Commission on Sustainable Development

Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting

7^th Meeting (AM)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PREPARATORY MEETING DISCUSSES INTERLINKAGES AMONG PRIORITY

THEMES -- ENERGY, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, AIR POLLUTION, CLIMATE CHANGE

Final Document Will Contain Policy Options for Commission Session, 30 April-11 May

The Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development today concluded its consideration of four priority themes -- energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere and climate change -- with a special focus on interlinkages and cross-cutting issues, including the means of implementing of agreed upon international targets.

The Intergovernmental Meeting is considering the four priority themes ahead of the fifteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which will begin on 30 April and run through 11 May.  The Preparatory Meeting is expected to forward to the Commission concrete policy options that Governments could use to address that cluster of issues.

Speakers in this morning’s interactive discussion stressed that urgent action was required, in conjunction with vigorous efforts to reduce poverty, to meet the shared and multiple objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving the global environment, enhancing energy security and cutting air pollution.  The thematic cluster issues should be integrated into national strategies for sustainable development and poverty reduction.  The Commission on Sustainable Development provided a forum for an exchange of national experience in integrating policies and measures regarding the thematic cluster issues, their interlinkages and cross-cutting issues into national strategies.

Other speakers emphasized the need for all countries to adopt an integrated approach to environmental, economic, social and development objectives.  A more coherent framework within the United Nations could promote an integrated approach and address interlinkages.  Speakers from developing countries stressed the necessity of full implementation of international commitments in the areas of energy, industrial development, air pollution and climate change, and called for support in capacity-building, the transfer of technology, as well as for a supportive international environment to facilitate the implementation of national strategies.

Further, delegates noted the importance of: eliminating tariff barriers; good governance; gender mainstreaming; education; strengthening public-private partnerships; regional cooperation; access to affordable, environmentally sound technologies; and capacity-building.  Research and development should be improved and partnerships, in particular at the regional level, should be promoted.

One speaker noted that one cross-cutting issue had emerged above all others: the urgent pleas for help echoed by delegations from small island developing States and least developed countries.

Before focusing on interlinkages and cross-cutting issues, the Meeting wrapped up yesterday’s discussion on climate change, with contributions from a number of national delegates and representatives of major groups.

The Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting will convene again at 10 a.m. Friday, 2 March, to consider the proposed final document that will be forwarded to the Commission.

Background

The Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the fifteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development met today to hold interactive discussions on policy options to expedite implementation of development goals, focusing on interlinkages and cross-cutting issues regarding energy, air pollution, climate change and industrial development.  The Secretary-General’s report before the meeting -- document E/CN.17/2007/6 -- was summarized in Press Release ENV/DEV/909. The Meeting is also expected to wrap up yesterday’s discussion on climate change.

Interactive Discussion on Climate Change

Opening the final round of comments on climate change, a speaker from the developed world said that the Commission could have a particular role in driving global discussion on the links between energy use and climate change.  She added that initiatives to tackle climate change must be guided by efforts to prevent a 2 degree change in the worldwide temperature, which could only be accomplished by radically changing consumption habits.  While developed countries must take the lead role, a much broader participation was needed to tackle the huge problem.  National climate measures were necessary for all nations, she said.

Another delegates said that it was now clear that realization of the Millennium Development Goals could be seriously undermined by the effects of climate change.  That phenomenon must be taken into account and everyone must find ways to make investments in development “climate proof”.  He said that there was now greater public support to realize some of the adaptation and mitigation measures, including those that had been discussed yesterday in the new report sponsored by the United Nations Foundation and the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, Confronting Climate Change:  Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable.  Considering the urgency of the need for adaptation measures, the speaker also called for swift implementation of the “adaptation fund” plank of the Kyoto Protocol, as well a swift start-up of the adaptation initiatives contained in the World Bank’s climate change action plan.

A speaker from an oil-producing country said that the Arab region was keen to help other nations address their energy needs and to explore innovative ways to dispose of the waste produced by oil and natural gas industries in an environmentally safe way.

