CSD 1994

The Second Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development took place 16-27 May 1994.
The recommendations and decisions taken by the Commission were endorsed by the UN General Assembly in December 1994.

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REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ON ITS SECOND SESSION
(New York, 16-27 May 1994)

CONTENTS

I. MATTERS CALLING FOR ACTION BY THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OR BROUGHT TO ITS ATTENTION

A. General discussion on progress in the implementation of Agenda 21, focusing on the cross-sectoral components of Agenda 21 and the critical elements of sustainability

B. Financial resources and mechanisms

C. Education, science, transfer of environmentally sound technologies, co-operation and capacity-building

D. Review of sectoral cluster: health, human settlements and freshwater

E. Review of sectoral cluster: toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes

F. Other matters

G. Provisional agenda for the third session of the Commission

II. CHAIRMAN'S SUMMARY OF THE HIGH-LEVEL MEETING OF THE COMMISSION

III. GENERAL DISCUSSION ON PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AGENDA 21, FOCUSING ON THE CROSS-SECTORAL COMPONENTS OF AGENDA 21 AND THE CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY

IV. FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND MECHANISMS

V. EDUCATION, SCIENCE, TRANSFER OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND TECHNOLOGIES, CO-OPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING

VI. REVIEW OF SECTORAL CLUSTERS, FIRST PHASE
A. Health, human settlements and freshwater
B. Toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes

VII. OTHER MATTERS

VIII. PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE THIRD SESSION OF THE COMMISSION

Annex: DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE COMMISSION AT ITS SECOND SESSION

Chapter I

MATTERS CALLING FOR ACTION BY THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OR BROUGHT TO ITS ATTENTION

A. General discussion on progress in the implementation of Agenda 21, focusing on the cross-sectoral components of Agenda 21 and the critical elements of sustainability                                                                [ Up ]

1. Information provided by Governments and organizations

1. The Commission notes with appreciation the receipt of information from 50 States and organizations. The information constitutes a creditable result for the first year. It is the Commission's hope that future years will bring an even greater exchange of information on national and other relevant experience in implementing Agenda 21. The Commission also notes that the work of the Secretariat in processing and analysing the information received has provided a valuable input to the Commission.

2. The Commission agrees that the guidelines established by and for the Secretariat could be simplified, taking into account the discussion during the second session and within the framework of the decision taken at its first session, in 1993, in order to facilitate further exchange of information. Such information could be presented in tabular form, supplemented by brief descriptive texts.

3. In preparing information for voluntary submission to the Commission, countries may wish to include relevant national indicators already in use which could facilitate the exchange of information related to the implementation of Agenda 21. In this regard, the Commission reaffirms the decision contained in paragraph 30, chapter I, of the report on its first session (E/1993/25/Add.1).

4. The Commission requests relevant organizations within and outside the United Nations system, as well as donors, to provide, upon request, technical and financial assistance to countries, particularly developing countries, in the preparation of periodic communications or national reports and national Agenda 21 action plans, and notes the intention of several donors and organizations to consider such requests favourably.

2. Decision-making structures

5. The Commission welcomes the entry into force of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as the adoption of the Declaration of Barbados and the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, and urges that appropriate follow-up action be taken. The Commission supports the successful conclusion in June 1994 of the negotiations for the elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, and calls upon all States to accelerate progress in the United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and to promote the successful conclusion of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, to be held in Washington, D.C. in November 1995.

6. The Commission expresses its appreciation to the Government of Austria for organizing the International Symposium on Sustainable Development and International Law, held at Baden bei Wien from 14 to 16 April 1994. The Commission welcomes the report of that Symposium (E/CN.17/1994/16), which opens a new and promising avenue in the field of codification and development of international law in support of the fulfilment of the goals and objectives of Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The Commission recommends that relevant international treaty regimes contain effective machinery for consensus-building and dispute settlement. The Commission requests the United Nations Environment Programme to study further the concept, requirements and implications of sustainable development and international law.

7. The Commission, having examined the report of the Secretary-General containing an overview of cross-sectoral issues (E/CN.17/1994/2), in particular section IV on decision-making structures, takes note of the important measures taken by Governments to integrate environment issues into the development process within their decision-making structures, and requests all States and relevant intergovernmental organizations to submit, or continue to submit, information on an annual, voluntary basis on the implementation of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and other agreements and conferences related to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), as appropriate.

8. The Commission also notes the establishment by the Secretary-General of the High-level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development, and emphasizes the desirability of fostering close interaction between the Board and the Commission, including its Bureau.

9. The Commission takes note of the background paper containing the report entitled "Decision-making structures: international legal instruments and mechanisms", prepared by the task manager designated by the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD). The Commission urges the Secretary-General to give high priority to co-ordination through the work of IACSD. The Commission supports the designation by IACSD of task managers as an important first step towards improving co-ordination. It calls upon the task managers to provide innovative proposals on ways to achieve more efficient results, including multi-agency joint programming, within available resources. The Commission requests the Secretary-General to inform the Commission on progress made in IACSD towards co-ordination among United Nations bodies in implementing Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and other UNCED-related agreements and conferences, as appropriate. United Nations organizations, as well as international and regional financial institutions, intergovernmental organizations and other relevant institutions are invited to give priority to the implementation of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration, and UNCED-related agreements and conferences, as appropriate.

10. The Commission emphasizes the importance of creating appropriate national frameworks for the implementation of Agenda 21 and other relevant agreements and conferences, bearing in mind the need for a progressive provision of financial resources and technology transfer, where appropriate. In this respect, the Commission requests all States to establish the necessary co-ordinating machinery for the promotion of sustainable development. The Commission also calls upon the United Nations system, through the IACSD task managers, to co-ordinate its capacity-building activities and to develop joint programming for this purpose, wherever feasible.

11. In accordance with their national sustainable development priorities, developing countries should, as appropriate, be supported in strengthening their capacity in the development or streamlining of sustainable development strategies, the development and maintenance of environmental law, including the development of environmental impact assessment procedures, as well as their capacity to participate effectively in the development of international law related to sustainable development, and the elaboration of conventions and other international instruments in this field.

12. The Commission recognizes the importance of full participation of all interested parties in the negotiation of international agreements relating to sustainable development, and therefore calls upon the relevant bodies to promote the provision, through transparent and accountable mechanisms, of financial support for the participation, in negotiating forums, of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, at their request.

13. The Commission recommends that States and international organizations consider the use of partnerships with business and non- governmental communities leading to non-legally binding agreements as a first step in the preparation of international regulations.

14. The Commission notes the need for co-ordination and more efficient structural arrangements among the secretariats of conventions related to sustainable development.

3. Major groups

15. The Commission recognizes the indispensable role that major groups and their representatives play in the implementation of Agenda 21, but acknowledges the need to improve the quality of information about the problems, needs and contributions of major groups to the implementation of Agenda 21 and other commitments made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

16. The Commission stresses the vital role of women, in particular, in bringing about sustainable development. The Commission is of the view that the forthcoming United Nations conferences, such as the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development, the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, will be conducive to the empowerment of women, which is necessary to enable them to play that vital role.

17. The Commission also stresses the central place of future generations within the concept of sustainable development and encourages the participation of children and youth, and their organizations, in the implementation of Agenda 21. It notes the need to increase efforts in relevant education and training to attain the changes in attitude of present and future generations necessary for sustainable development.

18. Governments and international organizations, as well as major groups themselves, particularly those from the developing countries, are encouraged to take concrete steps to enhance the involvement of major groups and to provide information on the extent of the involvement of major group organizations, comprising, inter alia, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, in efforts and programmes to realize the goals of Agenda 21. The Commission suggests that such information, submitted on a voluntary basis, might include:

(a) The extent of major group involvement in sustainable development activities, including participation in project design and implementation and evaluation of projects at the local, national, regional, subregional and international levels;

(b) Innovative methods that have increased the quality and quantity of consultations with major group representatives and organizations;

(c) Indicators of major group involvement, including financial and resource allocations made to them, as well as their own involvement in the provision of technical assistance and other types of support for Agenda 21 activities;

(d) Identification of obstacles and difficulties related to major group participation and steps taken to overcome them;

(e) Compilation and publication of case-studies, preferably undertaken in the four regional areas, by major groups and Governments, on the successful or unsuccessful efforts of major groups, in sustainable development programmes and activities; these case-studies should also include a one-page executive summary.

19. Such information should be provided annually, in the context of reports and periodic communications on the activities relevant to the Agenda 21 clusters to be discussed at future sessions of the Commission in accordance with the multi-year programme of work of the Commission.

20. The Secretary-General is requested to continue to include relevant information received from major groups in the documentation prepared for future sessions of the Commission.

21. The Commission stresses the need for major groups, their representatives and organizations to play an active and substantive role in the implementation of Agenda 21, including the holding of seminars, round tables and multi-stakeholder meetings on the yearly thematic topics discussed by the Commission.

22. The Commission calls upon international organizations, particularly those with field offices, within their respective mandates and in compliance with the laws, sustainable development strategies and priorities of the countries concerned, to enhance the contribution of major group organizations to sustainable development and to encourage more active involvement of major group representatives in their activities.

23. The Commission encourages all major groups, in particular those in the private sector, to engage in creating multi-stakeholder partnerships and to carry out concrete partnership projects.

24. The Commission recommends that the overall access of major groups, including non-governmental organizations, to the Commission's work throughout the year be clarified and enhanced, and, without prejudice to the outcome of the general review of arrangements for consultations with non-governmental organizations to be carried out by the Economic and Social Council, recommends that:

(a) The Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1994 place non-governmental organizations accredited to the Commission by Council decision 1993/220 on the Roster, as envisaged in Council decision 1993/215;

(b) The Council continue to grant Roster status to those non- governmental organizations that were accredited to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and that confirm their interest in being accredited to the Commission.

4. Trade, environment and sustainable development

25. As the organ responsible for monitoring progress in the implementation of Agenda 21, the Commission sets forth some initial perspectives for consideration in subsequent work on trade and environment issues.

26. In the framework of the implementation of chapter 2 of Agenda 21, the Commission emphasizes the aim of moving towards the overall concept of sustainable development. In aiming at sustainability, full consideration should be given to the special conditions and development needs of the developing countries and the countries with economies in transition. An open, balanced and integrated approach towards sustainability through an open, equitable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, improved market access for products from developing countries, effective environmental protection and mutually supportive trade and environment policies should ensure close co-operation with all policy makers involved, as well as with the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

27. The Commission recognizes that relations in the field of trade and economic endeavour should be conducted with a view to raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily growing volume of real income and effective demand, and expanding the production of and trade in goods and services, while allowing for the optimal use of the world's resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development, seeking both to protect and preserve the environment and to enhance the means for doing so in a manner consistent with the respective needs and concerns of countries at different levels of economic development.

28. The Commission considers that trade liberalization can make a major contribution to sustainable development and stresses that protectionism should be resisted. The Commission also regards the achievement of a safe and healthy environment, through strong and effective international and domestic environmental protection efforts, as an essential component of sustainable development. The Commission further stresses that there is a need to decrease subsidies that have harmful environmental and trade- distorting effects. In addition, market opportunities and export prospects could be improved by complementing trade policies through sound domestic economic and environmental policies. The Commission points out that an open, equitable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system and the adoption of sound environmental policies are important means of addressing the environmental implications of trade. The Commission urges national authorities to endeavour to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.

29. The Commission welcomes the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, which is expected to bring about the further liberalization and expansion of world trade; its full implementation will enhance the trade and development possibilities of developing countries and provide greater security and predictability to the international trading system. It notes that regional and subregional economic integration processes, including those among developing countries, have the potential of contributing to an improvement in the medium-term prospects for world economic growth and for an even more rapid expansion of world trade.

30. The Commission also notes with concern that the benefits of trade liberalization will accrue more to those developing countries that have already been pursuing more export-oriented policies than to certain developing countries that will continue to face major difficulties, particularly those highly dependent on trade preferences, those that are net food-importers and those dependent on primary commodity exports, particularly in Africa. In this regard, the Commission takes note of the decision on measures concerning the possible negative effects of the reform programme on the least developed and net food-importing developing countries, taken at the Marrakesh Ministerial Meeting in April 1994. The Commission emphasizes that for all developing countries to benefit more fully from trade liberalization, the achievement of other objectives identified in Agenda 21, particularly better functioning of commodity markets, increasing foreign direct investment in developing countries and financial assistance, including debt relief, are important. It notes that mutually supportive trade and environment policies and structural adjustment policies that would, inter alia, remove biases against exports, discourage inefficient import substitution, improve infrastructure important to trade, diversify economies to reduce dependence on primary commodities, particularly in Africa, and improve domestic market efficiency would also increase the potential for gains from trade liberalization. It hopes that the promotion of trade in environmentally friendly products and technologies would also further improve trading opportunities for developing countries. Bearing in mind the objective of making trade and environment mutually supportive, the Commission underlines the importance of effective multilateral co-operation to protect the environment and also of preserving and enhancing the ability of countries to achieve and maintain high levels of environmental protection while pursuing an open, non-discriminatory, multilateral trade system.

31. The Commission notes that important progress was made in addressing trade and environment issues in the Uruguay Round but recognizes that further progress is needed to address unresolved issues and ensure that the international trading system is responsive to environmental concerns. In this regard, the Commission supports the decision taken at the Marrakesh Ministerial Meeting in April 1994 to establish the Committee on Trade and Environment. The Committee has a broad mandate and will report to the first Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to be held probably in 1997. Together with the improved framework for dispute settlement, the Uruguay Round agreements and the decision on trade and environment advance several of the trade, development and environment issues of Agenda 21. The Commission recognizes that it needs to interact with WTO in future work on these matters. It also considers that work undertaken in the Committee on Trade and Environment would benefit from co-operation with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

32. The Commission emphasizes the results of UNCED relating to trade, environment and sustainable development, including Principle 12 of the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21, paragraph 2.22 of which calls upon Governments to encourage the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), UNCTAD and other relevant international and regional economic institutions to examine, in accordance with their respective mandates and competences, a number of propositions and principles, such as ensuring that environment- related regulations or standards, including those related to health and safety standards, do not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade and avoiding unilateral actions to deal with environmental challenges outside the jurisdiction of the importing country. Environmental measures addressing transborder or global environmental problems should, as far as possible, be based on an international consensus. Domestic measures targeted to achieve certain environmental objectives may need trade measures to render them effective. Should trade policy measures be found necessary for the enforcement of environmental policies, certain principles and rules should apply. These could include, inter alia, the principle of non-discrimination; the principle that the trade measure chosen should be the least trade- restrictive necessary to achieve the objectives; an obligation to ensure transparency in the use of trade measures related to the environment and to provide adequate notification of national regulations; and the need to give consideration to the special conditions and developmental requirements of developing countries as they move towards internationally agreed environmental objectives.

