UN Economic and Social Development
Division for Sustainable Development

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development
9th Session
5 May 2000 & 16-27 April 2001

Decision 9/4
Information for decision-making and participation

Introduction

1. The availability and uses of information are issues that cut across all chapters of Agenda 21 and its implementation. Countries in all regions of the world have made substantial efforts to improve the quality, coherence and cost-effectiveness of data and information-gathering in the years since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). In this context, it is essential to increase investment in human beings, recognize the value of diverse views and appreciate the power of stakeholder participation if countries wish to take advantage of the opportunities that the new knowledge economy presents. A more effective role for an independent, objective media in support of sustainable development is to be promoted. However, there remain significant gaps in the availability and uses of information in many countries. Those developing countries suffering from inadequate infrastructure and information systems and those parts of the population too poor to tap into new information sources are being left behind. Developing countries, in particular, need technology transfer and capacity-building, and will require adequate, predictable, new and additional financial resources, in accordance with chapter 33 of Agenda 21, and paragraphs 76 to 87 of the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, to modernize or establish their information systems.

Guidance to the multilateral system

2. The Commission, recognizing that enhancing information for decision-making in order to achieve sustainable development will require international cooperation and actions compatible with national priorities and circumstances, and seeking to provide assistance to developing countries as well as countries with economies in transition to achieve sustainable development:

Improvements in functioning, coherence and coordination

(a) Encourages international organizations, including international convention secretariats, to rationalize their requests for information with respect to voluntary national reports so as to avoid duplication and unnecessary burden on countries, particularly developing countries. The international organizations should build on existing efforts to improve the compatibility of data-collection methodologies. The purpose of the data requests should be clearly specified, and there should be a demand driven shift from available information to needed information;
(b) Calls for strengthening access by developing countries to information on sustainable development and measures to ensure that the commercialization of information does not become a barrier to developing countries in this regard;
(c) Encourages greater access to Internet information for persons with disabilities;
(d) Urges strengthened cooperation and coordination among global observing systems and research programmes for integrated global observations, taking into account the need for sharing, among all countries, of valuable data, such as ground-based observation data and satellite remote-sensing data;
(e) Encourages countries and relevant international organizations to develop information systems, which make the sharing of valuable data possible, including the active exchange of Earth observation data;
(f) Calls for promoting the development and wider use by developing countries of innovative technologies, such as global mapping, geographical information systems, video transmission technology and Internet technology for the dissemination and use of satellite data.

Training and capacity-building

(g) Encourages countries, particularly developed countries, with the cooperation of relevant international organizations, as appropriate, to:

(i) Assist in training and capacity-building, particularly in developing countries, which will help promote wider use of information and communication technologies, including satellite data, and their application;
(ii) Assist Governments of developing countries to develop the needed technological infrastructure for sustainable development through, inter alia, transfer of technology, including transfer of necessary hardware and software, and implementation of capacity-building programmes to this effect;
(iii) Assist in strengthening national information systems and statistical agencies to ensure that efforts in data collection and analysis are efficient and effective and able to meet a range of decision-making requirements;

(h) Calls for assisting countries, particularly developing countries, in their national efforts to achieve accurate, long-term, consistent and reliable data and use of satellite and remote-sensing technologies for data collection and further improvement of ground-based observations.

Recommendations for activities at the national level

4. At the national level, Governments, taking into account their priorities and respective national circumstances, with the support of the international community, as appropriate, are encouraged to consider to:

(a) Take measures to ensure access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making and access to judicial and administrative proceedings in environmental matters in order to further principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, taking into full account principles 5, 7, and 11 of the Declaration;
(b) Collect and provide access to relevant information for decision-making for sustainable development, including gender-disaggregated data, incorporating indigenous and traditional knowledge into information bases for decision-making, as appropriate;
(c) Establish guidelines to help distinguish between specialized information that can be effectively commercialized from information that should be freely available to the public;
(d) Develop strategies to improve access by all segments of society to information and communication technologies, including the Internet to increase public awareness about sustainable development;
(e) Incorporate data and findings from research and monitoring activities into the decision-making process;
(f) Incorporate sustainable development performance information produced by major groups, including the private sector, in relevant decision-making processes;
(g) Promote, with private sector participation, measures to give developing countries access to information essential for sustainable development;
(h) Foster sustainable development in cooperation with international organizations, by encouraging and providing needed technological infrastructure, in particular to developing countries, and implementing capacity-building programmes that reach out to all sectors of society;
(i) Develop strategic partnerships with non-governmental organizations and the private sector to stimulate innovative data-generation, collection and analysis methods;
(j) Encourage the application of traditional and community knowledge to sustainable resource and community management.

