Report to EENGO Core Funding Ltd: UN CSD 14, A Review Year

I attended the fourteenth session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14) which opened on Monday the 1st of May and
continued through to the 12th of May 2006, at the UN headquarters in New
York. I attended for the first week only.

The CSD meets annually, in two-year “Implementation Cycles,” with each cycle focusing on thematic clusters alongside cross-sectoral issues. Each cycle is comprised of a Review Year and a Policy Year. This event, CSD-14 aimed to review progress in energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution and the atmosphere, and climate change, together with cross-cutting issues. Specifically, CSD-14 was tasked with evaluating progress in implementing Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, while focusing on identifying barriers and constraints, lessons learned and best practice.

There was two main outputs from CSD-14: a Chair’s summary of the opening and general statements on the progress of implementation and High-level statements; and a record of the Partnerships Fair, the Learning Center, and the Multi-stakeholder dialogue session.

These can be found on the UN CSD website

A full report for the 14th session is available.

Sessions I Attended

Each morning at the UN Headquarters in New York I attended the NGO caucus meeting which ran from 9.00 – 10-00am. This was a relatively small group, usually around 25 people attended. At this meeting, which always started with reports from the main sessions the day before, people were allocated tasks and reporting duties. In the first few days the draft NGO three-minute intervention was looked at and comments were taken. A special session to finally write up the intervention took place on Tuesday evening which my Irish NGO colleague Frank Corcoran took part in. Before this session I met with Frank and prepared material to be included on energy security and Peak Oil, this was not included in the final intervention.

Each morning after the NGO caucus meeting I attended the Youth Caucus meeting, which I found to be a ray of light in the UN environment. About 30 youth from all over the world participated in CSD 14 and at these daily sessions looked at their strategies, their own interventions and their highly visible creative exhibit which they held in the corridors to highlight renewable energy. I was approached by the youth caucus to encourage our Government to support an Irish youth delegate to attend CSD 15 in May 2007.

I also joined the Education Caucus. I attended four meetings during the 14th session and have remained involved in their discussions leading up to the 15th session in May 2007.

Each day I would spend a few hours in the main plenary sessions taking my seat behind the Irish Government representatives. These sessions included discussions on Energy for sustainable development, Industrial development, Air pollution/atmosphere and Climate change. It was an interesting and frustrating experience which opened my eyes to how slow change will be at this intergovernmental level and the challenges our government face..

I attended some side events including a screening of a Peak Oil film that Cultivate have been screening to communities around Ireland. It was great to see it screened in the UN headquarters and it was well attended. I also attended a side event on the first year of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, a session entitled ‘Developing Countries – Transitioning to a Renewable Energy Future’ and a number of side events on the Millennium Development Goals.

How effective was the NGO input into the conference?

NGO’s from all over the world including Ireland participated in this event. Apart from a three-minute intervention in the main halls, NGO input was restricted to side events and caucus meetings. The networking opportunities though were massive and made participating at an event of this nature worthwhile. A lot of conversations between NGOs and Government representatives were made in the corridors and cafes of the UN.

One of the strengths of CSD is its capacity for sustained interaction among governments, inter-governments and the major groups as identified in Agenda 21, and civil society.

My aim was to make sure that Peak Oil was acknowledged as a constraint on further development of an unsustainable nature and that, along with Climate Change, the crisis we are all facing is a challenge of unprecedented proportions.

This was a frustrating process but I did manage to get a section in the daily Earth Negotiation Bulletin which was available each morning updating delegates on the proceedings. Here is what it said……

IN THE CORRIDORS

On day two, NGOs are both cautious and ambitious. Some
believe the CSD provides a unique home or ‘clearing house’
for debates on the multiple dimensions of one of the world’s
most pressing issues: energy security and rising fuel demand in
a world that must brace itself for the era of ‘peak oil’. Citing
the likelihood of a further escalation in oil prices, some NGO
participants sense an opportunity for the CSD to bring coherence
and add value to the diverse energy-related discussions,
including climate change, renewable energy, the nuclear issue,
and equitable development paths. Others fear that the session
may already be bogged down in tensions that can be traced back
to the debates over the CSD’s multiyear programme of work.
Elements of the G-77/China seem to be alienated by the current
approach to thematic integration, which they regard as a licence
to add little or no value to what is already being undertaken on
the ground, and turn the CSD into a mere ‘spectacle’.

Did you network and/or make new contacts with other NGOs?

Yes the contacts I made with other NGOs were valuable. I made a great contact with the Global Eco Village network who held a side event and have maintained contact with them. A few NGOs I met at this event have kept in touch and we have begun to look at doing projects together?

Did you network and/or make new contacts with Government delegates?

I deepened my relationship with the Irish government representatives through sitting with them in the Multi-stakeholder dialogue session in the main hall and attending side event with them.

Do you feel that you have learned anything?

I definitely learned something my awareness of the process, working and the structure of CSD has improved and through meeting and discussing with other NGOs and bodies my knowledge of energy and climate issues has increased.

How can the ‘new’ knowledge be used in work (with your organisation)?

My role at the Cultivate Centre is coordinating the events, educational courses and communications. Last year and this year our programme theme focused on how we respond to the twin issues of Peak Oil and Climate Change. For the last year we have been aware that the UN CSD 14 and 15 would focus on Climate Change and energy for sustainable development and as the centre’s main role is to disseminate information and offer learning in these areas I saw attending this event as an important opportunity for our organisation.

Would you recommend other ENGOs to attend the same conference in the future?

I would recommend that NGOs attend this event. I found the contacts I made to be very valuable. The only drawback is that it is difficult to influence policy directly.