33. The Commission notes the importance of developing a framework to facilitate the assessment of the environmental impact of trade policies, taking into account the special needs and conditions of developing countries. Any such assessment should be carried out within the overall perspective of promoting sustainable development. In this context, there is a need to foster a better understanding of the trade implications of a number of environmental concepts and principles, such as the polluter pays principle, the precautionary principle and life-cycle management. In this context, there is also a need to consider the interactions between trade, technological co-operation and changes in production and consumption patterns. Further work in this area by UNEP and UNCTAD, in co-operation with other relevant organizations, would represent a valuable contribution to the objective of making trade and environment policies mutually supportive in promoting sustainable development.

34. In the context of the overall aims of sustainable development, the Commission welcomes the substantial progress achieved in GATT/WTO, UNCTAD and UNEP. The Commission further underlines efforts to make trade and environment mutually supportive through, inter alia, strengthening technical assistance in the capacity-building undertaken by UNCTAD, UNDP and UNEP. As GATT/WTO, UNEP and UNCTAD are key actors in the implementation of chapter 2, sections A and B, of Agenda 21, the Commission emphasizes the need for close co-operation and complementarity in their work, as well as the need for appropriate inputs from other organizations involved, such as UNDP, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Commission underlines the importance of complementarity in work on the identification and development of international trade rules and international environmental law. For the purpose of fostering co-operation, the Commission, UNCTAD and UNEP should be appropriately represented at the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment. In addition, there should be close co-operation between GATT/WTO and UNEP, in particular, when considering the relationship between the provisions and dispute settlement mechanisms of the multilateral trading system and those of multilateral environment agreements, including with respect to the question of compliance with the trade provisions in multilateral environmental agreements negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations.

35. Regarding national environmental requirements and international trade, the Commission notes that further examination and work are needed to ensure that the trading system is adequately responsive to the needs and possibilities of Governments in taking action to protect the environment in accordance with international law, including health and environmental requirements. Further consideration will have to take into account that: (a) there are legitimate reasons for diversity in environmental regulations across countries; (b) differences in the relative costs of production constitute the very basis for gains from international trade; (c) the effects of national environmental regulations should be studied to determine whether they have a greater potential impact on trade competitiveness than other non-trade policy measures; (d) disguised protectionism in the name of environmental standards should be avoided; (e) efforts should be geared to promoting the convergence of environmental standards and regulations at a high level of environmental protection, while bearing in mind that regulations and standards that are valid in the most advanced countries may be inappropriate and have unwarranted social costs for the developing countries; (f) the transparency of environmental regulations and standards should be ensured and adequate information should be provided in particular to developing countries.

36. Regarding further international co-operation in the field of environmental requirements, the Commission notes the need for a careful examination of the issues relating to competitiveness, particularly in the light of evidence that, in some cases, environmental compliance costs are a small proportion of total costs. It should, on the other hand, be clearly seen that investing in environmental activities has many positive effects, such as the improvement of market opportunities and job creation.

37. The Commission takes note of the ongoing consultative process in UNCTAD on the establishment of an ad hoc working group on trade, environment and development as a result of the mid-term review at the eighth session of UNCTAD and encourages interaction with GATT/WTO and UNEP. The Commission welcomes the joint UNEP/UNCTAD programme and welcomes the participation of GATT/WTO as well as other relevant organizations, including OECD, the private sector and non-governmental organizations. In this regard the Commission supports the proposal of UNEP and UNCTAD to hold, in a forum complementary to WTO and other forums as a follow-up activity of the joint informal ministerial meeting in February 1994 in Geneva, a working-level session and a high- level/ministerial meeting on trade, environment and sustainable development to examine (a) the role of environmental policies as they relate to trade liberalization policies, (b) the promotion of trade in environmentally friendly products and technologies and (c) the promotion of international co-operation in the field of product-related environmental policy instruments.

38. The Commission also welcomes the relevant provisions of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and calls for adequate support for the implementation of the provisions of the Programme.

39. The Commission suggests that consideration be given by Governments and relevant organizations to (a) further development of trade-compatible environmental instruments, such as non-discriminatory eco-labelling as well as non-discriminatory certification and verification schemes, taking into account the financial and institutional capacity of developing countries to do so; and (b) cooperative work on environmental standards based, inter alia, on input from the International Standardization Organization (ISO), with due regard to the differentiated responsibilities of developed and developing countries.

40. The Commission reaffirms its role, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 47/191, in monitoring progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 and activities related to the integration of environmental and developmental goals throughout the United Nations system. The Commission agrees to review annually developments in the area of trade, development and environment, according to its mandate, with a view to identifying possible gaps, and to promote cooperation and coordination. The Commission recommends that GATT/WTO, UNCTAD and UNEP continue to provide annual reports to the Commission on their activities concerning trade and environment. The Commission recommends that relevant reports from the international financial institutions should be made available to facilitate its work. The Commission calls on the Secretary-General to ensure an appropriate division of labour within the United Nations system in the area of trade and environment through the IACSD and its task- manager approach.

41. In order to gain a better understanding of the impact of internalization of environmental costs on competitiveness and trade earnings, particularly in developing countries, the Commission recommends that the Secretary-General, through the Economic and Social Council, seek the views of Governments, regional economic integration organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, on an analytical study to be undertaken on the relationship of environmental protection to international competitiveness, job creation and development. The Commission stresses that this work could benefit from the input of various relevant institutions, such as the World Bank, GATT/WTO, UNCTAD, UNEP, UNIDO, UNDP, OECD and ILO.

42. Finally, the Commission highlights the importance of achieving transparency, openness and the active involvement of the public and experts, in relation to work on trade and environment, including work within WTO, UNEP and UNCTAD, and to dispute settlement processes. The Commission recognizes that there is a considerable need for improvement in these areas, and looks forward to the development of specific recommendations in this regard by Governments and the appropriate organizations, in accordance with chapter 38 of Agenda 21.

5. Changing consumption and production patterns

43. With UNCED, the issue of changing consumption patterns was for the first time formally placed on the agenda for multilateral negotiations. The Commission reaffirms the need to change those contemporary patterns of consumption and production which are detrimental to sustainable development. In the context of differentiated responsibilities in this field, developed countries bear special responsibility and should take the lead by taking effective measures for change in their own countries.

44. The Commission recognizes that the main economic agents whose behaviour as producers or consumers should be the target of policy measures are individual households, business and industry, and Governments, especially in developed countries. Policies and measures to change production and consumption patterns should be predictable for producers and consumers and should be supportive of sustainable development. The price of a product should be related to its life-cycle costs. Prevention of pollution which results in cost reduction should also be recognized and encouraged with appropriate incentives. The Commission urges national authorities to endeavour to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment. Where vulnerable groups may already be affected by measures taken for environmental purposes, appropriate offsetting measures should be introduced.

45. Attention should be given to the special situation and needs of developing countries; for them, eradicating poverty and meeting basic human needs in the process of pursuing sustainable development are overriding priorities.

46. The Commission recognizes, at the same time, that all countries should derive immediate and long-term benefits from establishing and maintaining more sustainable consumption and production patterns.

47. The Commission recommends that measures and steps to change consumption and production patterns should be pursued, especially in developed countries, inter alia, by appropriate instruments, public awareness campaigns, adequate guidance in the field of advertising, education, information and advice for the purposes of: (a) conserving energy and using renewable sources of energy; (b) making greater use of public transport; (c) minimizing recycling and reusing waste; (d) reducing the quantity of packaging; (e) encouraging consumption of products produced by more environmentally sound processes and the development of environmentally sound products; (f) reducing the amount of water wasted; and (g) reducing environmentally harmful substances in products.

48. After reviewing which measures could be most cost-effective in changing behaviour, in particular, economic instruments, the Commission notes that despite the growing interest in such instruments and their increasing use, especially in developed countries, there is not as yet sufficient quantitative evidence to evaluate adequately the effectiveness of their use in practice. The Commission notes further that experience in developed countries with such instruments suggests a number of tentative conclusions, as described in the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.17/1994/2), which need to be explored further.

49. The Commission notes ongoing efforts to introduce mechanisms, particularly in developed countries, to internalize external costs, especially regarding all greenhouse-gas emissions.

50. In order to facilitate a better understanding of the interrelationship among consumption patterns, production structures and techniques, economic growth, employment, population dynamics and environmental stress, the Commission calls on Government to: (a) intensify and expand their efforts to collect relevant data at the national and subnational levels and (b) undertake projections and prospective studies so as to better appreciate the consequences of present policy stances and the possible impact of changing those policies.

51. The Commission notes the work undertaken within and outside the United Nations system that could contribute to developing a solid conceptual framework in this field. In this context, the Commission further notes that OECD is working actively on analysing the process of bringing about changes in consumption and production patterns. This analysis is intended to contribute to assessing current patterns and trends and to addressing the likely sectoral, economic and environmental impacts of significant changes in consumption and production patterns in OECD countries. The Commission calls on organizations within and outside the United Nations system, including OECD, to continue their useful work in this area, taking into account the guidelines in chapter 4 of Agenda 21, as well as in the present decision.

52. The Commission urges Governments and the private sector to consider measures to achieve the following objectives: (a) encouraging greater efficiency in the use of energy and resources; (b) minimizing waste; (c) assisting individuals and households to make environmentally sound purchasing decisions; (d) exercising leadership through government purchasing; (e) moving towards environmentally sound pricing, and (f) reinforcing values that support sustainable consumption and production. In this connection, exchange of experience should be encouraged.

53. The Commission recommends that Governments and relevant international organizations undertake national and regional studies of environmental, social and economic trends and damage from present patterns of consumption and production to assess their sustainability and their repercussions on other countries, particularly developing countries, and on the world economy. The results of these studies should help Governments set national priorities to address the most damaging effects of unsustainable consumption patterns and to assist developing countries to this effect.

54. It urges Governments to consider using pricing policies to internalize the costs of risk and damage to the environment, to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the varying circumstances of developed and developing countries and countries with economies in transition and to consider reporting on the action taken to the Commission on Sustainable Development in 1997.

55. It invites the United Nations system, as well as regional and international organizations, to assess and report on how they may promote sustainable consumption and production patterns through their own activities.

56. The Commission calls upon the Secretary-General to request the views of Governments in order to formulate elements of a possible work programme for sustainable consumption and production patterns by the third session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, in 1995. Preparatory work could include the inter-sessional organization of workshops and other forms of information-exchange on the relative effectiveness of a spectrum of instruments for changing unsustainable consumption and production patterns in all groups of countries. This should be done in continuous consultation with representatives from non-governmental organizations, business and industry from all regions.

57. The Commission requests the Secretary-General to prepare an analytical report on the use of economic instruments and other policy measures for changing consumption patterns in developed countries, with special reference to the sectoral issues on the agenda of the Commission at its third session, as an input to the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance.

B. Financial resources and mechanisms                                           [ Up ]

58. The Commission on Sustainable Development appreciates the inter- sessional work that has been undertaken to prepare its deliberations on financial resources and mechanisms. It takes note in particular of the role of the inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance and the report it has submitted.

59. Having reviewed the availability of financial resources necessary for the implementation of the sustainable development programmes of Agenda 21 and the developments that have taken place in this regard since its last session, the Commission considers the response to the financial recommendations and commitments of Agenda 21, including those regarding official development assistance (ODA), to be short of expectations and requirements. The Commission is concerned that the current availability of financial resources for sustainable development and the limited provision of adequate and predictable, new and additional financial resources will constrain the effective implementation of Agenda 21 and could undermine the basis of the global partnership for sustainable development. This needs to be addressed urgently.

60. The Commission welcomes the restructuring of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and takes note of its replenishment by US$ 2 billion. It considers this replenishment to be a first step at a minimum level. As the implementation of commitments under the various agreements and objectives envisaged for the Facility starts, there will be a need for further replenishment of its funds.

61. The Commission reiterates that increased efforts are needed to bring ODA levels in line with the 0.7 per cent target, as reaffirmed in Agenda 21, as soon as possible. In this context, the Commission emphasizes that the other financial instruments and mechanisms for the financing of Agenda 21 complement the funding from ODA and cannot be a substitute for it. The Commission underscores that there is an urgent need for effective and early implementation of all commitments contained in chapter 33 of Agenda 21, including through substantial early commitments of concessional funding to accelerate the initial implementation phase of Agenda 21.

62. The Commission welcomes the increase in private flows to developing countries. However, it recognizes the need to enhance the contribution of these flows to sustainable development and to achieve a more even distribution across countries and sectors through appropriate policies.

63. The Commission takes note of the ongoing preparations for a convention to combat desertification and calls for suitable and adequate financing provisions in view of the seriousness of the problem, particularly in the developing countries affected. It urges the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to finalize the convention at the forthcoming session in Paris and to make arrangements for its early implementation.

64. The Commission also welcomes the Declaration of Barbados and the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. It calls for the implementation of the priority areas of the Programme of Action through the provision of effective means, including adequate, predictable, new and additional financial resources, in accordance with chapter 33 of Agenda 21.

65. The Commission notes that following the conclusion of the Uruguay Round, efforts need to be undertaken to ensure that all countries, particularly developing countries, reap the benefits from trade liberalization, including gains through improved market access and better terms of trade for developing countries. To this end, it will be necessary to assist developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries, to diversify their economies and to make the necessary adjustments to take advantage of new market opportunities. It will also be important to make trade and environment policies mutually supportive and to further promote an open, equitable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system that is consistent with the goals of sustainable development.

66. The debt burden continues to remain a major constraint to the sustainable development efforts of countries, particularly developing ones. Many of the least developed, low- and lower-middle-income countries continue to experience severe debt-service difficulties, inhibiting their sustainable development efforts. Additional debt reduction operations, debt cancellation, more debt relief and other innovative schemes need to be considered and implemented, as appropriate.

67. The goal of mobilizing financial resources for sustainable development makes it necessary to act on all possible fronts, seeking domestic and international sources, developing innovative approaches and instituting national policy reforms, as appropriate. Policy reforms to mobilize resources for sustainable development should, in particular in developed countries, be complemented, as appropriate, by the use of economic instruments aimed at changing unsustainable production and consumption patterns. The use and impact of financial resources should be optimized so as to increase their availability for meeting sustainable development goals and priorities.

68. The integration of environment and development strategies should be promoted at the outset of decision-making processes so as to ensure that macroeconomic policies are supportive of sustainable development goals and priorities.

69. The Commission notes the value of national sustainable development strategies and encourages their preparation and use.

70. The Commission recognizes the complexity and the difficult nature of the task facing developing countries and it notes in this context the efforts they have undertaken to promote accelerated economic growth and sustainable development in the face of an unfavourable external environment.

71. The Commission also recognizes the complex and difficult nature of the process of transition which the countries with economies in transition are facing in their integration into the world economy and notes their efforts in promoting environment policies and economic instruments aimed at the mobilization of financial resources for sustainable development.

