ex United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board Hundred and fifty-second Session 152 EX/37 PARIS, 28 August 1997 Original: English Item 9.2 of the provisional agenda UNESCO AND THE NINETEENTH SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON THE OVERALL REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AGENDA 21 (June 1997) SUMMARY In this document the Director-General informs the Executive Board on the overall review of the implementation of Agenda 21 and about UNESCO s participation in the nineteenth Special Session of the General Assembly on this matter and its preparatory process. Based on an assessment of the main outcome of the Special Session, the document informs the Executive Board about its implications for UNESCO. Moreover, the Director-General presents his views on the follow-up action needed by UNESCO. The Board may wish to comment on the information provided and on the UNESCO response to the Special Session envisaged at this stage. A draft decision is submitted for consideration by the Executive Board. Decision required: paragraph 46.
152 EX/37 I. INTRODUCTION 1. In accordance with its resolutions 50/113 and 51/181, the United Nations General Assembly convened its nineteenth Special Session in New York from 23 to 27 June 1997 for the purpose of an overall review of the implementation of Agenda 21, five years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. This document is prepared in accordance with 151 EX/Decision 9.1.3 of the Executive Board inviting the Director-General to report to the Board on the above Special Session and specifically the implications of the decisions taken by the General Assembly on UNESCO s action in the area of environment and sustainable development. 2. The Special Session was organized as a summit meeting of Heads of State and Government and thus widely, yet unofficially referred to as the Earth Summit + 5. The General Assembly elected its current President Ambassador Razali Ismail (Malaysia) as President of the Special Session. One hundred and eighty-four countries participated with statements in the plenary debate. Fifty-two Heads of State/Government took the floor on this occasion, as well as 65 Ministers, mainly Ministers of Environment. Moreover, the Special Session was addressed by a limited number of Heads of the United Nations system organizations, including the Director-General of UNESCO. For the first time in the history of the General Assembly, a small number of NGO representatives was also given the floor in the plenary debate. 3. The main tangible result of the Special Session was the adoption of the document Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21. Despite two weeks of intensive negotiations including during a pre-sessional consultation meeting held a week before the Special Session (16-20 June) governments failed to reach consensus on a separate Political Statement. II. THE PROCESS OF REVIEWING UNCED FOLLOW-UP AND OF PREPARING THE SPECIAL SESSION 4. In order to enable the Special Session to accomplish its objective, the General Assembly decided that its outcome should be prepared and negotiated by the fifth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (New York, 7 to 15 April 1997). In addition to an overall appraisal of the implementation of Agenda 21, the review exercise should also enable the Special Session to identify priorities for the coming years and to make recommendations for future actions and institutional arrangements including the future of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). Consequently, starting in the second half of 1996, the international community has engaged at the national, regional and global levels, in an overall review of the implementation of Agenda 21 and other UNCED results. Several regional conferences have taken place to identify the actions needed at the regional level to enhance the implementation of Agenda 21. These regional conferences included the Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development (Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, December 1996) resulting in the Santa Cruz Declaration and the Action Plan on Sustainable Development of the Americas. The review at the global level took into account, whenever feasible, national and regional inputs and resulted in the Reports of the Secretary-General on all chapters of Agenda 21.