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development
6th Session
22 December 1997 & 20 April - 1 May 1998

Decision 6/4. Review of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

A. Overall considerations

4. In the light of paragraph 24 of the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21,30 the Commission encourages all small island developing States to put in place national sustainable development strategies that take into account the links between economic, social and environmental indicators and policies on an ongoing basis, and invites bilateral donors and United Nations agencies and organizations, as well as the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank, to join in the promotion of coordinated capacity-building programmes to support the development and implementation of national, subregional and regional strategies. The implementation of strategies for sustainable development will be primarily the responsibility of small island developing States, with the essential support of the international community. The Commission urges proper consideration of the need for capacity-building to develop and implement strategies for sustainable development at the proposed donors’ conference.

Decision 6/5. Information provided by Governments and exchange of national experiences

2. The Commission:

(g) Takes note of the important ongoing work aimed at streamlining requests for national information and reporting, of the results of the pilot phase relating to indicators of sustainable development, and of the importance of identifying data gaps based on the information already provided by Governments.

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United Nations General Assembly
19th Special Session
New York, 23-27 June 1997

Means of implementation: Information and tools for measuring progress

111. The further development of cost-effective tools for collecting and disseminating information for decision makers at all levels through strengthened data collection, including, as appropriate, gender disaggregated data and information that makes visible the unremunerated work of women for use in programme planning and implementation, compilation and analysis is urgently needed. In this context, emphasis will be placed on support for national and international scientific and technological data centres with appropriate electronic communication links between them.

Future role and programme of work of the Commission on Sustainable Development
Methods of work of the Commission on Sustainable Development

133. Based on the experience gained during the period 1993-1997, the Commission, under the guidance of the Economic and Social Council, should:

(b) Continue to provide a forum for the exchange of national experience and best practices in the area of sustainable development, including through voluntary national communications or reports. Consideration should be given to the results of ongoing work aimed at streamlining requests for national information and reporting and to the results of the "pilot phase" relating to indicators of sustainable development. In this context, the Commission should consider more effective modalities for the further implementation of the commitments made in Agenda 21, with appropriate emphasis on the means of implementation. Countries may wish to submit to the Commission, on a voluntary basis, information regarding their efforts to incorporate the relevant recommendations of other United Nations conferences in national sustainable development strategies;

Changing consumption and production patterns

28. Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, particularly in the industrialized countries, are identified in Agenda 21 as the major cause of continued deterioration of the global environment. While unsustainable patterns in the industrialized countries continue to aggravate the threats to the environment, there remain huge difficulties for developing countries in meeting basic needs such as food, health care, shelter and education for people. All countries should strive to promote sustainable consumption patterns; developed countries should take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption patterns; developing countries should seek to achieve sustainable consumption patterns in their development process, guaranteeing the provision of basic needs for the poor, while avoiding those unsustainable patterns, particularly in industrialized countries, generally recognized as unduly hazardous to the environment, inefficient and wasteful, in their development processes. This requires enhanced technological and other assistance from industrialized countries. In the follow-up of the implementation of Agenda 21, the review of progress made in achieving sustainable consumption patterns should be given high priority.12 Consistent with Agenda 21, the development and further elaboration of national policies and strategies, particularly in industrialized countries, are needed to encourage changes in unsustainable consumption and production patterns, while strengthening, as appropriate, international approaches and policies that promote sustainable consumption patterns on the basis of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, applying the polluter pays principle, and encouraging producer responsibility and greater consumer awareness. Eco-efficiency, cost internalization and product policies are also important tools for making consumption and production patterns more sustainable. Actions in this area should focus on:

(c) Developing core indicators to monitor critical trends in consumption and production patterns, with industrialized countries taking the lead.

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* Chapter 40 of Agenda 21. For the discussion, see chapter V below.