72. The Commission urges the international community, in particular the donor countries, to undertake efforts to further strengthen the funding capacity of international financial institutions, regional banks and other international organizations and emphasizes that greater efforts need to be undertaken by them to effectively and demonstrably provide resources for the implementation of Agenda 21. They are also invited to assess, in a transparent fashion, using inputs from other organizations and major groups where appropriate, the impact of their activities on sustainable development, and to report thereon through relevant channels.

73. The Commission notes that some innovative financial mechanisms and financial policy instruments and reforms have been discussed and included in the report of the inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance. These and other evolving innovative mechanisms need to be further considered in order to determine their feasibility, their socio- economic consequences, their impact on the environment and their administrative arrangements, with a view to having the Secretary-General report to the Commission at its third session on the outcome of this consideration.

74. The Commission emphasizes the need to increase the availability of funding for sectors in the framework of global, regional and national sustainable development strategies on the basis of clearly identified needs. It notes that it would be useful to develop a matrix of policy options and financial instruments and mechanisms that would facilitate the formulation of optimal financing strategies for the sectors under review. The matrix would also include policies for encouraging stronger involvement of the private sector in the financing of sustainable development.

75. The Commission also recommends the following to increase the effectiveness of its work through the inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance: (a) involvement of experts from the private sector and non-governmental organizations, as appropriate; (b) greater use of national experiences (lessons learned) in developing policy options for the financing of Agenda 21, having due regard to the specific problems of countries or groups of countries; (c) encouraging the convening of informal expert group meetings, launching pilot projects, preparing case studies and inviting experts and engaging consultants to prepare detailed studies on the feasibility and impact of innovating financial instruments and mechanisms, as mentioned above; and (d) continuing cooperation with OECD on the monitoring of financial flows, including ODA, for the implementation of Agenda 21.

76. The Commission recognizes that the vital goal of bringing about sustainable development can best be attained through broad public support for and participation in generating the political momentum that will be necessary to augment financing for Agenda 21 and to provide developing countries with the substantial new and additional financial resources required for the implementation of the huge sustainable development programmes of Agenda 21. The Commission has an important role to play in this process. It confirms its full commitment to the task. In the implementation of the sustainable development programmes of Agenda 21, a further complementary role could be played by foreign direct investment, private capital flows and related efforts to diversify production in the developing countries.

C. Education, science, transfer of environmentally sound technologies, cooperation and capacity-building                                                     [ Up ]

Transfer of environmentally sound technologies, cooperation and capacity-building

77. The Commission on Sustainable Development has reviewed with appreciation the report of the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Technology Transfer and Cooperation (E/CN.17/1994/11) and takes note of the background paper containing the Task Manager's report on the transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity- building, as well as section III of the report of the Secretary-General containing an overview of cross-sectoral issues (E/CN.17/1994/2). The Commission also notes the part of the report of the High-level Advisory Board (E/CN.17/1994/13) relating to new approaches to environmentally sound technology cooperation.

78. The Commission notes with appreciation the valuable initiatives undertaken by various members of the Commission during the inter-sessional period as a contribution to the work of the Commission in the area of transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity- building, as discussed in chapter 34 and other chapters of Agenda 21.

79. The Commission recognizes that developing countries face severe constraints in their efforts to promote and engage in technology transfer and cooperation due to the lack of adequate financial resources and limited human, managerial and institutional capacities. In this regard, the Commission welcomes the emphasis given by the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Technology Transfer and Cooperation to three key areas requiring priority attention, namely: (a) access to and dissemination of reliable information on environmentally sound technologies, (b) institutional development and capacity-building and (c) financial and partnership arrangements.

80. The Commission notes that many of the proposals for action related to the transfer of environmentally sound technology and cooperation are based on practical experiences gained in some sectoral areas, and that many of these experiences can be applied to other sectors as well.

81. The Commission stresses, in the context of chapter 34 of Agenda 21, the need for Governments of developed and developing countries and countries with economies in transition to take, with the support of international organizations and institutions and through long-term cooperation and partnership arrangements, specific action to (a) promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate, access to and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how, in particular to developing countries, on favourable terms, including concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed, taking into account the need to protect intellectual property rights, as well as the special needs of developing countries, for the implementation of Agenda 21; (b) promote long-term technological cooperation and partnership between holders of environmentally sound technologies and potential users; and (c) build the endogenous capacities of those countries required to develop, assess, encourage and utilize such technologies through, inter alia, research and development, education and training.

82. The Commission reaffirms the crucial importance of strengthening the capacities, in particular of developing countries, to assess, develop, apply and manage environmentally sound technologies tailored to the countries' own needs and priorities and stresses the need to focus efforts on capacity-building and institutional development.

83. The Commission recognizes that the expertise required for technology transfer and cooperation is being developed in many countries. Therefore, Governments and enterprises are urged to look throughout the world for the best ideas and creative solutions to meet their needs and solve their problems. The transfer of unproved or environmentally detrimental technologies can thereby be avoided.

84. The Commission reiterates the importance of public and private enterprises in technological innovation and as an important conduit through which technology is developed, transferred, used and disseminated. In this regard, the Commission recognizes that technology partnership arrangements at the enterprise level are a promising mechanism to facilitate access to information on environmentally sound technologies and to support the development, transfer, use and dissemination of these technologies and related know-how. Such partnerships also strengthen the operational, administrative and maintenance skills of the users, and stimulate best-practice methods for improving environmental performance at the enterprise level, inter alia, by promoting the pollution prevention approach in the production and use of goods and services. Companies must continue to adapt and develop technology during the period of cooperation. In this context, the concepts of "build-operate-transfer" (BOT) arrangements, regional technomarts and technofairs, were considered promising approaches to technology transfer which need further examination.

85. The Commission notes the efforts of some industry associations to organize conferences in selected countries in different regions for industry and trade associations which would focus on environmental management, monitoring and reporting, and to undertake research projects to collect and analyse case- studies of successful and unsuccessful technology transfer and cooperation programmes.

86. The Commission also stresses the crucial role that Governments of both developed and developing countries have to play in creating favourable conditions for the public sector and in encouraging the private sector to develop and transfer environmentally sound technologies and build the capacities in developing countries to use and manage those technologies effectively. In this regard, international cooperation is highly important. The application of incentives, such as reducing trade barriers, encouraging competition, opening up markets to foreign collaboration, reducing corporate taxes and providing fiscal incentives to enterprises that implement the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, as well as other market reforms and sector restructuring, are likely to have a substantial impact on improving access to capital for new technologies. The further improvement and effective implementation of an appropriate policy, legal and regulatory framework, on both the supply and the demand side, can create new possibilities for the development of environmentally sound technologies and their transfer to developing countries. This may include a mix of macroeconomic policies, economic incentives and environmental regulations. Special attention should also be given, as recommended by the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Technology Transfer and Cooperation, to the involvement of small and medium-sized industries in the process of technology transfer as they are the backbone of business and industry in most developing countries. In this context, the Commission welcomes the offer by the Government of Norway, in cooperation with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to host a seminar on the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in technology transfer.

87. The Commission welcomes the recommendations of the Working Group concerning the need to promote closer interaction among all actors involved in technology transfer and cooperation and networking of institutional capacities. In this context, the strengthening of existing environmental technology centres and the establishment of new ones in developing countries are of crucial importance in promoting development, transfer and adaptation of environmentally sound technologies. They are a promising instrument for initiating research and development on environmentally sound technologies and facilitating technological collaboration between different partners at the national and regional levels. The strengthening or establishment of such centres can also be considered for countries with economies in transition.

88. The Commission notes that the Working Group has identified key priority areas for the future work of the Commission and has provided an important forum for the discussion of issues and the consideration of options that might have been difficult in other contexts.

89. The Commission takes note of the relevant provisions on the transfer of technology contained in the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and urges that adequate support be given to priority areas in technology transfer as identified in the Programme of Action.

90. The Commission, therefore:

(a) Encourages and requests appropriate organizations of the United Nations system, such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), to conduct, in collaboration with other international organizations, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, a survey on and assessment of the available sources of information, as well as supporting systems and inventories, and their effective use, focusing on selected environmentally sound technologies. The survey and assessment should cover sources and systems of information on technologies that are in the public domain as well as those protected by patents, whether privately or publicly owned. In this regard, Governments, organizations and programmes of the United Nations system, other international organizations, private non-profit organizations, trade associations, industrial and commercial associations and enterprises, research institutes and other non-governmental organizations, as well as other relevant entities, are encouraged to provide all relevant information and any other appropriate assistance, including case-studies on technology transfer, in particular through the Internet-based systems and facilities. The objective is to identify gaps and/or deficiencies in the information sources or systems surveyed, and indicate feasible approaches to correcting such problems, in order to improve the access to and efficient use of such systems. An initial report on the results of this survey and assessment should be submitted to the Commission at its third session, in 1995;

(b) Invites industry associations to provide to the Commission, and to disseminate more widely, information on efforts being made and results achieved in environmentally sound technology transfer, cooperation and capacity-building, including through foreign direct investment and various forms of technology partnerships with developing countries and countries with economies in transition;

(c) Invites Governments of developed and developing countries and countries with economies in transition and regional and intergovernmental organizations to conduct collaboratively, with the assistance of international organizations and institutions, as appropriate, case-studies on national technology needs for environmentally sound technologies, capacity-building and institutional development, and welcomes the initiatives already being undertaken thereon, including those with regard to further developing methodologies and identifying sources of funding, and to report to the Commission at its third session;

(d) Requests the Secretary-General to invite appropriate organizations of the United Nations system to examine the concrete modalities and the usefulness of innovative technology transfer mechanisms, such as "one-stop shops", "environmentally sound technology rights banks" (ESTRBs) or "build-operate-transfer" (BOT) arrangements, and submit concrete recommendations to the Commission at its third session. Such an effort should take full advantage of the expertise of the High-level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development and other eminent technical experts;

(e) Invites appropriate organizations of the United Nations system to further examine, in close collaboration with other interested parties, including private sector associations, the operational modalities and concrete applications of the concept of "benchmarking";

(f) Calls upon Governments and international organizations to make available, in close collaboration with relevant financial institutions and the private sector, information on the conditions and concrete modalities for setting up and managing venture capital funds for certain types of environmentally sound technologies, and to share with the Commission the results achieved and experiences gained in the application of their conditions and modalities;

(g) Requests the Secretary-General to call upon Governments to explore, in close collaboration with appropriate organizations of the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations, both regional and multilateral, including financial institutions, and the private sector, the potential for joint ventures and the feasibility of providing adequate financing to pursue such joint ventures, and to report to the Commission at its third session;

(h) Invites UNCTAD, UNDP, UNIDO, UNEP, other appropriate organizations of the United Nations system, other intergovernmental organizations, both regional and multilateral, including financial institutions, to assist countries, in particular developing countries, in applying conditions and new modalities for the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in long-term international technology partnership arrangements, including assistance in the preparation, execution and post- servicing of sustainable development projects at the local level, and to report to the Commission at its third session;

(i) Invites the relevant agencies of the United Nations system, in particular UNIDO, to undertake, within available resources, sectoral and techno-economic studies and demonstration projects on the transfer of industrial environmentally sound technologies and techniques in order to support sustainable development in the area of industry and to report to the Commission at its third session on initial results achieved by that time;

(j) Requests the Secretary-General to invite appropriate organizations of the United Nations system to examine the feasibility of establishing a consultative group on environmental technology centres, bearing in mind the experience of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR);

(k) Calls upon Governments, particularly those of developed countries, to promote the contribution of their universities and research centres in the transfer of available environmentally sound technologies and expertise, including through such mechanisms as university grants and workshops, and encourages international organizations to support those efforts.

91. The Commission makes the following recommendations for effectively organizing its future work:

(a) As a general rule, issues related to transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity-building should be reported through the two Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Groups;

(b) Previous experience (lessons learned and results achieved in the relevant initiatives being undertaken during the inter-sessional period) should be drawn upon to advance the debate and facilitate decision-making in the regular sessions of the Commission;

(c) There should be greater involvement of experts, the private sector and non-governmental organizations;

(d) The results should be presented to the secretariat of the Commission in time for them to be incorporated into the documentation to be submitted to the Commission. Those results should be presented to the secretariat in the form of an extremely short and comprehensive paper, focusing on two areas: (i) shortcomings and unresolved problems identified; and (ii) feasible and practical recommendations for further consideration by the Commission, tailored to different actors, such as Governments, international organizations and institutions, non- governmental organizations and the private sector.

D. Review of sectoral cluster: health, human settlements and freshwater

1. Protecting and promoting human health                                       [ Up ]

92. The Commission on Sustainable Development takes note of the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.17/1994/3) as well as a background paper on health, environment and sustainable development prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as task manager.

93. The Commission takes note, with appreciation, of the outcome of the Inter-sessional Workshop on Health, the Environment and Sustainable Development, held in Copenhagen from 23 to 25 February 1994 and organized by the Government of Denmark. In that context, the Commission particularly underlines the importance of the recommendations of the Copenhagen meeting focusing on the need to integrate health, environment and sustainable development goals and activities through innovative and holistic approaches.

94. The Commission reaffirms that the promotion and protection of human health is of central concern in sustainable development, as reflected in the very first principle of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which states that human beings are at the centre of concern for sustainable development and are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. In that context, the Commission stresses the fact that the protection and promotion of human health depend on activities stemming from all sectors.

95. The Commission welcomes the Global Strategy for Health and Environment developed by WHO and endorsed by the World Health Assembly.

96. The Commission recognizes the critical importance of funding for health and highlights the need to focus funding on preventive measures. While emphasizing the importance of adopting a preventive approach to building health-related services, the Commission also stresses the necessity of responding to the needs of curative medicine. To meet those requirements, the Commission calls for the strengthening of the health infrastructure, particularly in developing countries, with the cooperation of the international community where necessary.

97. The Commission has identified the rural sector and urban slums as particular social sectors that would benefit from the strengthening of health systems because special attention in those areas will strengthen the implementation of the priorities identified in the Commission decisions on human settlements.

98. Poverty is an underlying significant element to be addressed in the integrated implementation of health aspects of Agenda 21. Eradicating malnutrition and hunger, which affects some one billion people in the world, is a fundamental prerequisite to providing health for all. The Commission therefore reaffirms the commitments to poverty eradication in the context of sustainable development contained in the Rio Declaration, and the fundamental relationship of the eradication of poverty to the overall goals of health promotion and protection.

99. While recognizing the impact of population growth on health, environment and development, and vice versa, and looking forward to the outcome of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Commission recognizes that the provision of basic and assured health care, particularly to women and children, is a vital prerequisite to the reduction of high rates of population growth.

