How the Commission on Sustainable Development Works

Thu, Nov 13, 2008

Primer

This article provides a quick sketch of how the United Nations’ Commission on Sustainable Development works.

CSD Origins: A Legacy of the Earth Summit

The Commission on Sustainable Development - also known as CSD - was created in December 1992 to ensure effective follow-up of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED - also known as the Earth Summit), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The principle outcomes of the Earth Summit are the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Biodiversity Convention and Agenda 21, a blueprint for sustainable development in the 21st Century. The CSD is responsible for monitoring and guiding member governments on implementation of Agenda 21.

Agriculture, land, rural development, desertification and drought are specific chapters of Agenda 21. For example, “Promoting Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development” is the title of chapter 14, from which comes SARD, now an international acronym for policy and programs that promote sustainable agriculture and rural development.

The CSD is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with 53 members. It operates with the following mandate:

  • monitor and report on implementation of the Earth Summit agreements at the local, national, regional and international levels.
  • elaborate policy guidance and options for sustainable development strategies
  • promote dialogue and build partnerships with governments, the international community and the major groups as key actors outside the central government who have a major role to play in the transition towards sustainable development.

Ten years after the 1992 Earth Summit, 40,000 representatives of Governments and Civil Society gathered to review, affirm and strengthen the Rio commitments and the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Governments reaffirmed their commitments to sutainable agriculture, rural development, land and desertification.

The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation has been the organizational framework for the CSD since 2002.

SARD, land and related issues were last taken up during the 8th session of CSD in 2000. Civil Society, represented by Major Groups and other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) lobbied successfully for continuation of dialogue begun in 2000. Out of this grew the SARD Initiative, launched at WSSD in 2002 as a Civil Society led, Government supported and Intergovernmentally facilitated program, a “people-centered approach to sustainable development in Agriculture.

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How CSD Tackles Sustainable Development

In 2003, CSD organized around a set of seven two-year cycles.

In the first year, the Review Session, participants assess the economic, social, and environmental aspects of a thematic cluster. For 2008, the core themes for review are:

In the second year of each cycle, the Policy Session, participants evaluate implementation strategies and make policy commitments. While there are cross-cutting issues such as “sustainable production”  and “sustainable consumption” in each cycle, including food production and consumption, SARD and land related issues will not be taken up by the international community at the same level of detail for at least 5-10 years after 2009.

Intergovernmental commitments at the United Nations drive standards and set the stage for policy-making at national, regional, and local levels. For local impacts outside North America–  examples include “local” Agenda 21 projects of many kinds. Government agencies and private donors adopted the language of sustainable development, in some cases changing “business as usual” to incorporate more social and environmental benefits.

In the US the sustainable community movement and effort to identify and utilize measurable indicators of sustainability in the 1990s was stimulated by the UN Earth Summit and CSD outcomes.   In short, decisions from CSD do impact national government policy and programs, intergovernmental organiztions and their programs (even if the impact is uneven), and can in the best of cases, support the work and needs of communities and people on the ground.

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Major Groups Participate
Broad public participation in implementation of Agenda 21 and subsequent action plans articulated by civil society is a fundamental prerequisite of sustainable development - recognized in nine chapters devoted to Major Groups of Civil Society needed for successful sustainable development. Civil society engagement at the CSD represents a unique opportunity to “weave a net” of partners from a variety of constituencies working at grassroots level. For the issues of sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) many groups who worked together in the 1990s continue to implement SARD policy and programs around the world.

The Major Group Focal Points have been active over the past 10-15 years and will organize their constituencies for the review and policy years of CSD 16-17. As at CSD 8 in 2000, Civil Society will again have the opportunity to speak with a loud, unified voice about priorities that cut across regions and sectors of the world community.   Each Major Group is a broad segment of society with a role in achieving a sustainable world. Each has a specific mandate and a “seat at the table”  for debate and discussion inside the UN. These groupings were designated by governments at the Earth Summit (1992). The opportunity to engage and advocate for SARD has been taken by Civil Society groups around the world.

