New Commission experiences 'eventful' first year.

• Position: UN Commission on Sustainable Development

Culminating its first year of work, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development adopted 14 decisions on sectoral and cross-sectoral issues pertaining to development and the environment, including freshwater, toxic chemicals, hazardous and radioactive wastes, human health and human settlements, as well as finance, decision-making structures and the role of major groups in sustainable development.

At its annual session (16-27 May, New York), a high-level segment with ministerial participation was held (25-27 May) to conduct an overview of the progress made in implementing "Agenda 21"--the wide-ranging plan of action adopted in Rio de Janeiro at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, widely known as the Earth Summit.

The 53-member Commission, formally established in February 1993, is charged with monitoring the progress made by Governments and the international community towards implementing Agenda 21 objectives. It is responsible for activities related to the integration of environmental and developmental goals throughout the UN system.

"The Commission's work has as its point of departure the recognition that it is impossible to divide the earth into a first, second and third world", said Commission Chairman Klaus Topfer, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature, Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, at the opening meeting on 16 May.

"Peace is under threat not only from belligerent conflicts, but also from the juxtaposition of ecologically subsidized development on the one hand, and underdevelopment on the other." Thus, he stated, "the global partnership embracing both environment and development is increasingly becoming the peace policy of the future".

The Commission's first year had been an eventful one, according to outgoing Chairman Razali Ismail of Malaysia. Its biggest challenge had been to mobilize adequate resources to implement its objectives and sustain the spirit and momentum generated in Rio.

"Shifting emphasis and the shirking of responsibility threatened to undermine the Rio consensus", he said on 16 May. He cautioned that the Commission would not be remembered by its proliferation of meetings, but "its lasting contribution will be in finding equitable solutions to present-day survival issues".

UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, addressing the high-level meeting on 2 5 May, stressed that the crucial challenge was to maintain...