When representatives of non-governmental organizations and major groups weighed in, a speaker for the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization said that globalization had set in motion yet another troubling trend: while increased human travel, industrial transport, land development and trade all brought economic benefits, they were also severely pressuring the environment, draining natural resources and contributing to air pollution and climate change.

She said that, like globalization, pollution and environmental degradation did not respect boundaries; yet, all nations continued to treat atmospheric change and air and water pollution as a local phenomenon.  Indeed, State Governments and the wider international community rushed relief aid to the victims of hurricanes and floods and then rebuilt communities in or at risk locations, as if those natural disasters had been one time events.

Climate change and, in many cases, transboundary pollution, were at the root of many such events, and it was high time for national authorities to get together with their regional neighbours and relevant international agencies to come up with concrete policies and actions to address the negative impacts of climate change, land degradation and deforestation.  All nations needed to work together to take economic development to greater heights, while protecting the environment

The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that climate- related health risks were clearly concentrated in developing countries, and particularly affected the children in those countries.  According to WHO estimates, climate change could be said to have claimed the lives of more than 1 million people over the past 10 years.  He said that, while the trends and statistics were troubling, there were opportunities to improve health, particularly as countries worked to decarbonize their economies.

But, it was, nevertheless, clear that public health strategies needed to move beyond individual projects towards the development of a global framework to combat the health effects of climate change.  He said that, in the coming year, WHO planned to consult with agencies inside and outside the United Nations system on ways to advise States on what sectors and plans needed to be strengthened, in order to protect health worldwide from the effects of climate change.

Speaking for the indigenous peoples’ major groups, a representative called on Governments and international agencies to recognize that indigenous communities could make important contributions to efforts to formulate policy responses to climate change.  But, it was also important to realize that climate change could not be divorced from issues of social and environmental justice.  Indeed, the world order was established in such a way that it favoured industrial minorities who were destroying the atmosphere and wrecking the planet by producing smog, wiping out sea life and digging up forests.  It was clear that those harmful activities touched nearly every part of indigenous life and livelihood.  Indigenous and local communities must be involved in policy discussions on climate change adaptation and mitigation, particularly to integrate eco-criteria in such discussions.

Interactive Discussion on Interlinkages and Cross-Cutting Issues

The Meeting then turned its attention to interlinkages and cross-cutting issues, including means of implementation regarding the four thematic issues of energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere and climate change.

According to speakers, urgent action was required to meet the shared and multiple objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving the global environment, enhancing energy security and cutting air pollution in conjunction with vigorous efforts to reduce poverty.  The thematic cluster issues should be integrated into national strategies for sustainable development and poverty reduction.  The Commission on Sustainable Development provided a forum for exchange of national experience in integrating policies and measures regarding the thematic cluster issues, their interlinkages and cross-cutting issues into national strategies.

A speaker on behalf of a bloc of developed countries saw climate change as a key interlinking issue within the thematic cluster.  The Commission would need to complement and provide additional momentum to the processes of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.  There was a need for all countries to adopt an integrated approach to environmental, economic, social and development objectives.  A more coherent framework within the United Nations could promote an integrated approach and address interlinkages.  Innovative economic instruments such as the Clean Development Mechanism and the carbon market should be utilized in order to leverage additional private and public funding.

A speaker on behalf of a group of developing countries stressed the necessity of full implementation of international commitments in the areas of energy, industrial development, air pollution and climate change, thereby keeping in mind the principle of common, but differentiated, responsibilities.  He called for support in capacity-building, the transfer of technology, as well as for a supportive international environment to facilitate the implementation of national strategies.

Further policy options could include measures to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers on exports from developing countries, increased direct investment flows to developing countries and early implementation of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product in official development assistance. Echoing other speakers, he also called for greater involvement of the private sector and for strengthening public-private partnerships.

