28 January 2013: The Chair’s summary of informal consultations on the 20th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 20) has been released.

The summary is available on the Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, the website of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ (DESA) Division for Sustainable Development (DSD). CSD 20 will take place later this year, and be the Commission’s final session. The document summarizes the discussons on 15 January 2013, in New York, US, regarding the time, duration and agenda of CSD 20 and on lessons learned from the Commission’s history. The informal consultations were led by Byrganym Aitimova, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN, as Chair of CSD 20. An additional presentation was made by Nikhil Seth, DSD Director, outlining some successes and shortcomings of the CSD.

The Chair’s summary highlights differences among Member States’ views on the Commission’s final session. Some delegates said the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) decision in resolution 67/203 defined the details for a short, final session of the CSD. These States stressed a need to focus on negotiating the High-level Political Forum (HLPF). The summary notes some States’ call for discussion of issues identified in the CSD’s Multi-Year Programme of Work, and a proposal to hold CSD 20 in two parts: on substantive and one procedural. The summary also outlines Member States’ views on lessons learned from the CSD,

On next steps for the CSD process, Ambassador Aitimova suggests that informal consultations continue until consensus is reached on modalities for CSD 20. [Publication: Summary of the informal consultations] [IISD RS Story on Informal Consultations]