The Major Groups Organizing Partners for each CSD session are selected organizations from each constituency working to assist the UN Secretariat in coordinating participation and facilitating representation at both regional meetings and the meetings at UN headquarters. After the launch of the SARD Initiative, Major Group Focal Points for SARD worked to implement the SARD Initiative. Many of these SARD Focal Points overlap with the Major Group Organizing Partners.

As the SARD Initiative began to work in selected developing countries organizations such as Heifer International, World Neighbors, Woman Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN), Humane Society International, and Holistic Management International among many others, have been active in helping in-country Major Groups such as farmers organizations or indigenous groups engage with the Initiative. From the US, groups such as Just Food and World Hunger Year in New York, the Institute for Agriculture Trade Policy, and the National Family Farm Coalition, are just a few examples of organizations that have joined Major Groups to work in the past on SARD policy and program development.

Women

Children and Youth

Indigenous People

NGOs

Local Authorities

  • ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability**

Workers and Trade Unions

Business and Industry

Scientific and Technological Communities

Farmers

** SARD Major Group Focal Points or Leads in the development of the SARD Initiative 2000-2007

more info

* Major Groups: CSD topic page
* SARD Major Group Focal Points: Contacts at FAO SARD Initiative site
* Major Group Archive: Official reports from previous CSD proceedings   h

Regions Gather

Prior to the review session in each cyle, UN Regional Commissions organize regional implementations meetings focused on the core issues. These gatherings have the following mandate:

  • Contribute to implementing Agenda 21 and The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
  • Provide input to the UN Secretariat’s reports and the CSD sessions by identifying new challenges, opportunities, and best practices
  • Involve major groups in each region.

For CSD 16, the following Regional Implementation Meetings were organized:

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Nations Speak Out

Agenda 21 encouraged the international community to adopt national strategies for sustainable development and to develop indicators of sustainable development. Such measures were intended to  assist decision-makers at all levels to adopt sound sustainable development policies.

Prior to the review session in each two-year cycle, the CSD encourages member States to provide national reports on a voluntary basis describing progress made in the core areas for that cycle.

Many national governments engage Civil Society and Major Group networks to provide input to national reports. US Government practice has been to meet with national CSOs and NGOs in the planning for CSD cycles. In preparation for CSD 16-17 this is occuring again with the first two meetings in September and December 2007. These meetings are open to the public and information on future meetings can be found here.

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Partnership Complements Policy

At its 11th session in 2003, the CSD recognized that partnerships for sustainable development — voluntary, multi-stakeholder initiatives aimed at implementing sustainable development — are a significant complement to intergovernmental commitments.  The CSD maintains a Partnerships Database. The information provided by registered partnerships form the basis for summary reports prepared by the CSD Secretariat.

more info:

* Partnerships: CSD topic page
* Register your partnership: Criteria and guidelines

Delegations Assemble

The original mandate for the CSD sets a high standard for pursuing an integrated, coherent approach to sustainable development. The CSD must:

* Balance social, economic, and environmental concerns
* Incorporate a broad exchange of views and experiences as it reviews progress
* Pursue linkages between global, regional, and national endeavors.

The agenda for CSD 17 has not been set yet. However, its mandate is to develop policies in line with the issues explored during the CSD 16 review session.

In addition to the CSD Partnerships Fair, CSD 16 also included other multi-stakeholder contributions via the Learning Centre and approved Side Events. The Learning Centre which constitutes a series of instructional courses focused on the core as well as on cross-cutting issues. The side events are part of the official CSD program. For organizers, the challenge is getting on the calendar. Briefings, panels, and artistic performances have been on past years’ programs. There are both inside events (accredited personnel only) and outside events (open to the general public).

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SFM Staff - who has written 21 posts on Sustainable Food Monitor.


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