Discussions began with general comments on the importance of CSD-12, given that it is the first meeting under the new implementation cycle. Speaking on behalf of the EU, Ireland raised discussion on the 'Jeju Initiative,' a non-negotiated statement that emerged from the UNEP's Eighth Special Session of the Governing Council, held in March 2004, and how it is committed to meeting the seventh MDG of ensuring environmental sustainability. It claimed that the Jeju Initiative had put environment very high on the sustainable development agenda, which it considered good.

On behalf of the G-77/China, a group of developing countries, Qatar stressed that even two years after the WSSD, the international community (read developed countries) had failed to deliver, in terms of funds. It demanded that the international community must focus on three issues: Finance, technology and capacity building. Qatar also made a case for identifying new means to implement the goals. Under the JPOI, it argued that partnerships were seen as additional to intergovernmental support, which is not the case now. Out of the 266 registered partnerships since WSSD, 72 per cent of them use government funds. Partnerships were supposed to bring additional resources for sustainable development. So any claims of an increase private sector involvement are false. Moreover, areas like biotechnology and desertification are underrepresented in partnerships.

The first thematic issue to be discussed was water. It was widely held that progress made towards achieving the target of halving the world's population without access to safe drinking water was not very good. Only half the countries are on target and the situation in Africa was pathetic as well. Members pushed for strengthening the reporting and monitoring systems, scaling up good initiatives, and finding ways to overcome political, financial, technical and institutional constraints.

Switzerland argued strongly for the "ecosystem approach" to integrated water resource management, which it claimed, was a most efficient model. Although is still not clear what exactly this entails, this holistic approach considers a range of water management aspects, such as water quality and quantity, wetlands, impact of climate change on water sources, strengthening transboundary river basin initiatives, drought, floods, etc. The Swiss, supported by the EU here, argued that the ecosystem approach is "not a luxury for few countries but necessity for all."

Day 2 (April 20, 2004): 'Ecosystems approach' worrying some

Water once again dominated discussions on the second day. South Africa representative Mike Muller talked about a new law, which made water a national resource and took control away from local governments. The new law mandates that water can no longer be owned as a property, but only used as a resource and paid for. And only after meting basic human needs, could water be used to earn revenue. Predictably, this sparked strong debates, with some supporting such a strict law, while others raised strong objections against the commodification of water.

Delegates also discussed river basin committees during the morning session. Thailand, for instance, has about 29 active committees that are formulating integrated water resource management plans, which should be finalised by 2005. Experts pointed out that river basin committees should be made stronger with clear-cut roles and should be assigned additional powers.

Two UN regional groups, the UN Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the UN Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE) made their presentations on water management in the Asia-Pacific region at the afternoon session. About 790 million rural people and 262 million urban people do not have access to water supply in the region, and US $8-13 billion was required annually to meet the target on water and sanitation.

Discussions on housing centred on two critical issues: Housing backlog and the lack of infrastructure. Rapid urbanisation remains a challenge for the European region; one in every seven people lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation. However, it was felt the region could eventually meet its housing targets.

MVYI Siddiqui of Bangladesh focussed on the arsenic problem in his country; 59 of the 64 districts were affected by arsenic, putting 30-40 million people at risk. Sanitation, too, remains neglected. And although Bangladesh has set an ambitious target of 100 per cent sanitation coverage by 2010, the figures he quoted were frightening. The lack of sanitation alone accounts for the daily deaths of about 342 children under the age of five in Bangladesh. About 80 per cent of the country's rural population suffers from severe stomach ailments.

The emphasis on the ecosystems approach to achieving the goals of water and sanitation was clearly beginning to worry some delegations. Moreover, they felt that although the chair's summary is not a negotiated document, it would form the basis for negotiations for the policy session next year. As a result, though this session is not a negotiating session, it might end up becoming one through informal negotiations that may even spill into official sessions.

Day 3 (April 21, 2004): Lack of strategy, not funds, a barrier to sanitation

Water continued to dominate discussions on the morning of the third day. The same story continued: Developing countries asking industrialised countries for aid, and industrialised countries asking developing countries to govern themselves better.

Malaysia categorically stated that the member countries' commitments to the means of implementation were the litmus test. Discussion on water sanitation and human settlements should be within the framework of development, otherwise these can devolve into meaningless discussions, and an opportunity will be lost. India openly opposed the ecosystem approach and stressed that rather than introducing new concepts, the means of implementation should be strengthened.

