The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development:

The First Five Years

Pamela S. Chasek, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor, Columbia University
International Institute for Sustainable Development
212 East 47th Street #21F
New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 888-2737
Fax: (212) 644-0206
E-mail: [email protected]

Prepared for delivery at the United Nations University Conference "The United Nations and the
Global Environment in the 21st Century: From Common Challenges to Shared Responsibilities"

14-15 November 1997

The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development:

The First Five Years
Pamela Chasek, Ph.D.
In 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)
changed the international environmental agenda. For the first time, the United Nations system
examined both environmental protection and economic development on an equal footing at the
same conference. Based on the concept of "sustainable development" -- development that is
consistent with future as well as present needs, the general recognition that development is a
priority for Third World countries, but that the environmental consequences of development must
be taken into account -- has shaped the international environmental agenda for the past five years.
The results of the Earth Summit, as UNCED was popularly called, embodied in the global
programme of action, Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the
Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the
Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests (also known as
the Forest Principles), tried to promote and operationalize this concept of sustainable
development and change the way the international system looks at environment and economic
development.
At the international level, the main responsibility for monitoring the implementation of the
Rio accords and, hence the implementation of sustainable development, fell to the Commission on
Sustainable Development. This Commission, which was called for in Agenda 21 and established
by United Nations resolution 47/191 in December 1992, was given three broad responsibilities:
to review progress at the international, regional and national levels in the implementation of
recommendations and commitments contained in the final documents of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), namely: Agenda 21; the Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development; and the Non-legally Binding Authoritative

Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and

Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests (also known as the Forest Principles);
to elaborate policy guidance and options for future activities to follow up UNCED and achieve
sustainable development; and
to promote dialogue and build partnerships for sustainable development with governments, the
international community and the major groups identified in Agenda 21 as key actors outside
the central government who have a major role to play in the transition towards sustainable
development including women, youth, indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations,
local authorities, workers and trade unions, business and industry, the scientific community,
1
and farmers to ensure effective follow-up of UNCED.
How well the Commission has succeeded in fulfilling its mandate and further advancing
the sustainable development agenda is the subject of much debate. While there are numerous ways
to evaluate the success or failure of any organization, there are two major challenges in evaluating
the work of the CSD. First, it is still a relatively young intergovernmental body without a
significant track record. Second, is the fact that the Commission is a different beast to everyone
who is involved in or observes its work. Just like the three blind men who come across an
elephant, each person who examines the work of the CSD has a different opinion as to what
exactly we are talking about when we discuss the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.
With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the work of the CSD during its
first five years. The first part of this paper will examine the history of the Commission and its
work. The evaluation itself will examine the Commission's effectiveness in fulfilling its mandate,
and its role in setting and coordinating the international sustainable development agenda. The
paper concludes with an examination of the overall strengths and weaknesses of the Commission,
and where the CSD should go from here. While this paper is not intended to be a comprehensive
evaluation of the Commission, it is hoped that it provides certain insights into how the
Commission has worked during its first five years and where it is headed as the United Nations

United Nations Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development. "Terms of Reference:
Commission on Sustainable Development" <http://www.un.org/dpcsd/dsd/csdback.htm> (visited 25 August 1997).
2

enters the 21st century.

History of the Commission on Sustainable Development

The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) is one of the major
institutional outcomes of UNCED, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. Agenda
21 provided for the creation of the CSD in Chapter 38:
In order to ensure the effective follow-up of the conference, as well as to enhance
international cooperation and rationalize the intergovernmental decision-making capacity
for the integration of environment and development issues and to examine the progress in
the implementation of Agenda 21 at the national, regional and international levels, a highlevel Commission on Sustainable Development should be established in accordance with
2
Article 68 of the Charter of the United Nations.
Agreement in Rio to the creation of the CSD was achieved in spite of considerable opposition
from many Northern governments, including the United Kingdom and the United States, who
opposed in principle the creation of any new body in the United Nations system. This position was
eventually overridden, in large part as a result of the persistence of a number of Southern and
other Northern governments and a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

In the fall of 1992, the 47th UN General Assembly debated the role and modalities of the
CSD and, after much haggling, adopted resolution 47/191, "Institutional arrangements to follow
up the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development." The resolution, among
other things:
Requests the Economic and Social Council in 1993, to set up a high-level Commission on
Sustainable Development as a functional commission of the Council;
Recommends that the Commission consist of representatives of fifty-three States elected
by the Economic and Social Council from among the Members of the United Nations
and members of its specialized agencies for three-year terms, with due regard to
equitable geographical distribution;
2

United Nations. Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development. New York: United
Nations, 1992: 275.
3
Thomas Bigg and Felix Dodds. "The UN Commission on Sustainable Development." in The Way
Forward: Beyond Agenda 21, edited by Felix Dodds. London: Earthscan, 1997:18.
3

Recommends that the Commission provide for representatives of various parts of the
United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations to assist and advise
the Commission in the performance of its functions;
Recommends that the Commission provide for non-governmental organizations, including
those related to major groups as well as to industry and the scientific and business
communities, to participate effectively in its work and contribute within their areas of
competence to its deliberations; and
C. Recommends that the Commission shall meet once a year for a period of two to three
4
weeks, beginning in 1993 in New York.
The Commission consists of 53 member-States elected by the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) for a three-year term with the following regional allocation of seats: (a) 13
seats for African States; (b) 11 seats for Asian States; (c) 10 seats for Latin American and
Caribbean States; (d) six seats for Eastern European States; and (e) 13 seats for Western
European and other States. One third of the Members are elected annually and out-going
members are eligible for re-election. Other States, organizations of the UN system, and accredited
inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations can attend each CSD session as
observers.
The Commission held its first substantive session in New York from 14-25 June 1993.
Amb. Razali Ismail (Malaysia) was elected chairman and presided over an exchange of
information on the implementation of Agenda 21 at the national level. The CSD also adopted a
Multi-Year Thematic Programme of Work for the period 1993-1997. This work programme
integrated the 40 chapters of Agenda 21 into the following nine thematic clusters: (a) critical
elements of sustainability (including matters related to trade and environment, sustainable
consumption, combating poverty, demographic dynamics and sustainability); (b) financial
resources and mechanisms; (c) education, science, transfer of environmentally sound technologies,
cooperation and capacity building; (d) decision-making structures; (e) roles of major groups; (f)
4

