SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION ELECTS OFFICERS OF ITS EIGHTH SESSION
Press Release
ENV/DEV/514
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION ELECTS OFFICERS OF ITS EIGHTH SESSION
19990430 The Commission on Sustainable Development this afternoon elected Juan Mayr Maldonado (Colombia) as Chairman of its eighth session. Patrick F.A. McDonnell (Ireland), Zvetolyub P. Basmajiev (Bulgaria) and Choi Seok Young (Republic of Korea) were elected as Vice-Chairmen. The Commission decided to postpone to a later date the election of its remaining Vice-Chairman and Rapporteur.The representative of Guyana, speaking for the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said developing countries would nominate Mohammad Reza Salamat (Iran) as Vice-Chairman of the inter-sessional ad hoc working group on energy preparing for the Commission's ninth session.
According to the provisional agenda for the eighth session, adopted at the close of the seventh session this morning, the Commission's sectoral theme will be integrated planning and management of land resources. Its cross- sectoral theme will be financial resources/trade and investment/economic growth. Agriculture will be the focus of its economic sector/major group consideration.
In addition, the Commission is to consider the report of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests. The session will include a high-level segment, and continue the practice, began during the seventh session, of interactive dialogue between Commission members and representatives of major groups.
The Commission is charged with monitoring the implementation of Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (Rio de Janeiro, 1992). At its nineteenth special session, in June 1997, the General Assembly adopted the Programme for Further Implementation of Agenda 21, recommending measures to improve implementation of the document, which aims at reshaping human activities to minimize environmental damage and ensure sustainability in the development process. The Commission consists of 53 members, elected for three-year terms.
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