United Nations, Republic of Korea Sign Agreement to Establish

New Research, Training Office for Sustainable Development

 

NEW YORK, 9 December (DESA) — The United Nations has signed an agreement with the Republic of Korea to establish a new research and training facility on sustainable development.

The United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) is a joint effort by the United Nations, the Korean Ministry of Environment, the City of Incheon and Yonsei University.

The agreement to establish the UNOSD was signed by United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Sha Zukang and the Korean Minister for Environment, Maanee Lee, in the presence of senior United Nations officials, Government ministers, and other experts and activists, on 8 December, at a ceremony during the climate conference in Cancun, Mexico.

“We are deeply grateful for the unwavering commitment and response of the Republic of Korea to the sustainable development agenda,” said Mr. Sha at the ceremony.  He went on to say that the presence of three other heads of United Nations agencies at the event signified the commitment of the United Nations system to “Deliver as One”.  “Just as the agenda of sustainable development is shared by all UN entities, the new Office will be a resource on behalf of the entire UN system.”

UNOSD will serve as a training and resource facility for developing countries on sustainable development, including in the preparations for the forthcoming Rio+20 Conference.  It will organize training programmes and expert conferences, collaborate with a network of training institutions in developing countries, and undertake policy research on the progress and gaps in the achievement of sustainable development goals.

The UNOSD will be housed in Yonsei University in the City of Inchon.  It will begin operations in April 2011 with a launch conference and expert meeting on the “Drivers, Risks, and Challenges in the Transition to a Green Economy”.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, often referred to by the media as “Earth Summit 2012”, will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2012.  The Conference is being convened by the United Nations General Assembly with the goal of securing renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assessing progress and gaps in implementation of past agreements, and addressing new and emerging challenges.  It has two thematic focuses, “a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication”, and “the institutional framework for sustainable development”.

For more information, please contact the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Division for Sustainable Development, e-mail:  dsd@un.org; or the United Nations Department of Public Information’s Development Section, e-mail:  mediainfo@un.org.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record