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 47/191, "Institutional arrangements to follow up the
4

health, human settlements and freshwater; (g) land, desertification, forests and biodiversity; (h)
atmosphere, oceans and all kinds of seas; and (i) toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes.
Clusters (a) to (e), which are broadly cross-sectoral in nature, were to be considered by
the Commission annually, while clusters (f) to (i), which are sectoral in nature, were to be
considered on a multiyear basis: (f) and (i) in 1994, (g) in 1995 and (h) in 1996. According to the
work programme, In 1997, the Commission woudl conduct an overall review of the progress
achieved in the implementation of Agenda 21 to prepare for the 19th Special Session of the
General Assembly to assess the progress achieved in the five years since UNCED.
At its first session, the Commission also recognized the need for intersessional work to
address some of the more contentious issues that the CSD would discuss in 1994, namely finance
and technology transfer. Delegates agreed to establish an "ad hoc open-ended intersessional
working group" to be composed of government experts to assess and suggest specific measures to
enhance the implementation of Agenda 21 in these two areas. The 1993 session of the CSD also:
Set up reporting processes to channel information on efforts to implement Agenda 21 into the
CSD for review. The annual report process would include submissions from national
governments and from intergovernmental organizations. The CSD secretariat was to receive
these, analyze them and then produce aggregated reports on Agenda 21 implementation at the
national and international levels. Scope was allowed for NGOs to contribute, both through
their national governments' reports and directly to the secretariat.
C. Allowed a number of governments to offer to host meetings that addressed various parts of
the CSD agenda.
C. Agreed on other matters involving financial assistance and technology transfer.

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development." (22 December 1992).

5

C. Addressed progress made by various parts of the UN system towards incorporating Agenda
5
21 into their operations.
The second session of the CSD was held from 16-27 May 1994, under the chairmanship of
Dr. Klaus Tpfer, then German Environment Minister. Delegates widely acknowledged the need
for effective intersessional work to prepare for the next session of the Commission and so the
CSD took the decision to extend the mandate of the intersessional working groups so that one
group would prepare for the 1995 discussion on land resource issues and the second group would
focus on finance and technology transfer. There was much support for intersessional meetings
hosted by governments and other organizations to address issues on the CSD's agenda. The 1994
session also:
Recommended that relevant bodies should seek a legally binding status of the Prior Informed
Consent Procedure. OECD countries should ban exports of listed or dangerous substances to
developing countries.
C. Called for greater cooperation with governing bodies of international organizations, the
Bretton Woods institutions and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the
World Trade Organization (WTO) and with major groups.
C. Recognized that the overall financing of Agenda 21 and sustainable development fell
significantly short of expectations and requirements.
C. Agreed that additional efforts were essential in the area of transfer of environmentally sound
technologies, cooperation and capacity building.
C. Acknowledged that additional measures needed to be taken to change contemporary patterns
of consumption and production that are detrimental to sustainable development.
C. Emphasized the importance of continuous exchange of information on practical experience
gained by countries, organizations and major groups.

Bigg and6 Dodds, 1997: 24-25; United Nations. "Report of the Commission on Sustainable Development
on its First Session" (E/CN.17/1993/3/Add.1), 30 June 1993.

C. Backed ongoing work on the elaboration of realistic and understandable sustainable

6
development indicators that can supplement national reporting.
C. Developed innovative ways of working. The need for a dialogue-oriented approach was
recognized, including the use of panel discussions and other means by which information
7
could be shared and the expertise of a wide range of actors could be sought.
One organizational problem that became apparent during the preparations for this session
was that CSD Chairs were elected at the beginning of the annual session and served until the start
of the following year's session. Initiatives developed by the outgoing Chair would therefore reach
their fruition under a successor who might not have the same level of commitment or interest, and
who would be coping with the immensely difficult task of chairing a CSD session for the first
8

time. Attempts were made to persuade ECOSOC to change the normal arrangements and allow
election of the Chair and the Bureau of a UN commission at the end of the annual session, but it
was not until after the Special Session of the General Assembly that ECOSOC finally agreed to
make this procedural change in its resolution 1997/63.
At its 1995 session, which met from 11-28 April 1995 under the chairmanship of Henrique
Calvalcanti (Brazil), the Commission held more dialogue sessions and panel discussions. Fiftythree countries produced national reports and more than 50 ministers and high-level officials
attended the session. One of the most notable accomplishments of the 1995 session was the
establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests to formulate options for action to
support the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and
report back to the CSD in 1997. The Commission also: established a work programme on
consumption and production patterns; called for a review of the mechanisms for transferring

This was considered to be a major accomplishment since two years earlier in Rio, many developing
countries were not willing to even discuss the development of sustainable development indicators for fear that their
use would compromise national sovereignty over natural resources and the environment.
7
Bigg and Dodds, 1997: 25-26; United Nations. "Report of the Commission on Sustainable Development
on its Second Session" (E/CN.17/1994/20), 12 July 1994.
8
Bigg and Dodds, 1997: 26.
7

environmentally sound technologies; agreed on a timetable for the formulation of sustainable

development indicators; promoted an integrated approach to the planning and management of
land resources; recognized the need to analyze the potential effects of environmentally-related
trade issues; recognized that poverty eradication is an indispensable requirement of sustainable
development; and encouraged initiatives at the national and international levels, including action
9

to phase out the use of leaded gasoline.

The fourth session of the CSD, chaired by Rumen Gechev (Bulgaria), met from 18 April 3 May 1996 and completed its multi-year review of Agenda 21 and began to assess its own
current and future role. As in 1995, there was a day dedicated to the work of major groups and
more panel discussions. The CSD endorsed the Global Plan of Action on protecting the marine
environment from land-based activities, which was adopted in November 1995. The Commission
also urged governments to pilot the 126 indicators developed by the CSD secretariat in
conjunction with governments, UN agencies and major groups. It also reviewed the work
programme on changing consumption and production patterns and concluded that although ecoefficiency is a promising strategy for policy development, it is not a substitute for changes in the
unsustainable life-styles of consumers. The CSD addressed the relationship between the World
Trade Organization provisions and trade measures for environmental purposes, including those
relevant to multilateral environmental agreements.

