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GB.267/ESP/Inf.1
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Committee on Employment and Social Policy |
ESP |
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INFORMATION NOTE
International cooperation on environment
and sustainable development
1. This paper provides a brief overview of activities in the United Nations system related to environment, sustainable development and the world of work. It particularly focuses on follow-up activities related to Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, as it relates to the world of work.
I. Fourth Session of the Commission
on Sustainable Development
2. The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) held its Fourth Session in May 1996 and again dealt with a number of issues directly related to environment and the world of work. Most significantly, a special sitting of the CSD entitled Day of the Workplace, was devoted to reports by business and industry (employers) and workers concerning their own practical experience in implementing Agenda 21 at the workplace. Approximately three hours were set aside for presentations of four case-studies by business and industry, four case-studies by workers and their trade unions, and a panel discussion with high-level representatives of each group and a moderator, which discussed progress being made at the workplace to respond to environment and sustainable development problems and policies.(1) The Office participated in the special informal planning group established to propose the Day of the Workplace, and several of the case-studies selected by trade unions were based on ILO technical cooperation activities. In addition to this special sitting, however, a large number of satellite events related to world of work issues, including workshops and special events, were presented throughout the 12-day CSD session.
3. The CSD, which has the task of facilitating the monitoring, promotion and coordination of follow-up on UNCED and reports to ECOSOC, adopted a number of texts related to issues of concern to the ILO and its tripartite constituents. The following points may be of particular interest to the Committee.
(a) International institutional arrangements
4. The Commission stressed the need for all relevant bodies of the United Nations system to make further efforts to make sustainable development a central focus of their programmes and policies. It also recommended that ever closer links be established, particularly through the bureaux of the organizations concerned, between the work of the Commission and other relevant bodies of the Economic and Social Council so as to ensure that the Commission can contribute to and/or draw on the relevant output of other bodies in a timely manner and to avoid duplication of work. The Office monitors the decisions and activities of the relevant bodies of the United Nations system related to environment and the world of work, and collaborates with others on areas of common concern and within its mandate. The relevant programmes and activities of the various bodies of the United Nations system in this area are discussed in the Inter-agency Committee on Sustainable Development with a view to promoting the joint programming of activities and avoiding duplication of effort. This information is also taken into account by the Office during the programme and budget exercise.
(b) Major groups
5. The CSD welcomed the contribution of major groups(2) to the session, particularly the action by workers and their trade unions and business and industry in preparing the Day of the Workplace. It underlined the positive experience gained from such special events and recognized that their success was due in part to the partnerships catalysed among the major group partners and their networks. It also emphasized the need to preserve and extend major group participation, as appropriate, in the CSD and in relevant international organizations whose work is an essential part of the Agenda 21 follow-up process. Governments and international organizations were encouraged to support actively the initiatives of major groups aiming to make contributions to the 1997 review. United Nations organizations were requested to foster the emerging trends towards greater openness and transparency with respect to major groups, and called upon them, as appropriate, to broaden the scope of their cooperation with major groups. The CSD also requested further efforts by United Nations organizations and others to develop simple and accessible information materials related to Agenda 21 so as to assist people at the local level to take a more active role in assessing social, economic and environmental conditions and in participating in decision-making processes for sustainable development.
(c) International legal instruments
6. The Commission noted the importance of compliance and monitoring mechanisms in international agreements, including reporting requirements, and stressed the role of national and local capacity building aimed at improving compliance with, and the monitoring, inspection and enforcement of, international obligations. It also recommended the exploration of more effective participation by major groups in the elaboration of international legal instruments and mechanisms in the field of sustainable development, which are recognized to include ILO Conventions.(3) The Commission also recognized the administrative burden imposed particularly on developing countries by the implementation of international agreements, and recognized the need for the consolidation and integration of procedures and for cooperation between the secretariats of different Conventions to this end. In addition, the CSD also called upon governments to review, as appropriate, their national legislation in the light of the integrated nature of sustainable development and the need to implement international legal agreements and Conventions, and requested the international community to continue to strengthen support for enhancing the capacities of developing countries for this purpose.