152 EX/37 - page 2 5. Responsibility for preparing these review reports was shared by the CSD Secretariat at the United Nations Headquarters, the ACC Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD) and the United Nations organizations designated by IACSD as Inter- Agency Task Manager for individual chapters of Agenda 21. The main work regarding the preparation of documentation for the intergovernmental review process was carried out by the Inter-Agency Task Managers. UNESCO operated as Task Manager for Chapters 35 (science for sustainable development) and 36 (education, public awareness and training) while contributing to the review of a great number of other chapters of Agenda 21, as explained hereafter in this document. The formal intergovernmental review process started with the meeting of the Intersessional Working Group (open-ended) of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) which met in New York from 24 February to 7 March 1997. The report of this Intersessional Working Group provided the main input to the fifth session of CSD (New York, 7-25 April 1997). Another input to the review exercise at the global level came from the Rio + 5 NGO Forum organized by the Earth Council in co-operation with the Government of Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, 13-19 March 1997). The Forum brought together a broad range of stakeholders in environment and sustainable development ranging from over 100 National Councils for Sustainable Development, civil society organizations, and financial institutions to business networks and United Nations organizations including UNESCO. 6. The Administrative Committee on Co-ordination (ACC) prepared, for consideration by the Special Session, a Statement on the review and appraisal of the implementation of Agenda 21. The Statement endorsed by the Executive Heads participating in ACC, including the Director-General, concluded that the time has come for a new approach to policy-making which stresses practical actions to achieve sustainable development. ACC undertook a review of the functioning of the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD) as part of its preparations for the Special Session. A summary of the result of the review exercise was appended to the Statement. ACC believed that the task manager system of IACSD has led to more effective use of resources and expertise within the United Nations system and is a promising improvement over previous efforts at inter-agency co-operation. However, the system has not yet reached its full potential in terms of defining policy linkages and the sharing of responsibilities to achieve full programme synergy. III. FAILED EXPECTATIONS 7. The review exercise revealed clearly that UNCED follow-up has so far not brought the expected progress in protecting the environment and moving towards sustainable development. The global environment has further deteriorated since the Earth Summit in Rio. The gap between rich and poor has widened, both within many countries and between them. Eight hundred million people remain hungry every day and about the same figure are still illiterate. In the context of a sevenfold increase of total world demand for water this century, the problems related to shortage and pollution of freshwater have significantly increased during the last five years. The pollution of rivers has led to a major threat to the health of coastal waters and the oceans. Greenhouse gases are still being emitted at levels higher than the stabilization target agreed upon under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. Investment in renewable energy resources remains insufficient despite their being the most environmentally sound source of energy and although more than one billion people in rural areas of developing countries are without basic energy services.
152 EX/37 - page 3 8. Taking the new course of sustainable development implies, for each nation and the world community at large, that the social, economic and environmental dimensions of development must be treated in an integrated and balanced way. In the years after Rio, the development of general political consensus and of strategies at national, regional and global levels aimed at sustainable development, has made some progress. However, a fully operational and actionoriented phase of implementing Agenda 21 and the Conventions is still to come. The additional financial resources recommended and promised at UNCED did not materialize. Official Development Assistance (ODA) of OECD countries has decreased rather than increased. In a few cases, intervention has nevertheless brought measurable results in environmental sustainability (e.g. reduction of CFC emissions, cleaning up of several major rivers, protection of wildlife). However, the real challenge is to muster the political will, in a participatory and democratic process of decision-making, to address the key problems of unsustainable production and consumption patterns, the linkages between poverty, demographic dynamics and environmental degradation, and the need for a transfer of environmentally sound technologies on concessional and preferential terms between North and South. As regards population growth there is some promising news: world population growth has slowed from a peak of 2.1 per cent a year in the early sixties, to 1.5 per cent in 1996. However, women and girls still make up 65 per cent of the total illiterate population and their empowerment through education remains crucial to reducing further fertility rates. Since 1992 the essential roles of education and science for sustainable development have been increasingly recognized at the international level. However, at the national level, the situation is very diverse and to some extent, bleak as regards financial support for science. Investment in basic education has significantly increased in a number of developing countries, in particular in the nine most populous developing countries following the New Delhi Summit of these countries (1993). Public investment in research and development is stagnating or even diminishing in a majority of both developing and developed countries. IV. UNESCO AND AGENDA 21 Overall assessment of UNESCO s response to UNCED 9. Given the broad scope of UNESCO s activity areas, the Organization has been very active in the follow-up to UNCED. Five years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), it can rightly be stated that the Earth Summit has had a profound impact on UNESCO s activities in each area of its competence: education, natural and social sciences, culture and communication. This is clearly visible in the Medium- Term Strategy (1996-2001) adopted by the General Conference at its twenty-eighth session in 1995. Sustainability has been added as a major strategic goal throughout UNESCO s action. Sustainable human development has become a leitmotif of its programmes as well as one unifying link of the follow-up to UNCED and to other major United Nations conferences addressing various dimensions of development and human society. The programmes of UNESCO and IOC in environmental sciences and environmental education have been significantly reoriented in order to address priority objectives and to enhance integrated approaches identified in relevant chapters of Agenda 21. The World Solar Programme initiative has been developed in order to enhance sustainable energy systems. Three transdisciplinary projects concerned with environment and sustainable development have been launched after 1992 as described hereafter.