100. The specific needs of vulnerable groups are recognized as priority areas. In addition to the three vulnerable groups identified in chapter 6 of Agenda 21 (women, children and indigenous people), the Commission takes note of the similarly special health needs of the aged, the disabled, and the displaced. The Commission further notes the contribution of food aid as an important aspect of efforts directed at the improvement of the nutritional and overall health of vulnerable groups.

101. The Commission notes that traditional health-related knowledge, borne especially by women and indigenous people, makes a contribution to overall health and stresses the need for increased research in that field with a view to supporting its use where adequately validated.

S\94 The Commission also notes that the work-place is a source of health- related problems and at the same time provides a useful community basis for implementing and monitoring preventive health programmes through the participation of workers.

103. The Commission underlines that it is of crucial importance to change consumption patterns, in particular in developed countries, as well as production patterns, in order to ensure that products and production processes with adverse health and environmental effects gradually disappear. Detailed and specific product information, such as adequate labelling, can therefore create changes in the market towards cleaner products. In that context, the Commission stresses the need for continually updating the Consolidated List of Products Whose Consumption and/or Sale Have Been Banned, Withdrawn, Severely Restricted or Not Approved by Governments", and for undertaking further measures to broadly disseminate information contained in that list. Furthermore, the Commission stresses the need for assisting countries to implement the set of guidelines for consumer protection adopted by the General Assembly in 1985.

104. The Commission expresses deep concern about chemical substances with potential health hazards that are widely used in industry, consumer products and food production and processing. The impact on human health, especially of long-term exposure to low doses of synthetic chemicals with potential neurotoxic, reproductive or immunotoxic effects, and their synergistic effects on nature, is not yet sufficiently understood. The Commission therefore emphasizes the need to control their use and to minimize the emission of hazardous chemicals to prevent increasing concentrations in the environment.

105. The Commission recognizes the ongoing health reform efforts and emphasizes the need for further concrete actions in the follow-up to the first review of progress in implementing the activities of chapter 6, particularly for the 1997 review of Agenda 21. In that context, the Commission recognizes four lines of health reform identified by WHO as constituting a suitable programme of action for Governments to pursue within the framework of their national sustainable development programmes:

(a) Community health development: undertaking health promotion and protection as part of more holistically conceived community-based development programmes;

(b) Health sector reform: increasing the allocation of resources to the most cost-effective health protection and promotion programmes as seen in the longer run and in the interest of attaining sustainable development;

(c) Environmental health: increasing the understanding of the impact of policies and programmes of other sectors upon human health and mobilizing financing and action in those sectors accordingly;

(d) National decision-making and accounting: health impact assessments, accounting and other means of promoting the integration of health, the environment and sustainable development into national decision-making with a view to strengthening health-sector representation and incorporating health and its financing in development planning.

106. The Commission concludes that the following priorities should receive particular attention from Governments and the relevant international organizations:

(a) Strengthening health-sector representation in national decision-making, including the full participation of major groups;

(b) Establishing a firm partnership between health/health-related services, on the one hand, and the communities being served, on the other, that respects their rights and local traditional practices, where adequately validated;

(c) Including population issues in basic health systems, as approved in chapter 6, paragraphs 6.25 and 6.26 of Agenda 21 and without prejudice to the outcome of the International Conference on Population and Development;

(d) Including food security, the improvement of the population's nutritional status, food quality and food safety in national development plans and programmes aimed at improved health in the context of sustainable development;

(e) Reassessing health expenditures with a view to more cost- effective health protection and promotion measures, including, where appropriate, the increasing use of economic instruments, such as user fees and insurance systems, in order to generate funds for efficient health systems;

(f) Assuring that health is integrated into environmental impact assessment procedures;

(g) Enhancing efforts to prevent and eradicate communicable diseases, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and malaria;

(h) Establishing adequate structures for environmental health services at the local and, where appropriate, provincial levels in order to further encourage decentralization of health-related programmes and services and to take full advantage of the potentials within the sphere of the local authorities;

(i) Increasing public awareness for health aspects, especially with respect to nutrition, communicable diseases, population issues and health hazards from modern lifestyles through primary, secondary and adult education. Special effort should be made to incorporate environmental health issues in the training of all professionals directly or indirectly faced with environmental and health problems (e.g., medical professionals, architects and sanitary engineers);

(j) Enhancing multidisciplinary research into the linkages between health and environment;

(k) Assuring access, exchange and dissemination of information on health and environment parameters for everyone, with particular attention to the needs of vulnerable groups and other major groups;

(l) Ensuring that knowledge of clean technology is disseminated in such a way that it contributes to the prevention of man-made health problems, especially concerning the use of pesticides and food production and processing;

(m) Ensuring close collaboration and coordination of concerned United Nations organizations in the implementation of those priorities;

(n) Building, where possible, on the achievements of existing programmes developed individually and jointly by United Nations agencies, Governments and relevant groups in civil society;

(o) Promoting the participation of non-governmental organizations and other major groups in the health sector as important partners in the development of innovative action, and strengthening a bottom-up community involvement;

(p) Encouraging further partnerships between the public and the private sectors in health promotion and protection;

(q) Building up greater institutional capacity in the tangible implementation of those priorities from the point of conception and planning to the management and evaluation of appropriate health and environmental policies and operational elements at community, local, national, regional and international levels.

107. The Commission takes note of the relevant provisions of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and urges that adequate support be given to the overall goals of health promotion and protection identified in the Programme of Action.

108. The Commission invites the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD) to consider in its follow-up work on chapter 6 of Agenda 21 and in the preparation of the 1997 review, the following priority areas:

(a) Supporting developing countries and economies in transition in the development of national environmental health plans as part of national sustainable development programmes; such plans should (i) address the cross-sectoral aspects of environmental health and identify action by other sectors for health protection and promotion, and (ii) emphasize the provision of environmental health services at the local level, along with the development of primary environmental care;

(b) Extending scientific and public understanding of the cumulative effects of chemicals in consumer products, plant and animal-based food, water, soil and air on human health. Those chemicals include agricultural and non-agricultural pesticides, as well as other chemicals with, inter alia, neurotoxic, immunotoxic and allergic effects. Special attention should be given to the impacts on vulnerable groups;

(c) Determining mechanisms that identify and control newly emerging infectious diseases and their possible environmental linkages;

(d) Providing a status report on the health implications of the depletion of the ozone layer based on epidemiological studies in the context of the INTERSUN project, involving, inter alia, WHO, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), taking into account ongoing work under the Montreal Protocol;

(e) Developing an effective and efficient environmental health information system to collect and disseminate national, regional and international information on newly emerging environmental health problems by 1997.

109. The Commission requests that information on the status of community participation in the health sector be included in the report of the Secretary-General to be submitted for the 1997 review of Agenda 21.

110. The Commission invites WHO, as task manager, to continue to monitor progress made by the United Nations and other international agencies in implementing chapter 6 of Agenda 21. The Commission requests WHO to report periodically to IACSD on that matter and to make such reports available to the Commission.

111. The Commission requests countries to include in their national reports for the 1997 review session of the Commission a specific section on steps taken to promote and protect human health, highlighting the positive examples and models, indicating progress achieved and experience gained, particularly experience from which others might benefit, and the specific problems and constraints encountered.

112. The Commission calls upon Governments to strengthen their commitments to the health reform process, inter alia, through national, regional and international inter-sessional meetings that focus on special linkages between the health sector and other sectors.

113. The Commission stresses the need for full implementation of the agreements on technology transfer contained in chapter 34 of Agenda 21 and the relevant decisions of the Commission. In that context, the Commission urges the international community to find concrete ways and means to transfer appropriate health-related technologies, including medical and pharmaceutical technologies, to developing countries and economies in transition.

114. The Commission urges Governments to mobilize financial resources to respond to the above priorities, as agreed in chapter 33 of Agenda 21 and the relevant decisions of the Commission.

115. The Commission invites WHO and other relevant intergovernmental bodies to take those recommendations into full account in their future work.

2. Human settlements                                                                         [ Up ]

116. The Commission takes note, with appreciation, of the Secretary- General's report (E/CN.17/1994/5) and the background paper prepared by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) on promoting sustainable human settlements development.

117. The Commission recognizes, in the context of human settlements development, the importance of achieving sustainability and the goals of Agenda 21, particularly in view of the high rate of urbanization and the consequent challenge to the local and global environment, and also in view of the lack of shelter and sanitation for a large segment of the population in developing countries. While the urban development patterns in a number of countries, particularly in the developed countries, provide for a satisfactory standard of living for sizeable parts of the population, they also place an extraordinary strain on the world's ecological resources and systems.

118. The Commission suggests that Governments take a balanced approach to all programme areas of chapter 7 and chapter 21 of Agenda 21. Land- resource management, urban transportation, access to adequate shelter, and the management of solid wastes, especially in developing countries, are areas requiring greater attention. The Commission notes the close linkage between human settlements and the issues of water supply, sanitation and health.

119. The Commission draws special attention to the potential contributions of the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), to be held in Istanbul in June 1996, and to the crucial role of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. That would be a key Conference, which was expected to support and further advance the objectives of Agenda 21.

120. The Commission draws attention to the linkages between unsatisfactory shelter and environmental conditions and the lack of access to land and security of tenure, on the one hand, and social divisions, violence and the degradation of personal safety, on the other. Governments at all levels should recognize that insecure and inhuman conditions for living and working both violate human rights and are a primary cause of social conflict and violent disruptions of civil society.

121. The Commission recognizes that human settlements development need to take a comprehensive approach that treats urban and rural problems as integral parts of the overall human settlements equation, since developing countries, in particular, face rapid urban population growth due, inter alia, to increasing migration from rural to urban areas.

122. The Commission recommends that Governments and the international community give priority attention to human settlements programmes and policies to reduce urban pollution and to improve and expand urban services and infrastructure, particularly in low-income communities. Those efforts are necessary to safeguarding human health, preserving the integrity of the natural environment and ensuring economic productivity. The "brown agenda" (a concept that addresses urban pollution resulting from inadequate water supply, sanitation and drainage, poor industrial and solid-waste management, and air pollution) is also highlighted as an umbrella approach to urban pollution issues that can be used to link and better implement Agenda 21 in the urban context.

123. The Commission welcomes the relevant provisions of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

124. The Commission underscores the crucial importance of action at the local level and confirms the importance of the local Agenda 21 process, as specified in chapter 28 of Agenda 21. The participation of people at the local level, including major group representatives, to facilitate effective local action and efficient management of human settlements, is indispensable. Local authorities and their national and international associations are important partners for the decentralized implementation of appropriate human settlements programmes.

125. The Commission notes the financial and technical requirements needed to implement the human settlement activities set out in Agenda 21 and emphasizes the substantial resource and technology gap faced by developing countries and economies in transition in addressing human settlements problems.

126. The Commission also notes the great potential that exists within the human settlements context for increased economic activity, job creation and related revenues, inter alia, as a result of building construction programmes. Such positive potentials can be realized through appropriate sustainable human settlements policies that emphasize greater use of local materials and human resources, encouraging and supporting design efficiency and energy-saving methods, among other initiatives. In that context, the work-place and the role of workers can be an important focus for the implementation of policies and programmes.

127. The integral role of the private sector in the development and dissemination of cost-effective and sustainable building materials, increased energy and materials efficiency, and sustainable waste management is underlined. In that context, the Commission particularly highlights the need to encourage local, small and micro-enterprises.

128. The Commission emphasizes the need to strengthen human settlements management capacity, where appropriate, as a necessary prerequisite for the successful implementation of all human settlements-related components of Agenda 21. Particular emphasis is also placed on building the capacity of relevant major groups to encourage and enhance their contributions to local, regional and international human settlements development efforts.

129. The Commission notes, in regard to solid-waste management, that the promotion of waste recycling and reuse provides a unique opportunity in waste management; it helps to solve the problem of environmental degradation and has the potential to alleviate urban poverty and generate income among the urban poor. However, that requires supply-side policies aimed at promoting and supporting resource recovery, and demand-side policies aimed at stimulating markets for recovered materials and products.

130. The Commission recognizes that many developing countries are dependent on imported technologies for infrastructure development and improvements, including for solid-waste management, and notes that the international community has an important role to play in facilitating the transfer of environmentally sound technology. At the same time, full use should be made of locally available technologies that can be adapted to existing needs.

131. The Commission, therefore:

(a) Calls upon Governments to strengthen the networks of small- and medium-sized settlements in rural regions in order to provide attractive settlement opportunities and ease migratory pressure on large metropolises, and recommends that Governments implement programmes of rural development by expanding employment opportunities, providing educational and health facilities, strengthening technical infrastructure, and encouraging rural enterprises and sustainable agriculture, and further calls upon the international community to support those rural development programmes;

(b) Recommends that Governments and the private sector, particularly in the developed countries, increase their efforts to develop new and environmentally sound technologies for urban transportation, other infrastructure and buildings, as well as environmentally sound products, in order to reduce demands on natural resources. Those technologies and products, as well as the information related to them should, where appropriate, be made accessible to urban and environmental authorities in all countries;

(c) Calls upon Governments to strengthen the economic, political and social institutions of civil society so as to enhance, especially at the municipal level, the capacity of local authorities, training institutions, community groups and non-governmental organizations to act as effective partners and organizers of sustainable development activities at the local level. The Commission further invites local authorities and their associations to exchange know-how on the effective management of human settlements, including satisfactory coordination and burden-sharing among central city and suburban local authorities in urban agglomerations, and, as appropriate, in rural areas.