Discussions on sanitation began on the afternoon of day three. In its report, the task force established to examine progress pointed out that the world is way behind the sanitation target. Also, some pointed out that the baseline data was underestimated. Whereas 371 million people should have been covered in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015, now only 196 million will be finally covered. Meeting the target will therefore still leave a huge unserved population. It was widely held that sanitation remains a problem due to a critical lack of focus and strategy, and not due to lack of funds or technology. Pakistan pointed out that out of the 266 partnerships, only 10 are in the field of sanitation.

The decision that the chair's summary would now include references to interventions, which would now feed the negotiations during the policy session, brought some relief to the delegates who were jittery about the chair's summary on the previous day.

Day 4 (April 22, 2004): India stresses demand-driven approach to sanitation

The day began with more discussions on water and sanitation. Speaking for the EU, Ireland drew an important link between water and sanitation by stressing there was no point in providing drinking water when water sources continue to get polluted. But that linkage doesn't exist in many governments, as is evident in the absence of public health experts and officials of health ministries. The US pointed this out, adding that water and sanitation were still not linked with health and hygiene.

The UK raised the issue of subsides and demanded that it be clearly ascertained where they were required and where not because, in most cases, subsidies did not benefit the poor. Staying with the issue of financing, a Korean delegate pointed out that it's government charges a 6 per cent tax on liquor to provide money to local governments for sanitation.

India's Meena Gupta summed up what role the governments should play. They must act as a facilitator - encourage a demand driven approach, involve women, employ low cost appropriate technologies and focus on hygiene education in schools. Australia had its own suggestions on alternate technologies. It called for promoting technologies like the reed bed system and compost pit latrines and added that there was no single solution and consultations were necessary with end users.

Finally, there was some discussion on human settlements in the afternoon. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, the executive director of UN-Habitat drew delegates attention to the fact that the MDG target of improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020 was only the tip of the iceberg. She stressed on the need for slum upgradation. Slum upgradation has to go hand in hand with urban planning, which is missing at present. She did also acknowledge that it was a political move as in most cases politicians benefit from slums and do not want them to go away. But she nonetheless felt it was important. She added that the campaign on security of tenure was also very important. She pointed out that at present one in every six people lives in a slum and that if no urgent action was taken, then, by 2030, the figure would be one in every four. She said that the target of 100 million is only tip of the iceberg.

Ireland, on behalf of the EU, agreed that not much was happening on the human settlements target. It identified the following obstacles: inadequate finance, a lack of good governance, the need for capacity building and inadequate technology transfer. Cuba made an important observation: people move from rural to urban in search for better living conditions. The way to beat that, they said, was to create better employment opportunities in rural areas so that people do not come to cities. Uganda, however, pointed out that in its country planning follows development and not vice versa. Moreover, there were other difficulties. For instance, when a few slum people were given secure land tenure rights they sold that off and again settled down in a slum. Another problem cited by some was that sometimes slum are outside city limits but ever-growing cities engulf them. And Iran, which has faced some severe earthquakes in the recent past, raised an important point on the impact of natural disaster on housing.

Day 5 (April 23, 2004): 'Discard perception that the poor are not bankable'

The discussion on human settlements continued from the previous day. It began with a presentation by Dinesh Mehta of UN-Habitat who stressed that progress towards MDGs of human settlements had been slow. And that to meet the MDG of bringing about an improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020, there is a need for investments in the range of US $70-150 billion. Where would this money come from? Official Development Assistance (ODA) is already dwindling and the bulk of the investment in this sector is coming from national and local governments. He stressed that ODA should be used as a catalyst to mobilise domestic financial sector and that there is a need to have a secure land tenure. "We should shed our perception that the poor cannot pay and that they are not bankable," he said.

India presented its demand-driven approach towards sanitation, which according to Meena Gupta, additional secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests (www.envfor.nic.in), is working wonders in India. Under this approach, the demand for toilets comes from the communities, and for this the government of India has started a programme under which any village/district, which completes sanitation coverage, gets an award and social recognition. This, claimed Gupta, worked better than a supply driven approach in most developing countries, as in the latter case there is no ownership and need for the toilets.

India also pointed out, yet again, that it would not accept the ecosystems approach to water management because there were bilateral means of solving water issues. They felt that there was no need to institutionalise it at international level.

