UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon has submitted a report, titled ‘Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20),' to the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 68).
The report summarizes progress since Rio+20, including on the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and the post-2015 development agenda.
September 2013: UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon has submitted a report, titled ‘Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20),’ to the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 68). The report summarizes progress since Rio+20, including on the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and the post-2015 development agenda.
The report highlights emerging ideas from the work of the Open Working Group (OWG) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including: the post-2015 agenda must complete the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); the SDGs should be more ambitious than the MDGs, reinforce and build upon international commitments and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development; and poverty should be central in the SDGs. It suggests a global dashboard of goals and targets to reflect common but differentiated (CBD) responsibilities and adjust goals to national circumstances.
The report informs on the institutional framework for the HLPF, which will meet every four years under the UNGA and every year under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The HLPF will: focus on the three dimensions of sustainable development; discuss specific challenges of Africa, Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS); review implementation of sustainable development commitments; and strengthen the science-policy interface, including through a Global Sustainable Development Report.
On the post-2015 agenda, the report highlights the need: for consistent messages and directions across all UN processes; to find synergies among processes; and to strengthen the institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD). It recognizes the HLPF as the appropriate forum to coordinate these processes and discusses its role in strengthening the IFSD, including how the HLPF can learn from the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), help build synergies among processes and ensure implementation and monitoring of the SDGs.
The report also: describes the establishment of an intergovernmental committee of experts on sustainable development financing; notes options on clean and environmentally sound technologies; discusses sustainable consumption and production (SCP); highlights partnerships and voluntary commitments; describes preparations for the Third International Conference on SIDS; and addresses intergenerational solidarity and mainstreaming sustainable development in the UN system.
The report concludes with recommendations focused on supporting the HLPF’s work and ensuring cohesion on Rio+20 follow up processes. [Publication: Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of WSSD and Rio+20]