PRESS BRIEFING ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

The eleventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development that concluded today had been a success, Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

With approximately 40 ministers attending the opening and more than 900 representatives from non-governmental organizations and other groups participating, he continued, it had focused on devising methods to ensure the implementation of decisions made at the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.  The Commission had decided to operate in two-year cycles, with the first year devoted to reviewing implementation and identifying problems, and the second dedicated to determining what needed to be negotiated in order to address those problems.

Because sustainable development was a very broad topic, the Commission had also decided upon a sequence of specific themes to be tackled during each cycle, he said.  In that manner, progress would not be limited to shallow discussion of a range of issues that was too wide.  The first thematic cluster, to be addressed in 2004 and 2005, would include water, sanitation, and human settlements.  Following that, the second cycle would focus on energy, industrial development, air pollution, and climate change, and the third would be devoted to agriculture, rural development, droughts, and desertification.  The fourth cluster contained the topic of waste management, the fifth involved forests, biodiversity, biotechnology, tourism, and mountains; and the sixth, to be discussed in 2014 and 2015, comprised oceans and small island developing States.

Because the thematic clusters were coherent and focused, he felt that the participation of officials other than environmental ministers would be facilitated, and that broader governmental participation would be good for the implementation of sustainable development agreements.  He also cited the Commission’s efforts to involve more scientists and educators in its work by holding fairs and lectures.

Asked about where funding for development projects would come from, he said he was counting on the United States and Europe, which had committed an extra $5 billion and $7 billion, respectively.  Such donations proved the usefulness of the Johannesburg Summit, which had produced clearer programs and goals, as well as stronger donor commitments.

Fielding a question about what issues the ministers had been discussing at the Commission, he responded that they had talked about how the thematic clusters would be organized.  For example, some had been concerned that, with narrow thematic clusters, there was the danger of overlooking pressing issues that were not slated to be discussed during a given two-year cycle.  On the other hand, they realized that it would not be possible to cover every topic, every year.  Thus, they finally compromised by agreeing to discuss several related topics within each cycle.

The role of regional economic commissions and non-United Nations regional bodies was also debated, he added.  In the end, an emphasis was placed on the regional economic commissions, with a window established to allow for participation by non-United Nations agencies.  Finally, they reached agreements on the exact language that would be used when reporting and monitoring developments.

Asked why there was no “Johannesburg plus ten” follow-up conference scheduled, he said that the cycles, including a two-year appraisal of implementation, would last until 2017, around 15 years after the Johannesburg Summit.  He also remarked that major global conferences should be held when needed, not simply because a set amount of time had passed since the last meeting.

Responding to allegations that the thematic clusters scheme would create problems, since, for example, oceans would not be discussed until 2014, he said he hoped that the General Assembly would remain seized of pressing environmental matters and keep them under review, even when they were not the main focus of the Commission’s two-year cycles.

Asked about political tensions surfacing in the Commission, he said that political issues could not be avoided.  Water, for example, was a very political topic.  Nevertheless, it was good for political differences to be aired and discussed in public forums; that was, in fact, the whole point of processes such as these.  Such discussions were also positive because they attracted the participation of non-environmental ministers. 

Asked about sustainable development meetings leaving indigenous peoples behind, he responded that indigenous peoples had been very active in Johannesburg.  He added that they were not being lumped together with other non-governmental organizations, and, in fact, were recognized as having a great deal to contribute to sustainable development.  Already, much had been done to listen to indigenous voices, not just in a human rights context, but in a development context as well.

Responding to a question about when the Commission would meet again, he said it would meet in New York in the spring of 2004 to discuss water, sanitation, and human settlements.  He added that the meeting would be a good test to see how the Commission could apply pressure in order to get results.

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