At its 19th meeting, the Bureau discussed a proposal to change the schedule of informal-informal consultations on the draft Outcome Document for the Conference, and agreed that co-facilitators for negotiations would be appointed at its next meeting.
The preliminary zero draft of the Outcome Document will be circulated to Bureau members around 4 January 2012, the minutes note.
14 December 2011: The Bureau of the of Preparatory Process for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) held its 19th meeting on 14 December 2011. The session included a meeting with the Bureau of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), as well as a regular meeting covering preparations for the Second Intersessional Meeting of the Conference, next steps on negotiating the draft Outcome Document, and the process for finalizing the Rules of Procedure for the Conference.
During the meeting with ECOSOC’s Bureau, Ambassador Kim Sook, UNCSD Bureau Co-Chair, said institutional arrangements resulting from the UNCSD would need to work very closely with ECOSOC on implementation of the sustainable development agenda. Discussion addressed: the work of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), possible successor arrangements to the CSD, such as a Sustainable Development Council (SDC), and the relationship between ECOSOC and such an institution; the post-2015 development agenda and links with possible sustainable development goals (SDGs); and potential changes to ECOSOC, such as a full-time, elected president with a dedicated Secretariat. It was noted that a summary of ECOSOC’s annual retreat, held 10-11 November 2011, at which these and other proposals emerged, will be shared “with the possibility of taking some of the proposals into a formal process.”
During the regular part of the meeting, Bureau members decided that, at UNCSD Intersessional II, all nine Major Groups would have the opportunity to speak and their interventions would be interspersed with those of States and other stakeholders.
On the zero draft, the Bureau was informed that the Group of 77 and China (G-77/China) had sent a letter to the Co-Chairs proposing a change in the schedule of “informal-informal” consultations planned for February, March and April 2012. The proposal would allow for larger participation of developing countries in negotiation sessions, in view of the lack of funds in the Trust Fund. The Bureau decided to discuss the proposal at its 20th meeting, on 22 December 2011. Also at this meeting, the Bureau agreed to review the outline/structure of the zero draft of the Outcome Document resulting from the discussions during the Intersessional, and appoint co-facilitators for the negotiations. At its 21st meeting, the Bureau plans to discuss the preliminary zero draft of the outcome document and to make a decision about the next steps. According to the minutes, the zero draft will be circulated to Bureau members around 4 January 2012.
On the Rules of Procedure, two Bureau members have been appointed co-facilitators: Tania Raguž and Ana Bianchi. They plan to begin informal negotiations in January 2012, after meeting with all major political groups at the end of December. [Minutes of 19th Meeting]