152 EX/37 - page 4 10. It is no exaggeration to assert that without the sciences and education there can be no sustainable development. The sciences are indispensable for analysing problems, identifying solutions and ensuring scientifically sound actions. Education and public-awareness raising are indispensable for ensuring that every individual becomes a knowledgeable and informed actor in the pursuit of a human-centred sustainable development. An informed public is indispensable for mobilizing the necessary support needed for changing the present course of unsustainable development. Priorities for UNESCO 11. In contributing to the implementation of Agenda 21, UNESCO s overriding goal is to combat poverty, create equitable social and economic conditions, address issues related to human health and population dynamics, and to ensure a healthy environment and sustainable use of resources for the benefit of present and future generations. In addressing these overriding concerns, priority is given to nine areas which correspond to specific chapters in Agenda 21 or clusters of them: natural and social sciences for sustainable development; education, public awareness and training; capacity-building in developing countries and transfer of environmentally sound technology; oceans; coastal areas and small islands; freshwater resources; biological diversity; land use, including combating desertification and sustainable forest management; renewable energy sources. 12. While the Organization s programmes in relation to Agenda 21 cut across all of its areas of competence (education, natural and social sciences, culture and communication), the main UNESCO actors in the above priority areas are the following: Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC); Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme including the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; International Hydrological Programme (IHP); Earth Sciences and Natural Hazards Programmes (GEO) including the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP); Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and Small Islands (CSI) Project;
152 EX/37 - page 5 World Solar Programme 1996-2005 (dealing with all sources of renewable energies, and other activities in engineering sciences); Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme and other major social sciences activities; Project on Cities: Management of Social Transformations and the Environment; Environment and Population Education and Information for Development (EPD) Project; UNESCO Chairs/Ecotechnology Chairs and UNITWIN programmes related to sustainable development; Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (WHC); Programmes on Culture, Environment and Development; Co-ordination and co-operation among the above actors is promoted through the Bureau for Co-ordination of Environmental Programmes (SC/COR/ENV). 13. Detailed information on the work of these programmes including progress made in the respective activity areas since 1992 is not included here but can be found in reports prepared by these undertakings such as the reports of the IOC Assembly and of the international co-ordinating councils of IHP, MAB, IGCP and MOST. In addition, two brochures have been published by UNESCO on the occasion of the 1997 overall review of UNCED follow-up and are available from the Bureau for Co-ordination of Environmental Programmes. The first brochure entitled Environment and Sustainable Development: UNESCO Implementing Agenda 21 presents a detailed description of UNESCO s ongoing and planned activities in relation to Agenda 21 and the Conventions five years after the Earth Summit. The second brochure entitled Mobilizing Minds - UNESCO s Environment and Sustainable Development Activities is aimed for general public information and is fully illustrated in colour. Transdisciplinary co-operation: another comparative advantage of UNESCO 14. Ensuring that environment and development issues be addressed in an integrated and balanced manner requires breaking down institutional and mental barriers between different scientific disciplines and sectors of activity. Close co-operation needs to be forged instead across sectors and disciplines, and between sectoral organizations and departments within organizations. In conducting research on environmental issues in a development context, different disciplines from the natural and social sciences need to join forces through interdisciplinary work to bring solutions to complex problems. UNESCO has taken the lead in promoting interdisciplinary scientific work within and among its intergovernmental scientific programmes, and in promoting intersectoral (also called transdisciplinary) activities between its programmes in the sciences, education, culture and communication. These efforts bring to bear a unique comparative advantage for the Organization of covering within the same institution these four major intellectual activity areas.
