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051/2005-02362/13/05/08/12/02/K465-2081
Second Intersessional Meeting of the PrepCom, New York, 15‐16 December 2011
Swiss statement on agenda item “Structure and format of the
outcome document”
Delivered by Mr. Daniel Ziegerer, Head of Section Global Affairs, International Affairs
Division, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (check against delivery)
· Rio+20 should amplify the implementation of sustainable development. Therefore, the
outcome document should be structured and formatted in a way that will help to
accelerate implementation.
· Switzerland therefore has a preference for the option of a short political declaration as
well as an annex. The annex would be an integral part of the outcome containing more
specific measures and would go beyond a compendium of individual commitments.
· The political declaration should contain high-level policy messages in particular on the
two main themes of the conference. The messages should be focused and action
oriented.
· As mentioned yesterday, we are of the view that one of the main outcomes for the theme
green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication
should be an international green economy roadmap. The Roadmap could part of the
annex.
· The international green economy roadmap should consist of two levels, one being the
policy and the other the operational level:
· At the policy level, it is crucial that common goals as well as concrete targets and
timelines for the transformation towards a green economy are formulated. Such
international goals and targets for specific sectors and for common enabling conditions
will lay out the pathway for individual and collective actions for transforming our
economies.
· Specific goals and targets should be formulated for the following key areas and enabling
conditions: Sustainable agro-food systems, sustainable public procurement, sustainable
energy resources for all; secure water supply, management and use; sustainable
management of fragile ecosystems such as mountains, drylands, and forests; resource
productivity and environmental performance of economic activities over their whole life
cycle; trade in sustainable biodiversity products and services; and g reen economy
education programmes; development national green economy action plans;
measurement of the total environmental impact of production and consumption;
ecological market transparency and trade; fossil fuel subsidies reforms.
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· At the operational level, the green economy roadmap needs to bring together best
practices and tools for implementing the measures and for meeting the goals and
targets. This could be done by including a toolbox which assembles the instruments and
measures that can be applied.
· Regarding the institutional framework for sustainable development, the outcome
document should contain a separate part that outlines the elements of a comprehensive
reform package.
· The outcome should therefore contain measures for improving governance for
sustainable development in a holistic manner, governance in the environmental pillar,
and governance on the national and local level.
· Regarding the international level, we propose to include reform measures such as
establishing a peer review mechanism, more effective involvement of civil society,
presentation of national commitments for sustainable development in support of
candidacies, and regular high-level segments. The conclusion that such reforms are best
put in practice by replacing the CSD with a Global Sustainability Council as a subsidiary
organ of the UN General Assembly.
· We further consider it crucial for the Rio+20 conference to settle on an ambitious reform
package for strengthening international environmental governance. The outcome
document should therefore include reform measures which are based on the Nairobi-
Helsinki Outcome. It should include elements such as universal membership of the IEG
anchor institution, reinforced relationship between a strengthened IEG anchor institution
and the MEAs and enhanced synergies within thematic clusters.
· Again, the political declaration should contain the main reform elements for each of the
three aspects of IFSD, but the detailed measures would be put in the annex.
