Archive for May 2011
Hi Singapore!
As promised a while back, some updates on the lobbying training we had. During one of our morning youth caucus meetings, we had an informal lobbying workshop held by other members of the MGCY, Mitch & Hudson! As they have had some recent successes with lobbying, they were asked to conduct an internal workshop, which included interactive dialogues and role play. After a brief demonstration and theory session, we engaged in lobbying practice. The workshop addressed many concerns we had about lobbying, and was very useful overall.
We also attended a lobbying workshop later in the week held by Felix Dodds, the executive director of Stakeholder Forum (SHF). There, he shared many tips on lobbying, most of which I hadn’t considered before. I’ll just share a few of them here now.
1) Be well prepared: This may seem obvious, but often, people do not have all the necessary materials when they are engaging in lobbying. It is important to ensure that you have your namecard, a laptop, thumbdrive and preferably a hardcopy of your lobbying points before approaching a delegate.
2) Spend no more than 20% of your time on lobbying to other NGOs: The bulk of your time should be focused on talking to country delegates; they’re the ones who will ultimately make the decisions, not to mention its far easier to set up appointments with other NGOs.
3) Know what countries to lobby to: All countries are equal, but some are more equal than the others. Single vote countries (those that don’t vote in a bloc) should be focused on to get your amendments into the text. Examples include Norway, Switzerland, Japan et cetera. Blocs like G77+China must also be engaged to get amendmends passed though, and thus it’s good to know the “stronger” countries in a bloc.
4) Study the faces of the delegates religiously: It pays to know them by name, addressing them by their position is far more impersonal and may not be as effective. A “Face List” done by SHF gets sent around before the start of CSD to help us identify these government delegates.
5) Understand the reasons behind objections: Countries may not neccesarily be against the points proposed when they object to it. They may be unsure of the meaning, attempting to use it as a bargaining chip or simply wanting to change the wording and not the meaning. If you know the rationale behind their objections, it becomes easier to lobby them.
6) Take them out of their comfort zone: Don’t meet the delegates in their offices, bring them for a coffee or talk over lunch! Meeting them outside of familiar places ensures that they will be less confident of making assertive stances, and thus may be more receptive to your ideas.
That’s all for lobbying, more updates about successes as they come!
- Jonathan
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Hey Singapore!!
Great news! I just made a statement in the Waste negotiation session (yes, it’s 11pm here in New York) and our Children and Youth amendment was introduced in the text!!!
A longer post about the day will follow shortly, but it’s so great I felt like shouting it out to the world 
Till next post!
Mika
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Attended a really interesting side-event after one of the Waste thematic sessions on Education on Sustainable Development.
The side-event really opened my eyes to Sustainable Development Education programmes. While most of us would think of such educational programmes as being a clear cut subject style programme, this side-event explored the various other ways in which sustainable development education programmes can be pursued, such as through informal non-compulsory events, as modules, or simply as a small part of a subject, and explored the pros and cons of each.
Education for sustainable developement has also been one of the main points the major group of children and youth has been advocating for, especially in the theme of sustainable consumption and production. We call for “Formal, informal, and especially non-formal education to be a prerequisite for progress towards sustainable development. Such education must be available to citizens, civil society, and government administrations alike.” It is imperative that sustaiabel developemnt be integrated into the education scene in Singapore and around the world.
Considering the large education culture specifically in Singapore, I found this to be extremely relevant to our concerns. At the moment, the only “sustainable development” education we have is a small component of secondary and JC geography. Considering the worldwide importance of such a topic, this is by no means sufficient. However, it would be hard to implement a full fledged subject on Sustainable Development, given the already tight schedules many students have. A compromise however, was offered in the workshop. Rather than straightout doing either programme and sticking to it, a “progressive approach” can be taken, with a limited programme eventually paving the way for greater ones.
- Jonathan
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Sunday (08 May)
The time now is 8.15pm Sunday here in New York. And it is a good time to do a review of the work that we had done for the last 5 days at the United Nations.
Day 1 at the 19th CSD
The various working groups on transport, chemicals, mining, waste management and 10-Year Framework of Programmes on sustainable consumption and production convened from 3pm to 6pm (New York time). For Day 1, the thematic issues on transport, chemicals, and mining were dealt with by delegates in Working Group 1 whilst those on waste management and sustainable consumption and production were handled by delegates in Working Group 2.
Negotiations work like this:
There will be a First Reading of the text, which is when countries give all the amendments that they have to the text, like any words/phrases they’ll like to add, remove or rearrange within the text, and sometimes a short summary of why they will like that change/addition introduced.
Next, comes the Second Reading. This is when the countries discuss more in depth why they want these changes in, and opinions of changes made by other countries. The Chair also urges the countries to agree to any of the amendments made thus far that is less contentious, and these agreed-upon points are “agreed ad ref”. There will be a final session in which countries try to remove all the unconfirmed text either by agreeing to them or deleting them, and finally agree to adopt the final version of the text, or in some situations, do not agree. The mark of a successful Commission is if a strong, all-inclusive text is adopted by the countries.
