25 November 2015: The UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Second Committee (Economic and Financial) has extended the deadline for the session’s work to 7 December 2015, as several draft resolutions are yet to be tabled and only a few have been adopted, according to a briefing for civil society with representatives of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). The briefing highlighted areas of progress, such as on information and communications technologies (ICT) for development, and where negotiations have made little progress, such as on Implementation of Agenda 21 (A/C.2/70/L.31).

The briefing took place on 25 November 2015, in New York, US.

On the revitalization of the work of the Second Committee, Alberto Padova, DESA’s Office for Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Support and Coordination, said the co-chairs plan to: table a draft decision before the end of the session; organize informal consultations on the matter in the beginning of 2016, which will be open to all relevant stakeholders; and provide a roadmap of future steps and consultations, on the Second Committee as well as joint meetings with the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). He said that if the Committee does not complete its work by the deadline, it may seek more procedural resolutions or votes, and there is no precedent for a resumed session in the spring.

On macroeconomic issues, Chantal Line Carpentier, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said: the resolution on ICT for development (A/C.2/70/L.23) was approved and submitted for silent procedure to the UNGA on 24 November; the resolution on trade has not been tabled yet; the resolution on Science and Technology for Development (A/C.2/70/L.40) was tabled on 24 November; and Member States might decide to have a vote on the resolution on External Debt Sustainability. Explaining the challenge in the negotiations on the resolution on Commodities (A/C.2/70/L.25), she noted that the Group of 77 and China (G-77/China) is calling for a high-level special meeting next year.

On follow-up to the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3), Daniel Platz, DESA’s Financing for Development Office (FFDO), said the text (A/C.2/70/L.29) is essentially procedural, focusing mostly on the FfD Forum. According to Platz, the main issue currently being negotiated is whether to give the ECOSOC president the mandate to organize the forum (as preferred by developed countries), or to have co-facilitators (as preferred by the G-77/China). He said ECOSOC President Oh Joon has offered the option that he would appoint co-facilitators. On the International financial system and development (A/C.2/70/L.7), Platz noted the “good spirit” characterizing the negotiations, and expressed hope that they will conclude soon.

On the Triennial UN conferences on oceans and seas (A/C.2/70/L.3), Lotta Tahtinen, DESA, noted considerable resistance to having a triennial pattern of conferences, with Member States currently agreeing only to have a conference in Fiji in 2017. [Status of Draft Proposals] [IISD RS Sources] [Second Committee Proceedings]