132. The Commission, further:

(a) Requests Governments, the international community, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, the private sector and non-governmental organizations to fully support the preparatory process for the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), including at the regional level;

(b) Urges appropriate United Nations agencies, through the Inter- Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD), to mobilize legal, economic and environmental expertise for the development of equitable and sustainable land use planning and management strategies for human settlements of all sizes;

(c) Calls upon Governments and international organizations to emphasize "best practice" in delivery mechanisms, including demand-driven systems, increased networking, bottom-up capacity-building, demonstration/replication strategies, regional coordination and decentralized local management and, in that context, called for a review of "best practice" applications to provide a basis for the systematic dissemination of effective models;

(d) Invites the appropriate United Nations agencies and organizations, through IACSD, to launch a demonstration initiative for environmentally friendly urban transport. That initiative should draw together the best available expertise on urban infrastructure management and should facilitate the exchange of knowledge on "best practices" between developed and developing countries. The Secretary-General is invited to report to the Commission on progress in that area by 1997;

(e) Invites appropriate United Nations agencies and international organizations, through IACSD, to consider the feasibility of preparing and implementing integrated environment-upgrading demonstration projects for human settlements in three mega-cities: one each in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Secretary-General is invited to report to the Commission on progress in that area by 1997;

(f) Calls upon Governments and international agencies, in particular the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements and UNIDO to support and encourage local, small and micro-enterprises, which, particularly in the context of local development, develop and offer environmentally sustainable building material components and related products, as well as environmentally sound energy systems;

(g) Urges Governments and international organizations to give more concerted attention to the management of solid wastes. That should include promoting greater awareness of the environmental and health risks from solid waste and the impact of changes in production and consumption patterns on the volume and type of such waste, as well as utilizing the resources and potential of the private sector, including the formal and informal sectors, and using indigenous technologies and techniques;

(h) Calls upon appropriate United Nations agencies and international organizations, through IACSD, to establish joint programming mechanisms in the area of human settlements that are specifically focused on urban services and urban poverty and their linkages with health and the environment and urges donor organizations to support those joint programming initiatives;

(i) Urges United Nations agencies and other international bodies to include in their urban monitoring and reporting activities appropriate indicators for the environmental performance of cities;

(j) Urges the international community, in carrying out its assistance activities, to explore, through appropriate authorities, the full range of joint programming options and new alliances with, inter alia, local authorities and associations of local authorities, national and international non-governmental organizations, the private sector and women's and community groups;

(k) Requests the Secretary-General, in the context of reporting on section III of Agenda 21, to give special attention to the role of local authorities and to the progress they are making in the implementation of the human settlements objectives of Agenda 21;

(l) Invites the task manager to continue to monitor progress made by the United Nations and other international agencies in implementing chapter 7 of Agenda 21 and to inform the Commission periodically of such progress through IACSD;

(m) Calls upon Governments and international organizations to focus greater attention on meeting the capital investment requirements of human settlements through enhanced resource-mobilization strategies and policies that facilitate greater flows of private investment in infrastructure and services and all forms of public and private sector partnership in human settlements development;

(n) Urges Governments to mobilize financial and technological resources, as agreed in chapters 33 and 34 of Agenda 21 and in the relevant decisions of the Commission, and to respond to the priorities contained in the present decision.

3. Freshwater                                                                                      [ Up ]

133. The Commission notes with great concern that many countries are facing a water crisis, with rapid deterioration of water quality, serious water shortages and reduced availability of freshwater, which severely affect human health, the ecosystem and economic development, due to:

(a) Increasing water demand, inappropriate water resource management and a lack of groundwater protection, particularly in agriculture and in and around areas of urban concentration;

(b) Natural and man-made causes of water shortages, such as periodic droughts, falling water tables, changing weather patterns, a reduced capacity of soils in some areas to retain moisture due to land degradation within catchment areas, and land degradation generally;

(c) A lack of public awareness about the need for conservation of freshwater supplies, especially safe drinking water, and for proper sanitation, associated with a lack of recognition of water as a finite resource, a social and economic good and an essential part of ecosystems.

134. The Commission is concerned that the water crisis infringes the basic human needs of present and future generations.

135. The Commission realizes that the crisis needs urgent and concrete action by national Governments as well as international organizations in order to implement chapter 18 of Agenda 21, particularly by supporting developing countries.

136. The Commission recommends that countries give priority attention to the integrated management, mobilization and use of water resources in a holistic manner, while stressing the importance of the involvement of local communities, in particular of women.

137. The Commission calls for water to be considered as an integral part of the ecosystem, a natural resource and a social and economic good, the quantity and quality of which determines the nature of its utilization for the benefit of present and future generations.

138. The Commission recommends that the conservation and sustainable use of water should be given high priority, and invites the Subcommittee on Water Resources of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) to initiate model projects, to be carried out by relevant agencies, in order to examine and exemplify the feasibility of water-saving strategies in water-intensive agricultural, industrial, urban and domestic sectors.

139. The Commission realizes that, in order to create changes through the new approaches brought about by Agenda 21, special attention should be given to:

(a) The mobilization and integrated management of water, including pollution minimization and prevention, taking into account implications for health, the environment, social and economic policy and spatial planning;

(b) Investigations into the environmental flow requirements necessary to maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems and the development of integrated institutional methodologies for that purpose;

(c) The integrated management and conservation of river and lake basins, nationally, internationally and at all appropriate levels;

(d) The involvement of those people that were most directly affected by water management strategies in the planning of water infrastructure projects;

(e) Efforts to enable the integrated management of water at the lowest appropriate level and shifting to a system of sustainable demand management;

(f) The implementation of the polluter pays principle, pricing water to equal its full costs while taking into account the special condition of the poor, and the prevention of wasteful consumption;

(g) The encouragement of partnership projects between all parties concerned;

(h) The promotion of a gender-perspective in water resources management;

(i) The modification of patterns of behaviour towards clean water and hygiene, including the promotion of educational programmes in that sphere;

(j) The promotion of greater efficiency of sustainable water use, water conservation and protection, particularly in agriculture, and the increased application of rainwater-harvesting techniques;

(k) The conservation and sustainable management of forests, including the promotion of afforestation as a significant means of halting soil degradation and increasing moisture retention;

(l) The bridging of the gap between physical, human and financial resources and the escalating demand for water and the need for sanitation;

(m) The search for innovations, both technological and non-technological, to protect our finite and vulnerable water resources, as well as the sharing of such innovative technologies on a global basis, in particular with developing countries;

(n) The use of environmental impact assessments with a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach as a decision-making tool in water resources projects.

140. The Commission urges Governments to mobilize, within the framework established by chapter 33 of Agenda 21, adequate financial resources, through the use of all available sources and mechanisms, as well as maximizing the availability and smooth flow of additional resources, to implement chapter 18 of Agenda 21, and urges United Nations agencies and programmes to provide the necessary technical assistance, particularly to developing countries.

141. The Commission stresses the importance of capacity-building and the strengthening of institutional and human resource development programmes, in particular in developing countries, as an essential condition for efficient water management, mobilization and protection; priority should be given to the participation of women and youth at all levels of capacity-building. In that respect, the Commission takes note of a constituent meeting of the International Network of Basin Organizations, held in Chamb‚ry, France from 4 to 6 May 1994.

142. The Commission encourages the involvement of the private sector, the utilization of the "build-operate-transfer" approach and public-private partnerships in water-related projects undertaken through foreign direct investment, international financial institutions, United Nations agencies, bilateral assistance and partnership projects between stakeholders.

143. The Commission takes note, with appreciation, of the outcome of the International Ministerial Conference on Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation, hosted by the Government of the Netherlands (Noordwijk, 22 and 23 March 1994) and of the results of the Round Table on Water and Health in Underprivileged Urban Areas hosted by the Government of France (Sophia Antipolis, 21-23 February 1994).

144. The Commission endorses the Action Programme presented in the annex to document E/CN.17/1994/12 as one of the main instruments for implementing programme area D of chapter 18 of Agenda 21.

145. The Commission requests that countries include in their 1997 national reports a specific section on national goals and strategies in the field of drinking water and environmental sanitation, including, as appropriate, target dates, with a view to the implementation of the Action Programme and with the assistance of international organizations.

146. The Commission invites Governments to assist on a voluntary basis in the furtherance of chapter 18 of Agenda 21 and to report on those activities to the Commission in 1997. It welcomes in that respect the offer already made by France, Morocco, the Netherlands and Tunisia regarding the implementation of the Action Programme.

147. The Commission welcomes the work carried out by the organizations of the United Nations system through the ACC Subcommittee on Water Resources with regard to the systematic collection and analysis of information.

148. In that context, the Commission urges the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and other relevant United Nations bodies, as well as non-governmental organizations, to strengthen their efforts towards a comprehensive assessment of freshwater resources, with the aim of identifying the availability of such resources, making projections of future needs, and identifying problems to be considered by the special session of the General Assembly in 1997.

149. The Commission recommends to the Economic and Social Council that it invite the Committee on Natural Resources to address the question of freshwater as part of the comprehensive assessment at its third session in 1996.

150. The Commission invites Governments to cooperate actively with technical inputs to the process, taking into account the need for support for the full participation of developing countries, and welcomes the offer of the Government of Sweden to contribute by preparing a preliminary assessment of freshwater.

151. The Commission decides to review, at its 1997 session, the result of all the work outlined in paragraphs 148-150 above, in preparation for the 1997 special session of the General Assembly.

152. The Commission requests the Secretary-General to strengthen coordination within the United Nations system with a view to concentrating and consolidating the great amount of international action in the field of water, including the implementation of chapter 18 of Agenda 21, and to report to the Economic and Social Council.

153. The Commission further recommends to the Economic and Social Council that it consider the issue at its coordination segment in 1995.

154. The Commission welcomes the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and urges that adequate support be given to various strategies identified in the Programme of Action to address water resources issues, in particular those related to water supply and environmental sanitation, as well as the health dimension of water quality.

155. The Commission recommends that future international conferences, such as the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women, the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and others, take into account relevant international agreements on water resources issues, in particular those related to water supply and environmental sanitation, as well as the health dimension of water quality.

156. The Commission invites the Secretary-General to transmit the above recommendations to those conferences.

E. Review of sectoral cluster: toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes 

1. Toxic chemicals                                                                            [ Up ]

157. The Commission notes that efforts to control chemical risks to human health and the environment have not kept pace with the widespread and growing use of chemicals in all sectors worldwide.

158. The Commission recalls that Agenda 21 states that a significant strengthening of both national and international efforts is needed to achieve an environmentally sound management of chemicals. In that context, the Commission urges Governments, international organizations and relevant non-governmental actors to increase their efforts to ensure that chemicals are used and managed in a sustainable way.

159. The Commission calls upon United Nations bodies and other international organizations to improve international coordination to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts and to strengthen the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) in order to share the burden of work, involving the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Commission of the European Union.

160. The Commission notes that the International Conference on Chemical Safety was convened by WHO, UNEP and ILO in Stockholm from 25 to 29 April 1994, at the invitation of the Government of Sweden, and was attended by 114 Governments and relevant international organizations. The Commission also welcomes the establishment of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety, as well as the Priorities for Action adopted by the Conference, which are contained in the annex below.

161. The Commission endorses the Priorities for Action and welcomes in particular the targets and timetables agreed upon, and calls upon Governments, international organizations and relevant non-governmental organizations to implement the Priorities.

162. The Commission urges Governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to participate actively in the Forum, encouraging close links between a strengthened IPCS and the Forum.

163. The Commission welcomes the invitation of Governments to host inter-sessional meetings of the Forum.

164. The Commission acknowledges the important role of the Forum in the follow-up and review of chapter 19 of Agenda 21 and invites the Forum to report to the Commission on its work, when appropriate, before the special session of the General Assembly in 1997.

165. The Commission welcomes the recent progress by the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on the Implementation of the Amended London Guidelines in the development of possible elements for a legally binding instrument for the mandatory application of the prior-informed-consent procedure (PIC) on a global level. It recommends that UNEP, together with FAO and in close consultation with other international organizations, continue to evaluate and address problems with the implementation of the voluntary PIC procedure and to develop effective legally binding instruments concerning the PIC procedure.

166. The Commission appreciates the recently agreed Code of Ethics on the International Trade in Chemicals, stressing that it should be widely applied by industry in all countries without delay. It emphasizes the role of industry as a major player in furthering the objectives in chapter 19 of Agenda 21, especially as regards risk assessment, the provision of data and the adoption and implementation of risk-reduction measures.

167. The Commission welcomes the relevant provisions of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, which, among other things, calls for appropriate assistance to enable small island developing States to control risks to human health and the environment of their peoples.

168. The Commission recognizes the need for Governments to develop appropriate economic instruments to strengthen the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle. It invites Governments to report to the Commission, at its next session, on their experience in applying economic instruments in that regard.

169. The Commission recognizes the importance of taking action to address the health and environmental impacts of chemicals. It notes, for example, the severe health impacts of human exposure to lead, endorses the ongoing work on that issue in several international forums and encourages further efforts to reduce human exposure to lead.

170. The Commission recognizes the need for Governments and intergovernmental forums to identify persistent and bio-accumulative chemicals with a view to phasing out or banning such chemicals.

171. The Commission notes the need to assess both the relative cost- effectiveness of programmes for implementing chapter 19 of Agenda 21 and whether the commitments undertaken meet the needs of the public, bearing in mind the risk of frequent contact with chemicals in everyday life.

172. The Commission acknowledges that efficient coordination of the work on chemical safety on the part of concerned sectors at the national level, the active participation of industry and employees as part of the mobilization of the non-governmental sector, and the strengthening of the community right to knowledge through environmental reports, eco-audits, emission inventories and similar instruments are important factors for increased chemical safety.

173. The Commission stresses the need for strengthening national capabilities and capacities for the management of chemicals, particularly in developing countries, and encourages the commitment of Governments to concrete bilateral action in that area.

174. The Commission stresses the need for full implementation of both the agreements on technology transfer contained in chapter 34 of Agenda 21 and the relevant decisions of the Commission. In that context, the Commission urges the international community to find concrete ways and means to transfer to developing countries and economies in transition appropriate technologies as regards toxic chemicals and chemical safety.

175. The Commission urges Governments to mobilize financial resources to respond to the above priorities, as agreed in chapter 33 of Agenda 21 and the relevant decisions of the Commission.

176. The Commission invites the task manager to continue to monitor progress made by the United Nations and other international organizations in implementing chapter 19 of Agenda 21 and to inform the Commission periodically of such progress through IACSD.

Annex

PRIORITIES FOR ACTION ADOPTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHEMICAL SAFETY

Introduction                                                                                    [ Up ]

1. While Agenda 21 gives the overall objectives of the six programme areas and suggestions for their implementation, the adopted recommendations indicate priorities for immediate actions and goals to be achieved in the longer term. Agenda 21 states that its successful implementation is first and foremost the responsibility of Governments. Accordingly, the given recommendations are first of all dealing with priorities for action by Governments, but several of them regard work by which international bodies may develop effective tools for use by Governments.

2. Close cooperation between international organizations and Governments, and the development and strengthening of cooperation at the regional level are in a great number of cases important means to enhance significantly the result of recommended actions.

3. National implementation of international agreements on chemical safety should be encouraged.

4. At the national level, an efficient coordination of the work on chemical safety by concerned sectors is a prerequisite for successful results. Active participation of employers and workers, mobilization of the non-governmental sector, and strengthening of the community right to know are important factors for increased chemical safety.

5. Much of the work to strengthen chemical safety has been carried out by several United Nations bodies and programmes, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European Union, a number of countries, industries, trade unions and other non-governmental organizations, resulting in many useful tools for improvement of chemical safety. An expanded knowledge and use of these means should be promoted.

6. Adequate and good quality information on scientific, technical, economic and legal matters are essential for the sound management of chemicals. Developing countries and countries with economies in transition have particular problems in this regard. Bilateral technical assistance, transfer of technology, and other kinds of support should be increased in order to accelerate their development.

7. In all programme areas, there is a need for education and training. Efforts to satisfy this need should be carefully coordinated, and emphasis should be put on training the trainers.

8. Risk reduction activities should take into account the whole life cycle of a chemical, and chemical controls and pollution control initiatives should be closely integrated. Where relevant, the precautionary approach, as outlined in principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, should be applied.