Working Group 1
With regard to the thematic issue on transport, some countries emphasized transport is essential for meeting social and environmental needs. These countries also drew attention to the need for leadership from developed countries to improve on transportation sustainability. Other countries proposed an effective decoupling of economic growth from environmental degradation. These countries also proposed making references to noise pollution as one of the adverse impacts of urbanization and increased private motorization.
Working Group 2
There was a sustained discussion on corporate environmental responsibility during the conference. Countries also talked how to reconcile sustainable development commitments with trade and investment commitments, Some countries also wanted more accountability and transparency for trade measures whilst there were other countries who either disagreed with such a call or reserved their positions on this subject matter.
Day 2 at the 19th CSD
Working Group 1
With regard to mining, the conference saw differing perspectives on the role of mining. Some countries were of the view that mining is important for the economy and for the development of human societies. Other countries stressed on the notion of equity and fair distribution of mining benefits to citizens.
Most countries were agreed that there needs to be a regulatory framework for mining to keep in place proper checks and balances. However, the content of the regulatory framework has yet to be conceived.
On chemicals, many countries saw greater role of chemicals in achieving (green) economic development. References were made to the Rotterdam, Basel and Stockholm Conventions. Many countries also touched on the issue on financial, and technical and capacity building issues. These issues were hard issues and discussions on them were very much prolonged.
Working Group 2
On the issue of waste, there were differing views on the proper definition of “waste”. Additionally, several countries called for the reconsideration of the 3R concept. Many countries saw the direct connection between sustainable consumption and production and waste management. Discussions on some words and definitions were also prolonged because different countries had varying opinions on the suitability of some words and terms.
As regards 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and development, the session dealt heavily with the content of the framework itself. Questions were raised as to the possibility of a Secretariat, and to the composition and role of the Secretariat of the framework. Questions were also raised as to capacity building and technology transfers.
Day 3 at the 19th CSD
Working Group 1
Working Group 1 today began with the first reading of both cross-cutting issues and transport. For cross-cutting issues, there were discussions that the pertinent focus of interlinkages should consider economic, social and environmental issues. Other issues that should be taken into consideration concerned economic, food, energy and climate change. Areas that the negotiations addressed today fell under the categories of development strategies, resource management and finance.
Transport on the other hand already progressed to the second reading and there was multiple emphasis on the need for sustainable transportation in the text ammendments. Concerns about the negative consequences of transportation on the climate, public health and urbanisation were evident during these negotiations.
One of the major groups gave a new perspective on negotiations by highlighting that the issue of sufficient education was connected to transportation.
Working Group 2
Working Group 2 continued with the ammendments on the Waste section in the Chair’s Negotiating Draft Statement. Important areas addressed in the text included waste reduction, recycling taking into consideration that prevention and minimisation should be strategies taken at the forefront. Methods suggested to achieve this include the use of financial resources, transfer of technologies and capacity building.
The 10 Year Framework of Programmes (10 YFP) also continued with its second reading of the negotiation text and focused on getting the 10YFP to focus on transforming unsustainable patterns of consumption and production to more sustainable ones. There was an emphasis on the need to include stakeholders within the implementation of the 10YFP for greater efficiency.
Day 4 at the 19th CSD
Working Group 1
Drafting of second reading of comments on the text was done in the morning for the topic on Mining. There were discussions on the environmental impacts on mining and its linkage to the economy. Negotiations on the text like phasings and language of text took place between different countries with some requesting for emphasis on different words and coming to a consensus the definitions of the words.
The afternoon session was taken up by the Transport plenary session. Discussions with reference to the Chair’s negotiating text was carried out. Some countries wanted to used general terms while others wanted specific words with reference to the text.
Working Group 2
A continued second reading on Waste was facilitated in the morning. There was a discussion on minimization and how funding and technology could aid in that. Most of the countries joined their proposals together to come to a general consensus.
For 10YFP, they also resumed their second reading. General discussions on skills sharing and inclusion of environmental issues ain education programmes were made.
Day 5 at the 19th CSD
Working Group 1
On chemicals, the issue on green economy was brought up. Countries debated about the processes of green economy. The discussion on green economy was however brief. Issues on the role of multinational companies in developing countries were also brought to the forefront. Some countries advocated for a more involved attitude from multinational companies in managing chemicals in developing countries.
Working Group 2
On the 10-year framewrk on programmes for sustainable consumption and production, references were drawn to, inter alia, the Marreakech process and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). Countries spent some valuable time on getting a compromise on the language of the the negotiating document. With regard to the isuse on Secretariat for the 10-year framework of programmes, countries were still waiting to reach a consensus on the composition and role of the Secretariat. As regards the maintenance of the 10-year framework of programmes, countries were also still waiting to agree on an institutional framework that would serve as a strong scaffold for the financing and supporting of the 10-year framework of programmes.
Day 6 in New York
No CSD session at the United Nations Headquarters. Spent the day exploring New York and some of her most famous landmarks!