There was also a side event organised by African Union "Africa - Making it happen". At the meeting, it was highlighted that most investment (80 per cent) was going towards meeting urban water supply, while rural water supply was being neglected. But, along with African Development Bank, a Rural Water and Sanitation Initiative had been launched. Under this the initiative, coverage of rural water supply, which at present is 47 per cent, would be increased to 65 per cent by 2010 and 80 per cent by 2015.

The disquiet over the chair's summary witnessed earlier in the week was back again and lingering. After being assured that their interventions would be reflected in the chair's summary, many delegates were now wondering how their views would be represented. There was concern, in particular, over the new strategies that had made their way into the summary, which were not earlier committed at WSSD.

Day 6 (April 26, 2004): Latin America and Caribbean region in focus

The day and the week began with a buzz. Delegates were excited about the Chair’s draft summary being circulated during the day. In the morning, however, discussions centred on the Latin American and the Caribbean region.

A representative of the ministry of cities of Brazil pointed out that 75 per cent of the wastewater in her country was disposed of without treatment, that urbanisation was on the rise and that there were about 2.4 million slum dwellings in Brazil in 2001. To address this burgeoning problem, the ministry of cities was set up in 2003, which would now look at various issues of urban development in an integrated manner. The ministry will address interlinkages between urban planning, transportation, human settlements, environment, slums, etc. at the national level. She pointed out that Brazil was also investing heavily in water supply and sewerage. While it had spent US $600 million last year, this year it would be spending US $900 million.

The issue of subsidies was once again raised. The general agreement on the issue was that it was required but that it should go only to those that need it and that it be closely monitored. Also, some suggested that while subsidies were being doled out, consideration would also need to be given to its impact on the environment. For example, a subsidy on electricity would result in the overextraction of groundwater.

In the afternoon, the UN-Habitat had organised a meeting on the sidelines titled: "Unheard voices of women". The session began with the awarding of the UN Scroll of Honour to two women. The first, Nesreen Mustafa Siddeek Berwai, minister of municipalities and public works in Iraqi Govering council was awarded for her reconstruction work with the UN in the last 7 years in Iraq. Her work had continued despite several attempts having been made on her life. She pointed out that some 1.2 million people were internally displaced in Iraq and the challenge to settle them was huge.

The second woman awarded was Margaret Catley-Carlson, chairperson of Global Water Partnership. Carlson pointed out that there was a silent sense of urgency in the world on the issues of water and sanitation. She felt that the reason it was silent was because it did not affect the rich and because the media did not like to write about it.

The problem, she said, was that those left out of the development process get little attention. She stressed that water is both a basic right and a commodity. When industry uses it as raw material, they should be charged for it. Sometimes poor people pay 20 times more than what rich people pay as they have subsidised municipal water supply connection. The session ended with the screening of a film on how women in slums, across the world, suffer due to lack of water.

By evening, delegates were anxious to get their hands on the chair’s draft summary. The 35-page draft had been circulated amongst some delegations for initial reactions. The summary was due for discussion in the plenary the next day. Preceding that session, regional groups would discuss the proposal among themselves.

 

Day 7: (April 27, 2004): Summary presented, contested

This was an important day as Part 1 of the Chair's summary, a 38-page-long document, was released today. Borge Brende said that the document was "fair and balanced". The summary states that while some progress on goals to water, sanitation and human settlements has been made, there are many countries that are still not on track.

Brende identified some obstacles to progress. In water management, these include: lack of reforms, poor governance, low community participation, and declining official Development Assistance (ODA). In the case of sanitation, there is a lack of focus and member states have not prioritised sanitation as a national priority. Similarly the problem in adequately addressing human settlements issues is lack of land reforms, and lack of land tenure security. Brende asserted the challenge is in identifying the next step. And this is what the high level segment beginning April 28 will do, Brende said.

Some countries objected to parts of the summary part 1 with which they disagreed. For instance, para 15 of the document states, "the Council/Forum adopted the 'Jeju Initiative' on water, sanitation and human settlements.... integrated water resource management should incorporate an ecosystems approach...". India objected to this statement and pointed out that the Jeju Initiative was not a negotiable and adopted text. India also objected to the undue focus on the ecosystems approach, and asserted that the stress on ecological sanitation (as in para 103) should be left to individual countries.

