Right, we've nearly caught up with ourselves, sorry about the lack of reporting at the start of the week!...

This went on the rear of our lobbying points sheet to all gvts today - fun eh? Done by a cool characaturist in central park!!!

Thought for the afternoon:

When the ultimate aim is saving the world, CSD11 hasn't been hugely inspiring. After the power and sheer magnitude of Jo'burg, the nitty gritty of the UN process for the next 10 years of CSD hasn't quite been as much fun.

However it is vital - all the work we did in Jo'burg will have meant nothing if in 10 years time we're once again looking back thinking "yeah, that was good, but we haven't actually made any of it happen." That's why I was so keen to make sure we got here to CSD11, but it's true that it's been hard here to find the energy that rises up from the pit of your stomach when you realise that if you get the governments to change their minds on a target, or a timeframe, that could make a real tangible difference to people's lives.

I think the rather 'process' nature of CSD this time is why we've had a rather small youth caucus - that and the frustration and disenchantment we all felt with the governments of the world after Jo'burg. All that aside, though, we have to look forward - we need to ensure continued genuine participation of the major groups, and we have to work to improve representation across the board, not just youth. There's lots to do here, and it's all still vitally important.

Actually on that note, you've all had enough reading for one day and I really do need to meet up with Vic and check on the progress of the negotiations - they're supposed to be talking about Major Group participation now - really crucial. I'll finish writing up yesterday a bit later! Lots to mention though - it looks like we'll be able to have a UK youth delegate on the government delegation at future events, and we're meeting with some of the government representatives again tomorrow to talk about a youth councils structure for the UK - one of the agreements we fought for and got in the JPOI back in Bali.

Byeeeeeeeeeeee! :-)

Matthew (like I said, Vic's being a busy-bee!)

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.