WSSD News for US NGOS
December 12, 2001 issue
Produced by CitNet for the US Citizens Preparatory Committee for WSSD
Welcome to the first installment of the "WSSD News for US NGOs".
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, as the follow-up to the 1992 Earth
Summit in Rio, will be one of the largest development-related events of 2002.
While there are several other good international listserves related to World
Summit news, none are focused on US NGO activities. Seeing this need, the US
Citizens Preparatory Committee for the World Summit (US CPC, see below) has
created this newsletter listserve to inform US NGOs and get those interested
in participating up to speed on the issues, if you're not already.
This newsletter can also be found on the web at http://citnet.org/uscpc/newsletters/12Dec01/
for those who might wish to link to it, or just prefer the graphical look and
linked convenience of the web format. Thanks to CitNet for hosting the newsletter
and listserve.
Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested. Subscription
instructions can be found at the end.
Why a US Citizens Preparatory Committee?
The Second PrepCom for the World Summit is quickly approaching, and various
meetings and consultations have been held in past months with NGOs and the US
government delegation to find out what the official US position will be on various
issues, to discuss recent US involvement in international negotiations, and
to develop NGO strategies for the WSSD.
One of the requests the UN made to all national governments was to form such
preparatory committees; as the US appears to have no intentions to do so, a
few organizational members of the Citizens Network for Sustainable Development
decided this summer to form a joint committee. As a result, the US Citizens
Preparatory Committee for the World Summit (US CPC) is a loose group of US civil
society NGOs working collaboratively to prepare for the Summit. (Our efforts
to form the Committee were recently acknowledged in a Chairman's Summary from
the UN General Assembly.)
Besides convening meetings and distributing information, the CPC also plans
to assess US progress toward sustainability as a contribution to the Summit.
With this newsletter, we plan to report on activities in the US related to the
World Summit on a weekly or semi-weekly basis. If you have something you'd like
to be included, send it to uscpc-info@citnet.org and we will consider it for
the next edition.
The World Summit Process: News and Updates
*** Change your travel plans: World Summit dates changing!
To avoid the anniversary of the US terrorist attacks, the World Summit will
be moved up a week or two. Right now the dates are under negotiation, but are
likely to be August 26th to September 4th, 2002. When the UN General Assembly
has approved the final dates, we will let you know.
*** PrepCom 2 alert: submission deadlines approaching!
Planning to go to PrepCom 2 in New York City? If so, the last day for accredited
organizations to submit their list of attendees is Monday, January 7, 2002.
Security will be very strict this year, so be sure all the proper paperwork
is completed for each person attending! If your organization is not accredited,
paperwork and documents must be received by Wednesday, January 2, 2002. For
more info on accreditation and deadlines, visit:
http://citnet.org/worldsummit/logistics/accreditation.aspx
New Publications
*** "State of the World 2002" to be released in January
Worldwatch Institute is dedicating the latest issue of its flagship publication,
"State of the World 2002", to the Rio+10 agenda. Researchers
will review progress on the environmental front since 1992, highlighting both
positive changes that have occurred over the decade as well as ongoing obstacles
to achieving a more sustainable world. Above all, the volume hopes to focus
on those actions that are possible in bringing about environmental change over
the coming years. For details, visit:
http://www.worldwatch.org/rio10/#state
*** "A New Deal" explores issues and progress since Rio
UNED Forum has published a new book, "Earth Summit 2002: A New Deal",
offering analysis on critical issues on the International Sustainable Development
Agenda as well as inviting key major group representatives to look at the reasons
for slow progress so far in addressing those issues. A New Deals purpose is
to focus attention on the Summit and to engage a wider global community around
the summit in 2002 in an effort to advance the sustainable development agenda.
For details, excerpts, or to order, visit:
http://www.earthsummit2002.org/es/Press%20Release/pb1.htm
*** "American Heat" discusses ethics and global warming in the US
A new book from Environmental Law Institute promises to add ethical and legal
insight into the position the US government has taken on climate change. "American
Heat: Ethical Problems with the United States' Response to Global Warming"
by Donald A. Brown is scheduled for release in early 2002. More details are
still pending, but a preliminary cover photo is available:
http://citnet.org/images/AmHeat-DBrownBookCover-lg.jpg
Useful Resources Around The Web
*** Citizens Guide developed to orient US NGOs to Summit issues
Citizens Network for Sustainable Development has developed a Citizens Guide
to the World Summit ( http://citnet.org/worldsummit/
), in an effort to acquaint more NGOs in the United States with the issues and
context of the Summit. Some recent additions include:
The Guide will be updated frequently as events unfold to meet NGO's needs,
including more logistics and commentary. If you have suggestions on how the
Guide could serve your organization better, email info@citnet.org.
*** Two listserves created for US CPC news/discussion
On behalf of the US CPC, CitNet has created two new listserves related to the
Citizens Preparatory Committee for the World Summit. The first, USCPC-News,
is an announcement list sent 1-4 times a month, keeping you up to date on activities
of US organizations related to the World Summit. Messages sent to this list
will be forwarded to the moderator to consider for the next issue.
