Hi everyone!

Well, it's been a hectic first three days, with all the ministers here at the start, and today has been no exception. There was lots going on today, and we split up for much of the day to cover as much as possible. As usual we'll try to summarise the interesting points without getting too bogged down!

Tamsin emailed this morning asking how the youth caucus here compares to how it was out in Jo'burg. It's an interesting point, because the youth caucus is much smaller than it has been, typically about 20 people. The conference as a whole is a much smaller scale affair, and there is less going on - out in Jo'burg there were always hundreds of events going on at the same time, as well as the official UN process.

The challenge we've been facing in the youth caucus is that there are less of us than there have been before (I think many people were put off this time because of the 'process' nature of it, although it's actually really important because this will shape what happens in the next 10-years worth of CSD.) Also, it's been hard to find ways to influence what's going on other than delivering the youth statements. Anyway, back to the events...

http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/csd/csd11/

is a link to an excellent website with reports, photos, and audio of speeches.

NGO Briefing Meeting

30 April, 9am

This was basically a 'current state of play' from yesterday briefing - mostly covered in yesterday's report.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has today launched something called the little green data book - it's on their website, and is a compilation of loads of facts and figures about all the different countries, e.g. GDP, employment, stuff like that - apparently an interesting resource.

There was discussion of the role of UN regional organisations and their role in the process - e.g. in Panama, according to one representative, the UNDP funds don't really get used for genuine capacity building projects in communities, and the CSD needs to form some kind of mechanism to ensure that all the UN agencies work together effectively and actually achieve what they're supposed to be achieving on the ground.

U.S. Clean Energy Initiative partnership presentation

(US AID, US Dept. of Energy)
30 April, 10.45am

[Matthew here - I'll try not to go off on too much of a rant! :-D]

The US is at it again... "clean coal!" This was a fascinating, although worrying presentation about the US 'partnerships' that are being used to bring energy to some of the poorest communities in the world who lack access to electricity.

In order to bring people out of poverty access to energy is needed, but the US seem to be capitalising on this promoting coal and other unsustainable energy sources as the way to solve the problem. It's an interesting debate, because at the moment, 100% clean renewable energy can't do everything, but we still need to help the people who don't have access to energy, so what do you do? Wait until the technology is there, or compromise?

That said, it really seems the US have capitalised on this difficult argument to promote coal as a power source for developing countries - not good. The 'clean' comes in to the new technologies being used to prevent some of the pollution problems associated with using coal - such as acid rain - however what needs to be remembered is that no matter how 'clean' the emissions, you can't get rid of the carbon dioxide, which leads to climate change.

OK, rant over... I'm hopefully going to get hold of the slides from the presentation (if the presenter from US-AID emails me) so if and when I get those, they'll be on this website(!)

Youth Caucus

30 April, 11am

As well as the usual business of the youth statement for the final ministerial events later, the vice-chair of the CSD, the Minister from Belgium, came to the Youth Caucus meeting today. We had a productive question-and-answer session, and it was nice to find someone high up in the process making the time to really listen to our views. She encouraged us to keep on lobbying and working to get our views across to the governments.

Youth, Sustainability & the Millennium Development Goals

30 April, 1.15pm

This side event, organised by the Youth Caucus & Science / Technology Caucus was both interesting and informative. We know what the problems are with the world, and we have the technology and know-how to solve them. Tackling malaria, solving food distribution problems, addressing global warming are all in part technical issues, but we don't actually need new science to deal with them. The problem (as ever) seems to be the politics, and inherently conservative nature of the world's governments.

We met with a number of the other members of the youth caucus, members of the science / technology caucus and a few key speakers such as a representative of the ILO. Lots of people talked about different projects they're involved in, including one that I found particularly interesting:

[Caution: take a deep breath and sit down before proceeding...]

The Scouts are here! Well, one representative of the World Scouting Movement. They're planning a huge international camp in the UK in 2007 - have a look at:

http://www.scouting2007.org/english

...interesting.

Peace Caucus

30 April, 3pm

This was a small meeting, with representatives from American NGO's, religious organisations and a few others. Two representatives of Uniting For Peace attended, with an open letter they were planning to hand to the United Nations, calling on the Security Council to ensure the United Nations play the central role in restoring peace and security in Iraq.

We also discussed a letter from the peace caucus which will be handed to the chair of CSD, asking him to "work for the inclusion of peace in the debates relating to the issue selection process at CSD 11. Although it was a small meeting, it was a good networking opportunity and many of those attending were very interested and impressed with what the Woodcraft Folk are, and our work for education and peace.