(d) Production and consumption patterns
7. The CSD reaffirmed the relevance of their programme of work on changing production and consumption patterns, and urged relevant organizations of the United Nations system and others, including major groups, with particular reference to business and industry, to further implement the work programme.(4) The Commission also called upon international organizations to use high environmental performance standards in their day-to-day management of facilities and operations, to support national initiatives to carry out analyses of consumption and production patterns, and to support government initiatives to improve environmental performance. Major groups were encouraged to cooperate with governments in the design and implementation of new and innovative policies and mixes of instruments to achieve changes in consumption and production patterns. These are consistent with ILO initiatives related to improvements in occupational safety and health and environmental performance, and particularly the special ILO technical cooperation activities aimed at supporting the role of employers' and workers' organizations related to environment and sustainable development funded by the Government of Norway.
(e) Gender perspectives
8. The Commission urged governments, United Nations system organizations and non-governmental organizations to mainstream a gender perspective as an essential step in the development and monitoring of sustainable development policies. The ILO has acknowledged this and is actively pursuing this aim.
(f) Education, public awareness and training
9. The CSD agreed to initiate a programme of work in the context of which it urged the United Nations system, governments and major groups to implement in an integrated manner the recommendations concerning education, public awareness and training contained in the action plans of all the major United Nations conferences and Conventions adopted after UNCED. It also called upon developed countries, international organizations and the private sector to assist in promoting education, public awareness and training in developing countries through the provision of financial and technical support. The ILO has made a significant contribution to follow-up on these Agenda 21 activities, particularly as regards environment-related training, which has been integrated in traditional ILO training activities such as vocational and management training, occupational safety and health training, and training to support employers' and workers' organizations.
(g) National sustainable development strategies
10. The CSD requested organizations of the United Nations system and other relevant organizations to support the efforts of governments to integrate environment and development considerations in decision-making, inter alia, by strengthening coordination and the exchange of information on "best practices" relating to sustainable development strategies. It also requested relevant organizations within and outside the United Nation system, as well as donors, to consider favourably requests for the provision of technical and financial assistance to help developing countries with the preparation of national strategies for sustainable development and national Agenda 21 action plans. The ILO has sought to ensure that appropriate employment and social policies are effectively integrated in such national plans and strategies.
(h) Trade, environment and sustainable development
11. In the context of the review of the issues related to trade, environment and sustainable development, the CSD took note of the progress report submitted by UNCTAD on the analytical study of the relationship of environmental protection to international competition, job creation and development(5) and invited UNCTAD to develop the study further, with input from a wide range of parties, including international organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, and to submit the results of the study to future sessions of the Commission.
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12. The CSD carefully examined the Global Programme of Action (GPA) for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (Washington, DC, November 1995).(6) This document provides an agreed strategy aimed at taking a more integrated approach to the protection of the marine environment, as requested in Agenda 21, by focusing upon action to improve environmental performance from land-based activities, especially in coastal areas. The draft resolution of the General Assembly as proposed by the CSD contains, inter alia, an invitation for States to take action for the formal endorsement by each competent international organization of those parts of the GPA that are relevant to their mandates and to accord appropriate priority to the implementation of the GPA in the work programme of each organization. The governing bodies of a large number of organizations are to be invited to take such action, including the ILO. The GPA includes proposals related to chemicals in general and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in particular, as well as radioactive substances, heavy metals and other sources of pollution that have links to the world of work. Following the review of the GPA by the General Assembly, the Office will review the GPA to determine its potential relevance to the ILO's own priorities and mandate and will provide the Committee, if appropriate, with specific proposals for their consideration.
13. One of the most important issues discussed at the CSD were the preparations for the proposed Special Session of the General Assembly to review the progress being made to follow-up on UNCED, scheduled for June 1997. A special panel discussion was held during the High-Level Segment of the CSD to discuss new approaches and initiatives to facilitate the review of progress since 1992 and to give fresh impetus to follow-up on Agenda 21. Organizations within the United Nations system and others were invited to provide assessments of progress made in follow-up on UNCED to date within their organizations and to report, as appropriate, emerging issues and possible new approaches to follow-up within their own mandates and special areas of concern.
