23 April 2012: The second round of informal informal consultations on the zero draft of the outcome document from the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) opened on 23 April 2012.

During a brief opening plenary, Ambassador John Ashe, Co-Chair of the UNCSD Preparatory Committee, noted that the latest draft of the compilation text, which includes the zero draft and all proposed amendments to that draft, now also includes the Co-Chairs’ suggested text (CST), which was offered in an attempt to bridge diverging proposals. He also explained that two working groups (WGs) would work in parallel during the consultations. WG1 would handle Sections III (Green Economy) and V (Framework for Action and Follow-up); and WG2 would discuss Sections I (Preamble), II (Renewing Political Commitment) and IV (Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development).

Delegates worked throughout the day and into the night in the two Working Groups. [IISD RS Coverage of the consultations] [UNCSD website for the consultations]