13 March 2012: Nikhil Seth, the Director of the Division for Sustainable Development, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DSD/DESA), provided a briefing on the preparatory process for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).
Seth noted that there are 99 days before the Conference opens, and only 20 negotiating days. He outlined the proposed organization of work for the March “informal informal” negotiations and the intersessional meeting, which will convene at UN Headquarters in New York, US, with side events taking place during lunch and evening time slots.
He said amendments to the “zero draft” of the Rio+20 outcome document have been received from the following political groups, Member States and observers: G‐77 and China, EU, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Canada, Cuba, Georgia, Holy See, Iceland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey, Switzerland and the US. As a result of these submissions, the compilation text is now 157 pages long and contains over 75,000 words.
Seth further outlined the arrangements for the Conference. In June, the third Preparatory Committee and the Conference itself will take place in the Riocentro Convention Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Additional Rio+20-related activities will take place at Athletes’ Park, the Racetrack, the Barra Arena and Flamengo Park. High‐level roundtables are expected to address the theme “Looking at the way forward in implementing the expected outcomes of the Conference,” and a Partnership Forum, Sustainable Development (SD) Learning events and side events will convene throughout the Conference. The Partnership Forum will seek to build on the mandate agreed at the 11th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD‐11) and reenergize, revitalize and strengthen partnerships to make them an even more effective and accountable vehicle for implementation.
From 16-19 June 2012, the Government of Brazil will hold the Dialogues on Sustainable Development, consisting of nine expert panels with the participation of the civil society, around the following themes: food and nutritional security; sustainable development and the eradication of poverty; sustainable development as the answer to economic and financial crises; the economics of sustainable development, including patterns of production and consumption; sustainable cities; unemployment, decent work and migration; sustainable energy for all and innovation; water; and oceans. The outcomes from the Dialogues will be reported to the High‐level roundtables during the Conference. [Briefing]