U.N. Fails to Finalise Rio 20 Plan on Sustainable Future

UNITED NATIONS - After two weeks of closed door negotiations, a U.N. preparatory committee (PrepCom) has failed to reach consensus on a global plan of action, titled "The Future We Want," to be adopted by a summit meeting of world leaders mid-June...

May 7, 2008 | Source: IPS News | by Thalif Deen

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UNITED NATIONS – After two weeks of closed door negotiations, a U.N. preparatory committee (PrepCom) has failed to reach consensus on a global plan of action, titled “The Future We Want,” to be adopted by a summit meeting of world leaders mid-June in Brazil.

The negotiators, comprising representatives of all 193 member states, proclaimed limited success, including reducing the size of the action plan – formally called the “outcome document” – from nearly 200 to less than 100 pages.

The document, called the “zero draft”, originally ran to more than 6,000 pages of submissions by member states, international organisations and civil society groups.

Still, after protracted negotiations ending last Friday, Ambassador Kim Sook of South Korea, one of the co-chairs of the PrepCom, said delegates had expressed “disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress” on reaching agreement on a plan aimed at a greener economy and a sustainable future.

In an effort to break the deadlock, the PrepCom will give another shot at the zero draft when it holds an unscheduled five-day session beginning May 29.

This will be a last ditch attempt to finalise the draft action plan, which has to be ready for approval by world leaders arriving in Rio de Janeiro for the three-day summit, beginning Jun. 20.

If it fails to reach consensus, negotiations will be resumed in Brazil Jun. 13-15 in a do-or-die attempt to finalise it before the three-day summit Jun. 20-22, officially called the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)