The UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Second Committee (Economic and Financial) concluded its session on 6 December 2006, after adopting draft resolutions on, inter alia: the Implementation of Agenda 21, requesting the Secretary-General to submit reports on energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air/pollution atmosphere and climate change; the sustainable development of the Caribbean Sea, urging States to develop programmes to halt the loss of marine biodiversity; the Convention on Biological Diversity, noting the progress made in negotiating the international regime on genetic resources and benefit-sharing by the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group; the Report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, reiterating the need for stable, adequate and predictable financial resources; and the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, calling for the integration of desertification into national strategies for sustainable development.

The Committee was not able to reach consensus on a draft resolution on Climate Change, due to a provision endorsing the linkage between the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) secretariat and the United Nations. Several delegations, including the European Union and G-77/China, expressed regret over this. The paragraph was included in the resolution only after a vote in which 108 countries supported the text and two (Japan and the US) opposed its inclusion. There were 49 abstentions. The resolution as a whole was also approved by a recorded vote with 114 votes in favor, none against, and 49 abstentions. The resolution calls on countries to work together to achieve the objective of the UNFCCC and notes the decisions taken at the recent UN Climate Change Conference – Nairobi 2006.
Link to further information
UN press release (8 December 2006)