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A Council for Sustainable Development: A possible outcome of the Rio+20 Process

Jan-Gustav Strandaneas • 25-10-2011
Strandaneas, J. G. 2011. A Council for Sustainable Development: A possible outcome of the Rio+20 Process. Think Piece, Stakeholder Forum.
A Council for Sustainable Development: A possible outcome of the Rio+20 Process

This paper argues for the establishment of a permanent council on sustainable development to be established. The Rio plus 20 Conference has a mandate for such a decision to be made. Having made the decision the Rio plus 20 Conference should elaborate this decision and include a number of concrete elements in this decision.

As with the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council, a high -level committee of experts, including representatives of civil society ‘major groups’, needs to be established by the UN Secretary General to prepare a series of options for governments’ consideration. This committee should develop suggestions on the mandate, structure, work areas, process and membership of the new Council, and deliver its proposal to the UN General Assembly, no later than a year afterthe conclusion of ‘Rio plus 20’. The Council on Sustainable Development could then convene its first meeting at the time that the Commission on Sustainable Development would have met.

The immediate action required would be for the ‘Rio plus 20’ Conference to agree on the establishment of the Council as one of its primary results.

It could:

  • Establish a high level committee of experts to provide specific proposals regarding the structure, mandate, modalities and work-programme of this council and how to provide it with the necessary authority within the UN system to effectively interact with all levels of the intergovernmental system;
  • Mandate the committee of experts to report to the General Assembly by December 2012, with either specific recommendations regarding modalities of the Council on Sustainable Development or with a recommendation that at its first meeting, in 2013, the new Council should determine its own modalities;
  • Assure that this high level committee includes expert representatives from all relevant stakeholders, including , governments, the intergovernmental system, the major groups and academia;

Among the modalities the committee should address are:

  • The relationship of the new Council to the UN General Assembly;
  • The structure of the council, including its leadership, secretariat, membership, and meeting frequency;
  • The relationship to the permanent councils, in particular ECOSOC;
  • The relationship to other relevant UN entities, such as specialised agencies, subsidiary bodies working on sustainable development and other relevant intergovernmental institutions, in order to operationalize the three pillars of sustainable development;
  • The particular focus that should be given the financial institutions with a view to green economy and to UNEP;
  • The Council’s standing in the international sustainable development and environmental governance system, as well as its relationship to environmental law systems, and all intergovernmental entities dealing with aspects of sustainable development;
  • How the present Commission on Sustainable Development can be integrated into the new council, and how a smooth transition of the agenda responsibilities of CSD can be made;
  • How emerging issues will be properly placed on the agenda of the new Council, being aware that these issues will be of an unpredictable nature;
  • How the open and interactive nature of the present Commission on Sustainable Development can be adopted by the new council to allow for rich exchanges of ideas, and how the major groups, as envisaged by Agenda 21, are given a full and integrated role.
Tags: Council for Sustainable Development,Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development,proposals for reform,reform of IEG
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application/pdf iconStrandanaes_a coucil for SD.pdf