7 March 2011: The second meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio 2012) is taking place at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 7-8 March 2011. The meeting (PrepCom II) will discuss the objectives and themes of the Conference, with a focus on Conference “deliverables,” the status of preparations, and expectations and next steps on the Conference outcome document.

The first day of PrepCom II will include: an opening session with the introduction of the report of the UN Secretary-General and the updated Synthesis Report, a briefing on the status of preparations by Conference Secretary-General Sha Zukang, a presentation by Brazil as host country of the Conference on the status of preparations; statements by political groupings; an interactive discussion on the objectives of the Conference, as guided by a set of questions accompanying the Organization of Work; and an interactive discussion on “Theme 1” of the Conference, “Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication,” also guided by a set of prepared questions.

The second day will include: an interactive discussion on “Theme 2” of the Conference, “Institutional framework for sustainable development,” guided by another set of prepared questions; and a closing session, including an interactive discussion on the contents and format of the outcome document and other expected outcomes and next steps in the preparatory process, and statements by political groupings.

The schedule of 16 side events taking place during PrepCom II also is available. [Provisional Agenda for PrepCom II] [Organization of Work and Discussion Questions for PrepCom II] [Schedule of Side Events] [Publication: Report of Secretary-General to PrepCom II] [Publication: Synthesis Report] [Website of UNCSD Secretariat] [IISD RS Coverage]