Economic and Social Council

 Distr. GENERAL
18 April 1997
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Fifth session
8-25 April 1997
Agenda item 4


         PREPARATIONS FOR THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
         FOR THE PURPOSE OF AN OVERALL REVIEW AND APPRAISAL OF THE
                          IMPLEMENTATION OF AGENDA 21

                      DIALOGUE SESSIONS WITH MAJOR GROUPS


                    Summary report of the dialogue session
                      with non-governmental organizations

                                (15 April 1997)

Chairman:     Mr. Czeslaw Wieckowski (Poland), Vice-Chairman, Commission
              on Sustainable Development

Facilitator:  Mr. Roberto Bissio, Instituto del Tercer Mundo

Presenters:   Representatives of the following organizations made
              presentations:  Environmental Liaison Center International
              (ELCI); Association of Small Farmers of the Pacific Coast
              (Costa Rica); Country Women's Association of Nigeria
              (COWAN); Friends of the Earth International; Environmental
              Justice Networking Forum (South Africa); Third World
              Network; Latin American Network on Forests; Consumers
              International.


                                 PRESENTATIONS

     In the five years since the Rio Conference, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) have played an increasingly important role in
efforts to further sustainable development throughout the world.  In
their dialogue session, NGOs highlighted past NGO activities,
discussed Agenda 21 implementation at the local, national and regional
levels and set forth actions for the Commission on Sustainable
Development to undertake in the next five years.

Activities

     The dialogue session provided a sampling of NGO activities.  These
included research on Agenda 21 implementation, studies regarding
sustainable development indicators and organization of new grass-roots
groups.  For example:

þ    A study by ELCI assessed grass-roots action taken on Agenda 21 and
     made recommendations for the future.  The resultant report,
     entitled "Grass-roots reflection on Agenda 21", reveals that
     Governments are treating the superficial manifestations of
     unsustainable practices rather than the underlying causes. 
     Furthermore, local level implementation is not occurring as fast
     as it should be.

þ    Friends of the Earth conducted a study of sustainable development
     indicators.

þ    NGOs in Costa Rica have improved dialogue with government
     officials.

þ    African women have established networks for rural and grass-roots
     women.

þ    Women in Nigeria developed a strategy for gaining credit for
     women.

þ    NGOs in South Africa are working to further environmental justice
     issues and develop environmental policies for sustainability.

Obstacles

     Obstacles to NGO success under Agenda 21 include ingrained
production and consumption patterns, lack of access to decision-
making, trade liberalization and low political will in regard to
sustainable development issues.  For example:

þ    Government interest is often lacking in regard to Agenda 21
     implementation.

þ    NGOs are often excluded from government decision-making,
     especially in countries with rigid and closed governmental
     processes.

þ    It is often difficult to convince decision makers to act on
     initiatives developed at the community level.

þ    Business and industry are often unwilling to become involved with
     sustainable development issues.

þ    Inequity at the local, national and global levels obstructs many
     efforts towards sustainable development.

þ    Political will is lacking in forestry issues.

þ    Education is an important yet overlooked component of sustainable
     development.

þ    Deregulation and globalization are increasing the power of
     transnational corporations and increasing the inequities between
     rich and poor.

þ    Lack of resources is an important limiting factor for NGOs.

Priorities

     NGOs outlined a spectrum of priorities including eco-sufficiency,
NGO/government relations, environmental education and trade.  For
example:

þ    Eco-sufficiency should replace the concept of eco-efficiency if
     society is to become truly sustainable.

þ    Better mechanisms for NGO/government cooperation are needed at the
     local and national levels.

þ    Better mechanisms should be developed for communicating local
     experiences to the global level and fostering learning.

þ    Capacity-building should occur in the government sector as well as
     in the NGO sector.

þ    Education and awareness-raising should play a larger role in
     sustainable development efforts.

þ    Governments should honour commitments they have made for
     technology sharing and technology transfer.

