high-level segment is now open to all states, rather than just heads
of state, and the usual rules about priority will apply. The lottery will
probably be in July.
In response to a
question about side events and exhibit space,
Desai said that they can only
accommodate about 20% of the requests for side events. He will be sending
out letters next week. There are lots of meeting facilities nearby that
could host side events. In the Sandton Center there will be a single UN
exhibit. Other exhibit space will be available at the Ubuntu Village.
Contact the South African Mission for more details.
An NGO asked if there
will be meeting space for NGO meetings and morning briefings and
Desai said that the rooms would
be available early in the morning and, possibly, at other times, provided
the negotiating process does not need the rooms.
During the first week,
the Plenary Hall will be used for both the meetings on partnerships and
the statements by NGOs, IGOs and UN agency representatives. The other
conference rooms will be used for negotiations.
Spain,
whose term as president of the EU ends this weekend, gave a farewell
statement and expressed thanks to everyone. He noted that starting on
Monday, Denmark will assume the presidency of the EU, and Greece and the
European Commission will round out the troika.
Venezuela, on behalf of the G-77/China, thanked Spain for his
hard work.
Desai
said that there would be no briefing next
week, because of the ECOSOC high-level segment. The following week, Desai
will be on the road. He suggested that maybe during the week of 15 July
that South Africa, Indonesia and Brazil might be able to do a briefing on
activities at the political level. He closed the meeting by urging
everyone to be patient and to continue to work together and be willing to
find solutions.
Summary of the WSSD Briefing, 18
June
Tuesday, 18 June
2002 By Pamela Chasek, ENB Editor
WSSD Secretary-General Nitin Desai held a briefing
on the WSSD process on Tuesday morning, 18 June 2002. Conference Room
5 at UN Headquarters was standing room only as Desai opened the
briefing stating that he wanted "to take stock of where we are and
what we have to do" before Johannesburg.
Desai made the following points:
- A decision was taken in Bali to send the text as
it was on Friday, 7 June, to Johannesburg. Therefore, there will be no
changes to the text before Johannesburg and any work done in between
will have to be put forward by delegations once the WSSD begins in
August.
- With regard to the state of the text, 73% has
been agreed and 27% remains bracketed. Almost all of the bracketed
text is in the chapters on globalization and means of implementation,
especially those paragraphs dealing with trade and finance. Most of
the programmatic and institutional text has been agreed on.
- Other outstanding issues include: time-bound
targets, principles, GEF replenishment, the GEF and desertification,
governance, human rights and labor standards.
- Aside from Monterrey, a greater percentage of the
text has been agreed on than at this stage in any other conference,
including Rio.
- The problem is not time, but finding common
ground. This is the challenge for Johannesburg.
Desai stressed the importance of keeping everyone
informed, and proposed having a weekly briefing session so that
everyone knows what is going on.
Desai
stressed the importance of keeping everyone informed, and proposed having
a weekly briefing session so that everyone knows what is going on. This
briefing will be of a stock-taking nature, not negotiating.
He also
mentioned that a group coordinated by UNDP's Luis Gomez Echeverri will be
meeting to flesh out key initiatives under the WEHAB agenda (Water,
Energy, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity). This senior team of both
academics and high-level UN agency officials will be trying to draw up a
plan on how to implement this agenda. They will not produce negotiating
documents but will present ideas on necessary actions.
South Africa
expressed that her delegation was pleased with the progress in Bali. Bali
was a success. Although we didn't finalize everything, the issues are not
insurmountable. We need the political will. She said that South African
President Mbeke is engaging with Heads of State in preparation for
Johannesburg and will use the upcoming G-8 meeting and others to raise
issues relevant to the WSSD. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is in Europe
visiting European capitals. The Mission in New York is exchanging views
with other delegations to move the work forward.
She proposed
holding informal consultations the last week of July, right after ECOSOC,
in New York. She supported the regular briefings proposed by Desai.
