Economic and Social Council: Meetings Coverage

Focusing their second day of talks on two themes identified by the General Assembly for discussion in 2012 — a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and the institutional framework for sustainable development — participants at the first Preparatory Committee meeting for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development urged that new concepts not sideline already agreed sustainable development platforms.

Calling for a shift from good ideas to focused actions without further delay, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Commission on Sustainable Development today that such actions were needed in order to meet the world’s responsibility towards future generations and to implement commitments already made. “We know what we need to do. We know what works,” the Secretary-General said this afternoon as the Commission concluded its eighteenth session.

On the second day of its high-level segment, the Commission on Sustainable Development held three interactive ministerial dialogues today, with the aim of helping the diverse and growing number of stakeholders in the global push to rebalance consumption and production patterns achieve coherence in the transport, chemicals, waste management and mining sectors.

Only through collective dedication and adherence to the decisions taken by the Commission on Sustainable Development — which required commitments by Governments and all partners — could sustainable development be achieved, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today as the Commission held its high-level segment on obstacles and constraints to implementation of the agenda pertaining to themes of its current cycle. The high-level segment runs until Friday, 14 May.

Partnerships had become integral to the “development landscape” -- perhaps the most popular medium for increasing involvement by non-traditional actors in decision-making -- but better coordination was needed to harness effectively their potential for creating change, experts told the Commission on Sustainable Development today as it held two multi-stakeholder dialogues aimed at advancing its work and, more broadly, the goals of the landmark Agenda 21.

Devoting a day of its two-week annual session to small island developing States, the Commission on Sustainable Development heard calls today for renewed efforts to recognize the vulnerabilities and special situations of those States and for urgent action to help them build resilience and a sustainable future.

Demand for sustainable goods and services was growing exponentially across the public and private sectors, providing new opportunities for poverty eradication, job creation and environmental protection, but a viable framework for achieving that success was still needed, the Commission on Sustainable Development heard today as it rounded out the first week of its two-week annual session.

The Commission on Sustainable Development today began exploring a 10-year framework of programmes to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, with speakers saying that change must begin in developed countries, where consumption was focused on luxury, whereas it was based on meeting basic needs in the developing world.

Meeting in four parallel sessions today, delegates in the Commission on Sustainable Development sounded the alarm over consumption and production habits that could put the Millennium Development Goals at risk, as they continued their review of key issues worldwide.

Delegates to the eighteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development today heard two panels of experts address the topics of transport and chemicals in parallel afternoon meetings.