The other list, CPC-Discuss, is for active members of the CPC to discuss strategies
and collaborate on activities and events. This list is closed; to join, send
a message to uscpc-info@citnet.org
explaining who you are and why you'd like to join.
For more info, visit:
http://citnet.org/uscpc/lists.aspx
*** Other great World Summit listserves
We don't purport to run the best or only WSSD listserve available; in fact,
there are several other excellent listserves you might consider joining. IISD
(in Canada) runs a general open list, WorldSummit2002-l. They also have an excellent
portal if you are looking for official documents/info related to WSSD.
To subscribe to IISD's World Summit 2002 list:
http://iisd.ca/enb/2002summit-l.asp
To visit IISD's World Summit portal:
http://www.iisd.ca/wssd/portal.html
Another good listserve is Network 2002. Run by UNED-UK, Network 2002 is their
monthly newsletter summarizing recent meetings, and offering news and editorials
on the World Summit process.
View Network 2002 newsletters online:
http://www.earthsummit2002.org/es/newsletter/
Register to get Network 2002 and other info via email:
http://site1.earthsummit2002.org/contactdb/database.asp
Lastly, ANPED (Northern Alliance for Sustainability) has a list dedicated to
the Summit for its constitutency, which includes NGOs in North America, Western
Europe, Central-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (CEE-NIS). Their
website also has a number of useful articles and documents.
Visit ANPED's World Summit website:
http://www.anped.org/index.php?a=4&b=441
Sign up for ANPED's Rio+10 listserve:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/anped-RioPlus10/
Upcoming Events
*** Attend PrepCom 2 in NYC and help determine the WSSD agenda
PrepCom 2 is quickly approaching (Jan 28 - Feb 8). It will be crucial for US
NGOs to be present to help influence the agenda of WSSD as well as the US government.
Very few informed US NGOs were present for the regional PrepCom, something critically
noted by European NGOs. For the most impact, try to coordinate positions with
other NGOs and find cross-cutting initiatives to lobby for, instead of narrowly
focusing on your specific organizational issue d'etre. For more info:
http://citnet.org/worldsummit/events/
OR
http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/documents/prepcoms.html
*** Citizens workshop on US energy and climate change
CitNet is sponsoring an Issue Forum on Energy and Climate Change Friday, Dec.
14 for NGOs actively engaged in this issue. The first in a series of issue forums,
this event will examine the progress made since Rio, highlight constraints to
implementation of Agenda 21, and develop recommendations for WSSD on specific
issues.
The combined result will be a US civil society report to the WSSD PrepComs.
Future issue forums in January through March will focus on fresh water; health
and the environment; and sustainable agriculture. If your organization is interested
in participating or co-sponsoring an issue forum, email uscpc-info@citnet.org.
*** CitNet/UNA planning energy and security event in NYC
United Nations Association and CitNet will be co-sponsoring a similar event
on energy and security in New York City (as part of CitNet's consultative process).
Details are forthcoming, but it will likely be held in January or February.
*** Holding an event? Let us know!
If you're holding meetings on the World Summit in your community or region,
let us know! Our resources are currently limited to holding meetings mainly
in the DC area, but we'd love to help publicize discussions and meetings in
other parts of the country. Email uscpc-info@citnet.org
with details of your event.
A Dictionary of the World Summit
Confused at all the abbreviations and acronyms surrounding the World Summit?
No worries, we have excerpted some of the most common terms from CitNet's online
glossary here for your convenience. [Terms excerpted from http://citnet.org/glossary/
]
CSD (Also UNCSD): UN Commission for Sustainable Development
CSO: Civil society organization (in contrast to government or industry associations;
see also NGO)
ECE (Also UNECE): UN Economic Commission for Europe
NGO: Non-governmental organization (typically a non-profit organization, although
in some specific UN contexts, the term literally does encompass all non-goverment
groups, including industry, trade unions, and CSOs)
PrepCom: Preparatory Committee; meetings held to establish agendas, themes,
and other important elements of WSSD; initial PrepComs were national or regional;
all PrepComs in 2002 are global meetings.
UNCED: The 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de
Jainero, Brazil. More commonly known as the original Earth Summit.
WSSD: World Summit for Sustainable Development (also referred to as the Johannesburg
Summit or Earth Summit 2002)
In The Next Newsletter...
*** Who's who in the US government on sustainable development?
Ever wonder who's the contact person for a particular issue in the US Government?
We did. With the help of someone from the State Dept., we've put together a
list of focal points within the government on various issues...
*** Special interest listserves
There are also several good special interest WSSD listserves out there that
are good sources of information and networking. The groups they serve include
webmasters, youth and other major groups, specific regions, issues, and more...
(If you run a similar list, let us know.)
*** Other submissions from the CPC
If you have something you would like to contribute, announce, or include, send
it to uscpc-info@citnet.org for consideration in the next issue.
WSSD News for US NGOs is a semi-weekly publication produced by CitNet
for the US Citizens Preparatory Committee.
If you would like to contribute, have news to publicize, or would like to share
your comments and suggestions, email us at uscpc-info@citnet.org.
Thanks to Citizens Network for Sustainable Development for hosting and maintaining
the listserve.
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