15 November 2010: The Bureau of the Preparatory Process for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, also called Rio+20) met with the expanded Executive Committee of the Economic and Social Affairs (EC-ESA Plus) on 4 November 2010, in New York, US.

The Bureau meeting followed a meeting of the EC-ESA, which had been chaired by UNCSD Secretary-General Sha Zukang, who reported that, during the previous discussion, participants suggested that UNCSD should not reopen Agenda 21 or the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI), and they should play a role in linking climate change, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the sustainable development agenda. They had suggested that the “green economy” was a mechanism to facilitate the implementation and achievement of national sustainable development plans, and not a substitute for sustainable development. Participants further identified priority issues including access to energy, water, food security and sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, urbanization and vulnerability to disasters. They highlighted climate change and its impacts, gender, population dynamics, financing and education as cross-cutting issues.

Speakers at the EC-ESA-UNCSD Bureau meeting expressed the hope that the UNCSD would discuss and reach consensus on actions related to: climate change and energy also in anticipation that 2012 will be designated the International Year of Energy; education; green economy; sustainable agriculture and food security, including in relation to climate change; urbanization; gender; water; disaster and vulnerability; and decent work. Speakers also called attention to the special situation of the most vulnerable countries such as the least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS), and the need to take into account their circumstances. [Minutes of the Meeting]