Day 7 in New York
Today we had a strategy meeting with the MGCY to discuss our actions for the next week and towards Rio+20 in general. The coming week is a different ball game altogether, as all the themes are into their Second Readings. This means less chances to introduce any new language to the text, and more urging of countries to keep any points we support. Additionally, there is the High Level Segment (HLS), which is when Ministers of Environment from the countries come down to have a final discussion of the text and to decide whether to adopt the text or not. HLS starts Wednesday next week, and this is the chance to speak to people who can really influence the wording of the text and the direction of the negotiations.
We also discussed how Communications within the MGCY can be strengthened, including use of a Facebook page and Twitter following. The meeting ended with discussions on the MGCY moving forward towards Rio+20. Some background on Rio was given, and we also talked about how working groups will function, but many processes are still rather fluid, highly subject to change. We shall see what the next week and the next year brings.
Week 2…And the road ahead.
We’re now starting Week 2 of CSD19!
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Today I’m going to talk about the processes we undergo in the UN. For the Major Groups, there are two ways to influence the text.
COMMISSION
Firstly, we can intervene during negotiation sessions to propose actual amendments or urge countries to adopt these changes, but this we can only do with permission from the Chair, which are usually few and far between. Secondly, and arguably more importantly, another way of letting our voices and opinions be heard, is lobbying. For this, we approach government delegates and representatives outside of the negotiation sessions, preferably after or before the session when they are settling in. We then introduce our points to them and try to convince them of their merits and to include them in their amendmends.
ON
Hopefully this short post gave you all a better understanding of the lobbying processes in the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD). Thus far, we have tried our hand at lobbying to several country delegates, and some responded very positively (Norway supported one of the youth caucus’ points in Waste theme, and G77 too in Sustainable Consumption and Production), while others were quick to brush us off. We have and will still be attending several workshops on lobbying, so hopefully all our future efforts will be more successful!
SUSTAINABLE
More updates on our lobbying in the coming week, and a week summary of the CSD coming up next!
DEVELOPMENT
-Mika
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Hey all!
Now that a weekend of fun is over, its time to get back to the UN for another week of work.
As it stands, the text on a whole has mostly been progressing quite smoothly. Significant sections of the text, however, are still mired in debate between nations, ensuring slow progress there. This is of great concern, as not much time is left for the text to be debated, especially considering that it should be finished before the high-level segment later in the week. However, we’ll soon be entering night plenary sessions to ensure that all text is completed though, so hopefully we will be able to clear everything in time.
Heres to a more amiable, efficient session for a better, more sustainable world!
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hello world (: happy momsie day to all mothers and of course Mother Nature!
it’s finally the weekend, after a hectic week at the UN. all topics (scp, waste, chemicals, transport and mining) have been through first readings and some even the second readings! this was how hectic is was. the days when we didn’t have any plenary sessions, we were all sent to speak to delegates representing the different regions/countries to approach and bring to them our respective lobbying points. it was exciting listening to negotiations take place!
our weekend is almost over. time for skype with wilson!
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another plenary session today. it was so long the chair cut everyone short. well, i managed to “chat up” the representative for G77 (Indonesia) and got her card so i could lobby for mining points. yay! another plenary tomorrow in the morning.
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Here are a few snapshots of our time together in New York! Its been extremely fun and tiring and we’ve resorted to eating breakfast whilst running and falling asleep in our work clothes. We don’t know what tomorrow will be like, but for now, sleep. Good night everyone~
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Hi All,
It’s now the 2nd day of negotiations at CSD-19 (or the 3rd day of our trip). Today was a blast, lots of going-ons at CSD-19, and a ton of developments. I’ll try and summarize some of them here:
Chemicals
Today was the first reading. Governments made their comments and recommended edits to the chair’s negotiating text.
Mining
The day was a blur. My pre-trip prep was under the topic transport. However, there weren’t enough people in the mining team. Hence, i got switched over. haha do i sound like a traitor? oops. nevetheless, i’m still enjoying the process. with inclusion of the of all the hectic-ness. tracking during plenary session was turning me into a blockhead. it’s fun only for the first hour. lol. omg, i can’t wait for LOBBYING.
Transport
Today was extremely hectic. Transport is definitely a group that is extremely active. We worked on our lobby points, changing the wording and summarising what the trackers wrote down during the transport negotiations into what we felt was most important to the Major Group of Children and Youth on piratepad to prepare for our lobbying tomorrow. It was a difficult day because I was still recovering from jet lag and at some points it was extremely hard to concentrate but I think all of us did our best and we are looking forward to lobbying to our respective countries tomorrow.
Waste
Today was an awesome day for waste. Thanks to the wonderful lobbying by our colleagues in the Waste Working Group, quite a few countries included our points in their statements.
SCP
SCP team is charging ahead with full force. Various lobby points have been made, refined, and reconsidered.
Well, as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words so I’ll let them do the talking.
The MGCY Meeting before the Morning Plenaries
Morning Plenary Session for Waste
MGCY's Seat in the Plenary
Well, thats all for today, more updates from the other working groups and going-ons tomorrow!
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