Indonesia
agreed with Desai that the problem was not time, but lack of political
will. He said there is a need for political dialogue among key players
before Johannesburg. He suggested using the high-level segment of ECOSOC
(first week of July) to discuss how to proceed. He also proposed informal
consultations on the remaining paragraphs with written agreement before
Johannesburg.
Desai
then opened up the floor for other comments.
Venezuela
noted that the G-77 hasn't made
an assessment of the Bali outcomes yet and will meet by the end of the
week. Therefore, he was speaking in his personal capacity, not on behalf
of the G-77. He agreed with Desai's assessment on Bali and said that it
was a successful meeting, in UN terms. He said that we knew we wouldn't
have enough time. Two weeks for 200 paragraphs is not enough. While we
have agreed to 73% of the text, this is nothing unless we reach agreement
on the conceptual problems with finance. The political will is important
but basic misunderstandings have to be clarified. He said he thought the
Monterrey spirit would come through. He thought that the Millennium
Declaration, Doha and Monterrey would set the platform, but apparently the
developed countries thought differently. He said he was ready to start an
exercise to make Johannesburg a success and supported convening weekly
briefing sessions.
T he
United States also supported weekly briefing sessions, but
recommended coordinating the time with the President of ECOSOC. He also
said that if consultations are to be held, there must be an agreement on
the dates as soon as possible because many people have vacations
scheduled. He said that we were not under the impression of revising Rio
and said that he thought others were trying to revise Doha and Monterrey.
We made progress in Bali, but we didn't realize how much work we would
have to do. He said that the US was looking forward to discussing the WSSD
at the G-8 meeting.
The
European Union commented that
Bali was successful in that we went through the entire Second Committee
agenda in two weeks. But, it could have been better. He agreed with
Venezuela that we need to sort out conceptual misunderstandings. What is
the main outcome of Johannesburg? How do Doha and Monterrey fit in?
Neither can be re-opened, therefore we need to build on them. Once we are
clear on the concepts we can go forward. He supported the informal
briefings.
Desai
noted that delegates cannot jump straight to text but need to discuss
concepts first. He said that many meetings will be going on informally so
we need to maintain a degree of coherence in this process. He supported
holding very informal informals the week of 29 July in New York, but
reminded delegates that they still need to start with the Bali text in
Johannesburg. Therefore, the purpose of the informals should be to
facilitate the Johannesburg process, not substitute for it. We do not have
a mandate to substitute. Therefore, the focus should be to get an
understanding on the concepts.
The next
briefing is tentatively scheduled to take place on Friday, 28 June 2002 at
10:00 am. By that time, Desai will report back on the outcome of the G-8
meeting, as well as the high-level meeting in Brazil next week. There will
be no briefing the week of 1 July because of the ECOSOC high-level
segment.
Documents from
PrepCom IV
Draft Plan of
Implementation, 12 June advance unedited
Vice-Chair's
Summary on Partnerships,
Annex: Guiding
Principles for Partnerships
Chair's Summary of
Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues
A Guide on Potential
Partnerships on ENERGY for Sustainable Development
ENB Summary and Analysis of
the Fourth Session of the PrepCom for the
WSSD
Click here for the ENB coverage of PC IV, including photographs and Real Audio
recordings .
Web/HTML and
PDF
version of the Earth Negotiations
Bulletin report.
ENB On the Side's (ENBOTS)
Coverage of side events.
Draft Plan of Implementation of 2 June 2002.
Chair's Text for Negotiation and Other Documents
9 May 2002
The Chair's Text for Negotiation,
the Co-Chair's text on an Institutional
Framework for Sustainable Development, and the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue
Papers for PrepCom IV have been released on the UN web site at
http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/
WSSD.Info News
3 May 2002
Check out the first issue of WSSD.Info News containing the latest news
articles and speeches on the WSSD. This service will be provided on at
least a fortnightly basis from now through the Summit.
Click here to read WSSD.Info News.