II. UNEP and FAO
14. The Governing Body has already been informed of the UNEP/FAO initiative to develop a legally binding instrument for the application of the prior informed consent procedure (hazardous chemicals and pesticides).(7) The Second Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee concerning prior informed consent (INC/PIC) was held in Nairobi from 16 to 20 September 1996. The INC/PIC session was unable to make as much progress in finalizing the text as had originally been expected, and it now appears that rather than completing the exercise in early 1997, one or more additional and unforeseen sessions will need to be convened in order to complete the negotiating process. The texts related to the various issues of special concern to the ILO have not evolved sufficiently at this stage, however, to warrant detailed reporting. The Office has been represented at the INC/PIC sessions and will continue to monitor carefully the continuing INC/PIC process and report back to the Governing Body when further progress is achieved.
15. In addition to the INC/PIC process, however, UNEP also convened a meeting of government-designated experts in Copenhagen in April 1996 to consider and recommend what further measures are needed to reduce the risks from a limited number of hazardous chemicals, either within or beyond the scope of the existing prior informed consent procedures. This meeting adopted a number of recommendations,(8) which will be submitted to the 19th Session of the UNEP Governing Council in January 1997. The Office will keep the Governing Body informed of developments related to these UNEP initiatives, as well as the many other initiatives under way within the United Nations system with regard to chemicals as they pertain to the world of work.
III. ILO action related to environment, sustainable
development and the world of work
16. During the 1994-95 biennium, the Office implemented an innovative interdepartmental project on environment and the world of work to help fulfil the ILO's commitment to assist its tripartite constituents in the implementation of Agenda 21. The project had three aims: the development of new approaches to promoting the ratification and implementation of ILO standards on the working environment; the promotion of the environmentally sound management of chemicals; and action at the national, local and enterprise level to address the employment, training and poverty implications of environmentally sound and sustainable development. The Report of the Director-General concerning activities of the ILO, 1994-95, provides a brief overview of the interdepartmental programme and the various reports, country reviews and practical activities carried out by the ILO's tripartite constituents in over 25 countries.(9) These activities of the interdepartmental project, as well as the significant number of other environment-related technical cooperation activities being implemented by the ILO, have enabled the Office to continue to draw attention to the important role that workers' and employers' organizations need to play in the field of environment and sustainable development.
17. The ILO's strategy, as set out by the Tripartite Meeting of Experts on Environment and the World of Work and endorsed by the Governing Body in 1992, remains focused on two major priorities: first and foremost, providing direct support to workers' and employers' organizations to enable them to deal directly themselves with environment and sustainable development issues related to the world of work; and secondly, to ensure that the Office integrates environment and sustainable development concerns within its regular budget and technical cooperation programmes, as called for by UNCED and the most recent pronouncements of the CSD. The Office will also continue to collaborate actively with others within the United Nations system to support a coordinated and rational approach to follow-up action on UNCED and Agenda 21 as regards the world of work. In addition, the Office is working to promote a coordinated and more integrated approach to follow-up on all of the United Nations major conferences held since 1992, including UNCED, and most importantly the World Summit for Social Development. These activities have provided a significant contribution to the implementation of several of the priority activities related to the world of work contained in Agenda 21, and the CSD has expressed its continuing interest in such ILO activities. As part of its contribution to the overall preparations for the Fifth Session of the CSD next year and the forthcoming Special Session of the General Assembly, the Office expects to continue to report on relevant ILO activities in this field and to collaborate actively within the Inter-agency Committee on Sustainable Development.
Geneva, 15 October 1996.
1. A special publication entitled Case studies prepared for the Day of the Workplace was produced jointly by the UN Division for Sustainable Development, the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Network for Environmental Management. It was disseminated at the Day of the Workplace and contains six case-studies prepared by business and industry and seven prepared by workers and trade unions.
2. Agenda 21 contains separate chapters concerning the role of the following major groups: women, children and youth, indigenous people and their communities, non-governmental organizations, local authorities, workers and their trade unions, business and industry, scientific and technological community, and farmers.
4. Copies of the work programme adopted at the Third Session are available upon request.
5. Copies of the UNCTAD progress report concerning the study are available upon request.
6. Copies of the Global Programme of Action are available upon request.
8. Copies of the report are available upon request.
9. Activities of the ILO, 1994-95, Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, 83rd Session, June 1996, pp. 98-102.