9. Special attention should be paid to occupational safety and health problems caused by chemicals, primarily in the interest of protecting workers' health. In addition, epidemiological and other data based on human experience have always proven to be valuable with respect to other chemical-related problems.

10. When determining priorities for risk management, the implementation of these will be dependent upon the chemicals management capabilities of individual countries. When setting priorities for international activities, high priority should be given to those where achievement of goals can occur only when action is carried out at the international level. Activities leading to greater efficiency and cost savings, e.g. sharing of risk assessment reports of adequate quality, should be promoted. Completion of work where significant initiatives are well under way should have priority before initiating new programme activities.

11. Major actions undertaken should be monitored to assess progress.

12. The order in which the following recommendations are presented does not indicate various degrees of importance.

Programme area A. Expanding and accelerating international assessment of chemical risks

1. Needs for different types of health and environmental risk assessments should be identified and criteria for setting priorities for the various types of risk assessments should be agreed. Applying these criteria, an initial list of chemicals (including those of high production volume) for risk assessment by the year 1997 should be established as soon as possible.

2. Harmonized approaches for performing and reporting health and environmental risk assessments should be agreed as soon as possible. Such protocols should be based on internationally agreed principles to permit the full use of risk assessments performed by both national authorities and international bodies.

3. An inventory of risk assessments that are planned, in preparation or completed should be established before the end of 1994.

4. Industry should be encouraged to generate and supply data required for risk assessment to the greatest possible extent.

5. Human exposure data, and good quality health effects data from developing countries, should be generated.

6. Taking into account the results of the activities recommended in items 1 and 2 and making full use of the evaluations produced by United Nations bodies, OECD, and others, 200 additional chemicals should be evaluated by 1997.

7. If the target in item 6 is met, another 300 chemicals should be evaluated by 2000.

8. The general principles for establishing guidelines for exposure limits, including the setting of safety factors, need to be harmonized and described. Countries should establish guidelines for exposure limits for humans and for particular environmental compartments for as many chemicals as possible, taking into account the harmonization efforts and the potential use of such guidelines.

9. Research and development should be promoted for the better understanding of the mechanisms of adverse effects of chemicals on humans and the environment.

10. Attempts should be made to further reduce the use of vertebrate animals in toxicity testing by encouraging the development, validation and use of alternative methods.

Programme area B. Harmonization of classification and labelling of chemicals

1. The ongoing technical work on classification criteria should be strengthened to enable finalization by 1997. Continued work to harmonize classification systems and to establish compatible hazard communication systems, including labelling and safety data sheets, should be completed by 2000.

2. Countries should ensure that there is sufficient consultation to allow the development of a consistent national position on harmonization of classification systems.

3. An international framework for translating the result of the technical work on harmonization into an instrument or recommendations applicable legally at the national level should be established at an appropriate time.

Programme area C. Information exchange on toxic chemicals and chemical risks

1. Networks for information exchange should be strengthened to take full advantage of the information dissemination capacities of all governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.

2. Both the types of information exchanged and the methods of effecting the exchange should be tailored to meet the needs of major groups of users, taking due account of different languages and literacy levels.

3. Relevant data available from international bodies should be consolidated, if economically feasible, by 1997 on CD/ROM or other appropriate electronic media, together with suitable searching and updating facilities.

4. Sources of information useful in responding to chemical emergencies should be established and access to these sources should be readily and rapidly available.

5. Regional cooperation and information exchange networks should be established in all regions as soon as possible.

6. National institutions responsible for information exchange on chemicals should be created or strengthened, according to needs.

7. All countries should have nominated, by 1997, designated authorities for participation in the PIC procedure.

8. Work should continue to evaluate and address problems with implementation of the voluntary PIC procedure and to develop effective international legally binding instruments concerning the PIC procedure.

9. All countries which export chemicals subject to the PIC procedure should have the necessary mechanisms in place by 1997, including implementation and enforcement provisions, to ensure that export does not take place contrary to importing countries' decisions. Importing countries should also establish the necessary mechanisms.

10. In all developing countries and countries in economic transition, training should have been made available by 1997 in the implementation of the London Guidelines and the PIC procedure.

11. The circulation of safety data sheets for all dangerous chemicals being traded should be encouraged, as promoted by the recently agreed Code of Ethics on the International Trade in Chemicals.

Programme area D. Establishment of risk reduction programmes

1. In all countries chemical risks which are both readily identifiable and readily controllable should be reduced as soon as possible. In countries with sufficient resources, plans for the possible reduction of other chemical risks should be elaborated and enacted without delay. Industry, in accordance with the polluter pays principle, has a particular responsibility to contribute to the implementation of risk reduction programmes. Governmental experience and progress in national risk reduction programmes shall be presented in a report by 1997 to serve as a basis for setting goals for the year 2000.

2. The feasibility and usefulness of extending pollutant release and transfer registers to more countries, including newly industrialized countries, should be evaluated and a report prepared by 1997.

3. As a particular priority, the recently agreed Code of Ethics on the International Trade in Chemicals should be applied widely by industry in all countries without delay.

4. Efforts to promote the development and use of clean technology regarding the production and use of chemicals should be encouraged.

5. Countries should review their pesticides safety strategy in order to protect human health and the environment, including surface and groundwater. To reduce pesticide risks, countries should consider promoting the use of adequate safer pesticides, as well as the decreased use by better management practices and the introduction of alternative pest management technologies. A progress report should be prepared by 1997.

6. By 1997 not less than 25 more countries should have implemented systems for prevention of major industrial accidents in accordance with international principles such as those contained in the 1993 ILO Convention (No. 174) on the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) Convention on Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents.

7. By 1997 not less than 50 more countries should have introduced national systems for emergency preparedness and response, including a strategy for education and training of personnel, with the aid of, inter alia, the APELL programme and the ILO Code of Practice on the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents (1991).

8. By 1997 not less than 40 more countries should have established poison control centres with related clinical and analytical facilities, and good progress should have been made on harmonizing systems for recording data in different countries.

9. Priority attention should also be given to finding and introducing safe substitutes for chemicals with which high and unmanageable risks are associated. Governments, industries and users of chemicals should also develop, where feasible, new, less hazardous chemicals and new processes and technologies which effectively prevent pollution.

10. While recognizing that risk reduction activities are primarily national responsibilities, international risk reduction programmes could also be warranted for those problems that are international in scope.

11. Attention should also be paid to ensuring that all countries introduce appropriate legislation to implement the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and to ensuring that this legislation is regularly updated whenever the Recommendations are revised, especially in the context of the global harmonization of classification and labelling systems.

Programme area E. Strengthening of national capabilities and capacities for management of chemicals

1. The strengthening of national capabilities and capacities to manage chemicals in a great number of developing countries requires, in addition to funding and support from developed countries, innovative thinking as to how to make best use of existing systems. Bilateral assistance arrangements between developed and developing countries and countries with economies in transition should be encouraged. Efficient regional cooperation is of the utmost importance.

2. National profiles to indicate the current capabilities and capacities for management of chemicals and the specific needs for improvement should be elaborated as soon as possible and not later than 1997.

3. Comprehensive guidelines for chemical legislation and enforcement should be elaborated as soon as possible, taking into account, inter alia, the principles of the 1990 ILO Chemicals Convention (No. 170).

4. By 1997 mechanisms for ensuring liaison of all parties involved in chemical safety activities within a country should be established in the majority of countries.

5. Further education programmes and training courses should be arranged at the national and regional level to provide a core of trained people, both technical staff and policy makers, in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

6. Efforts should be made to improve the coordination of activities in the area of education, training and technical assistance.

7. As a longer-term objective, chemical information systems should be established in all countries, comprehensive legislation should be enacted and enforcement procedures be in place. Continued campaigns to increase the public awareness of chemical risks and their prevention should be run.

Programme area F. Prevention of illegal international traffic in toxic and dangerous products

Until control legislation is in place in a sufficient number of countries, as a basis for further legal international instruments to halt illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products, all efforts should be made to improve the situation, including strengthening of the PIC procedure.

2. Hazardous wastes                                                                  [ Up ]

177. The Commission notes with concern that many countries face severe and urgent health and environmental problems due to the production and mismanagement of hazardous wastes by industrial and other economic activities, as a result of:

(a) The lack of environmentally sound waste treatment facilities and appropriate technologies;

(b) The lack of information and expertise;

(c) The lack of preventive approaches;

(d) The lack of financial resources to cover the enormous costs of treatment and remedial action;

(e) The illegal traffic in hazardous wastes both nationally and across boundaries.

178. The Commission welcomes the progress achieved in the area of hazardous wastes and in that regard endorses:

(a) The decisions taken by the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal at their second meeting, which, inter alia, prohibit immediately all transboundary movement of hazardous wastes destined for final disposal from States that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD States, and the phase-out by 31 December 1997 of all transboundary movement of hazardous wastes that are destined for recycling and recovery, from OECD to non-OECD States;

(b) The decision to ban ocean dumping of industrial wastes taken at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by the Contracting Parties to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matters (London Convention, 1972) that will become effective on 1 January 1996;

(c) Recent actions taken by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), IMO and other relevant organizations of the United Nations system and actions taken at the national level.

179. The Commission stresses, however, that the current situation requires further concrete action by Governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector in order to implement chapter 20 of Agenda 21 and emphasizes, while taking into account the state of development of each country, that particular attention should be given to:

(a) The prevention, to the extent possible, of hazardous wastes and a minimization of their toxicity through the development, dissemination and application of an integrated cleaner production approach in all planning, such as the UNIDO/UNEP Cleaner Production Centres, and the use of an appropriate mix of institutional and regulatory measures as well as economic instruments;

(b) The environmentally sound management and disposal of waste with a view to ensuring the principle of proximity and self-sufficiency.

180. The Commission urges Governments to:

(a) Ratify or accede to the Basel Convention and to develop adequate control regimes, such as customs procedures, as well as methods and tools of detection;

(b) Support the fund established by the Contracting Parties to the Basel Convention, which is still very short of resources, to specifically support developing countries' hazardous waste minimization and management needs.

181. The Commission urges the Parties to the Basel Convention to ask its secretariat to develop procedures and guidelines for the implementation of the recent decisions taken by the Parties at their second meeting and, in cooperation with relevant units of UNEP, UNIDO and WHO, to assist specific developing countries on a pilot basis, within the period 1994-1995, with the development of a legal framework for hazardous waste management, the preparation and implementation of hazardous waste management plans in specific geographical areas and capacity-building in the field.

182. The Commission invites the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention to consider the feasibility of developing non-compliance procedures for the Convention.

183. The Commission urges the Parties to the Basel Convention to ask its secretariat to undertake case-studies of the illegal traffic in hazardous wastes and of wastes whose status is ill-defined and that are destined for recycling activities.

184. The Commission urges that the illegal disposal of tanker sludge and ballast water into marine waters be given high priority and recommends that they be subject to relevant requirements of the appropriate international conventions.

185. The Commission welcomes the efforts to develop regional arrangements similar to the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement of All forms of Hazardous Waste within Africa.

186. The Commission recalls and reaffirms UNEP Governing Council decision 17/5 on the application of environmental norms by the military establishment and urges Governments to take action to implement the decision fully.

187. The Commission invites UNEP to consider the feasibility of arranging regional meetings, in cooperation with the United Nations regional commissions and regional organizations, on the implementation of the decision and on how national environmental plans for the military establishment relating to hazardous waste management can be designed and implemented.

188. The Commission recommends that the following actions and measures be taken at the national level:

(a) Governments should establish and/or strengthen national institutions to manage hazardous wastes;

(b) Governments should develop and reinforce laws and regulations on hazardous wastes and strengthen their enforcement;

(c) Governments should, on the basis of toxic release inventories providing information on sources and quantities of hazardous wastes, develop and enhance integrated national hazardous waste management plans, taking into account all sources and fates of hazardous waste, e.g., industry, military establishments, agriculture, hospitals and households;

(d) Priority should be given to activities designed to promote cleaner production, prevention and minimization to the extent possible of hazardous waste through applying the life-cycle approach and the provision of adequate information, research, development and demonstration activities as well as training and education;

(e) Case-studies on specific industry sectors should be launched in different countries, with particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises;

(f) Effective systems should be developed and maintained for the segregated collection of wastes, and incentives should be provided to encourage the segregation, recycling, reuse and reclamation of hazardous wastes.

189. In order to give support to national activities, the following regional and international measures should be taken:

(a) Efforts to support the exchange of information among and between developed and developing countries on the minimization and environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes in support of the transfer of environmentally sound technologies should be increased;

(b) Focused training activities adapted to specific local needs should be conducted.

190. The Commission stresses that production facilities transferred to developing countries and economies in transition should have environmentally sound waste management plans, so that the waste generated by those facilities should not, either by its quantity or quality, be harmful to the environment of those countries.

191. The Commission urges industry to develop voluntary codes of conduct for the use of clean technologies and the safe management of hazardous wastes in all countries where they operate.

192. The Commission welcomes the relevant provisions of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, and urges that adequate support be given to various strategies identified in the Programme of Action for the management of hazardous wastes.

193. The Commission also welcomes the proposal of Poland to join with UNEP in hosting an international symposium on cleaner production to strengthen the international activities in that field in Poland from 12 to 14 October 1994. Initiatives that minimize the production of hazardous wastes will contribute to advances in the area and offer economic advantages.

194. The Commission further welcomes the proposal of Germany to host an international workshop in 1994 on the minimization and recycling of waste, including the development of strategies towards life-cycle management, which could also contribute to hazardous waste reduction.

195. The Commission stresses the need for:

(a) Governments and relevant international organizations to develop economic instruments and consider mobilizing additional financing earmarked for hazardous waste management and to take other measures to facilitate the prevention of hazardous wastes, such as eco-labelling and mandatory take-back of used products;

(b) International organizations to harmonize testing methodologies and hazardous waste nomenclature, taking into account the work done by OECD;

(c) National and international institutions to assess the full dimensions of soil and groundwater contamination, in particular that due to improper storage and disposal of hazardous wastes;

(d) Governments to require the necessary prevention and remedial actions to address the problems of contaminated soil and groundwater.

196. The Commission stresses the need for full implementation of the agreements on technology transfer contained in chapter 34 of Agenda 21 and the relevant decisions of the Commission. In that context, the Commission urges the international community to find concrete ways and means of transferring to developing countries and economies in transition appropriate technologies as regards the prevention, minimization, treatment, disposal techniques and remedial action concerning hazardous wastes.

197. The Commission urges Governments to mobilize financial resources to respond to the above priorities, as agreed in chapter 33 of Agenda 21, and the relevant decisions of the Commission.

198. The Commission invites the task manager, UNEP, to continue to monitor progress made by the United Nations and other international agencies in implementing chapter 20 of Agenda 21 and to inform the Commission periodically of such progress through IACSD.

