National & Global news

U.S. & Saudis obstinate on Kyoto
CitNet member Don Brown reports on the tenth meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-10) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

International Task Force on Climate Change reports on needed actions
The International Climate Change Taskforce reiterated in January of 2005 that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. They have called for urgent actions at the global level. The recommendations of the Taskforce provide a blueprint for action in meeting this challenge.
The summary of these recommendations prepared by the Center for American Progress is available here.

UNEP GMEF & GCSF
The 23rd session of the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) Governing Council and the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC-23/ GMEF) was held in Nairobi between February 21 - 25th 2005. The focus of the meetings were on UNEP and the Millennium Development Goals. Details of the meeting, including press releases, information on pre-session events and official documents, are available here.
CitNet members participated in the regional consultations to the Global Civil Society Forum that was held in conjunction to the GC-23/GMEF.
UNEP's Regional Office for North America (UNEP RONA) and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) organized a debriefing that focused on the role of civil society in the GC/ GMEF process. Integrative Strategies Forum's report on the debriefing is available here.

Commission on Social Development
The 43rd session of the Commission on Social development was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from February 9 - 18 2005. The Commission carried out a 10-year review of the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action on social development, and of the follow-up special session of the General Assembly held in Geneva in 2000. Details about the session are available here.
Representatives of the youth network SustainUS attended the session under the CitNet umbrella. Gary Pupurs, a board member of SustainUS talks about the relationship between SustainUS and CitNet here.

13th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
The 13th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development was held in New York between April 11 - 22 2005. The thematic areas of focus included water, sanitation and human settlements. Details, including official documents, side events, statements made, a webcast etc, are available at the official website maintained by the UN. CitNet members participated enthusiastically at CSD-13 by lobbying government delegations, drafting statements and organizing side events, and participating in the activities of the various issue caucuses at CSD. Details of NGO activity at CSD-13 are available on the website of the Sustainable Development Issues Network.

Sustainability Index released
At a report released at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, Yale and Columbia researchers ranked the US 45th in a list of 146 countries, in terms of its ability to "protect the environment over the next several decades". Titled the "2005 Environmental Sustainability Index: Benchmarking National Environmental Stewardship", the report compares countries across five "fundamental components of sustainability".
The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) aims to facilitate environmental policymaking and comparative analysis by providing a data-driven and empirical tool that tracks national performance.
More details are available in the following resources:
Yale Press Release : http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/05-01-26-02.all.html
Executive Summary for policymakers: http://www.yale.edu/esi/ESI2005_policysummary.pdf
Yale's Environment Performance Measurement Project: http://www.yale.edu/esi/

Call for action around the energy bill
Some CitNet members are urging the public to take action and mobilize around the issue of the energy bill, that is currently being debated in Congress. Members are urging the public to write to their representatives or to the local media calling attention to the need for a sustainable energy future.
The Senate approved energy legislation on June 28 2005, that is an improvement on what has been proposed in the past. However, it still needs major improvements. Details are available in this article from L.A. Times
The House version of the bill is far worse than the Senate’s. Now the Bill goes to Conference Committee; and the NRDC and other environmental groups are still asking you to contact your representatives. Details
Petitions and other information are also available from:
Union of Concerned Scientists
Stop Global Warming
Sierra Club
Save our environment
Nuclear Information and Resource Service

Top 10 sustainable cities
SustainLane has released a study that compares 25 major US cities across 12 categories in order to measure their relative levels of sustainability. San Francisco, Portland and Berkeley top the list, while Detroit and Houston were ranked at the bottom.
The study is available here.

Take Back America 2005
Campaign for America's Future organized the annual Take Back America conference from June 1 - 3 in Washington DC. Details about the conference are available here.