152 EX/37 - page 6 15. In order to enable the Organization to enhance its transdisciplinary co-operation approach in relation to UNCED follow-up it was necessary to take a number of important measures and to launch innovative new projects as follows: the specific house-wide UNCED follow-up co-ordination responsibilities entrusted by the Director-General to the Bureau for Co-ordination of Environmental Programmes (COR/ENV); the establishment of an interdisciplinary committee to advise the Director-General on UNCED follow-up; the integration of UNESCO s activities in environment, population and development education/information at the programme level and in a single management unit (EPD); the launching of two other new transdisciplinary projects on environment and development in coastal regions and small islands, and on cities/management of social and environmental transformations, respectively; the institutionalization of regular consultations of the chairpersons of the international co-ordinating councils of UNESCO s four intergovernmental scientific co-operation programmes (MAB, IHP, IGCP and MOST) and of IOC aimed at promoting co-operation between these five scientific areas; the promotion of activities addressing the interrelationships between culture, environment and development. The ethical and human rights dimension 16. Mindful of the principles of the Rio Declaration having an ethical and human rights dimension, UNESCO has launched a process of preparing a draft Declaration on the Safeguarding of Future Generations highlighting amongst others, the responsibility of present generations for the preservation of life on earth, in particular of the genetic heritage of humankind and biodiversity, the protection of the environment and the responsibility to pass on to future generations conditions which are conducive to equitable socio-economic development. Moreover, the work of UNESCO s International Bioethics Committee is of great relevance to several chapters of Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration. The proposed establishment of a World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology will further enhance UNESCO s contribution to addressing the ethical and human rights dimension of Agenda 21 and of the Action Programmes of other major conferences. Working in partnerships within the United Nations system and outside 17. Implementation of Agenda 21 marked the beginning of a new era of co-operation and co-ordination within the United Nations system, of strengthening established partnerships (e.g. with ICSU) and developing new ones (e.g. with the productive sector). Co-operation within the United Nations system is based on the principle of sharing of responsibilities, complementarity and acting in partnership for the implementation of programmes and activities at the global, regional and, in particular, national level. The Director-General has clearly established this principle as a policy for UNESCO which is pursued in particular in the context of UNESCO s participation in the work of the ACC Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable
152 EX/37 - page 7 Development (IACSD-COR/ENV in close co-operation with BRX/RIO), the ACC Subcommittees on Oceans and Coastal Areas (IOC) and Freshwater Resources (SC/HYD) and ad hoc inter-agency task force meetings on other Agenda 21 subjects. IACSD has designated UNESCO to act as Inter-Agency Task Manager for mobilizing and co-ordinating United Nations system-wide support for the implementation of Agenda 21 chapters on science (35) and education (36). 18. Sustainable development depends on the active involvement and support by all major stakeholders: governments, the private sector and the different components of civil society including scientists, educators, parliamentarians, media, local authorities, youth, women s organizations and other non-governmental organizations. UNESCO has enhanced co-operation with its traditional partners and started to develop new partnerships. It also seeks to break down the traditional barriers to interaction between these partners. UNESCO s contribution to the overall review of the implementation of Agenda 21 19. UNESCO has participated actively in the co-ordinated exercise of the United Nations system aimed at preparing the review reports as described above. Significant contributions have been made in all UNESCO priority areas listed in paragraph 11. UNESCO also contributed to the reports on the following additional chapters of Agenda 21: combating poverty; health; changing consumption patterns; and information for decision-making. 20. The level of UNESCO s involvement from chapter to chapter was different. In its capacity as Inter-Agency Task Manager within the United Nations system, UNESCO played a mobilizing and leading role in all preparations concerning the two areas, sciences and education for sustainable development. The review reports by the United Nations Secretary-General on these two areas were prepared by UNESCO (COR/ENV and EPD) based on consultation and information exchange between United Nations agencies, international and national organizations, interested government agencies and a range of other institutions and representatives of major groups. Due to special responsibilities of IOC and SC/HYD in the work of the ACC Subcommittees on Oceans and Coastal Areas, and Freshwater Resources respectively, UNESCO s involvement in the assessment of progress in these three areas was also particularly significant. 21. As regards the other areas mentioned, UNESCO provided relevant information as well as written and oral input to the respective Task Managers for the preparation of the different review reports. Furthermore, UNESCO (IHP) was among the core group of organizations which prepared the Global Freshwater Assessment, specifically commissioned by CSD for the 1997 overall review of the implementation of Agenda 21. UNESCO hosted an inter-agency consultation aimed at preparing the Report of the Secretary-General on Energy (December 1996). In conjunction with this meeting, a one-day separate inter-agency consultation was organized by UNESCO concerning the involvement of United Nations partner organizations in the World Solar Programme 1996-2005. 22. UNESCO participated actively in the meeting of the Intersessional Working Group (New York, 24 February-7 March 1997) and the fifth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (New York, 8-25 April 1997). In particular, the UNESCO representatives provided the CSD Secretariat and delegates at the meetings with technical advice on issues related to the relevant UNESCO areas of activities. Moreover, UNESCO distributed at these meetings new information materials on UNESCO s programmes. UNESCO was also
