INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE FOR CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION SUSPENDS TENTH SESSION
Press Release
ENV/DEV/400/
INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE FOR CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION SUSPENDS TENTH SESSION
19970121 In Press Release ENV/DEV/400, issued on 20 January, the following statement was inadvertently omitted from page 16 and should be inserted before the penultimate paragraph:"HANS HOOGEVEEN (Netherlands), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said that the Convention to Combat Desertification was an exemplary document and, in a unique way, an important stimulus for the implementation of chapter 12 of Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The emphasis in the Convention on the integrated bottom-up approach made it clear that its objective should be found at the grass-roots level, namely, to provide relief for all those struggling against desertification and drought.
"The European Union had come to the session with an open attitude, wishing to enter into an active and constructive dialogue with its partners to exchange view on outstanding issues and find compromises where needed, he said. It could now say that, overall, it had been successful in resolving many of the problems it faced at the end of the Committee's ninth session. It had, however, not been able to clear all outstanding issues. It hoped that the Committee would be able to adopt efficient working methods, striving to make appropriate use of its time to conclude negotiations in the most effective way. Although the European Union regretted that no compromise was reached on the important issue of the Global Mechanism, it appreciated the constructive and cooperative atmosphere during the negotiations and hoped the same spirit would prevail during future deliberations.
"Responding to comments made by other Committee members regarding the Union's participation in the resumed session, he said that he had assumed that the resumed session would be technical in nature. There were staff members at the permanent missions of European Union member States in Geneva who were experts and had previously participated in the work of the Committee, he added."
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