Stakeholder Dialogue on Sustainable
Water Management
25 - 26 April 2002, Rüschlikon, Switzerland
The Stakeholder Dialogue on Sustainable
Water Management – Priorities for Policy Frameworks and Best Practices
convened from 25-26 April 2002 at the Swiss Re Centre for Global
Dialogue in Rüschlikon, Switzerland. Organized by the Swiss Federal
Government, which was represented by the interdepartmental working
group, IDARio, and Swiss Re, the Dialogue brought together over 140
participants from governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations, and the academic, investment and business communities.
The Dialogue's deliberations will feed
into a thesis paper, which the Swiss Government plans to use when
developing its position for negotiations on freshwater issues at the
WSSD, and as a means of communicating its intent to play an active
role in the international debate on water. Swiss Re will also use the
outcome for risk assessment, awareness building, development of
water-related risk-mitigating activities, and screening of projects
related to corporate social responsibility.
Click here for the
Sustainable
Developments Summary Report.
Third Session of the PrepCom for the
WSSD
25 March - 5 April 2002, UN HQ, New
York
Chairman's Paper
Available responses to Chair's paper -
Baha'i;
Dutch NGOs;
Energy Caucus;
Friends of the
Earth Int'l;
Greenpeace;
Int'l
Youth Caucus;
WWF
PrepCom IV moved
to Bali
8 March 2002 - The site of the fourth and final
preparatory meeting for the Johannesburg Summit has been moved from
Jakarta to Bali. Prepcom IV, is still scheduled to take place from 27
May to 7 June, and will include high level ministerial participation.
It will be the final preparatory meeting before governments, citizen
groups and businesses gather in Johannesburg for the Summit.
Click here for more ...
Fifth and Final Meeting of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Group
of Ministers or Their Representatives on
IEG and the Third GMEF/ Seventh
Special Session of the Governing Council
12-15
February 2002, Cartagena, Colombia
The
Seventh Special Session of UNEP's
Governing Council (GCSS-7) and Third Global Ministerial Environment Forum
(GMEF-3) took place at the Cartagena de Indias Conference Center in
Cartagena, Colombia, from 13-15 February 2002. The Session was preceded by
the final, one-day meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Ministers or
Their Representatives (IGM) on International Environmental Governance (IEG),
which was held at the same venue on Tuesday, 12 February 2002.
The IGM
failed to reach agreement on a number of critical issues, in particular on
strategies to ensure predictable and stable funding for UNEP and according
universal membership to the UNEP GMEF. However, these issues were resolved
during the GCSS-7/GMEF-3, at which delegates adopted the IGM report on IEG
and agreed to transmit it to the third session of the WSSD Preparatory
Committee. Delegates also agreed to take note of a statement
by the President of the Governing Council on UNEP's contribution to the
WSSD, and to transmit it to PrepCom III, together with the report and
policy statement prepared for the GCSS-7/GMEF-3 by UNEP's Executive
Director. Regarding the review of implementation of decisions of
GC-21/GMEF-2, the Council adopted five decisions on: a strategic approach
to chemicals management at the global level; compliance with and
enforcement of multilateral environmental agreements; development of a
strategy for the active engagement of civil society, the private sector
and Major Groups in the work of UNEP; implementation of the Global
Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment
from Land-based Activities; and the environmental situation in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Click here for the ENB
Summary Report.
Second Session of the PrepCom for the WSSD
28 January - 8 February 2002, New
York
The CSD, acting as the
PrepCom for the WSSD, met for its second session from 28 January to 8
February 2002 at UN headquarters in New York.
The Commission agreed
to transmit to its third session the Chairman's Paper as the basis
for negotiation, and adopted the Chairman's Report, to which are annexed
the Chairman's Summary of the Second Preparatory Session, the
Chairman's Summary of the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue Segment, and the
Proposals for Partnerships/Initiatives to
Strengthen the Implementation of Agenda 21.
At the conclusion of
the session, participants were able to return to their capitals and
missions with reports of veritable successes from PrepCom II, counting
among their achievements, the production of a Paper that will provide a
basis for negotiation at PrepCom III, meaningful dialogue with
stakeholders, agreement to initiate discussion on sustainable development
governance, and rallying support for partnerships and outputs that could
result in voluntary initiatives.
