SUMMARY
IFAP participation in the Intergovernmental Preparatory meeting (IPM) of the
UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 15)
New York, February 26 - March 2nd 2007
The Intergovernmental Preparatory meeting (IPM) for the 15th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 15) was held at UN headquarters in New York City, February March 26th to March 2nd 2007.The IFAP delegation included Mr. Ajay Vashee (Zambia), IFAP Vice President in charge of Environment and Natural Resources and Mrs. Nora Ourabah Haddad from the IFAP Secretariat.
The IPM aimed at discussing policy options and possible actions to enable the implementation of measures and policies concerning four cluster themes: energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere and climate change. This year being the second of the two-year cycle, it is meant to “implement the cycle”. Therefore, the IPM’s role is to prepare the negotiations for a text to be adopted by CSD members May 11th.
As for last year at CSD 14, IFAP focused its interventions on Climate Change and Energy for Sustainable Development.
During the opening session, Mr. Vashee reaffirmed in his statement that “farmers must be involved as full partners in the whole value chain from production to distribution. This is important so that farmers reap real benefits from the development of renewable energy, and do not become mere suppliers of cheap raw materials to the energy companies”. He also urged governments to strengthen partnerships with the research community, to put in place appropriate support mechanisms to encourage farmers’ ownership of renewable energy production as well as to involve farmers in decision making processes related to bioenergy policy formulation. On climate change issues, Mr. Vashee outlined that “farmers cannot bear this burden alone. Climate change is every body’s concern. Farmers need to be supported and facilitated in their efforts to adapt to, and mitigate the effects of, climate change”.
A revised draft of the “Chairman’s draft negotiating document” which intended to build on discussions both during CSD 14 and the IPM and to set out “policy options and possible actions to expedite implementation in the four cluster themes above mentioned, was distributed during the last day of the IPM. Farmers, echoed by other major groups and a number of government representatives, expressed their discontent and strong disappointment on a text which fails to reflect the “richness of discussions” during the IPM as the EU representative has put it. IFAP deplored lack of reference to farmers as well as to agriculture. As Nora Ourabah, IFAP Secretariat, outlined “nowhere does the document mention explicitly the contribution of the farming sector to energy for sustainable development, and nowhere does it mention the role of farmers in mitigating or adapting to climate change. We hope that this will be corrected in future drafts”.
Many challenges remain to be overcome to make upcoming CSD 15 a real success.
There is no denying that energy and climate change are highly controversial and agreements have not been yet reached.
First, on energy, there is a challenge which needs to be overcome over the priority to give to renewables.
On climate change, there was a lot of discussions on the role of the CSD versus UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) and the Kyoto Protocol processes. The CSD is seen as a provider of a broader sustainable development perspective and as platform to give political push to other existing intergovernmental processes.
Despite shared disappointment after the IPM, several participants placed a certain hope in upcoming CSD 15. CSD 15 will certainly provide an unprecedented opportunity to address critical issues from a broader perspective. Energy for instance does not have any institutional home within the UN system and all the cluster themes are closely linked with poverty reduction goals and changing consumption patterns.
The IPM closed on a positive note by government representatives as well as major groups who demonstrated their full commitment to making CSD 15 a success.
Farmers still have a lot to do in lobbying their national governments during the 8 weeks prior to CSD 15 to be held April 30-May 11. It is of utmost importance that the farmers’ messages are included in the final chairman’s negotiating document.