December 2002: The Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) met from 24 September through 11 December 2002. The Committee addressed issues relating to the environment and sustainable development, and considered outcomes of the relevant major UN conferences and summits.
Regarding the WSSD, speakers agreed that, having adopted mandates and agendas, we now need to move to the implementation phase, and that the effective implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Action require an early elaboration of the programme of work of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD). Delegates offered a range of ideas regarding the CSD, although most said it should continue to serve as the major forum within the UN system for discussion and consideration of sustainable development. On the issue of partnership initiatives, some speakers cautioned that they should not substitute for government responsibilities and commitments to sustainable development and urged that a monitoring process for them be developed. Others advocated CSD serving as a focal point for the sharing of best practices, lessons learned and progress made on partnerships.

At the Committee’s 37th meeting, on 18 November, Venezuela, on behalf of the G-77 and China, introduced a draft resolution entitled “World Summit on Sustainable Development” (A/C.2/57/L.38). At the 44th meeting, on 11 December, the Vice-Chair of the Committee, Jan Kára (Czech Republic), introduced a draft resolution (A/C.2/57/L.83), which he submitted on the basis of informal consultations held on draft resolution A/C.2/57/L.38. The new draft resolution was adopted and draft resolution A/C.2/57/L.38 was withdrawn. Final resolutions are expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly Plenary on 20 December 2002.
The draft resolution submitted by Kára can be accessed through http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/whats_new/whatsnew.html. See also the press releases regarding the Second Committee’s deliberations http://www.un.org/ga/57/second/press.html and the ENB briefing note on the Second Committee http://enb.iisd.org/linkages/committee2/2nd_committee_report.html for more information on the Committee’s deliberations.