Click here for the ENB
Summary Report.
NY meeting on IEG
25 January 2002, UN Headquarters, New York
Click here for working
documents
Click here for
the ENB Summary report
Informal Brainstorming Session
16 - 17 January 2002, UN
Headquarters, New York
An informal
brainstorming session preceding PrepCom II for the WSSD took place from
16-17 January 2002, at UN headquarters in New York. Over 100 participants
attended the session, including representatives of governments,
intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and other major groups. During the
brainstorming session, participants considered two clusters of issues. The
first cluster involved a review of the implementation of Agenda 21 and
other Rio outcomes, including accomplishments, shortfalls/constraints and
lessons learned, as well as key themes and priorities emerging from the
regional preparatory meetings. The second cluster related to strengthening
implementation, including promoting an integrated and strategically
focused approach, strengthening international institutional arrangements
for sustainable development, and means of implementation. This cluster
also addressed practical steps/specific time-bound implementation
measures, and partnerships for achieving sustainable development. In
addition, participants were briefed on and discussed preparations for
PrepCom II and on a possible framework for strengthening linkages between
expected outcomes of the WSSD.
Click here for the
ENB Summary Report.
Secretary General's Report
20 December 2001 -
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan provides an assessment of progress
made in the implementation of Agenda 21. This report will be
considered at the second PrepCom in New York held this month.
Click here for a copy of the SG report.
GA Adopts New Dates for the Summit
18 December
2001 -
The UN
General Assembly has changed the dates for the Johannesburg Summit (GA
decision A/C.2/56/L.71). The Summit will now begin on Monday, 26
August 2002 and conclude on Wednesday, 4 September. The high level segment
involving the meeting of world leaders will take place during the last three
days from 2-4 September 2002.
Second Committee approves date change for WSSD
17 December 2002
The Second Committee of the United Nations General
Assembly concluded its work this week by approving a draft resolution
(A/C.2/56/L.71) on the WSSD. This resolution is expected to be approved by
the General Assembly without changes when it takes up the report of the
Second Committee on Friday, 21 December 2001. This resolution changes the
dates of the WSSD to 26 August - 4 September 2002, advancing the
conference dates by one week.
Click here for the UN Press Release,
which deals with the 16 draft texts forwarded by the Second Committee.
International Conference on
Freshwater
3 - 7 December
2001, Bonn, Germany
The International Conference on Freshwater took place from 3-7
December 2001 at in Bonn, Germany, with 118 governments, 47
intergovernmental organizations and 73 representatives of major groups
in attendance. The Conference was convened as a preparatory step on
freshwater issues for the upcoming WSSD. Delegates met in Plenary and
Working Group sessions to consider issues of water access, scarcity,
pollution and natural disasters, as well as financing and capacity
building. A closed-door ministerial session considered the equitable
and sustainable use of water resources and the mobilization of
financial resources for infrastructure investment. The Conference
considered the Recommendations for Action (RFA) that will be presented
to the WSSD and its preparatory process. The other conference outputs
are the 'Bonn Keys' – a one-page summary of the RFA, the Working Group
Reports, Conference Report and Ministerial Declaration, as well as the
Conference Issue Paper and Thematic Background Papers, which were
prepared prior to the Conference.
Click here for
full SD
coverage of this event, including daily reports, real audio and images from the
proceedings.
Global Conference on Oceans and
Coasts at Rio+10: Assessing Progress, Addressing Continuing and New
Challenges
3 - 7 December
2001, Paris, France
The Global Conference on Oceans and Coasts
at Rio+10: Toward the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg took place from 3-7 December 2001 at the UNESCO
headquarters in Paris, France. Conference participants sought to:
provide an overall assessment of progress achieved on oceans and
coasts in the ten years since the UNCED; identify new and continuing
challenges; examine cross-cutting issues among various ocean and
coastal sectors; consider options for concerted action on outstanding
cross-sectoral issues; and provide recommendations for the oceans and
coasts agenda of the WSSD.
Click here to read
SD's summary report of this event.