Chairman's summary presentation of high-level discussions

30 April, 4.30pm

The Chairman presented his summary of the CSD-11's high level segment. He noted the commitment to a revitalised, action-orientated CSD, and delegates' endorsement of CSD's role in supporting coordination and implementation of sustainable development objectives.

Mr. Moosa told us of delegates’ approval of a two-year work cycle. This would consist of a review year and a policy year, with one overarching focus area for each cycle. He indicated support for addressing water issues during the first cycle, and energy in the second. He explained how while every cycle would have a key theme, each cycle should allow for progress to be assessed in all JPOI areas. He also stated that the CSD should be able to examine and act on any urgent issues that might emerge. Mr. Moosa commented that special attention would be given to Africa, SIDS and LDCs in each cycle.

He reported on strong support for regional implementation forums, but took note of some concerns raised that existing UN regions might not be ideally suited to this work*. He reported on ,and endorsed statements implicating that the CSD should lead to greater coordination within the UN and remain as a focal point for partnership initiatives.

* regions - at the moment, European and North America are in the same region!

http://www.sdissues.net/SDIN/

Education for Sustainable Development

(Side event)
30 April, 6pm

Back in Rio in 1992, the governments identified the 9 'major groups' of civil society who would need to be involved in order to make sustainability a reality. Youth was one (which is why we're here now) but one group that was not included was educators.

Education is key to sustainability - people all over the world need basic education in order to enable them to find work and avoid poverty, and education of the general public is vital if we are to address the problems of over consumption and unsustainable production that exist in the developed countries like the UK. Because of this, there is a strong case for ensuring that educators (and that would include all educators, such as Woodcraft, not just teachers in schools) are involved in what's going on when we talk about sustainability.

A number of people think that educators should be the 10th major group. I doubt that will happen, as that would be seen as re-negotiating agenda 21 (the decisions made in Rio) - something the governments don't want to do. However, this meeting was all about the role of educators, and how we can try to ensure that they are included in a more active and formalised way.

In 2005 UNESCO (sorry, even I can't remember that one) will be launching a decade of education for sustainable development. It's hard to know exactly what this will mean. Hopefully we'll be able to use this as an opportunity to strengthen the work we do in woodcraft on sustainability education.

One project that was mentioned has a website at:

http://www.wsis.ethz.ch/

Tomorrow the draft text should be released so we'll have something specific to work on. Until then, thank you for listening...

:-D

love, Vic & Matthew

Matthew - where else would we expect to find him?
Vic in the hot seat
(Some of) the Youth Caucus team
CSD11 in session
Serious stuff

 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget:

If you have questions or comments to make to Matt and Vic, you can email them - they'd love to hear from you!!

Youth caucus documents

Glossary of
CSD-speak

Confused by all the strange terminology and acronyms... We hope the glossary below will help:

CSD 11 - the 11th session of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. These have taken place every year since the first earth summit in Rio. Johannesburg was number 10.

JPOI - the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

WSSD - World Summit on Sustainable Development - which took place in Johannesburg last summer.

Rio +10 - WSSD but it refers to the fact that this summit is ten years on from the original summit in Rio.

Agenda 21 - the environmental agenda for the Twenty First century. This was created at the Rio summit and the idea was that all aspects of society should be looked at from the perspective of Agenda 21.

Stakeholder - anybody who has an interest in the issue that is being discussed. In the case of WSSD it is probably everyone on the planet.

Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue (MSHD)- this is no more no less than a meeting of all people who have an interest/stake in the issue. With reference to WSSD, this has been split into nine Major Groups such as women, youth etc. and bodies have been created to represent the needs and opinions of these particular groups.

Major Groups - the nine stakeholder groups who can make an input into the summit: Women, Youth, Farmers, Indigenous Peoples, Local Authorities, Scientists, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Trade Unions, and Business and Industry.

Type I outcomes - agreements made at the Summit in Johannesburg which are legally binding on an international level

Type II outcomes - promises made by governments, regions, businesses, and other organisations, maybe in partnership with others, to do things to achieve sustainable development - not enforcable though.

Caucus - a group of people with a common interest (eg women, youth) who meet together to organise themselves and work to further that interest.

Youth Caucus - the 'youth' Major Group - a group of youth organisations and youth representatives who we are working with in Bali and will be part of in Johannesburg.

Civil Society - all organisations, groups and individuals who are not part of governments - not politicians or civil servants.