nrg4SD One Stop Info Shop

- Working Group 2 chaired by Ambassador Kim on sections I Our Common Vision, II
Renewing Political Commitment, III Green Economy in the context of sustainable
development and poverty eradication and section IV Institutional Framework for
Sustainable Development. There were no side events and fewer side meetings this
time, with all attention focused on the actual negotiations and making progress on the
text. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressed the plenary on day 1 with a
strong and assertive intervention reminding delegates that "The world is watching
with anticipation and great concern " and "is relying on you to provide us with a
roadmap for sustainable development", to step up pressure to get to a text worthy of
the attention of Heads of State and Government come 20 June. Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon indicated that he was there to "interject a note of urgency", that “it is
time to leave individual interests behind”. For the main part of the working hours
deliberations continued mainly in smaller contact groups focusing on particular
issues. On different days in total over dozens such groups met, some only once
briefly, other repeatedly and longer. Attached to this email you can find a list of
contact groups to get an idea of the themes covered. One contact group covered the
subsequent (in the text) thematic sections Transport, Health and Cities, after an initial
discussion in Working Group 1. The paragraphs on cities seem to gather a fair
consensus from all delegations and are fairly well reflecting the aspirations of the
LAMG. Delegations particularly active on these topics are the EU, the G77/China,
Mexico and US. At of the close of this session, there are about 329 paragraphs, of
which about 70 are agreed ad ref (which means they are agreed once everything is
agreed, but there are no further pending issues on this paragraph) At the close of the
last session, 21 had been agreed ad ref out of 422 paragraphs at the time. The bulk
of paragraphs not agreed are in section V Framework for Action and Follow-up.
It is worth noticing that thanks to the intense work carried out by the contact groups,
many other paragraphs – for instance on the issue of Sustainable Development
Goals - contain now language “providing a better ground for common understanding”,
as pointed out by the co-chairs at the concluding session. An agreement on these
during the last Prep Com of 13-15 June is therefore to be expected. The bulk of the
controversial issues remain, not surprisingly, around Section III on Green Economy,
Section IV on IFSD and Section V on Means of Implementation. Among the nine
Major Groups, discussions went on about the possible joint statement of all nine
groups on which Major Groups have been sending comments over the past weeks.
During this last week 3 Major Groups have rejected the current draft. A new draft with
a different approach will be produced, and as annex each Major Group is asked to
outline its key priorities for Rio+20 in maximum 400 words. We will share drafts with
you as soon as possible. Media arrangements for Major Groups in Rio will be in the
media pavilion of Rio Centro, right by the Member States Pavilion. Press conferences
involving Major Groups will take place once a day at 15.30 on time for press in EU
and in Americas and on time for Asian press the following day. DESA is currently
exploring the possibility of having a second venue to increase the number of possible
press conferences per day. Besides, arrangements are underway to mobilise two film
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