New Sustainable Development Website

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA) has launched a new knowledge platform for sustainable development. The website includes resources describing inter-governmental processes, the UN system and major groups, as well as links to nearly 6,000 related documents.

Moving toward next round of Rio+20 meetings

In his briefings this week, Nikhil Seth, Director of DSD/DESA and Head of the Office of the UNCSD Secretariat reported that  the compilation of the zero draft for Rio+20 had received amendments from the G‐77 and China, EU, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Canada, Cuba, Georgia, Holy See, Iceland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey, Switzerland and US.

It was also announced that the resulting compilation text now consists of 157 pages with over 75,000 words! It will be available to Member States through a password-protected e‐room along with original submissions from the above Member States.  

Tuesday's briefing
Wednesday's briefing

Intergovernmental Body on Sustainable Development?

As the third in a series, UN/DESA has released an issue brief focused on a potential intergovernmental body for sustainable development. The brief, titled "IFSD: Issues related to an intergovernmental body on SD," outlines the strengths of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, as well as where it is lacking. It notes that the CSD's most valuable aspect may be keeping sustainable development on the agenda. The brief also considers the possibility of potential new arrangements to provide space for innovation, which DESA says would require more time and greater flexibility in meeting.

New UN Office for Sustainable Development

The UN launched the Office for Sustainable Development (UN/OSD) at a ceremony on 19 October 2011, in Seoul (Korea). It is a joint project of the UN, the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Environment, Yonsei University, and the City of Incheon and will be managed by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and housed at Yonsei University. The goal of the new Office is to improve and accelerate implementation of sustainable development worldwide, to support developing countries’ preparations for UNCSD (Rio+20) and subsequently to advance implementation of the outcomes of Rio+20.
UN Press Release

UN/DESA: IFSD and Peer Review

The "Issues Brief: Lessons from the Peer Review Mechanism" by UN/DESA,  focuses on options for strengthening IFSD and summarizes peer review mechanisms currently in place in UN system institutions while considering their potential to contribute to the implementation of international agreements. The brief describes peer review as distinct from compliance enforcement mechanisms or other dispute settlement bodies, such as courts or cap and trade systems. It indicates that peer review seeks to promote compliance through a constructive, persuasive, learning-based and non-adversarial process that rests on the equality of the parties concerned and therefore respects national sovereignty.

Website of Issues Briefs