10

The fifth session of the CSD, which met from 7-25 April 1997, under the leadership of
th

Mostafa Tolba (Egypt), prepared a comprehensive document to be adopted by the 19 Special

Session of the United Nations General Assembly to Review the Implementation of Agenda 21 in
9

Bigg and Dodds, 1997: 27; United Nations. "Report of the Commission on Sustainable Development on
its Third Session" (E/CN.17/1995/36).
10
Bigg and Dodds, 1997: 28-29; United Nations. "Report of the Commission on Sustainable Development
on its Fourth Session" (E/CN.17/1996/38).
8

June 1997. Governments agreed that some progress was made in terms of institutional
development, international consensus-building, public participation and private sector actions. As
a result, some countries have succeeded in accelerating economic growth, reducing the incidence
of poverty, curbing pollution and slowing the rate of resource degradation. Overall, however, the
global environment continues to deteriorate and the commitments in the UNCED agreements
have not been fully implemented.
Five years after the Earth Summit in Rio, delegates reconvened in New York for the 19th
United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) to review the implementation of
Agenda 21, from 23-27 June 1997. This meeting served as a review and an assessment of the
work of the Commission, and how the UN system, governments, local authorities, NGOs and
international organizations were implementing key components of Agenda 21 and moving toward
sustainable development. UNGASS delegates adopted a "Programme for the Further
Implementation of Agenda 21" and called on the CSD to:
Make concerted efforts to attract greater involvement in its work of ministers and high-level
national policy makers responsible for specific economic and social sectors;
C. Continue to provide a forum for the exchange of national experiences and best practices in the
area of sustainable development;
C. Provide a forum for the exchange of experiences on regional and subregional initiatives and
regional collaboration for sustainable development;
C. Establish closer interaction with international financial, development and trade institutions.
C. Strengthen its interaction with representatives of major groups; and
C. Organize the implementation of its next multi-year programme of work in the most effective
11
and productive way.
Delegates also agreed on a new five-year work plan, culminating with the next
comprehensive review of progress achieved in the implementation of Agenda 21 in the year 2002.

11

Chad Carpenter, et. al. "Summary of the Nineteenth United Nations General Assembly Special Session
to Review Implementation of Agenda 21: 23-27 June 1997." Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 5 No, 88 (30 June
1997):10.
9

Has the CSD accomplished its mission?

Unlike many functional commissions of ECOSOC, the CSD was given a very broad
mandate and programme of work. Therefore, there is quite a lot of room for interpretation and
evaluation of what the CSD has accomplished after its first five years. This section examines the
Commission's effectiveness in accomplishing its mission, as set out by the General Assembly in
resolution 47/191: to review progress at the international, regional and national levels in the
implementation of recommendations and commitments contained in the final documents of the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED); to elaborate policy
guidance and options for future activities to follow up UNCED and achieve sustainable
development; and to promote dialogue and build partnerships for sustainable development with
governments, the international community and the major groups identified in Agenda 21.

12

Review Progress in the Implementation of Agenda 21: On a purely technical level, the
CSD's first multi-year programme of work reviewed the implementation of each chapter of
Agenda 21, the Forest Principles and, to a lesser extent, the Rio Declaration. Within this context,
the CSD attempted to monitor implementation at the national, regional and international levels.
The CSD chose to monitor progress at the national level through the submission of national
reports. From the beginning, governments had a number of concerns about national reporting.
Many developing country delegations stressed that this information should be voluntary and that
the Secretariat should not set guidelines or a standardized format for the reports. Members of the

12

This evaluation of the work of the CSD during its first five years is based on a review of the existing
literature on the Commission as well as a series of interviews with UN, government and non-governmental
representatives who have participated in the work of the Commission since its establishment in 1992. The
majority of the people interviewed asked that their comments be treated as "off the record." As a result, I will not
be citing anyone directly, but I would like to thank the following people for their contributions: Oscar Avalle, GEF
Secretariat, Gunilla Bjorkland, Stockholm Environment Institute, Felix Dodds, UNED-UK, Alison Drayton,
Government of Guyana, Paul Hofseth, Government of Norway, Amb. Bo Kjelln, Government of Sweden, Peter
Padbury (Canada), Andrey Vasilyev, UN Division for Sustainable Development, and Marilyn Yakowitz, OECD.
10

Group of 77 did not want anyone to examine the individual reports or make comparisons among
13

them. This was largely because developing countries did not want a situation to develop where
development aid to be linked to national reporting. Others, such as Australia and the Nordic
countries believed that the reports should be limited to the topics being discussed during a
particular year and should be as brief and concise as possible.

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15

While the final resolution adopted by the CSD listed guidelines that the Secretariat should
follow on preparing the information to be included in the analysis of national information, it is left
to individual governments to decide on the degree of detail and regularity of their reporting to the
16

CSD, thus maintaining the voluntary nature of national reporting. However, the reporting
requirements proved to be too vague to facilitate a comprehensive reporting process. The
Secretariat continued to work closely with governments to evaluate and improve the reporting
process. According to Lars Hyttinen, who was responsible for processing the information from
the national reports within the CSD Secretariat until his retirement in 1996, "what has happened
in the last five years is a simplification of the reporting process." Through this simplification it has
become easier over the years to fill out the questionnaire supplied by the Secretariat and to
17

compare the results from different countries.

However, although more countries have submitted reports each year, their contents are
still difficult to compare and even harder to verify. Furthermore, the questions in the reports do

13

Pamela Chasek, et.al. Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 5 No. 4 (16 June 1993).
Pamela Chasek, et.al. Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 5 No 12 (28 June 1993).
15
Commission on Sustainable Development. "Exchange of information regarding the implementation of
Agenda 21 at the national level." (E/CN.17/1993/L.3/Rev.1), 22 June 1993.
16
Helge Ole Bergesen and Trond K. Botnen. "Sustainable Principles or Sustainable Institutions? The
Long Way from UNCED to the Commission on Sustainable Development." Forum for Development Studies, 1996,
No. 1: 49-50.
17
Maria S. Verheij and William R. Pace. "Reviewing the Spirit of Rio: The CSD, Agenda 21, and Earth
Summit +5." Report published by the International NGO Task Group on Legal and Institutional Matters
(INTGLIM), March 1997:38.
14

11

not always address the issues that are most important and it is not always clear what exactly the
Secretariat wants to measure. The national reports that have been submitted have been few in
number, of uneven quality and not always linked to the political debates among ministers within
the Commission. The majority of developing countries have never submitted national reports. The
summaries produced by the Secretariat are based on insufficient coverage and are presented in
such general terms that it is impossible to draw meaningful conclusions from them. As a result,
18

they appear to play a marginal role when the Commission meets.