Fourth Meeting of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Group of
Ministers or their Representatives on International Environmental
Governance
30 November - 1 December 2001, Montreal, Canada
This meeting took place in Montreal, Canada, from 30 November-1
December 2001. More than two hundred participants were in attendance.
Over the course of the one-and-a-half-day meeting, participants
convened in three Plenary sessions and in three working groups to
consider revised proposals on options and elements of international
environmental governance (IEG) drawn up by the President of the UNEP
Governing Council, David Anderson, Minister of Environment of Canada.
Click here for ENB's
coverage of this event, including images and real audio from the
proceedings.
Asia-Pacific
Regional Preparatory Meeting
27-29 November, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The Asia-Pacific Roundtable on Sustainable Development and the
High-Level Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting for the WSSD took place in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 27-29 November 2001. The Roundtable and
Regional Meeting were attended by over 190 representatives from 46
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
States, two associate members of ESCAP, four non-ESCAP UN member
States, and over 220 representatives from UN agencies, multilateral
financing institutions, NGOs and other stakeholders. The Regional
Meeting produced two outcomes: a Chairman's Summary of the Roundtable;
and the Phnom Penh Regional Platform on Sustainable Development for
Asia and the Pacific (Platform), which includes a regional assessment
of Agenda 21 implementation, key issues and priorities for sustainable
development, follow-up actions, and financing sustainable development.
Delegates to the meeting braved marathon negotiations that stretched
early into the morning hours on the last day to produce a Platform
that many described as perhaps the best of the products coming out of
the five regional preparatory meetings for the WSSD.
Click here for full
ENB coverage of this meeting, including images and real audio.
Equity for a Small Planet
12-13 November
2001, London, UK
The one-day workshop focused on ways of ensuring greater equity and
developing local livelihoods, particularly in developing countries,
within the context of an increasingly market-oriented process of
globalization. Over 125 participants attended, representing
governments, NGOs, multilateral organizations, academia and the
private sector. The workshop addressed corporate accountability,
stakeholder engagement, and empowerment of marginalized groups and
other issues. Participants formed five Working Groups, which met in
morning and afternoon sessions, to address themes of: standards and
certification; corporate-community partnerships; regoverning markets;
poverty reduction and forest conservation through markets for
environmental services; and investment for sustainable development.
Click here for
Sustainable Developments' coverage, with images and real audio
International Forum on National
Sustainable Development Strategies
7-9 November
2001, Accra, Ghana
The Forum was convened by the DESA, in
collaboration with the Government of Ghana, Department for
International Development (DFID) of the UK, the Danish Government and
the UNDP/Capacity 21, as part of the ongoing preparatory process for
the WSSD. Seventy-three participants from 31 countries drawn from
government, civil society, the private sector and international
agencies participated in the Forum. The meeting's outputs consisted of
the Draft Report of the Forum with country reports annexed thereto, an
enriched draft of the UN document on guidance for preparing NSDSs,
suggestions for key national and regional actions, and an enriched
draft of the document on development of criteria to asses the
effectiveness of NSDSs.
Click here for
Sustainable Developments summary report on this meeting.
Roundtable on
Environment and Development:
Where are we? Where are we going?
14 November 2001,
Washington DC
As part of the
preparations for the Summit, the task force on Sustainable Development of
the UN Association / National Capital Area in collaboration with the
Section on International Law and Practice of the American Bar Association
have organized a Round Table, which will look at progress since Rio, new
and emerging issues and urgent problems. Discussions will indicate roles
for non-governmental organizations. For more information, contact: UNA/NCA;
tel: +1-202-518-0471; e-mail:
unanca@unanca.org, or Gloria Scott: +1-703-751-6589
World Economic Forum moves next year's
Annual Meeting to New York
7 November 2001
The World Economic Forum will hold next year's Annual Meeting in New York.
For the past 31 years, leaders from business, government, civil society,
academia and the media have met annually in
Davos,
Switzerland
to address key economic, political and social issues on the global agenda.