3. Radioactive wastes                                                                  [ Up ]

199. The Commission acknowledges the report of the Secretary-General on progress achieved in the implementation of chapter 22 of Agenda 21 (E/CN.17/1994/15). The Commission requests the Secretary-General to issue an addendum to the report, including information on radioactive wastes contained in the national reports received since the date of the report.

200. The Commission notes that the generation of radioactive wastes continues to increase worldwide from nuclear power generation, the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, nuclear-arms reduction programmes and the use of radionuclides in medicine, research and industry, and that enhanced efforts must be made, at both national and international levels, to promote the safe and environmentally sound management of radioactive waste.

201. The Commission also notes that radioactive defence wastes represent the same risks as other types of radioactive wastes. However, in a number of countries, the management of radioactive defence waste is not subject to the same safety rules as the management of other radioactive wastes. In those countries it is outside the control of national civilian radiation protection and safety authorities but generally falls under military rules.

202. The Commission further notes that a number of countries have been involved in the monitoring and safe management of radioactive wastes, that legislation has been enacted or amended and safety standards updated, and that licensing and control procedures have been reviewed.

203. The Commission recognizes that efforts have been geared towards identifying and establishing permanent disposal sites for radioactive wastes and that Governments are continuing their efforts to manage interim storage facilities and to find practical measures for minimizing and limiting, where appropriate, the generation of those wastes.

204. The Commission welcomes the progress made in technical, legal and administrative measures at the national, regional and international levels with the aim of ensuring that radioactive wastes are safely managed, transported, stored and disposed of, or are treated with a view to protecting human health and the environment.

205. The Commission supports the effective international cooperation in research, exchange of information and standard-setting that was carried out in the field under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and, concerning research and the exchange of information, in the European Union. In particular, it welcomes the progress made in the IAEA Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS) programme.

206. The Commission also welcomes the development by IAEA of the Codes of Practice on the International Transboundary Movement of Radioactive Waste and by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the Codes of Practice on the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-level Radioactive Waste in Flasks on Board Ships.

207. The Commission expresses its satisfaction at the November 1993 decision at IMO by the Contracting Parties to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention, 1972) to convert the voluntary moratorium on ocean dumping of all radioactive wastes into a binding prohibition. That global prohibition will strengthen earlier bans agreed upon in regional contexts. The Commission urges all Contracting Parties to the Convention to respect its now binding character.

208. The Commission considers it imperative that the export of radioactive wastes be inadmissible to countries that do not have the technical, economic, legal and administrative resources for environmentally safe and sound management of radioactive wastes.

209. The Commission calls attention to the needs of developing countries and economies in transition to establish or strengthen their capacities for the safe management of radioactive wastes, including spent radiation sources.

210. The Commission:

(a) Urges Governments to apply the precautionary principle (e.g., preparatory measures for final disposal) in decisions concerning new or extended activities generating radioactive wastes;

(b) Urges Governments to undertake the further research and development of such areas as the minimization and reduction of the volume of radioactive wastes, potential sites for the storage of radioactive wastes, safety and health standards associated with the handling of radioactive wastes and remediation procedures and processes;

(c) Calls upon Governments to fully implement the IAEA and other relevant codes of practice that have been adopted in the area of transboundary movements and the transport of radioactive wastes;

(d) Recommends that Governments encourage suppliers of sealed radiation sources to accept the return of such sources and ensure their safe and environmentally sound management after use;

(e) Calls upon Governments to ensure that radioactive wastes arising from military activities should be subject to the same types of strict safety and environmental regulations as those arising from civilian activities;

(f) Calls upon Governments to internalize, to the maximum extent possible, all costs of the operations of nuclear facilities and of related waste management, including the decommissioning of nuclear facilities;

(g) Supports world-wide efforts to demonstrate viable methods for the safe disposal of long-lived and high-level radioactive wastes and the reinforcement of international cooperation in the field.

211. The Commission urges Governments to promptly begin, in the context of IAEA, after the finalization of the Nuclear Safety Convention, work on the development of an international convention on the safety of radioactive waste management, including consideration of the total life-cycle management of nuclear materials. In order to speed up the process, IAEA should urgently complete preparations related to safety fundamentals, which is a prerequisite for beginning such work.

212. The Commission invites IAEA, in cooperation with other relevant organizations, to continue to develop or improve standards for the management and safe disposal of radioactive wastes, and to report the results to the Commission at its third session.

213. The Commission calls upon the international community:

(a) To further support the development of international standards for radioactive waste management;

(b) To take all necessary steps to prohibit the export of radioactive wastes, except to countries with appropriate waste treatment and storage facilities;

(c) To strengthen cooperation and provide assistance to economies in transition in solving their urgent and specific problems due to improper treatment and disposal with regard to radioactive wastes;

(d) To provide technical assistance to developing countries in order to enable them to develop or improve procedures for the management and safe disposal of radioactive wastes deriving from the use of radionuclides in medicine, research and industry;

(e) To facilitate financial assistance to developing countries in order for them to address adequately radioactive waste management problems.

214. The Commission calls upon Governments and relevant multilateral funding organizations to assist developing countries in national capacity-building for the safe and sound management of radioactive wastes.

215. The Commission urges Governments, together with IAEA, to promote policies and practical measures to minimize and limit, where appropriate, the generation of radioactive wastes and provide for their safe processing, conditioning, transportation, storage and disposal, taking into account the provisions of chapter 22 of Agenda 21.

F. Other matters                                                                          [ Up ]

Matters related to the inter-sessional work of the Commission

216. The Commission, taking into account its mandate to coordinate and review progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, bearing in mind the experience acquired so far in work carried out inter-sessionally and recognizing the need for further rationalization and integration of future inter-sessional activities with a view to adequately preparing for its third session:

(a) Reconfirms the mandate of its Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance, as contained in paragraph 61 of chapter I of the report on its first session (E/1993/25/Add.1); requests the Working Group, in carrying out its mandate to, inter alia, (i) focus more directly on the financial sources and mechanisms appropriate to sectoral issues under review by the Commission; (ii) develop a matrix of financial sources and mechanisms which can be applied to these sectors, and maintain the integrated approach; and (iii) pursue the study of selected innovative financing mechanisms, as well as of economic instruments; and also requests the Working Group to involve more actively international financial institutions and other multilateral funding organizations and the private sector in its work, bearing in mind the need to bring together concrete projects and private actors;

(b) Decides to establish an inter-sessional ad hoc, open-ended working group composed of Governments, which will nominate experts to assist the Commission in the preparation, in a coordinated and integrated way, of the examination of sectoral issues to be reviewed by the Commission at its third session, in accordance with the multi-year thematic programme of work of the Commission - namely, the sectoral cluster entitled "Land, desertification, forests and biodiversity". The mandate of the working group should be:

(i) To review chapters 10 to 15 of Agenda 21 and the Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests, taking account, as appropriate, of inputs from other forums, such as the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, inasmuch as such inputs have a bearing on the work of the Commission;

(ii) To take stock of inter-sessional activity organized by Governments or international organizations on sectoral issues under review at the Commission's third session;

(iii) To group together initiatives under way on a particular sectoral issue;

(iv) To convey the results of relevant inter-sessional work to the Commission;

(v) To make recommendations on the organization of the Commission's discussions of sectoral issues in the light of inter-sessional activity.

217. The Commission, taking into account the need for effective implementation of its functions related to the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, cooperation and capacity-building, decides that the functions of its Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Technology Transfer and Cooperation, established at its first session for a trial period of one year, will be carried out by the two ad hoc working groups referred to above as follows:

(a) The Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance will consider all issues related to the financial aspects of transfer of environmentally sound technologies;

(b) The Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Sectoral Issues will consider technology transfer issues in relation to the specific sectoral issues under review in 1995, including the experience of individual countries.

218. The Commission decides that the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Sectoral Issues will have a one-year mandate so that the Commission can review its performance at its third session, in 1995.

219. The Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Groups on Finance and Sectoral Issues should meet for a period of one week each, at least six weeks before the third session of the Commission. The meeting on sectoral issues should take place before that on finance in order to facilitate the identification of the resource needs and mechanisms applicable to specific sectors.

220. The Commission requests the Secretariat, in order to ensure transparency, to disseminate, as appropriate, within existing resources, information about inter-sessional activities and their results, possibly on the basis of a common reporting format.

G. Provisional agenda for the third session of the Commission

221. The Commission recommends that the Economic and Social Council approve the provisional agenda for its third session, set out below:

1. Election of officers.

2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters.

3. General discussion on progress in the implementation of Agenda 21, focusing on the cross-sectoral components of Agenda 21 and the critical elements of sustainability.

4. Financial resources and mechanisms.

5. Education, science, transfer of environmentally sound technologies, cooperation and capacity-building.

6. Review of sectoral cluster: Land, desertification, forests and biodiversity (Agenda 21, chapter 10, "Integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources"; Agenda 21, chapter 11, "Combating deforestation"; Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests; Agenda 21, chapter 12, "Managing fragile ecosystems: combating desertification and drought"; Agenda 21, chapter 13, "Managing fragile ecosystems: sustainable mountain development; Agenda 21, chapter 14, "Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development"; and Agenda 21, chapter 15, "Conservation of biological diversity").

7. Other matters.

8. High-level meeting.

9. Provisional agenda for the fourth session of the Commission.

10. Adoption of the report of the Commission on its third session.

Chapter II                                                                                       [ Up ]

CHAIRMAN'S SUMMARY OF THE HIGH-LEVEL MEETING OF THE COMMISSION    

The Ministers and the other participants at the high-level meeting of the second session of the Commission on Sustainable Development underscored the importance of the high political profile of the Commission. Only if it demonstrated political leadership would it be able to act as an effective catalyst for sustainable development. That would enable the Commission to maintain and further promote the spirit of global partnership launched at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

2. In fulfilling its mandate, the Commission would seek to reach out to all partners involved in sustainable development. It would pursue more forthright interaction with the governing bodies of international organizations dealing with various cross-sectoral and sectoral aspects of sustainable development. It would aim at more fruitful cooperation with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization to promote sustainable development through sound macroeconomic policies and a favourable international economic environment. It would strengthen and broaden its partnership with major groups as key partners in the transition towards sustainable development. Further efforts needed to be taken to ensure that the Commission's message would reach all policy- making bodies and constituencies and bear an impact on their decisions and actions.

3. The participants welcomed the initial action taken in many countries to follow up the recommendations and commitments made during UNCED, in particular by elaborating national sustainable development strategies and action plans, setting up national institutional structures to pursue sustainable development goals and objectives, adopting legislative and regulatory frameworks to implement Agenda 21, and involving in that process the academic and business communities, non-governmental organizations, women, youth and other major groups.

4. At the international level, encouraging progress had been achieved during the past year. The two Conventions signed at Rio had entered into force. The International Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa was expected to be finalized in a few weeks' time and include suitable and adequate financial provisions. The international community had moved forward in such areas as trade, environment and sustainable development; chemical safety; hazardous wastes; and protection of water resources.

5. The global community had adopted an important Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, which had significance not only for those States but also for general efforts to develop effective strategies to enable all countries to achieve sustainable development. The implementation of the Programme of Action would be a yardstick of how serious we were about the global partnership established in Rio.

6. The participants stressed, nevertheless, that, despite those encouraging signs, much more remained to be done both nationally and internationally to translate the commitments of Rio into reality.

7. In the area of finance, despite some positive developments, such as the restructuring and replenishment of the Global Environment Facility and the increase in private financial flows to some, although not all developing countries, the overall financing of Agenda 21 and sustainable development fell significantly short of expectations and requirements. The participants reiterated the need for increased efforts to implement all the financial commitments made at UNCED, including the need to bring official development assistance levels in line with the 0.7 per cent target, as reaffirmed in Agenda 21, as soon as possible. They stressed the fact that mobilizing funds for sustainable development made it necessary to act on all fronts, at both the domestic and the international levels, and to search for innovative approaches and mechanisms, relevant policy reforms and the use of promising economic instruments. The participants welcomed the initiatives aimed at fostering in-depth discussions in those areas so that the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance could develop concrete proposals for the Commission.

8. Additional efforts were also essential in the area of the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, cooperation and capacity-building. Within the overall policy framework in that area as determined at UNCED, there was a need for a more focused approach. Further work would give priority attention to three areas: access to and dissemination of reliable information on environmentally sound technologies, institutional development and capacity-building, and financial and partnership arrangements between countries and between the private and public sectors.

9. It was recognized that trade liberalization and measures to make trade and environment mutually supportive were essential to achieving sustainable development. In that context, the participants welcomed the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations and its positive impacts on international trade. Acknowledging that further liberalization in international trade might also have some short-term negative impacts on some developing countries, they stressed that an open, equitable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, improved market access for products from developing countries, effective environmental protection in close cooperation with all policy makers involved as well as with the private sector and non- governmental organizations would be of long-term benefit to all countries. Attention should be given to the special situation and needs of developing countries. Market opportunities and export prospects could be stimulated by a better understanding and assessment of the environmental impacts of trade policies. There was a need to consider interaction between trade, technological cooperation and changes in production and consumption patterns. The Commission would annually review progress and developments in that area with a view to identifying possible gaps and to promoting cooperation and coordination among all parties involved.

10. The participants stressed that the Commission provided a unique international forum for fostering multilateral negotiations and promoting action in the area of changing consumption and production patterns. They reconfirmed the need to take additional measures, in particular in developed countries, to change those contemporary patterns of consumption and production that were detrimental to sustainable development. National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution. That would also stimulate the development of environmentally sound technologies, including those that would contribute to a phase out of lead in gasoline and other pollutants. Attention should be given to the special situation and needs of developing countries; for them, eradicating poverty and meeting basic human needs in the process of pursuing sustainable development was of overriding priority. Although developed countries bore special responsibility and should take the lead for change in that area, the participants recognized that all countries should derive benefits from establishing and maintaining more sustainable consumption and production patterns.

11. A strong sentiment was expressed by participants to urge the inter-sessional meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety and other relevant bodies to seek legally binding status to the prior-informed-consent procedure (PIC) with regard to the export of banned or severely restricted chemicals and subsequently ban the export of domestically prohibited chemicals from countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to other countries.

12. Much emphasis was given to the monitoring and reviewing role of the Commission. The participants stressed the importance of continuous exchange of information on practical experiences gained in individual countries, organizations and major groups. Voluntary national reports submitted by countries presented a valuable source of information on such experiences, as well as on progress achieved and problems encountered. The participants recognized the need for a simplification and streamlining of reporting in the area of sustainable development.

13. In that context, the participants expressed their support for the ongoing work on the elaboration of realistic and understandable sustainable development indicators which could supplement national reporting and provide a useful tool to measure progress towards sustainable development and global partnership. The need to expedite, in a coordinated way, such work, including in the areas of economic and financial issues, environmental trends and social issues, was highlighted.