On the positive side, the CSD has actually been able to move towards a crude form of
peer group review by instituting the practice of having governments make presentations and
allowing other governments and major groups to comment. Furthermore, the CSD has managed
to gain greater acceptance for the use of indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable
development. As part of the implementation of the Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable
Development adopted by the CSD at its Third Session in April 1995, a working list of 134
indicators and related methodology sheets has been developed and is now ready for voluntary
testing at the national level, by countries from all regions of the world. The aim of the CSD is to
have an agreed set of indicators available for all countries to use by the year 2000.
With regard to reporting on progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 at the
international level, many have praised the "task manager" system instituted by the Inter-Agency
Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD). A different UN agency or department is
responsible for preparing, in collaboration with concerned organizations, coordinated inputs for
the consolidated analytical reports of the Secretary-General which will focus on common United
Nations system strategies for the implementation of Agenda 21 and identify areas for further

18

Bergesen and Botnen, 1996:53.

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19

action for consideration by the CSD. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization is
responsible for implementation of the chapters on forests and sustainable agriculture. UNEP is
responsible for desertification and biodiversity, UNIDO is responsible for biotechnology and
WHO is responsible for health, human settlements and freshwater. While many have praised the
task manager system, others complain that there is often little or no inter-agency consultation on
some of the issues and that the quality of the reports varies greatly from sector to sector, both in
terms of accuracy and clarity.
While the CSD has made some progress in monitoring the implementation of Agenda 21,
it must be recognized that each of the UN conferences that have followed UNCED address some
20

of the same issues that are contained in Agenda 21. Therefore, any true review of Agenda 21
must integrate the outcomes of these other conferences and this is not happening. There are
separate ECOSOC commissions to examine the follow-up to each of these conferences, including
the Commission on Population and Development, the Commission on Social Development, the
Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Human Settlements. While there
have been numerous debates on this issue within ECOSOC, including proposals that the CSD
coordinate follow-up work of all these major conferences, to date there has been no substantive
movement in the direction of coordinated follow-up. Furthermore, each of these follow-up
processes requires its own reporting. Some argue that governments have to spend so much time
reporting that there is no time for implementation. If ECOSOC and its functional commissions are
able to reach agreement on a coordinated and streamlined national and international reporting
process, there may be more progress to report.
19

United Nations. "Report on the Second Meeting of the Inter-Agency Commitee on Sustainable
Development" (ACC/1993/24), 19 November 1993 <gopher://gopher.un.org:70/00/inter/iacsd/93-24.en>.
20
These conferences are the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo), the
1995 World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen), the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women
13

Elaborate Policy Guidance and Options for Future Activities: The CSD's record in
elaborating policy guidance and options for future activities to follow up UNCED and achieve
sustainable development is a mixed one. On the one hand, when you look at the cumbersome and
politicized mechanics of accomplishing anything within the UN system, it is hard to imagine how a
body such as the CSD can come up with any real policy guidance at all. The CSD's hands are
particularly tied on issues such as finance and technology transfer where the North-South divide is
as wide as ever.
Yet, there are some areas where the CSD has been successful in providing policy
guidance. The first is forests. The establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests in
1995 is seen by many as a watershed event that has helped to focus the international dialogue on
forests. Eleven intergovernmental processes supported the work of the IPF and over 200
comprehensive, technical reports were prepared in conjunction with the work of the IPF. The
Panel's deliberations built international consensus and formulated approaches for action on the
21

majority of issues under consideration.

Another success story is the Comprehensive Freshwater Assessment. At its second session
in 1994, the CSD requested preparation of a Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater
Resources of the World, to be submitted at its fifth session in 1997. This assessment provides an
overview of major water quantity and quality problems with the aim of helping people understand
the urgent need to deal with these issues before they become even more serious. In spite of its
limitations, the available information provides the basis for a broad understanding of the problems
facing various regions of the world, and of the nature and magnitude of the global implications of

(Beijing) and the 1996 Second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Istanbul).

21
For more information on the work of the IPF, see United Nations. "The Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Forests on its Fourth Session" (E/CN.17/1997/12), 20 March 1997
<gopher://gopher.un.org:70/00/esc/cn17/ipf/session4/97---12.EN>.
14

22

not dealing with these problems.

While governments have identified new things that they want to do, the bigger question
remains, "Is anyone listening?" Is the CSD having an impact outside of the UN basement? A
number of NGOs believe that the CSD needs a more strategic process, including greater
involvement of experts, national-level officials from the capitals, and stakeholders at the local
level. While the CSD has succeeded in attracting far more NGOs, ministers and representatives
from national capitals than any other ECOSOC commission, the vast majority of delegates -especially those from developing countries -- are diplomats. The job of the diplomat is to
negotiate. The diplomats often do not consult their capitals or the people who actually understand
various environment and development problems. According to members of the NGO community,
if the CSD is to be truly effective in the area of providing policy guidance, there should be
additional funding to support the attendance of people from capitals so as to move towards
substance and away from rhetoric.
Promote dialogue and build partnerships for sustainable development: Of all three
areas, the CSD seems to have best accomplished its goal of promoting dialogue and building
partnerships for sustainable development between governments, the international community and
23

major groups. One of the major accomplishments of the Rio process was the breakthrough in
the participation of NGOs and other major groups. Their participation gives a real vitality to the
work of the CSD, particularly through the convening of side events and dialogue sessions. Some
have gone so far as to say that the CSD is the most successful commission in the UN because of
the fact that it promotes dialogue between governments, intergovernmental organizations and
22

The Comprehensive Freshwater Assessment was released as UN Document E/CN.17/1997/9 (4

