UN Delegates Confirm the Need for Enhanced Civil Society Participation in the 2030 Development Agenda during 2nd Committee Meetings on Sustainable Development

GFDD/Funglode was present at the United Nations for the annual meetings of the UN General Assembly’s Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee) from Monday October 19 to Friday October 22nd. During the meetings, UN delegates and civil society representatives emphasized the need for an effective global response to climate change and jointly called for further
engagement of civil society in the work of the second committee and in particular the implementation phase of the UN’s newly adopted 2030 Development Agenda.

The Second Committee started the week with a discussion in the General Assembly of Agenda items 20 (a) to (e) connected to sustainable development, during which Member State delegates emphasized the need for an effective global response to climate change. Numerous interventions from Member States also
pointed out that terrorism and climate change go hand in hand in delaying development gains. Throughout the discussions many delegates highlighted how sustainable tourism and the protection of natural resources were mutually reinforcing, with Costa Rica’s representative highlighting the trigger role that the 2030 Agenda had played for public-private cooperation for the preservation of ecotourism.

Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the representative for Barbados stated that macroeconomic realities and environmental vulnerabilities were intertwined.  He described the damage in his region caused by Tropical Storm Erika and Hurricane Joaquin and reiterated the call for an ambitious and legally-binding
agreement in Paris in December at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Ms. Christina Figueres, next presented her report (document A/70/230) to the 2nd Committee as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, via video link from Bonn. She highlighted several issues that
came out of the twentieth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC held in Lima, including a clear mandate to produce a negotiated text and ratify a new international climate change treaty. Ms. Figueres stated that international negotiations were advancing well following the last meeting in Lima, pointing out that the document had been successfully condensed to nine pages, with 153 countries having sent in their national climate change plans. She concluded by informing the 2nd
Committee that she remained confident that leaders would commit to a new strategy at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December.

Marking the first consultation of its kind, UN Member States and NGOs in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) during Thursday’s meeting of the Second Committee to discuss the role of civil
society in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and guiding the work of UN””s High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Ambassador Andrej Logar, Permanent Representative of Slovenia and Second Committee Chair, convened the informal consultations which were then moderated by Barbara Adams, Chair of the Global Policy Forum.

Adams stressed the need
to translate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”” ambition into something structural, to ensure that Member States and stakeholders pool their expertise to ensure the goals are implemented " beyond New York". Other civil society representatives, such as Jeffery Huffines of CIVICUS commented on the lack of capacity and resources of the HLPF, suggesting
the establishment of a trust fund to ensure capacity building and stakeholders”” participation. Louise Kantrow of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), said civil society could also provide capacity building by offering guidance to the HLPF. UN Delegates praised the involvement of civil society in the work of the second committee asking for it to stay “engaged and vigilant” to support the implementation of new 2030 Development Agenda mandates, such as the Technology Facilitation Mechanism.

Related Links:
http://www.un.org/en/ga/second/70/csocons22oct.pdf
http://www.wfuna.org/partner/ngo-dpi-executive-committee
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/