152 EX/37 - page 8 represented at several of the regional and subregional intergovernmental meetings organized prior to the New York events. The Director-General participated in the Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development (Santa Cruz, Bolivia, December 1996) and the Rio + 5 NGO Forum (Rio de Janeiro, March 1997). UNESCO supported and participated in the 1997 International Media Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development (Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2-6 June 1997) co-sponsored by UNESCO, UNEP and a few other United Nations organizations. V. NINETEENTH SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - EARTH SUMMIT + 5 UNESCO s involvement and visibility 23. The Director-General addressed the plenary of the Special Session on 25 June 1997. UNESCO was represented at all meetings of the plenary, the Committee of the Whole and the pre-sessional consultations during the week of 16 to 20 June 1997. In addition, UNESCO was active and visible on several other fronts: Display at the United Nations Headquarters during the week of the Special Session (and several weeks afterwards) of a photographic exhibit highlighting issues of UNESCO s environmental programmes. The exhibit was organized in co-operation with the French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Fuji Film. Joint sponsorship by IOC and the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the presence in the East River during the Earth Summit + 5 of the NOAA marine research vessel Rude and organization of a programme of visits of the NOAA ship. The most prominent visitor to the vessel was the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr John Prescott, who met also with UNESCO officials on this occasion and briefed the media present on the decision of the United Kingdom Government to rejoin UNESCO. Meeting of the World Solar Commission on 23 June 1997 at the United Nations Headquarters chaired by Mr Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, and attended by the Director-General. The Commission formally adopted the World Solar Programme 1996-2005 document. Signing by the Director-General on 23 June 1993 of a tripartite co-operation agreement between UNESCO, Columbia University (New York) and the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC) on environmental research and training in the framework of the MAB programme. Address by the Director-General and discussions with NGO participants and government delegates on the links between a culture of peace and Agenda 21 (24 June 1997). The meeting attended by more than 100 participants was organized jointly by the NGO Peace Caucus of Earth Summit + 5 and UNESCO (New York) following an invitation by the NGO Steering Committee with the United Nations. Distribution to delegations and media participants of a package of information materials on UNESCO s programmes (UNESCO Liaison Office in New York).
152 EX/37 - page 9 Assessment of the outcome of the Special Session 24. The main tangible result of the Special Session is the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 which was adopted by consensus after very difficult negotiations lasting until midnight on the last day of the Session (27 June 1997). Some disappointment at the outcome of the Earth Summit + 5 was commensurate with the high expectations raised by the review process as a whole, and by the support expected from Heads of State and Government to boost the political outcome of the Special Session. The failure to agree on a Political Statement was due to considerable differences of positions between governments, in particular, on proposed commitments concerning financial resources, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable development of all types of forests, but also on political matters such as the relationship of sustainable development to democracy, human rights and governance. Annex I provides the table of contents of the Programme of the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, as adopted, as well as the full text of the Statement of commitment which was added as a preambular section to the document after the failure to agree on a Political Statement. 25. Section C Implementation of areas requiring urgent action represents the main part of the Programme document. Poverty eradication, and changing consumption and production patterns were identified as the two overriding cross-sectoral themes of sustainable development which need to be addressed with priority through national and international actions. In order to ensure continued priority attention these two themes only will be taken up annually at each session of the Commission on Sustainable Development between 1998 and 2001. It can be stated in general that the Earth Summit + 5 has introduced a better balance between the developmental and social aspects of sustainable development vis-à-vis the environmental ones. 26. As regards the so-called sectors and issues requiring urgent action, the following have been identified in the Programme (in the order listed in the document): freshwater oceans and seas forests energy transport atmosphere toxic chemicals hazardous wastes radio active wastes land and sustainable agriculture desertification and drought biodiversity sustainable tourism small island developing states natural disasters 27. While the document states that all these areas deserve attention on equal footing, it is obvious that the Earth Summit + 5 has de facto established a new priority list for the coming years of environmental issues in sustainable development with freshwater being particularly high on the list. Energy, transport and atmosphere form a cluster of issues addressing global climate change. Most areas in the list are already the subject of a separate chapter in Agenda 21 except for energy, transport, sustainable tourism and natural disasters which are recognized for the first time as important areas in their own right in the context of sustainable development. Recommendations for action at national and international levels in these different areas reflect an effort to be both ambitious in the objectives identified and realistic as regards the next steps to be taken. There is a better recognition (in comparison to Agenda 21) of the role of science in the formulation of policies and decision-making regarding these areas.
