16 May 2008: The sixteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which met from 5-16 May 2008, in New York, US, has reviewed the thematic cluster of agriculture, rural development, drought, desertification, land and Africa. Many delegations and speakers tied these agenda items to the current global food crisis and climate change, and highlighted in particular land degradation, high energy costs, climate change, poor harvests, speculation in agricultural commodities, inequitable terms of trade, decline of investments in rural and agricultural development, and increased production of biofuels from food crops as drivers of high food prices.

Speakers also tied their discussions to upcoming meetings, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization’s High-level Conference on Food Security and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy in June 2008, the UN General Assembly’s discussions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), on 22 and 25 September 2008, respectively, and the follow-up conference on Financing for Development in Doha, Qatar, from 29 November to 2 December 2008. A Chair’s Summary was developed, to provide a starting point for negotiations on policy recommendations at CSD17.


[IISDRS CSD16 website] [UNDSD CSD16 website]