February 1997) and can be found on the Internet at <gopher://gopher.un.org:70/00/esc/cn17/1997/off/97--9.EN>.
23
Major groups, as defined by Agenda 21, include women, youth, indigenous peoples, non-governmental
organizations, local authorities, workers and trade unions, business and industry, the scientific community, and
15

major groups.
During CSD-5 there were formal dialogue sessions between governments and each of the
major groups. While not everyone was satisfied with these sessions, specifically with the few
government delegates who participated and the way in which the results of the sessions were used
by the Commission, they represented a major step in institutionalizing major groups into the work
of the Commission. The general purpose of these dialogue sessions is to bring a sense of reality
into the CSD. Governments are not the only ones implementing Agenda 21 and working to
achieve sustainable development. Each of the major groups is also a stakeholder and has success
stories to report and problems to bring to the table.
This partnership building within the CSD has also had an effect on the domestic agenda in
some states. The CSD is one of the few UN bodies that is capable of generating an NGO reaction
or a backlash in national capitals. While not every country has NGO representatives present
during the work of the CSD, those that do have to watch their backs. If the NGOs do not like
what their government representatives are saying, they will report on this to their constituencies at
home, who will, in turn, put pressure on the government to explain or even change its position. In
many UN bodies, governments have no one watching them and can say whatever they want, but
not in the CSD. In the Commission there must be a delicate equilibrium between national
interests, international role play and the domestic agenda. The NGOs have made sure of this.
Yet, there are still some problems. First, not every major group is equally represented in
the work of the Commission. While the dialogue with NGOs, women and youth have improved -and with it an improvement in these groups' understanding of the process -- the dialogue with
some of the other groups has never really taken off. For example, the dialogue with the business

farmers.
16

community is not as good as it was prior to UNCED. The business community does not see the
CSD as a priority since most of its actions do not have an impact on business. If one or two
representatives attend the meeting and report back to umbrella organizations such as the
International Chamber of Commerce, this is seen as sufficient. In the cases of other major groups,
particularly indigenous people, farmers and trade unions, the CSD is attracting members of
umbrella organizations but not the actual major groups. In other words, the "diplomats" for the
sector are attending, rather than the rank and file membership. Finally, there are very few major
groups from developing countries who are represented at the CSD. Many of them cannot afford
to attend or are unaware of the importance of the CSD. As a result, a certain amount of outreach
to major groups is still necessary.
Second, in spite of the increased attendance of major groups at the CSD, and the
convening of dialogue sessions and other events, there is still concern that governments are not
listening. While some major group representatives, especially members of the Women's Caucus,
have become very effective at lobbying government delegates and ensuring that their views are
represented in the decisions, many other major groups feel that although they contribute to
sustainable development, they have little impact on the work of the CSD.
Finally, there are some government delegates who are concerned that major groups are no
longer able to distinguish between their role as lobbyists and their lack of a role as decision
makers. No matter how much access is given to major groups at the CSD, they are still observers.
The decisions rest with governments who hopefully have the basis for making those decisions.
Many major groups come to the CSD with inflated expectation. Instead of observing what is
going on, reporting to their own constituencies and trying to influence policymakers at home,
some major group representatives behave like UN diplomats and spend their time trying to

17

influence the text under negotiation. Some government delegates argue that they must remember
that a lot of advocacy work needs to be done at home. Thus, the participation of major groups vis
vis the CSD may be greater than with any other UN body, but there are still some issues
regarding what role major groups should actually play in an intergovernmental negotiating body.

Critical Assessment of the CSD

While the major focus of the CSD during its first five years was to monitor the
implementation of the Rio agreements, its purpose is not only to look back to what has been
accomplished since 1992. The CSD also has a role to play in setting the international sustainable
development agenda and acting as a coordinating body within the UN system on environment and
development issues. The Commission has had varying levels of success in these areas, but since
the CSD is an intergovernmental body, the onus of responsibility ultimately rests in the hands of
the member governments. In fact, unless its member governments are ready to act on a particular
issue, the CSD will accomplish little. During its first five years, the CSD did find that the time was
ripe for governments to act in several areas and, as a result, the Commission can report some
success. Yet, in far more cases, the CSD has not yet proven to be a major force outside of the UN
system and until it does, it will not have much of an effect on advancing the sustainable
development agenda.
Agenda Setting: Given its position as a highly visible and well attended UN commission,
the CSD has an opportunity to play a pivotal role in setting the international sustainable
development agenda. But how do you measure the CSD's effect on agenda setting? For the
purposes of this paper, the following questions were used to define what role the CSD has had in
agenda setting:

18

Has the CSD generated greater concern for an issue already on the international agenda,
but languishing?
Has the CSD put any new issues on the international agenda?
Has the CSD directed attention to the links between issues that were formerly considered
separately?
Has the CSD promoted more sophisticated priority-setting among the many issues on the
international agenda?
To a certain extent, some CSD delegates and observers believe that the Commission has
been successful in generating greater concern for issues on the international sustainable
development agenda. By creating the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, the CSD was able to
focus the forest issue and create more understanding that forests are owned by someone and give
livelihood to many people. Freshwater resources and energy are two issues that did not receive
much attention in Rio and are now at the top of the international agenda (at least the CSD's
agenda for the period 1998-2001), largely due to the work of the Commission. Similarly, the
CSD's discussions on sustainable production and consumption patterns and the need for
technology transfer and capacity building in developing countries have raised the profiles of these
issues.
However, when it comes to putting new issues on the international agenda, the CSD has
not been as successful. Some argue that the CSD has put the issues of transport and tourism on
the agenda and has advanced the discussions on finance so that new issues such as private direct
investment, airline fuel taxes, and a tax on foreign financial transactions, to name a few, have been
added to the international sustainable development agenda. The bottom line, however, is that this
really is not the CSD's job. Within the UN system, UNEP is responsible for identifying new
environmental problems and determining how to tackle them. During the first five years of the
CSD, UNEP has shaped the international environmental agenda on such issues as sustainable
tourism, chemical safety, persistent organic pollutants, and marine pollution from land-based