þ    NGO collaboration with Governments at the local, national and
     international levels should be enhanced.

þ    Changes in production and consumption patterns are essential.

þ    Trade has important impacts on environment and development and
     should receive high priority in efforts to promote sustainable
     development.

þ    Corporate accountability should be addressed explicitly and should
     ensure attention to social and environmental responsibilities.


                                   DIALOGUE

     Representative of the following countries made statements during
the dialogue session:  Australia, China, Finland, Japan, Norway,
Philippines, Sweden, United States of America.  Statements were made
by the following NGOs:  Q2000 of Sweden, NGO Working Group on Women,
Health and Environment, NGO Education Caucus, Costa Rican National
Council for NGOs, Association of Northern Peoples for Environment and
Development.  NGOs from Bolivia, Mauritius and the Russian Federation
also made statements, as did the representative of the European
Commission.

     Several government representatives described local initiatives in
their countries.  One government representative noted the important
role that local municipalities played via monitoring, inspection and
enforcement to ensure adherence to environmental standards (Japan). 
Others noted the positive results that Agenda 21 implementation had
yielded in their countries (China, Philippines, Sweden).  One NGO
representative noted increased coordination between NGOs and
Government under Agenda 21 (NGO from Bolivia).  Another NGO
representative noted the problems of addressing energy and
transportation issues in her country (NGO from Sweden).  Another noted
the lack of NGO participation in policy decision-making (NGO from the
Russian Federation).

     One government representative elicited several comments from
others when she suggested that the Commission on Sustainable
Development adopt a procedure instituted under the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (Australia).  For this Convention, NGOs should
prepare country reports and Governments would be required to respond
to those reports.  An NGO panellist responded favourably to the
suggestion but noted the financial constraints facing NGOs.  Another
government representative suggested that NGOs and Governments
collaborate on reports, as was done in his country (Philippines).

     An NGO representative noted the lack of government reporting to
the Commission and inquired about the procedures countries follow in
reporting to their constituencies at home (Friends of the Earth). 
Some government representatives described their reporting procedures. 
Reporting processes involved numerous stakeholders, meetings, web
sites and media (Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden, United
States).

     One NGO representative noted the need for more emphasis on
education regarding sustainability issues and noted the lack of
educator participation (Education Caucus).  Another noted the
important educational role that United Nations documents played in her
country (NGO from the Russian Federation).

     One representative urged that statistics like those presented by
Friends of the Earth International be used to convince the unconvinced
to take up sustainable development priorities (European Commission). 
Another suggested that the results of the ELCI study be widely
disseminated (NGO from Mauritius).


                     CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE
                     COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

     NGOs presented several recommendations to the Commission.  These
recommendations concern increased dialogue between NGOs and
Governments, corporate accountability, trade issues and action on
forest problems.  In particular, NGOs requested the Commission to:

þ    Encourage dialogue at the local and national levels as well as at
     the international level.

þ    Incorporate trade and environment, trade and development, and the
     intersection of trade, environment and development into Agenda 21
     initiatives and into the future work of the Commission.

þ    Establish a subcommission or panel on trade and sustainable
     development.

þ    Initiate a dialogue with the World Trade Organization and its
     Committee on Trade and Environment.

þ    Initiate a new round of commodity agreements.

þ    Facilitate a sustainable development and equity review of World
     Trade Organization agreements.

þ    Initiate a review of the World Trade Organization Agriculture
     Agreement.

þ    Take up the issue of intellectual property rights and sustainable
     development.

þ    Investigate the impacts of liberalization on sustainable
     development.

þ    Urge the special session of the General Assembly to adopt a
     resolution urging States and organizations to implement activities
     proposed during the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Panel
     on Forests.

þ    Establish a subcommission on corporate accountability.


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Date last posted: 10 December 1999 17:25:35
Comments and suggestions: DESA/DSD