152 EX/37 - page 10 28. Concerning financial resource and mechanisms, it is recognized in the Programme document that for developing countries, particularly those in Africa and the least developed countries, ODA remains a main source of external funding and is essential for effective implementation of Agenda 21. The document further states: (i) Developed countries should therefore fulfil the commitments undertaken to reach the accepted United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of GNP as soon as possible ; (ii) The efficiency, effectiveness and impact of the operational activities of the United Nations system must be enhanced by, inter alia, a substantial increase in their funding on a predictable, continuous and assured basis, commensurate with the increasing needs of developing countries,... and (iii) Continued and full donor commitments to adequate, sustained and predictable funding for GEF operations is important for developing countries so that global environmental benefits can be further achieved. 29. In Section D of the Programme document dealing with international institutional arrangements, it is reiterated that the achievement of sustainable development requires continued support from all relevant international institutions within and outside the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods Institutions and WTO. More specifically, it is affirmed that UNEP is to be the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. 30. The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) received strong political support. It is stated in the document that CSD will continue to provide a central intergovernmental forum for the integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development for further implementation of Agenda 21 and other Rio agreements, and for reviewing progress in this regard. It should continue to undertake these tasks in complementing and providing interlinkages to the work of other United Nations organs, organizations and bodies acting in the fields of sustainable development. Altogether the Special Session has clarified further the specific roles of CSD, UNEP and some other international organizations and bodies (e.g. UNDP and UNCTAD) in this area. 31. The Programme document further includes the recommendation for a Multi-Year Programme of Work for the Commission on Sustainable Development 1998-2002 (attached herewith as Annex II). This new CSD Programme of Work is a much more focused one than the initial work programme covering the period 1993-1997. It also provides for a more integrated treatment by CSD of economic, social and environmental components of sustainable development. 32. In conclusion, it can be stated that in spite of negative assessments of the results of the Special Session in the media, particularly in Western Europe, and while acknowledging that its political outcome did not meet fully the expectations of a number of developed and developing countries, as well as environmental groups, the adoption of the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 represents a positive development. Overall, the Special Session and its preparatory process have advanced international agreement and promoted new priorities for action on environment and sustainable development at national and international levels.
152 EX/37 - page 11 VI. IMPLICATIONS OF THE OUTCOME OF THE SPECIAL SESSION FOR UNESCO 33. Changing the course towards sustainable development means first and foremost mobilizing minds for a human-centred sustainable development. This is why UNESCO s role is so central in this regard. The outcome of the overall review of the implementation of Agenda 21, and the recommendations contained in the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 for action at the national and international level, render the tasks of UNESCO s scientific and educational activities in environment and sustainable development more important and more urgent than ever. They also call for enhancing UNESCO s transdisciplinary activities including an important contribution in the areas of culture and communication. There is a great congruence of the priorities in UNESCO s scientific and educational programmes, and the new priorities established in the Programme document adopted by the Special Session. 34. The Earth Summit + 5 has heightened the recognition of education as an essential instrument in moving towards sustainable development and the leading international role of UNESCO therein. UNESCO is mentioned in the Programme document in paragraph 105 dealing with education and awareness raising. The paragraph provides strong support to education as a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development, and to the continuation of the CSD work programme on the subject adopted in 1996 for which UNESCO (EPD) acts as Inter-Agency Task Manager. In this vein, it is stated: The concept of education for a sustainable future will be further developed by UNESCO, in co-operation with others. 35. As regards the contribution of UNESCO to poverty eradication as one of the overriding goals of the implementation of Agenda 21, reference is made to document 152 EX/13 entitled Report on UNESCO s contribution to poverty eradication and its planned action in the framework of the United Nations Decade on Poverty Eradication. This latter document fully reflects UNESCO s important contribution in this area across the follow-up to all major United Nations conferences in the 1990s related to development including UNCED. 36. Strengthening national capacities in science and technology remains an area of highest priority for developing countries. The important role of the sciences is seen in particular in relation to the sectoral issues such as freshwater, oceans, forests, energy, climate change and biodiversity. Without mentioning them the Programme on the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 provides strong political support to the objectives of IHP, IOC, the World Solar Programme, MAB and UNESCO s activities concerning natural disasters. There is enhanced recognition of the role of science in formulation of policies and decision-making including the need for a major contribution by the social sciences as promoted in the MOST programme. 37. The Director-General has drawn the conclusion that UNESCO s major efforts aimed at ensuring an effective contribution by the Organization to the implementation of Agenda 21 need to be further enhanced. Institutions that are now trying to find their space and role in environmental issues must take into account that UNESCO did so many years ago (it is 49 years since the creation of IUCN; 37 in the case of IOC, and 27 for MAB) and that its participation, particularly with respect to the basic scientific aspects, is today more relevant than ever. Member States must be fully aware of this in order to have a coherent strategy in UNESCO and other international fora. In particular, full participation by the Organization must be ensured in the process now being set in action internationally for the implementation of the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, the Framework Convention on
