Contribuições da Rio10

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Economic and Social
Council
UNITED
NATIONS
Distr.
GENERAL
CEP/2000/2
24 July 2000
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Seventh session, 25-28 September 2000
Item 12 of the provisional agenda
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TEN-YEAR REVIEW OF THE UNITED NATIONS
CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (RIO+10)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The ten-year review of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development will take place in 2002. The regions are expected to play a
major role in its preparations. Three activities in particular are forecast: a
regional round table of eminent persons, an assessment report and an
intergovernmental preparatory meeting.
At the same time, the ECE region will be undertaking preparations for the
Fifth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe". The Committee may
wish to consider the extent to which it would like the two preparatory
processes to interact. The Committee may also wish to decide to organize a
special session during the second quarter of 2001 to serve as the regional
intergovernmental preparatory committee.
GE.00-
CEP/2000/2
page 2
Introduction
1. In 2002, the General Assembly will convene a special session to conduct a ten-year
review of the agreements reached at the United Nations Conference for Environment and
Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992. This special session is
referred to as “Rio+10.”
2. The Commission on Sustainable Development discussed preparations for the special
session at its eighth session, in New York in April – May 2000. Decisions taken by the
Commission of particular relevance to the participation of the regional commissions are
summarized below.
3. Within the region, at the level of United Nations secretariats, the Economic Commission
for Europe (ECE) and the Regional Office for Europe of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) are the lead institutions. Several informal meetings have already taken place
between ECE and UNEP, and the two organizations have agreed to work in full partnership to
prepare for Rio+10.
Dates for Rio+10
4. The General Assembly will set the dates for the ten-year review at its fifty-fifth session
during the fourth quarter of 2000. The dates may have a significant impact on the scheduling of
the Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe".
Decisions of the Commission on Sustainable Development
5. During its eighth session (2000), the Commission invited early preparation for the ten-
year review at local, national and regional levels, beginning immediately after the conclusion of
its eighth session.
6. The Commission also:
(a) Invited the United Nations Secretariat, working in close cooperation with, inter
alia, the regional commissions, to support preparatory activities, in particular at the national and
regional levels, in a coordinated and mutually reinforcing way;
(b) Agreed that, “while allowing for the originality of regional contributions, … a
certain uniformity is needed in regional preparatory processes”; and
(c) Underscored the importance of using the high-level intergovernmental processes
that exist at the regional level.
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7. Preparatory meetings and the 2002 event itself should be transparent and provide for the
effective participation and input from Governments, and regional and international organizations,
including financial institutions, and for contributions from and active participation of major
groups, consistent with the rules and regulations established by the United Nations for the
participation of major groups in intergovernmental processes.
8. The Commission underscored the political importance of the ten-year review and stressed
that it should focus on the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further
Implementation of Agenda 21 (adopted at the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly
in 1997) and other outcomes of the Conference. It was agreed that Agenda 21 should constitute
the framework within which the other outcomes of the Conference would be reviewed. The
General Assembly, at its fifty-fifth session, was invited to decide on the agenda, possible main
themes, timing and venue of the 2002 event, among other matters.
Meeting of the regional commissions
9. On 8 and 9 June the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development at United
Nations Headquarters hosted a meeting of all United Nations regional commissions and regional
offices of the United Nations Environment Programme to identify and harmonize contributions
to the preparations for Rio+10. 
10. The participants generally agreed that the preparatory processes must provide a “whole of
government” approach, e.g. involve ministers responsible for environment, development
planning, finance and specific economic and social sectors, as well as ministers of foreign affairs.
11. The United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, which is the secretariat of the
Commission on Sustainable Development as well as for Rio+10, indicated that the regions would
be responsible for three major preparatory activities:
(a) Organization of regional round tables of eminent persons;
(b) Preparation of reports that both assess progress in the region with regard to
sustainable development since 1992 and propose regional priorities for the future;
(c) Organization of regional intergovernmental preparatory meetings, with
subregional components.
Regional round tables and preparatory meetings
12. Regional preparatory meetings should take place in the period between March 2001 and
November 2001. The results of these meetings will contribute to the first substantive global
preparatory meeting, scheduled to take place around January 2002.
CEP/2000/2
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13. The regional intergovernmental meetings are expected to:
(a) Assess regional progress, including, as appropriate, the results of national
assessments, as well as contributions from the stakeholders from the regions; and
(b) Formulate regional “platforms” which would outline key policy issues, priorities
and follow-up actions.
Regional assessments
14. The elements of the regional assessments are likely to vary from region to region and
would have to be determined by the regions themselves in order to focus on regional priorities
and reflect key regional concerns. There may be no need to cover the full range of themes and
issues contained in Agenda 21. In determining the agenda for the assessments, the outcomes of
the Earth Summit + 5 review, which took place in 1997, should also be taken into account. 
15. The Meeting agreed that Agenda 21 must be maintained as a basis for sustainable
development and that duplication of other summits must be avoided. In addition, the following
elements were identified to facilitate comparability of regional assessments:
(a) A focus on targets;
(b) Changes in strategic policy priorities over the assessment period in relation to the
major economic, social and environmental issues;
(c) Major environmental problems in each region; and
(d) The extent to which economic, social and environmental policies and programmes
have been integrated through the formulation and implementation of national sustainable
development strategies, policies, laws and regulations;
(e) The extent and nature of changes in institutional arrangements that support the
ratification and implementation of UNCED-related conventions;
(f) The preparation of local Agendas 21 and their linkage with national strategies;
(g) Inter-generational equity, which might cover such issues as natural resource
management, including air and water, current consumption and production patterns or population
growth, depending on regional priorities;
(h) Intra-generational equity, which relates to the distribution of wealth and resources
within a single generation. It might therefore address such key issues as poverty and regional
(within countries) imbalance of distribution, as well as unbalanced consumption and production
patterns,or gender equality, depending on regional priorities;
CEP/2000/2
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(i) Sustainable livelihoods, which could include issues of employment, education,
child welfare, access to and quality of water resources, health and sanitation, air quality;
(j) Participation, including civil society involvement in decision-making for
sustainable development at the local, national and regional levels, access to information; and
(k) The impact of trade liberalization, foreign direct investment and market
integration on sustainable development at the national and regional level.
Relationship to the Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe"
16. Both the preparations for Rio+10 and the scheduling of the General Assembly special
session itself are likely to have an impact on and be affected by preparations for the Ministerial
Conference "Environment for Europe" and its scheduled date.
17. The Committee on Environmental Policy may wish to consider the extent to which it
would like the two preparatory processes to interact. The Committee may also wish to decide to
organize a special session during the second quarter of 2001 to serve as the regional
intergovernmental preparatory committee.
	UNITED
	Introduction
	Dates for Rio+10
	Decisions of the Commission on Sustainable Development
	Meeting of the regional commissions
	Regional assessments
	15.	The Meeting agreed that Agenda 21 must be maintained as a basis for sustainable development and that duplication of other summits must be avoided. In addition, the following elements were identified to facilitate comparability of regional assessment
	
	Relationship to the Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe"