Yearbook of the United Nations, 2003. Part 3, Economic and social questions. Chapter 7, Environment and human settlements

Abstract

In 2003, the United Nations and the international community continued efforts to protect the environment through legally binding instruments and the activities of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The UNEP Governing Council/fourth Global Ministerial Environment Forum adopted a programme for international action to deal with mercury contamination. Further decisions concerned early warning assessment and monitoring, water, climate and atmosphere, chemicals, forest related issues, support for Africa and small island developing States, and long-term strategies for sport and the environment and for the engagement of young people in environmental issues. UNEP continued efforts to implement the environment-related elements of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, including regional implementation. The Conference of the Parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted new emissions-reporting guidelines based on good-practice guidance on land use, land-use change and forestry. The 2000 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the 1992 Convention on Biodiversity entered into force on 11 September. Heads of State and Government participating in a special session of the Conference of the Parties to the 1994 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, adopted the Havana Declaration, which invited all affected parties to integrate the Convention into national strategies for sustainable development. In December, the General Assembly declared 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. The Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) held its first session, which was designated as its nineteenth session to signify continuity between the former Commission on Human Settlements and the Governing Council. The Council took action in support of the implementation of the 1996 Habitat Agenda; the 2000 UN Millennium Declaration; the 2001 Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium; and the human settlements–related elements of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. UN-Habitat established a Water and Sanitation Trust Fund to facilitate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal to reduce by half by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water and sanitation. The Governing Council endorsed the establishment of the Special Human Settlements Programme for the Palestinian People and a Technical Cooperation Fund of $5 million for an initial period of two years.