12 April 2016: The UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Second Committee (Economic and Financial) is continuing the review of its methods of work to better support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The informal consultation process began in February 2016, and governments have discussed the Committee’s organization of work, agenda, and resource management, most recently on 12 April 2016. The delegations of Australia and Rwanda, serving as co-facilitators of the consultations, are preparing a revised proposal on reorganizing the agenda of the Second Committee.

At the meeting on 12 April, Member States responed to the co-facilitators’ proposal. Canada, EU, Japan, and the US expressed support for integrated reporting, biennialization, and reducing the number of agenda items, and called for more ambition in transforming the Committee to respond to the 2030 Agenda. They cautioned against lowering ambition because of other ongoing or upcoming processes on the UN General Assembly (UNGA), which the EU stressed cannot solve the issues that need to be solved in the Second Committee.

Morocco, for the Group of 77 and China (G-77/ China), expressed concern about biennialization, integrated reporting and the decrease in the number of agenda items. He called for further reflection and consideration of the co-facilitators’ proposal, saying that “drastic change” will take years, and by seeking more ambition, “we might actually kill it.” China noted that many items were missing from the co-facilitators’ proposal, such as energy, infrastructure or inequality. Colombia underscored that the process is not one of Second Committee “revitalization” but “alignment.”

Maldives, for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), suggested that the Committee should first reach consensus on its overarching purpose and value, which has not been discussed. She called for clearly identifying objectives for each agenda item and sub-item, and said rearranging resolutions or renaming agenda items might not serve Member States’ goal.

Switzerland expressed support for sequencing the Second Committee’s working methods process before commencing the process to align the UNGA’s agenda with the 2030 Agenda, as announced in March by UNGA President Mogens Lykketoft. That consultation process will be facilitated by María Emma Mejía Vélez, Permanent Representative of Colombia, and will begin with “mapping” UNGA agenda items and resolutions.

The Australia and Rwanda co-facilitators said they will issue a revised draft proposal on the Second Committee process and convene further consultations. [IISD RS Sources] [IISD RS Story on First Informal Meeting] [IISD RS Story on UNGA Agenda Process]