Speakers called for an improved understanding of the negative impacts of inappropriate use of incentives, subsidies, taxation and tariffs, and of the positive impacts of such other market instruments as certification.  They urged improved access to affordable environmentally sound technologies, improved technology cooperation and capacity-building.  Research and development should be improved, and partnerships, in particular at the regional level, should be promoted.

Support was expressed for improved public-private partnerships.  Greater cooperation and partnerships with regional organizations was also urged, including with regional development banks, as was the strengthening of South-South cooperation.  A speaker from the industrialized world said that partnerships were a primary tool for moving from words to action, in order to achieve the cross-cutting aims of the sustainable development agenda, particularly to address economic development and environmental protection in Africa.  He said that, since Johannesburg, the action-oriented reforms of the Commission had shifted the international community’s focus from “words are good -- actions are better” to “results matter”.

Another representative said that it was important to consider initiatives promoting good governance, which would attract foreign investors and generate private sources of funding that could effectively address energy supply and security concerns at the national and local levels.  She added that her delegation looked forward to the adoption of a short, strategic, balanced and action-oriented outcome document focusing on key areas where progress could be achieved by the Commission this coming May.

The importance of gender equality and gender mainstreaming was also underlined, as was education, including a call for a global campaign for human-resource training in the area of sustainable development.  Several speakers stressed the need for enhanced national strategies for capacity-building.  Many drew attention to the importance of continuing the follow-up of the “Marrakech Process”, the first international expert meeting on sustainable consumption and production, held in Marrakech in June 2003.

One speaker from the developed world said one cross-cutting issue had emerged above all others: the urgent pleas for help echoed by delegations from small island developing States and least developed countries.  The Commission must urgently identify clear strategies to address their unique environment and poverty alleviation concerns.  The Commission could also consider ways to enable and facilitate priority access to Global Environment Facility funding in that regard.

Delegations also expressed support for continued implementation of the Bali guiding principles that had been agreed during the preparatory process in the run-up to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development.  Several also called for a more consistent United Nations framework towards development of a more coherent response to the climate change-energy nexus.  In that regard, one delegation said that it was time for the General Assembly to become more involved in international discussions on environmental issues.

Calling for more financial investment in the Commission’s priority areas, one speaker said that recognizing the need for such financing was one thing, taking action to provide it was another.  All States should buckle down and make real efforts to utilize and further develop innovative instruments to mobilize public and private funding to address issues related to energy, pollution and climate change.  She added that negotiating delegations should realize that it was time to begin consideration of a comprehensive post-2012 climate change agreement, which could, among other things, extend or expand current agreements and outline new priorities.

The representative for local authorities said her delegation believed that international agencies and developed countries should more actively fund South-South programmes and seminars on ways to address climate change.  Local authorities pledged good governance to ensure that funds that were pledged would be properly used towards attaining internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

On behalf of women’s groups, a speaker emphasized the importance of integrating gender issues in the policy discussions on cross-cutting issues on the agenda of the Commission.  New investments for expanding energy access should promote gender-sensitive research on energy access and other energy needs.  Women, and particularly poor and rural women, should be actively consulted at every level of such discussions, especially project design, planning and implementation.  Finally, she said that it was important for Governments to link international commitments on energy with other commitments, including those on gender equality, poverty reduction and sustainable development.

The representative of non-governmental organizations focused on Africa and expressed concern that there was a tendency for international actors to focus on a rapid technical and industrial growth in developing countries, while ignoring the broader consequences.  Such actions, particularly energy or agriculture infrastructure upgrades, when operationalized, often had disastrous effects on communities and fragile ecosystems.  It was time for States speaking in international development forums to move beyond the propaganda of what they were doing in their countries, and take concrete action to address real sustainable development issues, based on the principles of equity and solidarity, he said.

A delegate representing youth groups said his delegation stressed that cross-cutting education issues must be targeted at children, who were proven leaders in peer education.  The future of the environment could be measured by the level of consciousness the world’s youth had on environmental issues.

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For information media • not an official record