January 2006: Regional implementation meetings have now taken place in all UN regions in preparation for the fourteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14). Participants at these meetings considered the thematic cluster of issues to be considered at CSD-14 and identified priority actions based on their regions’ experience and needs.
The Arab Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) convened in association with the Joint Committee for Environment and Development in the Arab region (JCEDAR) in Cairo from 13-15 November 2005. Priority actions this region will forward to CSD-14 include: the importance of poverty alleviation through enhancing access to modern energy services to foster economic and social development in rural and poor urban areas; improving consumption patterns, upgrading air quality and promoting better governance and Public Participation for Sustainable Development; and mitigating the impact of polices and measures adopted by the industrial countries to comply with climate change convention and Kyoto protocol and to compensate the losses incurred by Arab nations due to these measures.
The Second UNECE Regional Implementation Forum on Sustainable Development took place in Geneva on 15-16 December 2005. This forum highlighted the need to improve access to energy services to meet basic human needs and achieve sustainable industrial development, and noted that UNECE countries share a large responsibility in tackling this task through their official development assistance (ODA) and partnerships. This region also called attention to the high importance of energy related environmental issues and the issue of energy security both in the UNECE region and the rest of the world.
The Asia-Pacific Regional Implementation Meeting met under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand, from 19-20 January 2006. Participants identified adaptation in agriculture, forests and terrestrial ecosystems as high priority measures for most Asian countries, while the key issue for small island developing States is adapting water resources and coping with rising sea levels.
Also in preparation for CSD-14, the second meeting of the CSD-14 Bureau took place on 11 December 2005, in Tbilisi, Georgia. Participants discussed a draft organization of work, which proposed holding parallel sessions involving: general statements focused on overview of progress in implementing Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation; and thematic and regional discussions focusing deliberations on identifying barriers and constraints, lessons learned and best practices in relation to the thematic cluster. A Multi-stakeholder dialogue session would discuss the role of major groups in promoting action to implement the thematic cluster and a “SIDS day” would review the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy. A High-level Segment would convene from 10-12 May 2006. [UN Division for Sustainable Development: links to all regional meetings] [West Asia/Arab Regional Implementation Meeting Outcome Document] [UNECE Regional Implementation Meeting Outcome Document] [UN news release on ESCAP Regional Implementation Meeting] [Notes from the Bureau meeting, December 2005] [Draft Organization of CSD-14 Work]