January 2004: The fourth meeting of the Bureau of the twelfth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-12) convened in New York on 23 January 2004.

Participants discussed preparations for the April 2004 session, including its organization of work. The Bureau clarified that a Chair’s summary of the officials’ segment to be distributed during CSD-12 would capture the highlights of statements and interactive discussions, including case studies and lessons learned, as well as activities of the Partnerships Fair and Learning Center, but it would not be a detailed account of those activities or be open for negotiation. The Bureau also took note of ECOSOC’s informal consultations on the status of WSSD-accredited NGOs and other Major Groups and expressed hope that a satisfactory solution to the issue could be reached as soon as possible to allow full participation of those groups in the work of CSD-12. The next Bureau meeting was scheduled for 19 March 2004, but due to delegates’ interest in providing input on the organization of work, as expressed during a briefing following the Bureau meeting, the date may change to end of February or early March.

For more information, see the note on the meeting: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd12/bureau_meeting_104.htm, and the ENB briefing note on the briefing following the Bureau meeting: http://enb.iisd.org/csd/csd12/CSD12_Briefing_1.23.04.html