UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)

CSD-15: Energy, air pollution/atmosphere, climate change and industrial development

Policy session, second implementation cycle

30 April-11 May 2007

CSD 15 was the second in the two-year cycle focusing on the topics of energy, climate change, air pollution, and industrial development. This will be a ‘policy year’, aimed at identifying policy actions needed to overcome the obstacles identified in the CSD 14 review session.

For this meeting, ICSU contributed to the development of the UN Secretary General’s report, and submitted a set of policy recommendations on behalf of the S&T community.

• Statement by Gisbert Glaser Senior Advisor, Science for Sustainable Development,
  International Council for Science On behalf of the Science and Technology Major Group
• CSD-15 Policy Recommendations from the Scientific and Technical Community

CSD-14: Energy, air pollution/atmosphere, climate change and industrial development

Review session, second implementation cycle

1-12 May 2006

The 14th session of CSD, which took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York, 1-12 May 2006, focused on the topics of energy, air pollution/atmosphere, climate change, and industrial development. This session reviewed progress, and obstacles to progress, in meeting sustainable development goals in the above four areas.

ICSU (together with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations) submitted a discussion paper to CSD as official input from the S&T Community. In the development of this Paper, information and perspectives was sought from all ICSU National and Scientific Union Members and Interdisciplinary Bodies.

For the CSD meeting, ICSU organized an international delegation of prominent scientists and engineers to participate in the meeting discussions, and delivered a formal statement at the high-level segment, attended by government ministers from more than 90 countries.
ICSU also organized a side event on “Prediction of Climate Change and its Impacts: State-of-knowledge and Priority Areas for Strengthening Science-Policy Links”; as well as a separate day-long gathering among Major Groups representatives, which included a multi-stakeholder discussion about defining R&D priorities in the area of energy.

• The formal outcome of CSD-14 is the Chair’s Summary, on the CSD website
• Statement by the Scientific and Technological Community at the High-level Segment
• CSD-14 Discussion paper
• Predicting Climate Change and its Impacts: State-of-Knowledge and Priority Areas for Strengthening Science-Policy Links:
• Flyer of the CSD-14 Side Event

CSD-13: Freshwater, sanitation and human settlements

Policy session, first implementation cycle

11–22 April 2005

Also for the thirteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-13), ICSU acted as a “co-organising partner”, together with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO),arranging for the input by, and participation of, the S&T Community,as one of nine ”Major Groups”. In 2004-2005, the CSD has focused on the issues of freshwater, sanitation and human settlements.

CSD-13 focused on policy recommendations related to freshwater,sanitation and human settlements

While CSD-12 in 2004 had reviewed progress in meeting sustainable development goals in freshwater, sanitation and human settlements, CSD-13 was mandated to formulate policy recommendations aimed at enhancing and accelerating implementation of relevant parts in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, while focusing on related Millennium Development Goals. For CSD-13, ICSU, in cooperation with WFEO, submitted a short document entitled “Policy recommendations by the Scientific and Technological Community” which was integrated with the submissions by the other Major Groups in the document “Major Groups Priorities for Action in Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements”.

Over 140 Ministers, heads of UN system agencies and other organizations attend

The S&T community delegation to CSD-13 included representatives of ICSU, the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and WFEO.Among the ICSU representatives, there were one specialist each from the Global Water System Project and the World Climate Research Programme. Members of the S&T Community delegation were able to intervene whenever appropriate during the meeting, alongside the interventions by government delegates. A two-day ministerial-segment during the second week was attended by about 140 ministers. During this segment, a two-hour session was devoted to an interactive dialogue between ministers and Major Groups’ representatives. ICSU spoke on behalf of the S&T Community.

Three side events to promote the role of science

In addition, three side events provided an opportunity to promote the role of science in sustainable development related to the three CSD-13 topics. First, ICSU organised an event with panellists presenting the Report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development, results of the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment, and information about the Global Water System Project, as well as views on what knowledge is needed by governments (taking South Africa as an example).Second, Major Groups co-organising partners organised a half-day, two-segment seminar, with one segment organised by ICSU around the recommendation from the Advisory Group (referred to above) to start a dialogue with the Major Groups on priority setting in science and technology for sustainable development. The third side event was organised by the United Nations University (UNU), but chaired by ICSU. It addressed needs and best practises in education for sustainable development, in the context of the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development and the so-called Ubuntu Alliance.

CSD-13 agrees on policy recommendations to strengthen science and technology

The outcome of CSD-13 was a set of policy recommendations(negotiated by governments only) for enhancing sustainable development in the areas of freshwater, sanitation and human settlements. This included recommendations for enhancing the development and application of appropriate technologies; for strengthening long-term water resources observations at the national, regional, and global levels; and for building relevant S&T capacity, particularly in developing countries. (Full text of the CSD-13 outcome)

Another document relevant for CSD-13 was the document prepared by ICSU and WFEO for CSD-12 “Harnessing Science and Technology for Sustainable Development: Freshwater, Sanitation and Human Settlements”, available at http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd12.

