1997 special General Assembly review of Agenda 21 should 'revitalize' international commitment to sustainable development.

Calling for a re-energizing of commitments and a focus on practical decisions, the Commission on Sustainable Development concluded its fourth session on 3 May by issuing several recommendations to guide the June 1997 special session of the General Assembly, which will review five years of progress in implementing Agenda 21-the global action plan that emerged from the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

The Assembly's special session should "work to revitalize the international commitment to the concept of sustainable development and boost the momentum for concrete proposals of action", said Commission Chairman Rumen Gechev of Bulgaria. It should recognize the "unmet objectives" of Agenda 21--a global blueprint for achieving 'sustainable development--and assess the reasons for that failure. It should also focus on raising the profile of issues which had not been sufficiently addressed at UNCED, including urban issues, transportation, renewable energy and risk management, and define priorities for the years after 1997.

Cross-sectoral issues

The Commission, which is charged with monitoring progress made by Governments and the international community in implementing Agenda 21, also reviewed for the first time implementation of the action plan related to oceans and seas. Other Commission discussions focused on cross-sectoral issues such as the need to change production and consumption patterns, improve the use of renewable energy sources, and raise levels of financial assistance and technology cooperation to achieve sustainable development, as well as sectoral concerns like forests and the atmosphere.

In all, the Commission adopted 24 decisions on wide-ranging issues during its two-week session (18 April-3 May, New York).

Recommendations for the special Assembly review in 1997 emanated from the Commission's two-day high-level segment, which brought together Government ministers, as well as all past chairmen of the Commission, the UNCED Secretary-General and a variety of other high-level officials with diverse areas of expertise. The session also featured a special panel on youth, in which young people from around the world shared their concerns and offered policy recommendations to Government ministers.

The Commission recommended that the 1997 review give special attention to post-UNCED institutional arrangements, in order to ensure their continued relevance and increased effectiveness in the years to come. It also requested intergovernmental bodies to take into account the outcome of the 1997 review and the decisions of the Commission, and decided to keep the issue of identifying generally recognized principles of international law as they pertained to sustainable development under review for further consideration at the special Assembly session.

Preparatory work for the special session should examine the institutional implications for forging new alliances for sustainable development between the UN and other major relevant organizations, including the Global Environmental Facility, the Bretton Woods institutions, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as between Governments and civil society, the Commission said. Governments and international organizations were encouraged to involve major groups' representatives in the preparations for the 1997 review process at the national level. The Assembly was invited to make arrangements for their active involvement in the special session.

Marine environment

In its first review of follow-up related to oceans and seas, the Commission recommended that the Economc and Social Council approve a periodic review of all aspects of the marine environment and related issues. The Commission also emphasized the need for the development and implementation of integrated coastal and marine area management plans to deal with issues related to the coastal marine environment. It requested that UN organizations contribute to public education on coral reefs and other marine ecosystems, and urged action in launching local or national coral reef initiatives. States should take measures to address the environmental effects of shipping and continue relevant national and regional reviews of the need to decrease degradation of the marine environment.

While the Commission welcomed the 1995 Agreement relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, it expressed concern over their continuing over-exploitation and depletion. It called for urgent corrective action to rebuild those stocks and ensure their sustainable use in the future. Under another proposal, the Council would recommend that the General Assembly ask the UN Environment Programme to establish a clearing-house, as recommended in Agenda 21, to protect the marine environment from land-based activities. The Commission also stressed the important role of the private sector in investment for sustainable development in small islands, particularly in the infrastructure and tourism sectors.

The rapid growth of the transportation sector and associated high-levels of urban air pollution were matters for concern, according to the Commission, which urged Governments that had not yet done so to join the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Stressing the importance of a sound scientific and socio-economic base of knowledge on which appropriate responses to atmospheric pollution could be formulated, the Commission encouraged national participation in and support for international programmes of relevant scientific, technical and socio-economic research, monitoring and assessment. Governments were encouraged to address the growing problem of transboundary air pollution and, in particular, risks caused by persistent organic pollutants.

Consumer lifestyles

Industrialized countries should take the lead in demonstrating that resource-efficient, low-pollution consumption and production patterns were feasible, desirable and essential for progress, the Commission said, in reaffirming that the major cause of continued degradation of the global environment was unsustainable patterns. Changes in consumer lifestyles, particularly in industrialized countries, were necessary.

No available evidence suggested that environmental policy had "a significant detrimental impact on competitiveness", the Commission noted, stressing that it would be inappropriate to relax environmental laws in order to encourage foreign direct investment or promote exports. It called on Governments to ensure coordination between trade and environmental officials at the national level, and to take steps at the national and international levels "to ensure the mutual supportiveness of trade and environmental policies in support of sustainable development".

In recognizing that new and efficient technologies would be essential to increase the capabilities of countries, particularly developing ones, to achieve sustainable development, sustain the world's economy, protect the environment and alleviate poverty, the Commission encouraged Governments, the private sector and industry to promote technology transfer to developing countries on favourable terms.

The Commission stressed the need to keep capacity-building as one of the central objectives of programmes in developing countries. Since the general problem of poverty in those countries, particularly the least developed, was related to political, economic and social marginalization, all efforts to eradicate absolute poverty and reduce overall poverty within the context of sustainable development must be accompanied by mechanisms that would effectively address those issues. The Commission suggested that its future work focus attention on the interlink ages between poverty and environment.

The Commission also underlined the importance of full, equal participation by women in all aspects of sustainable development planning and programmes. It urged Governments, the UN system and non-governmental organizations to "mainstream" a gender perspective as an essential step in developing and monitoring sustainable development policies.

The Commission, recognizing that the primary responsibility for integrating environment and development in decision-making lay with national Governments, called on them to review national legislation in light of implementing sustainable development-related international conventions and legal instruments.

RELATED ARTICLE: UN Conference on energy for twenty-first century proposed

Concluding its second session (12-23 February, New York), which focused on energy and sustainable development, the Committee on New and Renewable Sources of Energy approved a draft decision calling for the Economic and Social Council to invite UN Members to convene in the year 2001 a UN conference on energy for the twenty-first century. The conference, which would take place on the twentieth anniversary of the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, would seek to mobilize world opinion on energy and sustainable development.

Other action of the Committee focused on four subjects: the development of energy resources in developing countries; progress and policies in the development and use of renewable sources of energy, with emphasis on biomass; efficient use of energy and materials; and the relationship between energy and protection of the atmosphere.

The Committee also called for the development and implementation of new and sustainable energy strategies. It urged international financial organizations to dedicate a larger proportion of their funds to research and development, aimed at energy and materials efficiency and renewable energy development.

Since the basis of world energy supply would continue to be oil, gas and coal, the Committee said there was a need for greater partnership between Governments, the private sector, international organizations and energy users for sustainable use of those resources. It also noted that while world energy supplies remained stable, more than 2 billion people in developing countries had little access to commercial energy resources, a situation which impeded their social and economic development. However, further development of the world energy system should not endanger the quality of life of present and future generations nor exceed the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. At the same time, adequate energy supplies were urgently needed in developing countries and were essential for sustainable development in the industrialized world and transitional economies.