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Participation in CSD-15
New York, 30 April - 11 May 2007

Summary

During CSD-15, major groups informed the CSD and contribute to the Session through the following entry points:

  • On Monday 30 April: interactive discussion with major groups regarding major groups’ proposals on practical measures and actions relevant to the thematic cluster of issues;
  • On Wednesday 9 May: participation in the Ministerial Roundtables on energy for sustainable development and industrial development and the other on air pollution/atmosphere and climate change.
  • On Thursday 10 May: interactive discussion with Ministers to outline major groups’ aspirations and priorities for action;
  • On Friday 11 May: closing remarks on how major groups will support the implementation of CSD-15 policy decisions.

Note: The nature of major groups’ inputs and interventions was in line with CSD-11 decisions for the Policy Session: to report and share major groups’ options and possible actions to address the constraints and obstacles in the process of implementation identified during the review year

Interactive Discussion with Major Groups:
Monday 30 April 2007
11.30 am – 1.00 pm, Conference Room 4

This session was structured as follows: three blocks of 30 minutes each, comprised of short statements by three major groups sectors at the time, followed by discussions with Governments and other stakeholders.

Interactive discussions on energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere and climate change:
Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 May 2007
Conference Rooms 2 and 4

In keeping with the post  WSSD practices, major groups have been given opportunities to speak throughout interactive discussions.

The participating major group sectors’ representatives have been asked to prioritise among themselves which sector would be asking for the floor in each of the sessions. The prioritisation of the speaking requests was based on the programme of work and on the user friendly matrix.

The Secretariat, based on the information received from the major groups organizing partners, compiled a list of major groups sectors/representatives interested in participating in the thematic discussions. Such lists were available to the Chair of a given session so that he/she would know who is representing the major groups in that room in order to:

  • Call upon them
  • Give them the floor upon the raising of the name sign in front of their seat
  • Give them the floor based on their comment/question submitted to the Chair through filling in the Request Slips ; should this system be used during that session

Interventions made during these sessions were generaly brief and focused on the themes under discussion (2-3 minutes max).

Ministerial Roundtables:
Wednesday 9 May 2007
4:00pm - 6:00 pm, Conference Rooms 2 and 4

Two parallel Ministerial Roundtables (RTs) focussed respectively on energy for sustainable development and industrial development and on air pollution/atmosphere and climate change.

High-level major groups' representation can participate as follows: five representatives in the first roundtable and four in the second one.

Interactive Discussion with Major Groups and Ministers:
 Thursday 10 May 2007
4:30pm - 6:00 pm, Conference Room 4

This session was structured in three blocks of 30 minutes each, comprised of short statements by three major groups at the time, followed by discussion. Each high level major group representative were allotted three minutes to introduce the sector’s aspirations and priorities for action in the course of an interactive discussion with Ministers.

Closing statements:
Friday 11 May 2007
4:30- 6:00 pm Conference Room 4

Major groups were given the opportunity to make closing remarks on how they would support the implementation of CSD-15 policy decisions.

The mechanisms for the identification of major group representatives sitting in the major groups' seats during the above session and asking for the floor were facilitated by the CSD-15 major groups organizing partners in consultation with the participating major groups representatives and communicated to the Secretariat on a daily basis.

Seating arrangements:

The seating arrangements for the sessions in Conf. Rooms 2 and 4 followed previous practices and included seats for all the nine major group sectors (one in the front with microphone and one behind). Other participating major group representatives sat in the galleries. All meetings were open to accredited entities.

Participation in Parallel Activities:

Major Groups participated actively in CSD-15 Partnerships Fair and Learning Centre  related activities, as well as in the many scheduled side events.

Major Groups Room:

A conference room was allocated to major groups fopr their coordination meetings (computers and printers were also made available).

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