CSD-14 on energy, air pollution/atmosphere, climate change and industrial development

CSD-14 in May 2006 will review progress in meeting sustainable developmen goals in the above four areas. ICSU and WFEO have started to prepare for the input by the S&T Community. A circular note has been sent to all National and Scientific Union Members, as well as Interdisciplinary Bodies, to submit to the ICSU Secretariat information and perspectives relevant to a better harnessing of science and technology with regard to the four CSD-14 areas.

CSD-12: Freshwater, sanitation and human settlements

Reveiw session, first implementation cycle

19-30 April 2004

ICSU and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) co-organized the Scientific and Technological Community delegation at CSD-12. The vital role of S&T for meeting sustainable development goals in the areas of freshwater, sanitation and human settlements was acknowledged by all.

CSD 12 reviews progress in fresh water, sanitation and human settlements

As recommended by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in 2002, the Commission is a high-level body created within the UN system for the purpose of reviewing and monitoring progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The role of the CSD also includes fostering international coherence of implementation and developing new initiatives and partnerships.

At the 11th session of the CSD in 2003, it was decided that the Commission in future will have a two-year cycle of work. During the first year of each two-year cycle, the CSD session will be focused on the review exercise. During the second year, the focus will be on making policy recommendations. CSD-11 also decided on a thematic cluster for each of the next five two-year cycles.

The thematic cluster for 2004/2005 is water, sanitation and human settlements. CSD-12 was the review session focused on progress (or lack of it) in sustainable development in these areas.

ICSU and World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) co-organize S&T delegation

As on previous occasions, the UN invited ICSU and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) to act as co-organizers of the Scientific and Technological Community delegation at CSD-12. The S&T Community is one of nine “Major Groups” representing various sectors of civil society, and business and industry, invited to participate in the work of the CSD, alongside governments and intergovernmental organizations.

Prior to CSD-12, all nine Major Groups had an opportunity to each submit a “Dialogue Paper” summarizing each Group’s priority issues with regard to enhancing implementation of sustainable development in the areas of freshwater, sanitation and human settlements.

• Dialogue Paper by the Scientific and Technological Community to the 12th session: Harnessing Science and Technology for Sustainable Development

Over 100 Ministers, heads of UN system agencies and other organizations attend

CSD-12 was chaired by the Mr. Børge Brende, Minister of Environment, Norway. It was attended by more than one hundred Ministers with environment, water, housing, development, finance, and agriculture portfolios, as well as the heads of a number of UN system agencies and international organizations. More generally, there was broad-based participation by governments and major groups.

Global water crisis feared

The benchmarks used for discussing “progress in implementation” were not only the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPoI) goals and targets on water, sanitation and human settlements but also the relevant Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) as set out in the Millennium Declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly in the year 2000.

There was general consensus among CSD-12 participants that most countries concerned are currently not on track to reach the relevant MDGs such as to halve number of people without access to safe drinking water. There was also general agreement that without a reversal of current trends of rapidly increasing freshwater demands, increased water pollution, and climate change the world will face a global water crisis later during this century.

• Chair’s Summary of both the technical segment (thematic review) and the ministerial segment of CSD-12

Active participation of the S&T delegation

The S&T Community delegation included representatives of ICSU, the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and WFEO. During the ministerial segment, ICSU President, Prof. Jane Lubchenco, participated in an interactive session with ministers and heads of organizations representing major groups.

• Lubchenco introductory statement

The two co-leaders of the new Global Water System Project (GWSP), Claudia Pahl-Wostl (University of Osnabrueck, Germany/ ISSC representative) and Charles Vörösmarty (University of New Hampshire, USA) have been particularly active in this regard. GWSP is a project under the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) jointly undertaken by IGBP, IHDP, WRCP and Diversitas.

The Government of South Africa (Ministry of Science and Technology), ICSU and UNESCO organised jointly during the first week of CSD-12 a well attended side-event on “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development: Finding simple solutions to complex challenges”.

Commission acknowledges the essential role of science and technology

The efforts of the S&T delegation contributed significantly to CSD-12 acknowledging the essential role of science and technology for meeting sustainable development goals and targets in the areas of freshwater, sanitation and human settlements.

More precisely, the Chair’s Summary (Part II) identifies a need to strengthen national scientific and technical capacities for monitoring and assessment of water resources, water quality, and aspects of water vulnerability. It states that closer and more focused North-South and South-South and regional scientific and technical cooperation would facilitate this.

New efforts required to meet Millennium Development Goals

Moreover, the Chair’s Summary calls for building capacity for water management, sanitation and human settlements planning in developing countries, with financial and technical assistance from developed countries and international organizations. Enhancing the dissemination of knowledge and experience and scaling up successful experiences will be essential in all efforts.

Based on the review undertaken at CSD-12, next year’s CSD-13 will have to agree on policy recommendations on how to do better in the future with regard to implementing chapters in Agenda 21 and in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation dealing with water, sanitation and human settlements. Without a major shift in direction and a major increase in appropriate measures and activities, it will not be possible to meet the relevant Millennium Development Goals.

It will be ICSU’s objective to ensure that the voice of the scientific community will again be heard at CSD-13 and that the policy recommendations include strong support for strengthening science and technology for sustainable development at the national, regional and international levels. CSD-13 will also be another opportunity to specifically address the serious problem of the widening North-South divide in science and technology.