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UN DESA DSD Sixteenth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-16)
New York | 5-16 May 2008 		United Nations
 
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CSD-16 concludes on a positive note

The sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-16) convened for its final day on Friday, 16 May. In the morning, delegates heard ministerial statements on "The Way Forward." In the afternoon, delegates discussed the Chair's Summary - Part II, then considered other matters, including the provisional agenda for the seventeenth session of the Commission (CSD-17).

CSD-16 Chair Francis Nhema (Zimbabwe) closed the session at 6:07 pm, and immediately opened the first meeting of the seventeenth session (CSD-17), at which Gerda Verburg (Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Netherlands) was elected Chair of CSD-17, and Javad Amin-Mansour (Iran) was elected to the CSD-17 Bureau. CSD-17 Chair Verburg had already left New York, so CSD-16 Chair Nhema declared the meeting closed at 6:13 pm.

A final Learning Centre session was offered in the morning, and side events were held at lunchtime.

Friday, 16 May, 2008
The Way Forward

Ministerial statements continued in the session on "The Way Forward."

Amb. Andrei Dapkiunas (Belarus).
Aura Mahuampi de Ortiz (Venezuela).

James Ole Kiyiapi (Kenya).
Candice Stevens (OECD).

Tapiwa Mongwa (Botswana).
Mohammad Khazaee (Iran).
Gonzalo Guillén (Peru).

Claude Heller (Mexico).
Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe (Zimbabwe).

Syria.
Dean Merrilees (Australia).

Archbishop Celestino Migliore (Holy See).
Alemneh Dejene (FAO).
Introduction of the Chair's Summary - Part II


Janil Greenaway (Antigua and Barbuda, for the G-77/China).
The EU requested no amendments, to the surprise of many.
A delegate read the summary while listening to interventions.

India.
Benito Jiménez Sauma (Mexico).
Closing Plenary

Representatives of Major Groups waited to make their closing remarks.

Rachel McCormick (Canada).
Daniel Carmon (Israel).
Javad Amin-Mansour (Iran) was elected to the CSD-17 bureau.

The Netherlands thanked the Commission on behalf of newly-elected CSD-17 Chair Gerda Verburg.
Chair Nhema thanked Secretary Vivian Pliner-Josephs.
Side Events

The State University of New York at Stony Brook held a Learning Centre session on "Breakthrough Technologies for Agriculture, Land, Drought and Rural Development."
Philippine Women's University organized the lunchtime side event "Gender Justice and Rural Development - 3rd Helena Benitez Global Forum." A presenter in the WREP side event on land use and sustainable development for host communities in the extractive sector.
Around CSD-16

Participants from Stakeholder Forum and Earth Media.
After two weeks of intensely coordinating, editing statements and lobbying practice, youth delegates (left and right) were more than ready for some fun and games Friday evening.

On the other hand, Beatriz Bueno (Spain) seemed determined to continue working (below), even if everyone around her had already left.


Your CSD-16 Earth Negotiations Bulletin team: Lynn Wagner (Team Leader, United States), Andrey Vavilov (Writer, Russian Federation), Dan Birchall (Digital Editor, United States), Melanie Ashton (Writer, Australia), Wagaki Mwangi (Writer, Kenya) and Kunbao Xia (Writer, China).

Links to CSD-16 Information

UN Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) CSD 16 website
CSD 16 Organization of Work (draft proposal)
CSD 16 Documents
DSD SIDS website
CSD 16 Regional Implementation Meetings
Partnerships Fair

Links to IISD RS coverage and resources

Earth Negotiations Bulletin CSD 15 coverage, 30 April-11 May 2007
Earth Negotiations Bulletin CSD 14 coverage, 1-12 May 2006
Earth Negotiations Bulletin CSD 13 coverage, 11-22 April 2005
Earth Negotiations Bulletin CSD coverage
Earth Negotiations Bulletin UN Convention to Combat Desertification coverage
IISD RS coverage of sustainable development meetings
Linkages sustainable development news page
Linkages Update - Newsletter on international sustainable development issues
MEA Bulletin - Newsletter on key MEAs and their secretariats
African Regional Coverage

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