Ireland, on behalf of the EU and 10 acceding states and with the backing of Switzerland, suggested the subsequent high-level segment should discuss the ecosystems approach.

Qatar, representing G-77 and China perspective, said that the summary does not reflect recommendations of all member states. Developing countries similarly pointed out several obstacles that were not included in the summary document.

Similarly, Japan insisted that the summary missed out on important issues, for instance, the role of agriculture in water management, the importance of flood control and natural disaster management, in addition to networking and partnerships.

Statements of various delegates are available online:
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd12/csd12_statements.htm

Day 8 (April 28, 2004): Attention from sustainability diverted, says Kofi Annan

UN Secretary-General Annan voiced his concern "high level political attention has been diverted from sustainable development by the recent emphasis given to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and the war in Iraq". Brende similarly stated that it is time for implementation. "Now is the decade of promises kept", he said. He tersely underscored his point by adding, "No water, no life. No sanitation, no dignity. No settlement, no security".

Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to the UN CSD on millennium development goals, pointed out how so little has been achieved since the millennium declaration, made four years back in this very same general assembly hall. "The goals are not being met, we are not on track. In the coming 11 years, they can be met by each individual country, but only if there is national political will and international support", he said. He added that in the case of Africa, there is political will but no international finance. ODA to Africa needs to be increased significantly, he said, and added that poor countries should be given grants and not loans.

When the floor was opened to comments from ministers, Qatar, again on behalf of G-77 and China, said that the international community should create an enabling environment to provide finance and streamline technology transfers. Qatar’s minister of finance said that it is time development partners clearly reveal their efforts to improve consumption and production patterns. He also pointed out that partnerships were not achieving their goal, and that they should compliment, but not substitute, ODA.

Day 9 (April 29, 2004): UN Agencies, SIDS in the spotlight

Today’s morning session was titled, "Statements and interactive discussions - Heads of UN agencies, and heads of financial and trade institutions: Responding to the challenge". Brende chaired the session and began by underscoring the importance of water management, which is part the portfolio of 24 UN agencies. The aim of the session was to assess the role and progress of UN agencies in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). UNDP pointed that it has about 300 urban development corporation projects around the world. The agency has also signed 30 public-private partnerships since WSSD. UNDP suggested its portfolio of US$ 4 billion for sustainable development, needs to be increased. According to the speaker, a problem with UN agencies is that they work as per the demands and needs of the country. It is therefore important that national countries bring issues of water, sanitation and human settlement on their national priority list, to better assist UN agencies. This agenda needs to be pushed through CSD 13, the speaker said.

Unicef claimed that for the past 30-40 years, it has been working in 100 countries on water and sanitation issues. The speaker pointed to the importance of primary schools as role models in providing safe drinking water and basic sanitation, besides attracting students to school. Another problem is that any one ministry in a country does not handle sanitation, making implementation more difficult.

Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, the UN-Habitat representative, presented some disturbing facts. At present, 930 million people live in slums, and this number is expected to rise to 1.5 billion people by 2020 if the trend continues. The challenge is not only to meet the target of reducing the number of slum dwellers to 100 million, but also to manage the potential 700 million sum dwellers by 2020. The agency estimates the average cost of improving housing with a range of basic services on new sites in developing countries is approximately US$ 2000 per person. At the global level, the total cost over 17 years for slum upgradation is US $184 billion and US $1317 for new site development.

In his keynote speech during the afternoon session, Julian Robert Hunt, president of 58th session of the UN General Assembly, pointed out the vulnerability of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to the threat of climate change. The population now also faces the risk from HIV/AIDS. "We have a moral obligation to help the most vulnerable," he said. He added that he is looking forward to an "action oriented outcome" from the Mauritius meeting.

John Briceno, deputy prime minister of Belize said that the Barbados Programme of Action is a blueprint for sustainable development. The SIDS states are economically vulnerable as they are dependent on export-reliant traditional crops. For instance, while a small change in the US sugar market may hardly affect the global economy, but may easily destroy the economies of the SIDS states.

Nabuti Mwemwenikarawa, Kiribati’s minister of finance and economic development, said he attaches great importance to climate change, which is a great threat to his country’s agriculture and food security. Similarly, Nandcoomar Bodha, minister of agriculture in Mauritius, said that he is looking forward to concrete action points emerging from the Mauritius meeting, and that the international community should show more commitment at this defining meeting.

