No outcome reached at UN Commission on sustainable – including industrial – development
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No negotiated outcome has been reached at the meeting of the UN Commission on sustainable development, which was held in New York from April into May. The meeting was the culmination of two years work on the issues of energy for sustainable development, industrial development, climate change and air pollution and atmosphere.
The UK and its EU partners came to the meeting with high aspirations, given the growing recognition of the urgent need to tackle the wide-ranging impacts of climate change and to move to cleaner and increasingly renewable and sustainable energy sources at the same time as making progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
DEFRA says that regrettably, no agreement could be reached, particularly on the subject of energy, on where individual countries, regions and the international community should go from here.
Ian Pearson, UK minister for climate change and the environment said: “This failure to reach agreement on energy for sustainable development, climate change, air pollution and industrial development is a deep disappointment.
“Climate and environmental sustainability cannot be an add on or an afterthought to our economic, development, trade, social justice or security policies. They need to be at the heart of our decisions.
“The UK and our EU partners came to the table keen to negotiate a progressive outcome. Regrettably, rather than build consensus on the further steps needed to address these common challenges, many attempted only to reiterate commitments made almost five years ago. This is not progress and does not reflect the increasing urgency with which we need to take action.
“We shall continue to put climate change and energy at the top of the international agenda.”