14. The participants stressed the need to ensure synergy between the work of the Commission and the preparations for major upcoming international conferences, such as the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women and Habitat II, as well as the elaboration of an Agenda for Development. The participants urged States to participate in those conferences at a high level. It was emphasized that the Commission's message should permeate those conferences.

15. The participants expressed their gratitude to those countries and organizations that initiated and hosted meetings to examine and address issues that were on the Commission's agenda in 1994. It was recognized that those meetings significantly enriched the deliberations of the Commission. The participants welcomed the commitments expressed by those countries to provide a follow-up to their initiatives in order to contribute to a comprehensive review of Agenda 21 in 1997.

16. The participants stressed the need for effective inter-sessional work to prepare for the third session of the Commission. In particular, they underlined their high expectations from the 1995 meetings of the Commission's Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance and the new Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Sectoral Issues, given their more focused mandates. Those Groups would also deal with matters related to the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, cooperation and capacity-building.

17. Furthermore, the participants encouraged countries, organizations and other interested parties, individually or in partnership, to undertake, as a contribution to the third session of the Commission, activities to examine in depth specific issues on the Commission's agenda. They welcomed specific initiatives announced during the Commission's session. Exchange of information was essential to ensure a transparent inter- sessional process. Regarding inter-sessional work in general, they stressed the importance of more substantive involvement of experts and major groups, in particular the private sector and non-governmental organizations. The need for a more active involvement of ministers in the inter-sessional process was also underlined. Participants encouraged the enhanced participation of ministers responsible for development, planning and finance in the Commission's activities.

18. With regard to the Commission's deliberations on forests, as one of the sectoral issues on the Commission's agenda, and therefore an integrated part of the work of the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Sectoral Issues, the Chairman, in consultation with the Bureau, would initiate effective ways of enhancing coordination and complementarity in the preparatory work for the meeting of that Group. As the institutionalized body for sectoral issues of the Commission, the Group would be the central body for consolidating the work done by that time. The Chairman would build on various forest-related meetings planned as part of a number of country initiatives and enhance transparency and coordination, including with the institutional mechanism within the United Nations system.

19. All preparations should enable the Commission to concentrate its deliberations on key issues and concrete options that require focused policy guidance. The session, and especially its high-level meeting, benefited from a dialogue-oriented approach. It was felt that this should be continued and enhanced during future sessions. The panels on economy and sustainable development and on women and sustainable development were highly appreciated. The concept of panels as important forums for generating new ideas was recognized as useful and should be maintained.

20. Possibilities would be explored to elect the Chairman and the Bureau at an appropriate point in time with a view to allowing the Chairman and the Bureau to give guidance to the preparatory process of the Commission's sessions.

Chapter III                                                                                                                       GENERAL DISCUSSION ON PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AGENDA 21 FOCUSING ON THE CROSS-SECTORAL COMPONENTS OF AGENDA 21 AND THE CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY    [ UP ]

1. The Commission considered item 3 of its agenda at the 1st to 5th and 10th meetings, on 16, 17, 25 and 27 May 1994. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Overview of cross-sectoral issues (E/CN.17/1994/2);

(b) Overview of other follow-up processes to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development relevant to the work of the Commission (E/CN.17/1994/2/Add.1);

(c) Report of the Secretary-General on national information (E/CN.17/1994/9);

(d) Note verbale dated 7 April 1994 from the Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General transmitting a summary report of the Symposium on Sustainable Consumption, held at Oslo on 19 and 20 January 1994 (E/CN.17/1994/14).

2. At the 1st meeting, on 16 May, the Director of the Division for Sustainable Development of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development made an introductory statement.

3. During the consideration of the item, statements were made by the representatives of Algeria (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China), Brazil, China, Egypt, the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, Colombia, Hungary, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, India, Turkey, Poland, Norway, Canada, France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, Australia, Austria, Japan, the Philippines, Pakistan, Uruguay, Sri Lanka, the Russian Federation, Mexico, Indonesia and Venezuela and the observers for Greece (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Community, Denmark, Sweden, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Switzerland. Statements were also made by the representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (also on behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme), and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (on behalf of the regional commissions).

4. Statements were also made by the observer for the European Community and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa.

5. The observers for the following non-governmental organizations also made statements: International Chamber of Commerce, Inter-Parliamentary Union, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources/World Conservation Union; Third World Network (on behalf of a group of Southern NGOs); Alliance of Northern People for Environment and Development; Women's Environment and Development Organization and Society for International Development.

Information provided by Governments and organizations

6. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.7) entitled "Information provided by Governments and organizations".

7. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. A).

Decision-making structures

8. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.8) entitled "Decision-making structures".

9. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. A).

Major groups

10. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.11) entitled "Revised text of Commission decisions on major groups".

11. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. A).

Trade, environment and sustainable development

12. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision on trade, environment and sustainable development.

13. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. A).

Changing consumption and production patterns

14. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision on changing consumption and production patterns.

15. At the same meeting, after a statement by the representative of Sweden, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. A).

Chapter IV

FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND MECHANISMS    [ UP ]

1. At the 1st meeting, on 16 May 1994, the Commission established a working group (Working Group I) to consider cross-sectoral issues (items 4 and 5 of the agenda).

2. Working Group I considered item 4 at the 1st and 2nd meetings, on 18 May. It had before it the following reports:

(a) Report of the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance (E/CN.17/1994/10);

(b) Report of the Secretary-General entitled "Financial resources and mechanism for sustainable development: overview of current issues and developments" (E/CN.17/ISWG.II/1994/2 and Corr.1).

3. Introductory statements were made by the Chief of the Economic and Finance Branch of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development and by the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia.

4. Statements were also made by the representatives of Japan, Algeria (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China), Norway (on behalf of the Nordic countries), Colombia, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Poland, Brazil, China, Egypt, the United States of America, India, Canada, Morocco, Mexico, France, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Pakistan, Hungary, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the observer for Greece (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Community).

5. Statements were also made by the representatives of the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility.

Financial resources and mechanisms

6. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision on financial resources and mechanisms.

7. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. B).

Chapter V

EDUCATION, SCIENCE, TRANSFER OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND TECHNOLOGIES, COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING                                                       [ UP ]

1. At the 1st meeting, on 16 May 1994, the Commission established a working group (Working Group I) to consider cross-sectoral issues (items 4 and 5 of the agenda).

2. Working Group I considered item 5 at the 3rd and 4th meetings on 19 May. It had before it the following reports:

(a) Report of the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Technology Transfer and Cooperation (E/CN.17/1994/11);

(b) Report of the Secretary-General on the transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity-building (E/CN.17/ISWG.I/1994/2).

3. An introductory statement was made by the Chief of the Human Development Institutions and Technology Branch of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development.

4. Statements were made by the representatives of the Netherlands, Colombia, Norway, the United States of America, Algeria (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China), Bulgaria, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Poland, China, Malaysia, Japan, India, Egypt, Chile, Australia, Hungary, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Morocco, Canada, Austria, Turkey, Pakistan, Mexico and Sri Lanka, and the observers for Greece (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Community), Denmark (on behalf of the Nordic countries) and Switzerland.

5. The observer for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development also made a statement. Statements were made by the observers for several non-governmental organizations, including the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Council of Scientific Unions.

Transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity- building

6. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.10) entitled "Transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity-building".

7. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. C).

Chapter VI                                                                                   [ UP ]

REVIEW OF SECTORAL CLUSTERS, FIRST PHASE   

A. Health, human settlements and freshwater

1. At the 1st meeting, on 16 May 1994, the Commission established a working group (Working Group II) to consider sectoral issues (agenda item 6).

2. Working Group II considered item 6 (a) at the 1st to 3rd meetings on 18 and 19 May. It had before it the following documents:

(a) Report of the Secretary-General on progress in protecting and promoting human health (E/CN.17/1994/3);

(b) Report of the Secretary-General on freshwater resources (E/CN.17/1994/4);

(c) Report of the Secretary-General on the assessment of progress achieved in promoting sustainable human settlement development (E/CN.17/1994/5);

(d) Letter dated 30 March 1994 from the Charg‚ d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General transmitting the Political Statement and the Action Programme adopted by the Ministerial Conference on Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation (E/CN.17/1994/12).

3. Introductory statements were made by the Chief of the Human Development Institutions and Technology Branch of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, the Executive Director for Environmental Health of the World Health Organization, the Director of the New York Office of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and the representative of the Secretariat.

4. Statements were made by the representatives of the United States of America, China, Canada, the Republic of Korea, India, Egypt, Hungary, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Germany, Colombia, Japan, Benin, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Malaysia, Uruguay, Belgium, France and Tunisia and the observers for Denmark, Greece (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Community), Finland (on behalf of the Nordic countries), Ecuador, Kenya and Bangladesh.

5. Statements were also made by the representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and the International Research Institute for the Advancement of Women.

6. The observers for the following non-governmental organizations made statements: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives and International Federation of Settlement Houses.

Protecting and promoting human health

7. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.2) entitled "Protecting and promoting human health".

8. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. D).

Human settlements

9. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.3) entitled "Human settlements".

10. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, after a statement by the representative of the Philippines, the Commission adopted the draft decision, as orally amended (see chap. I, sect. D).

Freshwater

11. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.5) entitled "Freshwater".

12. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. D).

B. Toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes

13. Working Group II considered item 6 (b) at the 3rd and 4th meetings, on 19 May. It had before it the following reports:

(a) Report of the Secretary-General on toxic chemicals (E/CN.17/1994/6);

(b) Report of the Secretary-General on hazardous wastes (E/CN.17/1994/7);

(c) Report of the Secretary-General on radioactive wastes (E/CN.17/1994/15).

14. Introductory statements were made by the representative of the Secretariat and the Assistant Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

15. Statements were made by the representatives of Sri Lanka, Canada, Benin, Japan, Belgium, the Republic of Korea, Egypt, the United States of America, Australia, Germany, Pakistan, Poland, China, Malaysia, Austria, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, France and Algeria (on behalf of the States Member of the United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China), and the observers for Greece (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Community), Sweden (on behalf of the Nordic countries), Switzerland and New Zealand.

16. A statement was also made by the observer for the European Community. The observers for the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace International, non-governmental organizations, also made statements.

Toxic chemicals

17. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.1) entitled "Toxic chemicals".

18. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, after a statement by the representative of the United States of America, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. E).

Hazardous wastes

19. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.4) entitled "Hazardous wastes".

20. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, statements were made by the representatives of Egypt, the United States of America and France.

21. At the same meeting, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. E).

Radioactive wastes

22. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.6) entitled "Radioactive wastes".

23. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, after a statement by the representative of the United States of America, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. E).

Chapter VII

OTHER MATTERS                                                                   [ UP ]

1. At the 5th meeting, on 25 May 1994, the Chairman introduced a draft decision (E/CN.17/1994/L.9) entitled "Matters related to the inter- sessional work of the Commission".

2. At the 10th meeting, on 27 May, after a statement by the representative of Morocco, the Commission adopted the draft decision (see chap. I, sect. F).

Chapter VIII

PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE THIRD SESSION OF THE COMMISSION

1. At the 10th meeting on 27 May 1994, the Commission considered the provisional agenda for its third session, and recommended that the Economic and Social Council approve the provisional agenda (see chap. I, sect. E).

Annex                                                                                                     [ UP ]

LIST OF DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE COMMISSION AT ITS SECOND SESSION

Document symbol Agenda item Title or description

E/CN.17/1994/1 2 Provisional agenda

E/CN.17/1994/2 3 Overview of cross-sectoral issues: report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/2/Add.1 3 Overview of other follow-up processes to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development relevant to the work of the Commission

E/CN.17/1994/3 6 (a) Progress in protecting and promoting human health: report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/4 6 (a) Freshwater resources: report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/5 6 (a) Assessment of progress achieved in promoting sustainable human settlement development: report of the Secretary- General

E/CN.17/1994/6 6 (b) Toxic chemicals: report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/7 6 (b) Hazardous wastes: report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/8 8 Policy issues that may be addressed at the high-level meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development: report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/9 3 National information: report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/10 4 Report of the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Finance

E/CN.17/1994/11 5 Report of the Inter-sessional Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Technology Transfer and Cooperation

E/CN.17/1994/12 6 (a) Letter dated 30 March 1994 from the Charg‚ d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General transmitting the Political Statement and the Action Programme adopted by the International Ministerial Conference on Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation

E/CN.17/1994/13 8 Report of the High-level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development on its second session, New York, 17-22 March 1994

E/CN.17/1994/14 3 Note verbale dated 7 April 1994 from the Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General transmitting a summary report of the Symposium on Sustainable Development, held at Oslo on 19 and 20 January 1994

E/CN.17/1994/15 6 (b) Radioactive wastes: report of the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/16 3 Letter dated 2 May 1994 from the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General transmitting the report on the International Symposium on Sustainable Development and International Law, held in Austria from 14 to 16 April 1994

E/CN.17/1994/17 3 Letter dated 4 May 1994 from the Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General transmitting five documents that had been adopted by the Association of South-East Asian Nations

E/CN.17/1994/18 8 Letter dated 4 May 1994 from the Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Global Forests, held at Kuala Lumpur from 18 to 21 April 1994

E/CN.17/1994/19 6 (b) Letter dated 6 May 1994 from the Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General transmitting documents regarding the International Conference on Chemical Safety, held at Stockholm from 25 to 29 April 1994

E/CN.17/1994/CRP.1 3 Role of regional commissions in supporting actions and policies of the Commission on Sustainable Development and in the global implementation of Agenda 21

E/CN.17/1994/CRP.2 3 Trade, environment and development: note jointly prepared by the secretariats of UNCTAD and UNEP

E/CN.17/1994/CRP.3 3 Outcomes of the Global Conference on Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States which are of relevance to the programme of work of the Commission on Sustainable Development: information note by the Secretariat

E/CN.17/1994/INF.1 List of non-governmental organizations accredited to the Commission on Sustainable Development: note by the Secretary-General

E/CN.17/1994/L.1 6 (b) Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Toxic chemicals"

E/CN.17/1994/L.2 6 (a) Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Protecting and promoting human health"

E/CN.17/1994/L.3 6 (a) Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Human settlements"

E/CN.17/1994/L.4 6 (b) Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Hazardous wastes"

E/CN.17/1994/L.5 6 (a) Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Freshwater"

E/CN.17/1994/L.6 6 (b) Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Radioactive wastes"

E/CN.17/1994/L.7 3 Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Information provided by Governments and organizations"

E/CN.17/1994/L.8 3 Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Decision-making structures"

E/CN.17/1994/L.9 7 Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Matters related to the inter-sessional work of the Commission"

E/CN.17/1994/L.10 5 Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity-building"

E/CN.17/1994/L.11 3 Draft decision submitted by the Chairman entitled "Revised text of Commission decisions on major groups"

(This document has been made available in electronic format by the United Nations. )

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