19

sources. Likewise, there are other agencies and programmes in the UN system that are responsible
for agenda setting in such areas as population (UNFPA), poverty (UNDP), food security (FAO),
human health and the environment (WHO), and so on. Furthermore, some argue that the CSD
should also not get involved in areas where there are existing environmental conventions, i.e.,
climate change, ozone depletion, biodiversity loss, desertification, and ocean dumping. So where
does the CSD fit in?
Perhaps the area where the CSD, which is a political body and not a technical body, can
have the greatest impact in agenda setting is in directing attention to links between issues and
promoting more sophisticated priority setting. Yet, the CSD has had only a modicum of success in
these two areas. The CSD's first multi-year thematic programme of work was designed to try to
draw out the links between related sectoral issues and to address the cross-sectoral issues in terms
of the sectors under review. For example, during its 1995 session, the CSD examined all of the
sectoral issues related to land resources (agriculture, forests, desertification, biodiversity, and
mountains) and it was hoped that the cross-sectoral discussions on issues such as finance,
technology transfer, consumption and production patterns, education, and capacity building
would be discussed in terms of land resources as well. While the Commission's intentions were
admirable, its execution was not so successful. Governments continued to differentiate their
statements and their negotiating strategies on both the cross-sectoral and sectoral issues. The
debate on finance was rarely able to get beyond the call for new and additional financial resources
and the achievement of the UN target of 0.7% of GNP for official development assistance (ODA),
much less focus on finance for a particular sector.
Along these lines, some observers have pointed out that there is a strange absence of
linkages to the world economic situation within the context of the CSD's work. In some

20

intergovernmental bodies, such as the OECD, members always have a finger on markets,
employment figures and other leading economic indicators. In the CSD, the discussions take place
in a vacuum. Unless there are closer linkages to the work of the Bretton Woods institutions and
the World Trade Organization, the work of the CSD may prove to be irrelevant.
The one area where there was some success in issue linkage was in some of the
government-sponsored intersessional meetings. In many of these meetings, which provide expert
input into the work of the CSD, participants have drawn out these linkages in finance, freshwater
resources, forests, sustainable production and consumption, and other issues. However, while the
results of these meetings are submitted to the CSD and become part of the official record, the
level and quality of debate in the Commission rarely does justice to the work of these expert
meetings. So, although linkages are being advanced outside of the CSD, the intergovernmental
political process has not yet been able to surmount the rhetoric to make the necessary progress in
this aspect of agenda setting.
The blame, however, cannot be placed on rhetoric alone. A far more complicating matter
is the fact that we live in a very sectoralized society. At the national level, most of the issues on
the sustainable development agenda are divided among different ministries with little coordination
between them. This is definitely reflected in the work of the CSD, where different ministries
contribute to different reports, are responsible for implementing different chapters of Agenda 21
and participate in the work of the CSD at different levels. Each year the CSD tries to attract
ministers from non-environment ministries to limited success. If the upcoming CSD discussions on
fresh water are to have any impact whatsoever, it will be imperative that the necessary linkages to
urbanization, agriculture, industry and the needs of rural communities are taken into account. This
will require a level of inter-ministry and cross-sectoral dialogue that has not yet been seen under

21

the auspices of the CSD.

During its first five years, the CSD can be described as having a marked lack of priorities,
not to mention a lack in effectiveness in priority setting. This was in large part due to the nature of
the multi-year programme of work that stressed the overall review of the implementation of
Agenda 21 over priority setting. However, the Special Session of the General Assembly adopted a
new multi-year programme of work for the CSD for the period 1998-2002 that does reflect some
prioritizing. Each year the overriding issues will be poverty and consumption and production
patterns. In 1998 the sectoral theme will be "Strategic Approaches to Freshwater Management"
and the cross-sectoral theme will be transfer of technology, capacity building, education, science
and awareness raising. In 1999, the sectoral theme will be oceans and seas and the cross-sectoral
theme will be consumption and production patterns. In 2000 the sectoral theme will be integrated
planning and management of land resources and the cross-sectoral theme will be financial
resources, trade and investment and economic growth. The sectoral theme in 2001 will be
atmosphere, energy and transport and the cross-sectoral theme will be information for decision
making and participation and international cooperation for an enabling environment. The 2002
24

session will complete a comprehensive review. For each sectoral and cross sectoral theme
different chapters of Agenda 21 have been identified as the main issues for an integrated
discussion under the theme. The main question that remains is if governments will be able to
address these issues in a cross-sectoral, cross-ministry nature and focus on the stated priority
issues. It is important to reiterate that the CSD is an intergovernmental body and unless the
individual governments have the political will to move the dialogue forward, the CSD will not be
in any position to prioritize issues or set the international sustainable development agenda.
24

United Nations. "Overall Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of Agenda 21: Report of the Ad
22

To summarize, the CSD does not have a particularly strong record in agenda setting.
Examples of the areas where the Commission has played an agenda-setting role include the global
freshwater assessment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. The CSD also identified areas
where major gaps existed in the international discussion of sustainable development, including
such sectors as energy, transport and tourism. Nevertheless, the CSD's record in agenda setting
must also be viewed within the context of the Commission's overall purpose. Not everyone thinks
that the CSD's role is to set the international agenda. Rather, perhaps the CSD is better placed to
play more of an advocacy role -- to put political pressure on national governments and the
international system to respond to the challenges of sustainable development -- rather than to set
the agenda or come up with the solutions.
Role of the CSD as a Coordinating Body within the UN System: It was envisaged that
implementation of Agenda 21 would require active involvement of all relevant international
institutions, both within and outside the Untied Nations system, that deal with specific economic,
social or environmental dimensions of sustainable development. However, the CSD was never
seen as the body that would coordinate the work of the United Nations system. Instead paragraph
38.13(a) of Agenda 21 gave the CSD a monitoring role, stating that the CSD should:
monitor progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 and activities related to the
integration of environmental and developmental goals throughout the United Nations
system through analysis and evaluation of reports from all relevant organs, organizations,
programmes and institutions of the United Nations system dealing with various issues of
25
environment and development, including those related to finance."
Similarly, paragraph 21 of UN General Assembly Resolution 47/191, which established the
CSD,
requests all specialized agencies and related organizations of the United Nations system to
Hoc Committee of the Whole of the Nineteenth Special Session" (A/S-19/29), 27 June 1997:55.
25
United Nations. Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development. New York: United
Nations, 1992: 276.
23

strengthen and adjust their activities, programmes and medium-term plans, as appropriate,
in line with Agenda 21, in particular regarding projects for promoting sustainable
development, in accordance with paragraph 38.28 of Agenda 21, and make their reports
on steps they have taken to give effect to this recommendation available to the
26
Commission and the Economic and Social Council in 1993 or, at the latest, in 1994...."
This language leaves the onus of responsibility for implementing Agenda 21 with the relevant
agencies themselves, although it does give the CSD the opportunity to review such actions.
However, the real work at the inter-secretariat level has been led and coordinated through the
Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD).
The IACSD was established in October 1993 by the Administrative Committee on
Coordination (ACC) -- the highest inter-agency body of the United Nations, chaired by the
Secretary-General, and consisting of the heads of organizations of the United Nations system. The
27

IACSD meets twice a year and reports to the ACC.

