SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION NEAR AGREEMENT ON DRAFT TEXTS; SESSION SET TO CONCLUDE TOMORROW

Commission on Sustainable Development

Eleventh Session

8th Meeting (PM)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION NEAR AGREEMENT ON DRAFT TEXTS;

SESSION SET TO CONCLUDE TOMORROW

In a brief meeting this afternoon, the Commission on Sustainable Development heard from its two working groups on the progress being made towards finalizing the draft decisions due to be adopted tomorrow at the close of the eleventh session.

The Chairman of the first working group said it had split into two contact groups.  The first had achieved considerable agreement on the implementation cycle of the Commission work programme, and the second was progressing well on the programme’s outline and framework.  (It is envisioned that the Commission’s new work programme will be organized in a two-year implementation cycle, with the first year focusing on review and the second on policy.)

The second working group had also split into two separate groups, the Chairman of that group said, with one group working on the bureau draft decision and the other on partnerships.  Progress had been made on partnerships, although there remained some minor elements to finalize, and the group had almost reached agreement on a draft decision on small island developing States.

Noting that progress had been made on all draft decisions, Commission Chairman Valli Moosa (South Africa) said he was certain they would completed by the end of the day.  He stressed that drafting must be completed by then, since the session would conclude tomorrow.  The Commission would like to send a message to the world about its programme of work, he added, and that signal should be positive in the current global situation.

The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m., Friday, 9 May, to adopt several draft decisions and conclude its session.

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