3 January 2011: Advance, unedited drafts of the Secretary-General’s Background Reports for the Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting (IPM) and 19th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 19) have recently been released, and a briefing on preparations for these events was recently held at UN Headquarters.

Recently posted reports address policy options and actions for expediting progress in implementation of the thematic issues under discussion at CSD 19 (transport, chemicals, waste management, mining, and a 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Patterns), as well as policy options and actions related to interlinkages and cross-cutting issues.

Additional reports for the session include: the report from the Intersessional Senior Expert Group Meeting on Sustainable Development of Lithium Resources in Latin America: Emerging Issues and Opportunities; the report from the Intersessional Meeting on Solid Waste Management in Africa; a compilation of major groups’ priorities for action on the CSD 19 thematic cluster of issues; and the draft programme of work for the biennium 2012-2013 for the Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

Also in preparation for the 28 February-4 March 2011 IPM and the 2-13 May 2011 CSD 19 sessions, an informal briefing was organized at UN Headquarters on 16 December 2010. The organization of work and preparations for each of these meetings was reviewed, including the intersessional meetings contributing to these sessions. It was noted that, on the final day of the IPM, a multistakeholder dialogues will discuss “advancing the implementation of sustainable development” and “expectations from CSD 19 within the context of Rio+20, given the apparent linkages between the themes of current cycle and green economy.” In January 2011, Panama will host an intersessional meeting on SCP. [CSD 19 Documents] [Summary of Briefing]