Economic and Social Council

 Distr. GENERAL
4 May 2000
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

Draft decision submitted by the Vice-Chairman of the Commission,
Mr. Zvetolyub Basmajiev (Bulgaria), on the basis of informal consultations

Preparations for the ten-year review of progress achieved in the implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

 

The Commission on Sustainable Development decides to bring to the attention of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly the following recommendations:

(a) The Commission on Sustainable Development underscores the political importance of the forthcoming ten-year review of progress achieved since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The Commission stresses that the review should focus on the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, adopted by the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly in 1997 and other outcomes of the Conference. Agenda 21 should constitute the framework within which the other outcomes of the Conference are reviewed. Agenda 21 should also be the framework from within which new challenges and opportunities that have emerged since the Conference are addressed;

(b) The Commission stresses that Agenda 21 should not be renegotiated and that the review should identify measures for the further implementation of Agenda 21 and the other outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, including sources of funding;

(c) The Commission recommends that the review should focus on areas where further efforts are needed to implement Agenda 21 and other outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and should result in action-oriented decisions and renewed political commitment and support for sustainable development;

(d) The Commission stresses the importance of early and effective preparations for the 2002 review and assessment of progress achieved in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the other outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, to be carried out at the local, national, regional and international levels by Governments and the United Nations system, so as to ensure high-quality inputs to the review process. The Commission encourages effective contributions from, and involvement of, all major groups;

(e) While specific decisions on the preparatory process will be determined by the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session, the Commission invites early preparations at the local, national and regional levels which should commence immediately after the conclusion of the eighth session of the Commission. In this context, the Commission invites all Governments to undertake national review processes as early as possible. The national reports that have been prepared by Governments since 1992 on national implementation of Agenda 21, and to which major groups have contributed, could provide a fair basis for guiding the national preparatory processes;

(f) The Commission invites the United Nations Secretariat, working in close cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme, the regional commissions, and the secretariats of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development-related conventions as well as other relevant organizations, agencies and programmes within and outside the United Nations system, including international and regional financial institutions, to support preparatory activities, in particular at the national and regional levels, in a coordinated and mutually reinforcing way. The Commission, while allowing for the originality of regional contributions, has agreed that a certain uniformity is needed in regional preparatory processes. The Commission also underscores the importance of using the high-level intergovernmental processes that exist at the regional level;

(g) The Commission invites the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, in line with the Nairobi Declaration on the Role and Mandate of the United Nations Environment Programme, to promote the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development in the United Nations system and to provide its views to the Commission at its tenth session as an important input to the preparatory process on the environmental aspects of the implementation of Agenda 21 and the other outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development;

(h) The Commission requests the Secretary-General, in preparing his report on the 2002 review to be submitted to the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly in accordance with Assembly resolution 54/218 of 22 December 1999, to take fully into account the views expressed during the Commission’s high-level segment on preparations for the ten-year review of progress achieved since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and the recommendations of the eighth session of the Commission, and to include in his report further information on specific activities and actions undertaken and planned in the United Nations system in support of the preparatory process;

(i) The Commission recommends that the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session give consideration to organizing the 2002 review as a summit-level event to be held outside United Nations Headquarters, preferably in a developing country;

(j) The Commission also recommends that the General Assembly decide that the meetings of the tenth session of the Commission are to be transformed into an open-ended preparatory committee that would provide for the full and effective participation of all Governments. The Commission acting as the preparatory committee should undertake the comprehensive review and assessment of the implementation of Agenda 21 and the other outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. It should identify major constraints hindering the implementation of Agenda 21 and propose specific time-bound measures to be undertaken, and institutional and financial requirements, and identify the sources of such support. The Commission invites all relevant United Nations organizations and the secretariats of Conference-related conventions to review and assess their respective programmes of work since the Conference and to report to the Commission at its tenth session on progress made in the implementation of sustainable development-related objectives. The comprehensive review and assessment of the implementation of Agenda 21 and the other outcomes of the Conference should also address ways of strengthening the institutional framework for sustainable development and define the future programme of work of the Commission;

(k) The Commission recommends that the General Assembly, in light of paragraph (j) above, invite the Economic and Social Council to decide that the first meeting of the tenth session of the Commission, to be held immediately after the closure of the ninth session of the Commission, in accordance with Council resolution 1997/63 of 25 July 1997, should be expanded, so that the Commission could thereby start its work as the preparatory committee for the 2002 event;

(l) The Commission stresses that the preparatory meetings and the 2002 event itself should be transparent and provide for effective participation and input from Governments, and regional and international organizations, including financial institutions, and for contributions from and active participation of major groups, consistent with the rules and regulations established by the United Nations for the participation of major groups in intergovernmental processes;

(m) The Commission recommends that necessary steps be taken to establish a trust fund and urges international and bilateral donors to support preparations for the ten-year review through voluntary contributions to the trust fund and to support participation of representatives from developing countries in the regional and international preparatory process and the 2002 event itself. The Commission encourages voluntary contributions to support the participation of major groups from developing countries in regional and international preparatory processes and the 2002 event itself;

(n) The Commission invites the Economic and Social Council to consider, at its substantive session of 2000, the reports requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 54/218 and submit its views to the Assembly at its fifty-fifth session;

(o) The Commission invites the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session to decide on the agenda, possible main themes, timing and venue of the 2002 event, the number of intergovernmental preparatory meetings and other organizational and procedural matters related to the 2002 review including the clarification of the term "United Nations Conference on Environment and Development-related conventions" as referred to above, taking into account the views of the Commission, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Economic and Social Council.

Date last posted: 08 May 2000
Comments and suggestions: DESA/DSD