152 EX/37 - page 12 Climate Change and the Conventions on Biodiversity and on Combating Desertification. Given the fact that the Organization s relevant scientific and educational programmes have already been reoriented in line with Agenda 21 and that several new initiatives have been launched in the aftermath of UNCED as described above in this document, the Director-General believes that UNESCO s future action in this area should come primarily through the existing programmes and transdisciplinary projects of the Organization and through its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The Organization s full participation in the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 is already covered by the respective objectives and strategic approaches included in the existing Medium-Term Strategy (1996-2001) (28 C/4 Approved). In the same vein, the outcome of the Special Session was anticipated in general terms in the proposals by the Director-General for the Draft Programme and Budget for 1998-1999 (29 C/5). Further reorientation of programmes and of activities may, however, become necessary in a certain number of cases. 38. The level of financial resources made available to the Organization s priority programmes in environment and sustainable development is, undoubtedly, insufficient if compared to the needs as expressed in Agenda 21 and now in the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21. This financial situation represents an important constraint for the Organization which leaves no room for expanded initiatives, for example, in respect to freshwater or some of the other new priority areas identified. There is also a persistent difficulty in carrying out the important activities of UNESCO s relevant programmes and responding to additional work requirements of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Conventions. The Secretariat will strengthen further its efforts to seek extrabudgetary funds for UNESCO projects contributing to the implementation of Agenda 21 including from financial mechanisms within the United Nations system, notably the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The Director-General invites donor countries among the Member States to continue to consider favourably proposals for funds-in-trust co-operation in the area of environment and sustainable development. 39. In order to take all the necessary measures needed for ensuring an efficient contribution by UNESCO to the further implementation of Agenda 21 and the Rio Conventions, the Director-General will continue to draw on advice and proposals from within the Secretariat and from outside. In this respect, the governing bodies of IOC and the advisory bodies of the intergovernmental scientific programmes (IHP, MAB, IGCP and MOST) will continue to play their important roles in defining priorities for their respective programmes and in advising the Director-General and the General Conference in this regard with full attention to be given to the contribution of these programmes to UNCED follow-up. The Director-General has also decided to continue the work of the small advisory committee on UNCED follow-up for another 18 months until the end of 1998. The Committee will continue to report directly to the Director-General. 40. A joint meeting of the chairpersons of the international co-ordinating councils of UNESCO s four intergovernmental scientific co-operation programmes (MAB, IHP, IGCP and MOST) and of IOC will once again be organized during the forthcoming twenty-ninth session of the General Conference. The agenda will include a joint review by the chairpersons of the outcome of the Special Session and its implications for increased interdisciplinary scientific work and more co-operation among these programmes, and between them and other components of UNESCO, in particular, the transdisciplinary project Educating for a sustainable future (EPD).
152 EX/37 - page 13 41. The Administrative Committee on Co-ordination (ACC) chaired by the Secretary- General will continue to provide leadership to the existing subsidiary mechanisms within the United Nations system aimed at improved inter-agency co-ordination and co-operation for the follow-up to UNCED and to the other major United Nations conferences held during the 1990s. The ACC Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development and the Subcommittees on Freshwater Resources, and Oceans and Coastal Areas, as well as ad hoc inter-agency task forces will increasingly extend their activities beyond general co-ordination, reporting and information exchange tasks. Development of joint activities between the United Nations system organizations at national, regional and international levels will in future become one of the main priorities of the ACC subsidiary machinery. UNESCO will continue to actively participate in the respective inter-agency mechanisms and fully co-operate in all efforts to make the United Nations system function as a true system with each organization contributing in its specific areas of competence and experience, establishing synergies and avoiding duplication. UNESCO will continue to act as the Inter-Agency Task Manager for both education and sciences in the context of Agenda 21. 42. As regards intergovernmental bodies related to UNCED follow-up, UNESCO will continue to participate actively in the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Conference of the Parties to the Conventions on Combating Desertification and Biodiversity, and the Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as their respective subsidiary bodies, in particular, those dealing with scientific and technological advice. UNESCO will continue to co-operate fully and support within existing resources the Secretariats to these Conventions. The cross-sectoral theme of the 1998 session of CSD will include science and education awareness raising. In its capacity as Inter-Agency Task Manager UNESCO will be responsible for preparing the United Nations system-wide input on education and science based on consultations with all relevant United Nations organizations. SC/COR/ENV and EPD will jointly undertake this task (in co-operation with all the units concerned including BRX/RIO). 43. Moreover, UNESCO will contribute to other themes of the 1998 session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (see Annex II). In particular, SC/HYD will arrange for a major IHP input to the topic Strategic Approaches to Freshwater Management. Similarly, IOC will play a leading role in preparing the 1999 CSD discussions on oceans and seas. In the year 2000 session of CSD it will be important to highlight the great relevance of the MAB programme to integrated planning and management of land resources. Finally, the 2001 session of CSD will provide an opportunity for UNESCO (SC/EST) to seek enhanced CSD support for the second five-year period of the World Solar Programme 1996-2005. 44. Two important events related to UNCED follow-up will be organized/launched before the spring session of the Executive Board in 1998. These events are the: International Conference on Environment and Society: Education and Public Awareness for Sustainability (Thessaloniki, Greece, 8-12 December) jointly organized by UNESCO and the Government of Greece. The Conference will provide a forum for experts to compare national experience in moving from environmental education to education for a sustainable future and to advance international co-operation in this field, in particular, in the context of the special programme of work on Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 (education, awareness raising, training) launched by the Commission on Sustainable Development at its 1996 session.