Klaus Schwab,
President of the
Forum, said that the Annual Meeting plans to return to Davos in 2003. "Davos
has been home to the Forum's Annual Meeting for 31 years and the intimacy
of the mountain setting has been conducive to solving a number of world
crises in the past. But these are extraordinary times, and we feel an
extraordinary response is both necessary and appropriate. So we'll have "Davos
in New York" in 2002." Next year's meeting will focus on global economy,
security and cultural understanding.
Click here for more.
Latin America and Caribbean
Preparatory Meetings
23-24 October 2001,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Delegates considered progress achieved in
implementation of Agenda 21, discussed the document regarding "The
sustainability of development in Latin America and the Caribbean:
Challenges and opportunities," and heard statements by ministers and
representatives of international organizations and civil society. At the
end of the meeting, delegates adopted the "Rio de Janeiro Platform for
Action on the Road to Johannesburg 2002," which includes sections on:
reaffirmation of principles and commitments; obstacles and lessons
learned; present considerations; and future commitments.
Click here for ENB's complete coverage of the
LAC Regional
Preparatory Meeting
including images and RealAudio from the negotiations.
West Asian
Regional
Preparatory Meetings
24-25
October 2001, Cairo, Egypt
Key regional issues emerging from the
Cairo meetings include peace and security, poverty, debt, water management
and the need for integration across political levels and sectors.
Click here for ENB's complete coverage of the
West Asia
Regional Preparatory Meeting
including images and RealAudio from the negotiations.
South Africa's Public Outreach Process
18 October 2001
Click
here to
read South Africa's Mail & Guardian's Supplements on the WSSD.
African
Regional
Preparatory Meetings
15-18 October 2001
During this four-day Conference,
delegates met in a two-day Technical Segment on Monday and Tuesday, 15-16
October, and a two-day Ministerial Segment held on Wednesday and Thursday,
17-18 October. The Conference aimed to
outline key regional policy issues, priorities and follow-up actions for
the WSSD, to provide substantial inputs to its preparatory process, and to
forward regional views on international cooperation for sustainable
development at the regional and global levels. Delegates negotiated an
African Ministerial Statement
drawing on an Assessment Report and the
outcomes of subregional preparatory meetings. The
African Ministerial
Statement reviews the last decade, identifying the achievements and
constraints faced, and highlights 26 priority areas for action.
Click here for
ENB's complete coverage of the
African
Regional Preparatory Meeting,
including images and RealAudio from the negotiations.
Business Tells
Governments to Pay Up for Jo'burg Summit
10 October 2001
Business Action for Sustainable Development called
on governments to provide funding for next year's WSSD and relieve South
Africa as host country of an unacceptable financial burden that was
imperiling the event. Click here
to read more.
Southern NGO Summit Postponed
2 October 2001
The Southern NGO Summit that was to convene this month in Algiers has
been postponed. Click here
to read more.
Reykjavik Conference on
Responsible Fisheries
1-4 October 2001
This conference, which convened in
Reykjavik, Iceland from 1-4 October, presented stakeholders with an
opportunity to gather and review the best available knowledge on marine
and ecosystem issues. It sought to establish a means by which ecosystem
considerations could be included in capture fisheries management, and to
identify future challenges and relevant strategies. Click here to read
Sustainable Development's
coverage of the Meeting and to find out more about the outcome - the
Reykjavik Declaration - which will be submitted to the WSSD for its
consideration.
Fourth Meeting of the
Bureau
1-2 October 2001
The Fourth meeting of the Bureau took
place in New York on 1-2 October 2001.
The Bureau assessed the state of preparations for the Johannesburg Summit
at the regional and sub-regional levels
... Click here for more.
European Regional PrepCom
24-25 September 2001
The Europe and North America Regional Ministerial
Meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, WSSD, closed
on Tuesday, 25 September 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland. Two Ministerial
Panels were held on
Governance and Sustainable Development and on Poverty and Sustainable
Development, chaired by Svend Auken, Danish Minister of Environment
and Energy, and Jan Pronk, Dutch Minister of the Environment and
Spatial Planning.