Ambassador Koonjul pointed out 5 shortfalls because of which the Barbados action plan failed -- lack of resources; problem of capacity; lack of access to technology; trade pressures; and the absence of any national strategy to mainstream sustainable development. He also said that ODA to SIDS is declining; while it was US$ 2.3 billion in 1994, this fell to US$ 1.7 billion in 2001.

Day 10 (April 30, 2004): ‘We have to make it a decade of kept promises’

Today was the last day of CSD-12. And one of the most important as well, because the chair, Borge Brende, presented his final summary of CSD-12.

But two important events occurred before this. In the afternoon, Brende addressed the press. He pointed out that water, sanitation and human settlements have been able to make it to the national priority goals, as is evident from the more than 100 ministers from various countries who are present at CSD-12. He expressed his concern at the slow progress being made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In the case of integrated water resource management plans, he said that only 50% countries will be able to meet the target of 2005. It is important that the other countries try and achieve this target by 2007. But a decision to this effect can only be taken at CSD-13, which will be a policy year. He stressed the special threat the SIDS face, which paradoxically contribute least towards climate change and global warming but are threatened the most. "We have done an honest review and are not hiding the fact that we are not on track. We have to make it a decade of kept promises", he concluded.

The press conference was followed by a special high-level segment on SIDS, following a complaint form the SIDS states that their case was not being suitably heard or addressed. The foreign minister of Mauritius pointed out that there are 4 main obstacles to SIDS achieving sustainable development. They include: lack of resources, lack of finance, lack of technology, and poor trading ability. He said that the SIDS states are prone to natural disasters, are geographically far away, and their markets are usually dependent on a single commodity, while their access to global markets are limited. All these national vulnerabilities are exacerbated due to international pressures.

Qatar, on behalf of G-77 and China, agreed with SIDS, while pointing out that international support is inconsistent and woefully low. Since 1994, when the Barbados plan of action was adopted, the SIDS states have become even more vulnerable, and ODA and foreign direct investment has decreased.

The US hoped that a practical and balanced document comes out of the forthcoming Mauritius meeting. The US said it is keen to work with SIDS on a pragmatic, practical and prioritised paper. It also underscored the value of partnerships.

One of the greatest challenges, felt a delegate from Bahamas, was to get the international community to understand the vulnerability the small islands. Barbados pointed out that 70% of the action as mentioned in the Barbados plan of action had been carried out by SIDS itself.

Finally at 4 pm, the chair presented the 7-page summary. The summary, a non-negotiable text, is split under seven main headings -- Introduction, Meeting the targets, Creating an enabling environment, Water, Sanitation, Human settlements, and Responding to challenges: the way forward. The summary states, "although many countries are not currently on track, the targets for water, sanitation and human settlements are achievable in the timeframe agreed. Achieving them, however, will require high level political commitment and strengthened governance at all levels and substantial efforts at mobilizing and effectively using resources". Ireland, on behalf of EU, welcomed the summary and said it "captures a range of issues".

Qatar, on behalf of G-77 and China, highlighted a few issues. It asked for a means of implementation and said that the international community should fulfill its commitments. It also said that good governance is required at both the national and international levels to create an enabling environment. It expressed concern over para 5 line one, which reads, "Meeting the challenge of global sustainable development is a shared responsibility". Qatar reminded delegates that Agenda 21 and JPOI mentions "common but differentiated" responsibilities, but that "shared responsibility" is a foreign text.

In supporting Qatar, Saudi Arabia added that there should be strict adherence to JPOI and no deviations should be allowed, which only wastes time. Such deviations should be categorically rejected, it demanded.

Indonesia asked for the reinforcement of 2 points: Fulfillment of ODA commitments, and elimination of harmful agricultural subsidy, which distorts world market prices.

John Ashe has been elected as chair of CSD-13.

Interviews of key delegates can now be viewed online: http://www.un.org/webcast/index.asp

A total of 9 major groups attended CSD-12 and have submitted discussion papers: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/mgroups/csd_12/mgdiscussionpapers.htm

Relevant links:

CSD-12 home: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd12/csd12.htm
CSD-12 documents: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
CSD-12 Regional Implementation Meetings: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd12/rim.htm
Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily reports on CSD-12: http://www.iisd.ca/csd/csd12/
Millennium Development Goals home: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

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