152 EX/37 - page 14 1998 International Year of the Oceans decided upon by the United Nations General Assembly. IOC will co-ordinate a series of United Nations system-wide activities aimed at enhancing both international and national commitments to adequately address oceanrelated issues, as well as to create awareness of the great importance of the ocean for a sustainable future. Several intersectoral activities involving all UNESCO programme sectors and transdisciplinary projects are also envisaged. Active support will be extended to the EXPO 98 Year of the Ocean Exhibition (Lisbon, Portugal). 45. Peace and security, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible. Sustainable development and the building of a culture of peace are interdependent. War means no education, no food, no housing. Peaceful relations provide the conditions for allocation of resources to education, the sciences, culture, and in general to the promotion of sustainable human development. Failure to invest in sustainable development will result not only in increased poverty in the world, a further degradation of the environment but also in significantly increased risks of conflicts over water, land and fish resources that could threaten peace everywhere. 46. In the light of the foregoing information, the Executive Board may wish to adopt a decision along the following lines: The Executive Board, 1. Having examined document 152 EX/37, 2. Recalling 141 EX/Decision 7.2.1, 142 EX/Decision 7.2, 144 EX/Decision 5.1.3, 146 EX/Decision 7.1.4, 149 EX/Decision 7.1.3 and 151 EX/Decision 9.1.3, 3. Recognizing the importance of the outcome of the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly for the purpose of an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of Agenda 21 (New York, 22-23 June 1997) for the Organization s activities in environment and sustainable development, 4. Invites Member States to continue to accord special attention in the further implementation of Agenda 21 and the related Conventions to the essential role of the natural sciences, the social sciences, education, culture and communication in moving towards sustainable development; 5. Reiterates its invitation to Member States to support UNESCO s activities contributing to the implementation of Agenda 21 and the related Conventions, to strengthen national activities and national focal points of UNESCO s intergovernmental scientific programmes concerned with environment and sustainable development (IGCP, IHP, IOC, MAB and MOST) and to ensure the involvement of these national focal points in action aimed at UNCED follow-up; 6. Invites the Director-General to: (a) ensure within the framework provided by document 29 C/5 to be decided upon by the General Conference, that UNESCO s relevant programmes contribute fully to the process now being set in action internationally for implementing the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21
152 EX/37 - page 15 including the Multi-Year Programme of Work for the Commission on Sustainable Development 1998-2002; (b) (c) (d) (e) ensure in particular in this context that UNESCO participate actively in the dedicated United Nations system co-ordination mechanisms and continue to act efficiently as Inter-Agency Task Manager for Agenda 21, Chapter 35, on science for sustainable development, and Chapter 36, on education, awareness raising and training; continue to devote particular attention to promoting co-operation both among UNESCO s intergovernmental and international scientific programmes (IGCP, IHP, IOC, MAB and MOST) in the further implementation of Agenda 21 and the related Conventions, and between them and other UNESCO activities in this field in the sciences, education, culture and communication; pursue efforts to seek funds from appropriate national and international funding agencies and mechanisms, including the Global Environment Facility (GEF), for projects in the area of environment and sustainable development, and to assist Member States, particularly developing countries, in their national efforts to obtain extrabudgetary funds; continue to report periodically to it on progress made both at the level of UNESCO and at the level of the United Nations in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the related Conventions, with particular attention to the recommendations made by the Special Session.