A
drafting group focusing on the Ministerial Statement from the Region
finished its work, and the meeting adopted the Statement. Meeting Chair, Deiss
of Switzerland, closed the meeting at 2:20pm.
Click here for
the Earth
Negotiations Bulletin's (ENB) complete
coverage of this meeting, including images and RealAudio
clips.
Read ENB's
report and analysis of the meeting.
Progress in
Preparatory Activities
14
September 2001
Click here to see the Secretary-General's
report
WSSD International
Eminent Persons' Meeting on Interlinkages
3-4 September 2001
This meeting took place from 3-4 September 2001 at the United Nations
University in Tokyo, Japan. The purpose of this meeting was to:
review the state of the environment based on linkages between issues;
examine the problems and challenges arising from such linkages and
their policy responses; and assess how such issues could best be
addressed within preparatory processes leading to the WSSD ...
Sustainable Development's
coverage of this meeting, including photos, real audio
clips and a summary report, is available at:
http://enb.iisd.org/crs/interlinkages/interlink3/
Dates and Venues
Set for Asian Preparatory Meetings
21 August
2001
Regional PrepComs
Asia and Pacific: Phnom
Penh, Cambodia, 27 - 29 Nov 2001
Subregional PrepComs
South
Pacific: Apia, Samoa, 5 - 7 September 2001
Central Asia: Almaty,
Kazakhstan, 19 - 21 September 2001
South Asia: Colombo, Sri Lanka, 27 - 29
September 2001
Southeast Asia: Manila,
Philippines, 17 - 19
October 2001
Note:
Changes are in
blue
Click here
for the
registration
form for stakeholder participation in the sub-regional meetings for
Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Major Groups Pre-registration and Accreditation
10 August 2001
NGOs currently in consultative status with ECOSOC can
pre-register to participate in the WSSD and its Prepcom meetings. NGOs
not in consultative status need to
apply for accreditation to participate in the Summit and its
preparatory meetings.
Click here for more on major group accreditation and pre-registration.
Second Meeting of the Bureau
16-18 July 2001, Geneva
The second meeting of the Bureau took place in Geneva from 16-18 July.
Bureau members discussed results of the
Regional Roundtables, agreeing that these meetings have made
significant contributions to the Summit preparatory process and concurred
to synthesize the outcomes after all the Roundtables had taken place. The
Bureau agreed on its activities leading to the second session of the
PrepCom scheduled for 28 January - 8 February 2002 in New York and
considered the programme of activities for the second PrepCom. Bureau
members also met with the World Bank, ILO, UNCTAD, WTO, WMO, WHO, UNECE,
UNEP/ROE and NGOs and other major groups to discuss their preparations for
the Summit.
Click here for the note on the outcome of the 2nd meeting
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in
cooperation with UNEP and DESA have begun regional preparations for the
World Summit for Sustainable Development.
31 May 2001
Press release is available at:
http://www.eclac.cl/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/prensa/noticias/comunicados/1/6821/P6821.xml&xsl=/prensa/tpl-i/p6f.xsl&base=/tpl-i/top-bottom.xsl
Asia-Pacific preparatory process defined for next year's World Summit on
Sustainable Development
18 May 2001, Bangkok/Manila
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP) have begun regional preparations for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in
September, 2002.
Full press release is
available at:
http://www.unescap.org/enrd/environ/wssd/pr.cfm
First PrepCom for the World Summit on Sustainable Development
30 April-2 May 2001,
New York
Over 600 participants attended the session, including
representatives of governments, IGOs, NGOs and other major groups and
stakeholders. The session elected Bureau members, considered
organizational matters and deliberated on the following agenda items:
progress in the preparatory activities at the local, national, regional
and international levels, as well as by major groups; the process for
setting the agenda and determining possible main themes for the Summit;
specific modalities for future preparatory meetings, including
matters of accreditation for NGOs; and the rules of procedure for the
Summit.
Click here for documents and more
information on the session.
South Africa's National
preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development
19 April 2001, Johannesburg,
South Africa
Full report is available at:
http://www.environment.gov.za/earthsummit2002/current.htm
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