Daily report for 8 September 1993

GROUP OF 77 MEETING

The Group of 77 held a meeting Wednesday morning to review andendorse a new draft of the "Basic Elements for an Action Programmefor the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States."Members of AOSIS worked until 1:00 am the previous night redraftingthe paper based on comments received from other delegations. Thisnew draft, Revision 1.0, was endorsed by both the G-77 and China.AOSIS only redrafted Chapters 1-14 and has yet to address Chapter15 on implementation. AOSIS also drafted a second paper, "Preambleand Basis for Action." This paper was also endorsed by the G-77 andChina and forwarded to the Plenary for consideration.

PLENARY

The Chair convened a brief formal session of the Plenary at noon,after the conclusion of the G-77 meeting and other informalconsultations. Colombia, on behalf of the G-77 and China, formallyintroduced documents, A/CONF.167/ PC/L.5 and Add.1, "Position ofthe Group of 77 and China on Basic Elements for An Action Programmefor the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States."These two documents contain Chapters 1 - 15 that were discussedinformally by the Plenary on Friday and Tuesday. Colombia mentionedthat this document was only being introduced for proceduralreasons, as a revised version of this document was now available.

As no other delegations wished to take the floor at this time, theChair adjourned the meeting to allow delegations the opportunity toreview the new G-77 papers. She said that she would convene aninformal session at 3:00 pm.

BRIEFING ON VULNERABILITY INDICES

After Plenary was adjourned, Professor Lino Briguglio of theUniversity of Malta briefed delegates on the construction of avulnerability index with the aim of adjusting GNP per capitastatistics to allow for economic fragility. The question ofcreating a vulnerability index had been raised by several delegatesduring the course of last week's general debate. Briguglio pointedout that although some islands have a high GNP per capita, they arestill economically weak as they are subject to outside forcesbeyond their control. His vulnerability index does not measurepoverty, but, rather, fragility and weakness. He used three basiccriteria for constructing the index: simplicity, ease ofcomprehension and suitability for international comparisons. Hetried to build an index that relied as much as possible on existingstatistical data, although many islands do not have adequate data.He focused on three variables: exposure to foreign economicconditions (as it reduces ability to take control of affairs);remoteness; and proneness to disaster. He did not use environmentalfragility because there is not enough data available. The resultingindex included 113 countries including 19 island countries and 13small island developing States (SIDS). He found, not surprisingly,that the most vulnerable countries were the SIDS. Although this isa reality that was known, it is now quantitatively proven andnumbers attract attention.

INFORMAL SESSION

The Chair did not convene the afternoon informal session until 5:10pm. She pointed out that there had been a series of intensiveinformal discussions underway that had lasted since the Plenary'sadjournment in the morning. She expressed hope that the PrepComwould now be in a position to move ahead.

Colombia, on behalf of the G-77 and China, took the floor to submitthe revised version of the "Basic Elements" text and the text ofthe "Preamble and Basis for Action" to the PrepCom. He alsoannounced that for the rest of this meeting, Amb. Robert van Lieropof Vanuatu, the Chair of AOSIS, would preside over thesenegotiations on behalf of the G-77. He commented that a negotiationprocess that has too many spokespeople on behalf of SIDS and theG-77 would not result in a good and effective outcome.

The Chair then opened discussion on the structure of the document.It was pointed out by a number of delegates that some of thechapters in the G-77 document address cross-sectoral or"horizontal" areas while others address sectoral areas. Morevisibility needs to be given to the horizontal subjects and theyshould be reordered as follows: XIV. Human Resource Development; X.National Institutions and Administrative Capacity; XI. RegionalInstitutions and Technical Cooperation; and XIII. Science andTechnology. Having reordered these chapters, they should also beplaced at the beginning of the document. Another question wasraised about the overall structure of the document. The G-77responded that they envision a single, integrated document with thepreamble first, followed by the 15 chapters, each preceded by aBasis for Action section. Regarding the order of the chapters, hesaid that the current structure had been agreed upon at theorganizational session. He said that they would discuss thisfurther in informal meetings. The Chair responded that the proposalto move Chapters 10, 11, 13 and 14 to the beginning of the documentwas introduced last week and should be taken up here and now. TheG-77 was able to accept the reordering, but not the relocation ofthe chapters to the beginning of the document. Discussion on thiswas expected to continue on Thursday.

Before adjourning for a short break and a change of venue, theChair gave the floor to Jocelyn Dow, who spoke on behalf of theNGOs. She pointed out that the documents at this PrepCom fail tospeak to the human dimension of island life. Furthermore, thepresentation of island people as mendicants seeking a place in theever reducing funding of the least developed countries is not anacceptable posture for Caribbean NGOs. She urged delegates to makethis process a more human-centred one that reflects the reality ofthe lives of island people.

When the informal session resumed in Conference Room 5, the Chairasked delegates to concentrate on issues where consensus can bereached. The various views on structure are known to all and willbe addressed at a later point. She then opened discussion onChapters 1-14 and suggested that delegates use Rev. 1.0 of theBasic Elements text, the Basis for Action document, and the Chair'schecklist prepared over the weekend. Also of use were L.5 and adetailed response to Rev. 1.0 prepared by the NGOs.

I. CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEA LEVEL RISE: The most contentiousissue in the discussion of this chapter was the wording ofparagraph 17 of the Basis for Action, as it referred to theFramework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) and its lack ofprecise timetables and targets. All the delegates agreed that theFCCC is of the utmost importance to SIDS, but many warned againstprejudging the ongoing FCCC negotiation process. It was finallyagreed that reference to the FCCC could be retained if the wordingwas changed to reflect this concern. It was suggested that thevulnerability of SIDS to climate change is not exclusive and thatother coastal countries are concerned with the problem. It was alsofelt that Revision 1.0 had failed to retain reference to the needfor SIDS to maximize their participation in internationalprogrammes and negotiations, as was originally stated in L.5.Another paragraph was added to include a call for support to SIDSin developing integrated coastal zone management programmes,including response measures to the impacts of climate change andsea-level rise.

II. NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS: It was generallyfelt that while paragraph 18 of the Basis for Action, which notedthe cycle of natural environmental disasters to which SIDS areprone, was a good description of the problem. Paragraphs 19 and 20,referring, respectively, to the consequent rise in insurancepremiums, and the need for regional action, were seen assuperfluous. There was recognition, however, that the issue ofinsurance coverage was of growing concern to SIDS and that itshould be mentioned. This concern was incorporated into paragraph18. Concerns were also raised that national emergency disasterfunds might encourage unsustainable development. There was anothercall for reference to be made in the Programme of Action to the UNDecade on Natural Disaster Relief, and delegates agreed toincorporate this in the text. There was also a reminder that asuggestion was made in the general debate to include languagereferring to coordination of disaster warning and preparedness withthe WMO and other international and intergovernmental agencies.This was not opposed.

III. MANAGEMENT OF WASTES: Concern was raised with regard tothe implications of paragraph 23 of the Basis for Action, whichrefers to the vulnerability of SIDS to marine pollution due totransboundary movement of toxic and hazardous wastes, on trade andother international agreements. This was resolved with inclusion oflanguage referring to the need for consistency with internationallaw. It was noted by one delegate that reference to cruise shipsshould be deleted in this paragraph as it was better covered underthe tourism chapter. Consistency with international law and theneed to harmonize language in this document with other relevantmechanisms, such as the London and Basel Conventions, were thegeneral concerns expressed by delegates. They suggested a number ofamendments in the programme of action along these lines.

IV. COASTAL AND MARINE RESOURCES: In the Basis for Action,paragraph 27 met with some opposition. As a compromise, activitiesrelated to biodiversity conservation and response strategies forclimate change contained in paragraph 27 were added to paragraph 26as issues that need to be encompassed in integrated coastal andmarine area management. The rest of paragraph 27 on naturaldisasters was deleted. Minor additions were made to the rest of thechapter, highlighting the role of local communities and integratedcoastal management. Discussion was most heated on the section onthe UN Conference on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.It was finally agreed that the rights and concerns of SIDS have tobe taken into account by the Conference and that the participationof SIDS at the Conference should be encouraged and facilitated.

V. FRESHWATER RESOURCES: In the section on national action,the last paragraph on the development and acquisition ofappropriate technology was amended to include reference toopportunities for technology interchange among SIDS. There was alsodiscussion over the meaning of one delegate's proposal to includea new paragraph on multiple use conflicts dealing with freshwaterresources.

VI. LAND RESOURCES: In the Basis for Action, the multipleuse conflict issue was raised once again. The term "competingdemands" appeared to be more acceptable to the other delegates. Alengthy discussion ensued when one delegate stated that the Basisfor Action villified large commercial agricultural and related usesof land resources. No compromise was reached on this issue.

VII. ENERGY RESOURCES: A number of contentious issues arosein the discussion of this chapter. One was the appropriateness ofeconomic instruments in promoting energy conservation in SIDS.Another contentious proposal was to change the commitment for"technology transfer" to "technology cooperation," citing thecurrent work of the Commission on Sustainable Development. Otherdelegates commented that Chapter 34 of Agenda 21 specificallymentions technology transfer.

Discussion was supposed to continue until 11:00 pm.

IN THE CORRIDORS

While delegations met informally during the day to discuss therevised basic elements text, the preamble, and the basis foraction, NGOs drafted specific amendments to all chapters. There wasconcern and some frustration among the NGOs that a number of pointsraised in the general debate and in the first set of commentsprepared by NGOs had not been incorporated into the revised draft.The prevalent mood was one of disappointment. Many NGOs felt thatSIDS governments were not focusing clearly enough on the need toaddress human resource issues and the issues resulting frominternational economic and trade regimes, specifically poverty.Some NGOs commented that the PrepCom so far had been a lostopportunity for SIDS.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY

Today's schedule will depend on the success of last night'sinformal session. Earlier in the day the Chair had expressed thedesire to complete a second reading of Chapters 1 - 14 of the G-77text. It is expected that the PrepCom will continue to meet ininformal session today to complete discussion of Chapters 1 - 14 ofthe G-77 draft and, perhaps, to focus on the preamble and Chapter15 on implementation, monitoring and review. It is also likely thatinformal consultations will continue on the structure of thedocument. As there are only two more days left in this PrepCommeeting, delegates, the Chair and the Secretariat will have to worklong hours today to ensure that some type of a draft programme ofaction can be forwarded to the Conference in Barbados in April.