The role of IACSD is to identify major policy issues relating to UNCED follow-up by the
United Nations system and to advise the ACC on ways and means of addressing them so as to
ensure effective system-wide cooperation and coordination in the implementation of Agenda 21
and other UNCED outcomes and their follow-up.
The functions of the Committee are:
to identify for the ACC overall policy issues, major gaps and constraints affecting United Nations
system cooperation in the UNCED follow-up;
C. to formulate for the ACC recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation and
coordination within the UN system in the implementation of Agenda 21;
C. to ensure clear system-wide division of labor, through optimal allocation and sharing of
responsibilities and joint programming, in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the decisions
of the Commission on Sustainable Development;
C. to monitor new and additional financing requirements of the UN system organizations related
26

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 47/191, "Institutional arrangements to follow up the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development." (22 December 1992).
27
Participants in the work of the IACSD include: the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs,
the UN Department for Development Support and Management Services, the UN Department for Economic and
Social Information and Policy Analysis, UN Office of Legal Affairs, the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs,
the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, the Regional Economic Commissions, UNCTAD, UNEP,
UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UN International Drug Control Programme, Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for 24
Refugees, ILO, FAO, UNESCO, WHO, World Bank, IMF, WMO, WIPO, UNIDO, IAEA, and
Secretariats of the Conventions.

to Agenda 21; and

C. to coordinate system-wide response to the work of the Commission on Sustainable
Development.
To effectively implement these functions, Task Managers have been appointed from the
organizations of the United Nations system. They are responsible for inter-agency coordination,
catalyzing joint initiatives, identifying common strategies, preparing reports to the CSD and
information exchange under specific thematic areas of Agenda 21 and the work programme of the
Commission on Sustainable Development.

28

The United Nations Division for Sustainable Development provides secretariat services for
both the CSD and the IACSD. As a result, the work of these two bodies -- one intergovernmental
and political and one inter-agency and functional -- has been closely coordinated. Thus, the CSD
29

is linked "both vertically and horizontally" to other parts of the UN system. Vertically, the
Division for Sustainable Development reports to the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and
30

Social Affairs, who in turn assists the Secretary-General. Horizontally, it relates to UN agencies,
programmes and bodies and takes part in the work of the IACSD.
While the primary responsibility for UN system coordination has rested with the IACSD,
the CSD has had an impact on that inter-agency body and on the roles of the agencies in
implementing Agenda 21. When it adopted its first multi-year thematic programme of work, the
CSD created nine thematic clusters. The CSD originally introduced these thematic clusters to
facilitate its own review of Agenda 21 implementation. However, these same clusters have been
used to assess the capacity of UN agencies to contribute to Agenda 21 programming and have
28

United Nations Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development. "Terms of
Reference: Inter-Agency Committee for Sustainable Development" <http://www.un.org/dpcsd/dsd/iacsdref.htm>
(visited 28 September 1997).
29
Bigg and Dodds, 1997:21.
30
Until mid-1997, the Division for Sustainable Development was a part of the Department for Policy
Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD). With the first phase of UN reform activities during the
25

been used by coordinating authorities to evaluate agency programming. Furthermore, the reports
of the task managers have been presented and reviewed on the basis of these clusters in the CSD's
"multi-year thematic" review process. Thus, it could be said that the CSD has had an effect on
coordination since its multi-year thematic review procedure has permeated every aspect of the UN
31

inter-agency coordination process.

Strengths, Weaknesses and Final Thoughts on the Future of the CSD

Like any organization, the CSD has its own strengths and weaknesses that will have an
impact on the future of the organization. While this paper has already addressed a number of these
issues, this review of its strengths and weaknesses provides an opportunity to summarize the
current status of the Commission.
The CSD has a number of strengths that have contributed to making it the unique body it
is. To some degree, one can say that the strengths of the CSD are the same as the strengths of the
UN as a whole: it is a forum that brings together all of the countries of the world on an equal
standing. However, the CSD's main strengths are in the ways it stands out from the rest of the UN
system. Unlike the UN General Assembly and other bodies, there are fewer rigid formats and
there is a true liberal attitude about the participation of NGOs and major groups.
The CSD has also proven to be a true catalyst for policy action in numerous areas. Among
other things, the CSD has: motivated numerous government-sponsored meetings and workshops
related to the implementation of Agenda 21; fostered coordination on sustainable development
within the UN system; helped to defuse much of the resistance to national reporting that was
evident in Rio; and galvanized NGO and major group activities and action aimed at sustainable
summer of 1997, the department's name was changed to the Department for Economic and Social Affairs.

26

development at the international, national and local levels.

32

Unlike most UN bodies, the CSD has attracted a mixture of ministers and fairly high-level
NGOs. If ministers and NGOs continue to feel it is worthwhile to attend the annual CSD sessions,
then the Commission has truly accomplished something. If the ministers know that their
colleagues will be there, then the CSD takes on a character similar to a trade fair where all the
people dealing with sustainable development gather under one roof.
In addition, through its innovative working methods and with the support of a strong and
committed Secretariat, the CSD has managed to add vitality to the international sustainable
development debate and keep the "Spirit of Rio" and Agenda 21 alive. The CSD has managed to
create a political forum with political leadership, as well as a space for new ideas, new thinking
and new forms of interaction between stakeholders and governments and between the local and
global levels.
Nevertheless, like any organization, the CSD also has its weaknesses. Like the rest of the
United Nations, the CSD operates on the principle of consensus. One delegation can hold up
progress, such as Saudi Arabia on climate change or the Vatican on birth control. In addition, the
consensus building process often leads to "least common denominator" agreements because there
are so many disparate concerns to be met. UN bodies are geared toward negotiation rather than
dialogue. As a result, many of the decisions or resolutions adopted by the CSD are vague and not
particularly action-oriented. Unfortunately, many of the UN working methods and negotiation
practices are not anything that the CSD can change. The UN is not a place where you make
revolutions. Nevertheless, the CSD has done remarkably well working within these constraining
31

