Issues
arising for UNEP from the resolutions of the
General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session.
Resolutions
of major significance to UNEP
By its resolution
56/193, adopted on 21 December
2001, the General Assembly took note of the
‘Report
of the Governing Council of the United Nations
Environment Programme on its twenty-first
session’, and took note
with appreciation of the progress being made
by UNEP in preparation for the World Summit
on Sustainable Development. It further welcomed
the efforts already made to realize the objectives
of the Nairobi
Declaration on the Role and Mandate
of UNEP, supported the early and full implementation
of Assembly resolution
53/242 of 28
July 1999, and requested that the reports
on the work of the Environmental Management
Group (EMG) be made available to the Member
States and members of specialized agencies.
The Assembly noted with interest the ongoing
work of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Group
of Ministers or their Representatives on International
Environmental Governance (initiated by Governing
Council decision 21/21 of 9 February
2001) with respect to the comprehensive policy-oriented
assessment of existing institutional weaknesses,
as well as future needs and options of strengthened
international environmental governance. In
this regard, the Assembly reiterated the invitation
to submit a progress report to the Preparatory
Committee of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, at its second session (28 January
to 8 February 2002), and the final results
to the third session (25 March to 5 April
2002), so that it can be fully considered
in the preparatory process.
The Assembly underlined the need for sufficient
financial resources on a stable and predictable
basis to ensure the full implementation of
the mandate of UNEP and, within this context,
noted ongoing related deliberations, and the
proposal of the Secretary-General to increase
United Nations (UN) funding for the cost of
servicing the UNEP secretariat and the Governing
Council from the regular budget. It further
requested the Secretary-General to keep the
resource needs of UNEP and the United Nations
Office at Nairobi (UNON) under continuous
review and make proposals as needed in the
context of the UN regular budget, with a view
to strengthening UNEP and UNON.
On 24 December 2001, the General Assembly
approved a ‘Programme budget
for the biennium 2002-2003’
of $2.63 billion (resolutions
56/253 and 254),
an increase of some $82 million. For UNEP,
the amount approved was $7,660,200, slightly
lower than the Secretary-General's proposal
of $7,840,600, but representing an increase
of approximately 10% over the 2000-2001 appropriation.
In the same resolution, the General Assembly
noted that the activities undertaken by UNEP
continue to heavily depend on extrabudgetary
resources for their implementation and requested
the Secretary-General to make every effort
to ensure stability and predictability in
funding UNEP’s activities.
By its resolution
56/226 on the ‘World
Summit on Sustainable Development’,
adopted on 24 December 2001, the General Assembly
welcomed national preparations, including
at the local level, as well as the activities
of major groups, related to the preparations
for the Summit. It further welcomed the valuable
contributions from the preparatory activities
undertaken at the subregional and regional
levels, as well as from other relevant initiatives
undertaken at the international level. The
Assembly encouraged new initiatives and the
strengthening of commitments at all levels,
including through reinvigorating, at the highest
political level, global commitment and partnerships,
especially between Governments of the North
and the South, on the one hand, and between
Governments and major groups on the other.
It also expressed its appreciation of the
work undertaken by South Africa and Indonesia
as the host Governments for the Summit and
the final Preparatory Committee session, respectively.
In the operative paragraphs of the resolution,
the Assembly approved the Summit’s provisional
rules of procedure, as recommended by the
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD),
and decided that the Summit should be held
in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August
to 4 September 2002, with the participation
of Heads of State and Government during the
period 2 to 4 September.
The Assembly reiterated that the Summit,
including its preparatory process, should
ensure a balance between economic development,
social development and environmental protection
since they are interdependent and mutually
reinforcing components of sustainable development.
The Assembly requested CSD to decide on all
remaining issues related to the organization
of work of the Summit, and asked the Secretary-General
to launch a public information campaign to
raise global awareness of the Summit. It further
invited donors to continue providing extrabudgetary
resources in support of the preparatory activities
and the Summit itself.
The Assembly reiterated the invitation to
all intergovernmental processes relevant to
the Summit to submit their progress reports/results
to the preparatory committee at its second
session (28 January-8 February 2002) and their
final results to the third session of the
Preparatory Committee (25 March-5 April 2002),
so that they can be fully considered in the
preparatory process. The Assembly also reiterated
the role of CSD acting as the Preparatory
Committee for the global intergovernmental
process for the preparation of the Summit,
and recalled the mandate and role of its Bureau.
It welcomed initiatives undertaken by the
Secretary-General to raise international awareness
on the Summit, and requested him to transmit
the Summit’s outcome to the Assembly
at its fifty-seventh session.
