Decision 4/4. Integrating environment and development in decision-making
1. The Commission on Sustainable Development, having examined the report of
the Secretary-General on integrating environment and development in decisionmaking
(E/CN.17/1996/11 and Add.1), notes the progress made at the national
level in providing a framework that integrates economic, social and
environmental policies.
2. The Commission recognizes that responsibility for bringing about changes
aiming at integrating environment and development in decision-making lies with
national Governments, and encourages Governments to establish national
mechanisms, where appropriate, and to develop an integrated approach and
participatory strategies for sustainable development, including economic, social
and environmental aspects of growth.
3. The Commission requests organizations of the United Nations system and
other relevant organizations to support the efforts of Governments to integrate
environment and development in decision-making by, inter alia, strengthening
coordination and exchange of information on "best practices" relating to
sustainable development strategies.
4. The Commission calls on organizations and bodies of the United Nations
system, in cooperation with Governments and, as appropriate, major group
organizations, to place a high priority on actions aimed at supporting national
coordination and planning activities related to the implementation of Agenda 21;
consistent guidelines for national execution of projects and programmes should
be provided to support this process.
5. The Commission calls on Governments to review, as appropriate, their
national legislation in the light of the integrated nature of sustainable
development and the need to implement international legal agreements and
conventions. It requests the international community to continue and strengthen
support for developing the capacities of developing countries for this purpose.
6. The Commission, having noted the work on integrated environmental and
economic accounting being undertaken by the Statistics Division of the United
Nations Secretariat, organizations of the United Nations system and other
intergovernmental organizations, and calls upon them, inter alia, to continue
the work in this area, particularly with regard to methodological development
and technical cooperation.
7. The Commission recalls the importance of integrated environmental and
economic accounting for sustainable development, and encourages Governments to
undertaken further national activities in this area.
Decision 4/5. Information for decision-making
1. The Commission on Sustainable Development, having taken note of the report
of the Secretary-General on information for decision-making (E/CN.17/1996/18 and
Add.1), welcomes the measures taken by Governments to make information more
accessible to decision makers at the national level.
2. The Commission expresses its appreciation of the meetings held during the
inter-sessional period to further the work and understanding of issues addressed
in chapter 40 of Agenda 21, particularly as they relate to indicators of
sustainable development, Earthwatch, Development Watch, the establishment of
common and compatible systems of access to data, and common core data sets.
3. The Commission takes note of the progress made in the implementation of the
work programme on indicators of sustainable development, approved at its third
session, and welcomes that progress, particularly with regard to the preparation
of methodology sheets for the various indicators.
4. The Commission invites Governments to test, develop and use the indicators
of sustainable development based, inter alia, on the work done to date, as
appropriate, on identifying the indicators and preparing the corresponding
methodology sheets. In this regard, Governments are encouraged, as appropriate,
to adopt indicators at the national level and to consider the advantages of
working in partnership with other countries in the testing, further development
and use of the indicators. For example, twinning between countries with more
and less experience in using indicators could prove beneficial to both.
5. The Commission expresses its appreciation of the conclusions of the meeting
on common and compatible systems of access to data, and requests the Department
for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the Secretariat, in
cooperation with other organizations of the United Nations system, and within
available resources, to establish a sustainable development home page on the
World Wide Web, with "hot links" to relevant databases throughout the United
Nations system, as a means to facilitate access by countries to sources of
information relevant to sustainable development.
6. The Commission requests the Economic and Social Council?s Ad Hoc Open-Ended
Working Group on the Need to Harmonize and Improve United Nations Information
Systems (for Optimal Utilization and Accessibility by States) to give particular
attention to devising a means of facilitating the access of States Members of
the United Nations to environmental databases throughout the United Nations
system, within available resources.
2. Integrating environment and development in decision-making
13. The Commission, having examined the report of the Secretary-General on
integrating environment and development in decision-making (E/CN.17/1995/19),
noted the need for a framework at the national level for integrating economic,
social and environmental issues and for bringing together sectoral plans in a
more comprehensive manner. The Commission calls on Governments to continue
their efforts to establish, where appropriate, national mechanisms and to
develop integrated, participatory strategies for sustainable development.
14. The Commission welcomes paragraph 11 of the report and emphasizes the
importance of the steps taken by the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable
Development to assist Governments in the elaboration of national environmental
and sustainable development strategies and plans and to develop frameworks in
which sectoral plans can be accommodated. It urges all organizations of the
United Nations system, in cooperation with Governments, to participate, as
relevant, in the ongoing programme, and calls upon non-governmental
organizations to contribute to this process to the fullest extent possible.
15. The Commission welcomes offers for hosting international conferences on
promoting sustainable development in order to promote regional and multilateral
cooperation on sustainable development. In this context, the Commission
welcomes the convening of the Third Ministerial Conference, "Environment for
Europe", to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1995. The Commission also welcomes
the initiative of the Government of Belarus for the possible convening of an
international conference of the countries with economies in transition on
promoting sustainable development. The Commission encourages interested
Governments and relevant subregional, regional and other interested
organizations to place, inter alia, the Pan-European Environment Action
Programme for Central and Eastern Europe within the broader framework of
sustainable development, taking due account of the need for the full integration
of countries in transition from centrally planned to market economies, as well
as all other countries, into the world economy, which is essential to
sustainable development.