Reg Henry, "Adapting United Nations Agencies for Agenda 21: Programme Coordination and
Organisational Reform," Environmental Politics, Vol. 5, No. 1 Spring 1996:7.
32
Johannah Bernstein, et. al. "Summary of the Third Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development: 11-28 April 1995." Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 5 No. 42 (1 May 1995): 14.
27

parameters.
The fact that the CSD is a subsidiary body of ECOSOC has given it an inherent weakness.
The CSD's decisions have to be endorsed by ECOSOC and then forwarded on to the General
Assembly. This serves to weaken the impact that the CSD can have on the international
community and on national governments. Furthermore, the CSD does not have its own
implementing process and does not have any mechanisms to hold governments accountable, such
as is the case with the Commission on Human Rights.
While the CSD attracts many ministers each year, the majority are ministers of the
environment. To be truly effective in setting the sustainable development agenda, the CSD must
also attract and involve ministers of foreign affairs, finance, trade, agriculture, development or
development assistance, forests, and so on. Similarly, the CSD does not garner the attention of
the Bretton Woods institutions to the level they should be involved. Finally, the CSD has given
insufficient attention to the key linkages between environment and development issues. All of
these weaknesses are due in part to the fact that governments are divided along sectoral lines and
that it is very difficult for the CSD to truly address an integrated agenda when the member
governments are unable to do so.
So where does the CSD go from here? If an informal consensus exists on the role of the
Commission, it is as a forum for generating political will to implement Agenda 21. Enhancing this
political will and attention given to the issues will depend on a number of factors:
The extent to which the UN system provides the CSD with a more effective means of bypassing
the "blanding machine effect" the CSD currently has on the issues, attributable to some extent
to the role of diplomatic culture.
C. The success of the CSD in providing an authentic role for NGOs and their constituencies, so

28

that domestic political will is generated before and after reticent governments address the
largely normative agenda for sustainable development.
C. Improved communication and educational strategies to raise the visibility and understanding
of issues and possible responses.
C. Finally, at all levels, sustainable development must break out of traditional environmental
compartments in terms of decision-making structures and conceptual understanding. Unless
the CSD comes to grips with the forces of globalization, suspicion will grow that the UN
intergovernmental process has become a protective shelter where governments need not
confront the erosion of traditional notions of sovereignty resulting, in the words of former
British Environment Minister John Gummer, in decisions not read "beyond a small circle of
33

UN aficionados."

There is no question that the CSD has established itself as an essential part of the process
for reviewing implementation of Agenda 21 and advancing the sustainable development agenda.
Yet there are a number of ways that the CSD can increase its effectiveness.
The first is by streamlining its agenda. Now that the first multi-year programme of work
has come to a close, the CSD took the opportunity to change its focus during the next five years.
Rather than embarking on another comprehensive review of Agenda 21, the CSD will instead
focus on a selected number of issues. In essence the CSD will try to fill in the gaps in the UN
system where no single agency currently has responsibility, such as freshwater resources, oceans,
energy, transportation, and tourism, and sustainable production and consumption, to name a few.
Hopefully, this increased focus will in turn foster greater dialogue and more action-oriented
proposals than the CSD has been able to generate thus far.
33

Chad Carpenter, et. al. "Summary of the Fourth Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable
29

To increase the effectiveness of the CSD in both monitoring the implementation of

Agenda 21 and advancing the international sustainable development agenda there needs to be a
certain level of peer review. National reporting must be enhanced and countries should play a role
in reviewing these reports. Developing countries should examine developing countries so as to
avoid any North-South finger pointing. Similarly, the CSD must continue to foster increased
dialogue within countries (between ministries and between governments and major groups),
between countries, between governments and the UN system, and among UN agencies and
programmes.
The CSD must also move sustainable development beyond the existing North-South
schism. Ambassador Razali Ismail, President of the 51st General Assembly, told UNEP's HighLevel Segment in February 1997, "Agenda 21 and the CSD will only bring about sustainable,
equitable and ecologically sound development if we can break out of the North-South schism...the
real political challenge is to reshape North-South relations." The negotiations on finance during
the CSD suggest that States are not only failing to break out of the North-South schism, but that
the schism is increasingly polluting the UN's response to sustainable development with suspicion.
For developing countries, the decline in ODA since 1992, and attempts during CSD-5 to switch
the burden of international funding for sustainable development to private sector investment,
which developed countries would argue is a case of acknowledging actuality, have helped to
discredit the very concept of "sustainable development."

34

If the CSD is to be truly successful, it must -- in the words of former UN SecretaryGeneral Boutros Boutros-Ghali -- mobilize the "political will, intellectual leadership, and
partnerships" necessary to transform sustainable development into policies and practices on the
Development: 18 April - 3 May 1996." Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 5 No. 57 (6 May 1996): 13.

30

35

ground. In other words, the CSD needs to oblige governments to take the necessary action at
the international level, but perhaps more importantly at the national and local levels. Thus far, the
CSD has made some progress in mobilizing the international community, governments and major
groups to advance the sustainable development agenda, but much more needs to be done.
During its first five years, the CSD has managed to generate over 400 pages of negotiated
text. But these are only words, and words they will remain until the CSD manages to translate
them into action. Now, in the aftermath of the Special Session of the General Assembly that
received its own mixed reviews, and at the beginning of a new five-year work programme, the
CSD will need to work harder than ever to maintain its position at the center of the sustainable
development debate. As the Earth Negotiations Bulletin commented in its summary of CSD-5,
the CSD must "deliver a renewed political mandate to translate popular concern into urgent and
concrete instructions to politicians, translate the information-rich assessments into unequivocal
action plans, and translate illusions of top-down sovereign authority and competence into
partnerships that span a globalizing world.

34

36

Chad Carpenter, et. al. "Summary of the Fifth Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development: 8 - 25 April 1997." Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 5 No. 82 (28 April 1997): 12.
35
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Speech before the United Nations General Assembly, New York, 2 November
1993, as cited in Jared Blumenfeld "The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development," Environment
Vol. 36 No. 10 (December 1994): 5.
36
Chad Carpenter, et. al. "Summary of the Fifth Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development: 8 - 25 April 1997." Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 5 No. 82 (28 April 1997): 13.
31