Second Committee

While the United Nations Global Compact represented a significant development in relations between the Organization and business, contributing significantly to the emerging consensus on the value of corporate sustainability, it was important to build on that progress, speakers in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) heard today as they considered global partnerships.

The links between energy and food would continue to grow, with the high cost of oil contributing to soaring food prices, because demand for commodities was increasingly interconnected, a top Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official said today during a Second Committee (Economic and Financial) panel discussion.

Major developments in urbanization since the Second United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat II) made a strong case for holding a third meeting, Joan Clos, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) as it began considering that agency’s work today.

The planet would suffer irreversible damage if “business as usual” continued, Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs warned today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) began its consideration of sustainable development.

Emphasizing the vital importance of international trade to the growth and development of least developed countries, delegates in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) underlined today the urgent need to successfully conclude a development-oriented outcome to the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations.

Governments must unite to create jobs or face the pressing danger posed by the massive movements organizing around the world, Juan Somavía, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), said today during a joint meeting of Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and the Economic and Social Council.

Arbitrary detention and disproportionate use of military force, the expansion of settlements and the blockade of the Gaza Strip continued to constrain the functioning of the Palestinian Authority while contributing to the growing economic and social hardship faced by its citizens, Rima Khalaf, Executive Secretary for Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

Farmers were not just farmers, they were also entrepreneurs and should be treated as such, the representative of the Netherlands told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today as it concluded its consideration of agriculture development and food security.

A Nobel Laureate’s pessimistic appraisal of global economic prospects at Headquarters today included a warning that the current emphasis on austerity in policy responses to the world financial crisis was not only failing to solve its underlying causes but might actually amount to “economic suicide”.

While hailing last May’s adoption of the Istanbul Programme of Action as a feat for the world’s poorest countries, many delegates in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) warned today that further delaying its practical implementation would lead to a further deterioration in the lives of hundreds of millions of people.