February 2002: The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), acting as the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), met for its second session from 28 January-8 February 2002, at UN Headquarters in New York.

The session was attended by over 1000 representatives of governments, UN agencies and convention secretariats, international organizations, and the nine Major Groups. The purpose of the session was to conduct a comprehensive review and assessment of progress achieved in the implementation of Agenda 21, including the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, as adopted in 1997 (A/RES/S-19/2). The session also sought to reach agreement on a document that could form the basis for negotiations at the Committee’s next session in late March.

The Commission agreed to transmit to its third session the Chair’s Paper as the basis for negotiation, and adopted the Chair’s Report, to which are annexed the Chair’s Summary of the Second Preparatory Session, the Chair’s Summary of the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue Segment, and the Proposals for Partnerships/Initiatives to Strengthen the Implementation of Agenda 21.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin report outlining these discussions in detail can be found at: http://enb.iisd.org/linkages/2002/pc2/