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development
4th Session
New York, 18 April - 3 May 1996

Decision 4/5. Information for decision-making *

1. The Commission on Sustainable Development, having taken note of the report of the Secretary-General on information for decision-making (E/CN.17/1996/18 and Add.1), welcomes the measures taken by Governments to make information more accessible to decision makers at the national level.

5. The Commission expresses its appreciation of the conclusions of the meeting on common and compatible systems of access to data, and requests the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the Secretariat, in cooperation with other organizations of the United Nations system, and within available resources, to establish a sustainable development home page on the World Wide Web, with "hot links" to relevant databases throughout the United Nations system, as a means to facilitate access by countries to sources of information relevant to sustainable development.

6. The Commission requests the Economic and Social Council's Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on the Need to Harmonize and Improve United Nations Information Systems (for Optimal Utilization and Accessibility by States) to give particular attention to devising a means of facilitating the access of States Members of the United Nations to environmental databases throughout the United Nations system, within available resources.

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development
3rd Session
11- 28 April 1995

General discussion on progress in the implementation of Agenda 21, focusing on the cross-sectoral components of Agenda 21, and the critical elements of sustainability.

I. Information for decision-making

1. The Commission, having examined the report of the Secretary-General on information for decision-making and Earthwatch (E/CN.17/1995/18), noted and welcomed the important measures taken by Governments to make information more accessible to decision makers at the national level, and calls upon national Governments to utilize this information for sustainable development at the country level. The aim of such measures includes the development of a comprehensive and coherent information programme, drawing upon public participation in data collection and assessment. In this context, developed countries are urged to utilize both bilateral and multilateral channels to facilitate access by developing countries, and countries whose economies are in transition, to sources of information relative to sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Networking Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is one model for such initiatives.

2. The Commission calls attention to the feasibility study undertaken by UNDP to provide access to information on sustainable development to 35 small island developing States, which was welcomed by the General Assembly in its resolution 49/122 on the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

3. The Commission expresses its appreciation to the organizers of the six workshops that furthered understanding of the issues addressed in Chapter 40 of Agenda 21, particularly the efforts related to developing a work programme on indicators of sustainable development, and it supports and encourages further work in this area as elaborated in paragraphs 7 and 8 below.

4. The Commission welcomes the contribution of non-governmental organizations to the process of generating information for decision-making, including the articulation of views from local and grass-roots levels and from major groups, and expresses its desire that these activities continue and be integrated, to the extent possible, with those of national Governments, organizations of the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations.

5. The Commission expresses appreciation for the extensive international collaboration in the United Nations system-wide Earthwatch and its responsiveness to the priorities of Agenda 21 and to user needs. It urges Governments and major groups, as well as relevant international organizations and the scientific community, to participate actively in strengthening Earthwatch as an international partnership to ensure an adequate flow of information on the global and regional environment, to support decision-making and to give early warning on the state of the environment. Special attention is drawn to the need for improved delivery of information to decision makers and to increased participation in environmental observations at the local and national levels within regional and international frameworks. In this regard, the Commission welcomes all appropriate participation in the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Programme, as described in General Assembly resolution 49/112.

6. The Commission recalls that, in addition to Earthwatch, which is a global system for environmental information, Agenda 21, in paragraph 40.13, calls for the more effective coordination also of development data, "perhaps through an equivalent and complementary 'Development Watch'". In this context, the Commission noted the cooperative effort of the organizations of the United Nations system to prepare proposals for the creation of such a Development Watch. It requests UNDP, with the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the United Nations Secretariat, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and in cooperation with the regional commissions and other interested organizations, to further define Development Watch and, in this regard, to submit a progress report on the implementation of the programme of work for Development Watch to the Commission at its session in 1997, taking into account the need for a close linkage between Development Watch and Earthwatch.

7. The Commission noted the importance of developing, among the organizations of the United Nations system, a common or compatible system of access to their respective databases, in order to share data fully, to streamline the collection and interpretation of data and to identify data gaps, for the purpose of providing more comprehensive and integrated data to decision makers at the national, regional and international levels. The Commission invites the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development to refine measures for establishing such a common or compatible system and to report thereon to the Commission at its fourth session. The Commission notes also the rapidly growing number of information systems for sustainable development at the national and regional levels, and invites the Secretary-General to consider ways of enhancing compatibility among and access to these systems and to report his findings to the Commission at its session in 1997.

 

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