The Assembly took note with
appreciation of the report of UNEP’s Governing
Council on its sixth special session and the
decisions contained therein, as well as the
consultations among member States in preparation
for the twenty-first session; in this regard,
it took note of the ongoing consultations contributing
to the further elaboration and implementation
of UNEP’s water policy and strategy. The
Assembly welcomed the convening of the first
Global Ministerial Environment Forum, expressing
its deep appreciation to the Government of Sweden,
and it took note with appreciation of the
Malmö
Ministerial Declaration as one
of the contributions to the Millennium Summit
and to the preparations for the 10-year review
of the achievements of the Rio Conference. The
Assembly further stressed the importance of
the
Millennium
Declaration’s section on
“protecting our common environment”.
The Assembly welcomed the decision of the
Governing Council on the contribution of UNEP
to the implementation of Agenda 21 and the
Programme for the Further Implementation of
Agenda 21, and stressed that UNEP, as the
principal body in the field of environment
within the United Nations system, should continue
to play an important role in the implementation
of Agenda 21 and in the preparation of the
10-year review of the achievements of the
Rio Conference.
The Assembly further underscored the need
for sufficient financial resources, on a stable
and predictable basis, to ensure the full
implementation of UNEP’s mandate, in
particular with a view to ensuring its strong
involvement in the preparatory process for
the 10-year review at its various levels,
and in the implementation of the outcome of
the review. It further requested the Secretary-General
to provide the necessary resources from the
United Nations regular budget to UNEP for
the biennium 2002-2003, and to consider other
ways to support the strengthening of the Programme
in view of the upcoming 10-year review.
By its
resolution 55/198 on
“Enhancing complementarities
among international instruments relating to
environment and sustainable development”,
the Assembly took note of the
report of the Secretary-General,
which was prepared by UNEP and contained input
from the secretariats of the Convention on
Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat
Desertification and the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change. It welcomed
the work undertaken by the three secretariats
and other relevant organizations in the implementation
of Assembly resolution
54/217 on the same subject.
The Assembly encouraged the conferences
of the parties and the secretariats of the
Climate Change Convention, the Convention
on Biological Diversity, the Convention to
Combat Desertification and other international
instruments relating to environment and sustainable
development, as well as relevant organizations,
especially UNEP, including, as appropriate,
the involvement of the Environmental Management
Group, to continue their work in enhancing
the complementarities among them, to strengthen
cooperation with a view to facilitating progress
in the implementation of the Conventions at
the international, regional and national levels
and to report thereon to the respective conferences
of the parties. The Assembly further encouraged
those conferences of the parties to coordinate
the timing of their sessions and promote the
streamlining of national reporting.
The Assembly invited the secretariats of
the conventions and other international instruments
related to environment and sustainable development,
as well as relevant organizations, to provide
further information on their efforts to implement
resolution 54/217 and other complementary
activities undertaken in the preparatory process
of the review of the implementation of Agenda
21 to be carried out in 2002. It requested
the Secretary-General to take this work into
account in the preparation of documentation
and other preparatory activities for the review.
The Assembly adopted a comprehensive
resolution (55/199) dealing
with the “Ten-year review of
progress achieved in the implementation of
the outcome of the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development”
and various aspects of the preparatory process.
It recalled that Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration
should constitute the framework within which
the other outcomes of the Conference are reviewed,
and from within which new challenges and opportunities
that have emerged since the Conference are
addressed; it noted with appreciation the
adoption of the Malmö
Ministerial Declaration at the
sixth special session of UNEP’s Governing
Council and reconfirmed the political importance
of the 10-year review of progress achieved
since 1992. The Assembly also reconfirmed
that Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration should
not be renegotiated and that the review should
identify measures for the further implementation
of the Agenda and other outcomes of the Conference,
including sources of funding.
The Assembly decided to organize the 10-year
review in 2002 at the summit level, “to
reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable
development”, accepted the generous
offer of the Government of South Africa to
host the summit and decided to call it the
World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The Assembly further decided that the review
should focus on the identification of accomplishments
and areas where further efforts are needed
to implement Agenda 21 and other outcomes
of the Rio Conference and that it should result
in action-oriented decisions in those areas.
It should address, within the framework of
Agenda 21, new challenges and opportunities,
and should result in renewed political commitment
and support for sustainable development, consistent
with the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities. The Assembly also decided
that the Summit, including its preparatory
process, should ensure a balance between economic
development, social development and environmental
protection as interdependent and mutually
reinforcing components of sustainable development.
It stressed the importance of early and effective
preparations for the Summit and comprehensive
assessment of progress achieved, to be carried
out at the local, national, regional and international
levels by Governments and the United Nations
system so as to ensure high-quality input
to the review process.
The Assembly welcomed the preparatory activities
carried out so far, including work undertaken
at the regional level. It further welcomed
the efforts undertaken by the United Nations
Secretariat, in close cooperation with UNEP,
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
the regional commissions and the secretariats
of conventions related to the Rio Conference,
as well as other relevant organizations within
and outside the Organization and international
and regional financial institutions, including
the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to
support preparatory activities in a coordinated
and mutually reinforcing way.
