31 October 2011: The UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) has issued a common statement on the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), following the CEB’s biannual meeting and retreat. The statement underscores that eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development “must start with the recognition that the world has changed in fundamental ways.”

The common statement affirms that sustainable development is a top priority for the respective organizations, and recognizes the “historic opportunity” provided by UNCSD to “reset the world on a sustainable development path.” While noting that climate change is significantly altering the physical and human geography of the planet, it underlines that “wide-ranging technological progress, from renewable energy and energy efficiency, to innovative measures for adapting to climate change impacts” now provide opportunities that were not available 20 years ago.

The common statement highlights a number of priority issues warranting particular attention at the Conference, including: energy, water, oceans, green jobs, sustainable cities, sustainable agriculture and food security, disaster risk reduction (DRR), and investing in health, education, youth, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The inter-agency statement was submitted as input to the UNCSD Compilation Document, ahead of the 1 November 2011 deadline for submissions. The common statement serves as a “chapeau” for the individual contributions submitted by each agency.

The common statement was developed at the initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, within the framework of the CEB’s High-level Committee on Programmes (HLCP), which is chaired by Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). [CEB Press Release] [Website of CEB]