16. The Commission requests the organizations of the United Nations system and
other relevant organizations to organize, within existing resources, regional
workshops to explore, discuss and further develop methodological approaches to
integration based upon, for example, work being done in environmental economics,
valuation, natural resource accounting and integrated economic and environmental
accounting.
17. The Commission underlines the importance of integrated environmental and
economic accounting for sustainable development and encourages Governments to
undertake further national activities in this area.
18. The Commission takes note of the work in integrated economic and
environmental accounting being undertaken by the Statistical Division of the
United Nations Secretariat, organizations of the United Nations system and other
intergovernmental organizations and calls upon them, inter alia, to further this
work, particularly with regard to promoting the implementation of national
programmes and strengthening technical cooperation in this area.
Decision-making structures
5. The Commission welcomes the entry into force of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological
Diversity, as well as the adoption of the Declaration of Barbados and the
Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States, and urges that appropriate follow-up action be taken. The Commission
supports the successful conclusion in June 1994 of the negotiations for the
elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in Those
Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in
Africa, and calls upon all States to accelerate progress in the United Nations
Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and to
promote the successful conclusion of the Intergovernmental Conference on the
Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, to be held in
Washington, D.C. in November 1995.
6. The Commission expresses its appreciation to the Government of Austria for
organizing the International Symposium on Sustainable Development and
International Law, held at Baden bei Wien from 14 to 16 April 1994. The
Commission welcomes the report of that Symposium (E/CN.17/1994/16), which opens
a new and promising avenue in the field of codification and development of
international law in support of the fulfilment of the goals and objectives of
Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The
Commission recommends that relevant international treaty regimes contain
effective machinery for consensus-building and dispute settlement. The
Commission requests the United Nations Environment Programme to study further
the concept, requirements and implications of sustainable development and
international law.
7. The Commission, having examined the report of the Secretary-General
containing an overview of cross-sectoral issues (E/CN.17/1994/2), in particular
section IV on decision-making structures, takes note of the important measures
taken by Governments to integrate environment issues into the development
process within their decision-making structures, and requests all States and
relevant intergovernmental organizations to submit, or continue to submit,
information on an annual, voluntary basis on the implementation of Agenda 21,
the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and other agreements and
conferences related to the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), as appropriate.
8. The Commission also notes the establishment by the Secretary-General of the
High-level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development, and emphasizes the
desirability of fostering close interaction between the Board and the
Commission, including its Bureau.
9. The Commission takes note of the background paper containing the report
entitled "Decision-making structures: international legal instruments and
mechanisms", prepared by the task manager designated by the Inter-Agency
Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD). The Commission urges the
Secretary-General to give high priority to coordination through the work of
IACSD. The Commission supports the designation by IACSD of task managers as an
important first step towards improving coordination. It calls upon the task
managers to provide innovative proposals on ways to achieve more efficient
results, including multi-agency joint programming, within available resources.
The Commission requests the Secretary-General to inform the Commission on
progress made in IACSD towards coordination among United Nations bodies in
implementing Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and
other UNCED-related agreements and conferences, as appropriate. United Nations
organizations, as well as international and regional financial institutions,
intergovernmental organizations and other relevant institutions are invited to
give priority to the implementation of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration, and
UNCED-related agreements and conferences, as appropriate.
10. The Commission emphasizes the importance of creating appropriate national
frameworks for the implementation of Agenda 21 and other relevant agreements and
conferences, bearing in mind the need for a progressive provision of financial
resources and technology transfer, where appropriate. In this respect, the
Commission requests all States to establish the necessary coordinating machinery
for the promotion of sustainable development. The Commission also calls upon
the United Nations system, through the IACSD task managers, to coordinate its
capacity-building activities and to develop joint programming for this purpose,
wherever feasible.
11. In accordance with their national sustainable development priorities,
developing countries should, as appropriate, be supported in strengthening their
capacity in the development or streamlining of sustainable development
strategies, the development and maintenance of environmental law, including the
development of environmental impact assessment procedures, as well as their
capacity to participate effectively in the development of international law
related to sustainable development, and the elaboration of conventions and other
international instruments in this field.
12. The Commission recognizes the importance of full participation of all
interested parties in the negotiation of international agreements relating to
sustainable development, and therefore calls upon the relevant bodies to promote
the provision, through transparent and accountable mechanisms, of financial
support for the participation, in negotiating forums, of developing countries,
in particular the least developed countries, at their request.
13. The Commission recommends that States and international organizations
consider the use of partnerships with business and non-governmental communities
leading to non-legally binding agreements as a first step in the preparation of
international regulations.
14. The Commission notes the need for coordination and more efficient
structural arrangements among the secretariats of conventions related to
sustainable development.