UNITED NATIONS ACTIVITIES UNEP/GC 11th Session 'l~e eleventh session of the Gov- emin 8 Cunncil of the United Nations Envirtmmeni Programme (UNEP) is u:hadulcd for the I I - 24 May, 1983, in NaimbL The provisional agenda for the session (GC lIll) was distributed on 24 September If'g2. In accordance with om praaticc c{ previous years, those papers ['or consideration by the .~.~im~ which ha,~: already been rc- ~ived, ore summa;'~zed below, A m- Oofl of the sessit~ ~s planned for the flext iSs,ac, Alemds and Or,~mdzation of the Work of the Semite { Itt'~ 2al lr, view of the Governing Coun- cil's decision last year to include the ~e of the environment report as a ~p~a'alc ilem tm its agenda, the Execu- tive Dimctnr has r,:commendcd that the general debate cover provisional agenda items 4 (Executive Director's mportt and 6 (cv-ordinatitm ques- liOnsl, In keeping with established prac- tice, ~hc Governing Council will prob- ably ,~stub[ish two ~,essional cummil- Icc~ Se~sinnal Committee I would dc~l i'rincipaJly with Programme Mat- tcr~ L~rovisionaJ ag,mda item 7) and the Es~utive Director has proposed that. m line with a recommendation made to the effect thai some additional items or sub-items could be allocated m tl~ commiuces, the Council also ctmsi.~r assigning to Committee l item 8 lCo-ordinatiou and FoUow-up o[ the: Implementation of` the Plan of AClanl tO Combat Desertification). which the Committee may wish to consider when it reviews the ~,¢ti',,i~es of the programme on ecesystems. Sessional Committee 11 would be concerned, as in the past, with the Environns:nt Fund (item 9), compris- ing Implementation of the Fund Pro- gramme in 1982, Management of the Environment Fund, Financial Report and Accounts for the Biennium 1980--81 ended 3I December 1981, and Project and progr-,tunn¢ Evalua- tion (sub-trams a, b, c, and d). Com- mittee II would also deal with item 10, Administrative and Budgetary Mat- tars. Executive Director's Report (item 4: GC 1112; GC 11/3 and Adds. 1, 2.3,4, 5. 6J The Executive Director is submit- dog to the Council at its eleventh session, for the fLrst time, an annual report for 1982 (GC. II/2) in book form. incmporatin8 all or parts of a number of reports that had previously been submitted xn separate documents. such as the programme performance report, the implementation of the Fund Programme, relationships with non- governmental organizations, etc. The annual report thus touches on a num- ber of items o[ the provisional agenda. In his report to the Governing Council, the Executive-Director m- views 1982 in mtrosTcct. Among the numerous decisions and developments at the last session he cortsidars that "three actions should be singled out, for they arc of special importance to the entire environment progrmnme of the UN sy.~¢cm": (I) the system-wide :nedium-te:ma cnvironmant programme (SWMTEP); (2) the adoption of a "package" of three decisions "which, when taken together, open el:, a new vist~ for UNEP". The main propose of the package is to enable UNEP to render more assistance to developing counmas in their efforts to deal with the serious environmanml problems confronting them; and (3) the adoption by the Council of a hing-mrm pro- gramme on environmental law. The Executive Director speaks of the absurd discrepancy between the serious concern rag, stared by Govem- manfs at both sessions of the Cotmcfl last year and the resources devoted by those same governments to the envi- ronment. He concludes, therefore, that despite achievements in 1982, the year was a disappointing one for UNEF. In his inUoductory report (GC I I / 3), the Executive Director inter alia: (a) Reports on the implementation and follow-up by the secretariat of a number of resolutions and deCsinns adopted by the Governing Council hal reported on in other documents before the Council; Co) Refers to resolutions and deci- sions adopted by the General Assem- bly at its thirty-seventh session and by the Economic mad Social Council in 1982 that call for specific actions by UNEP, and make proposals for their implemantadon. Them are also a number of adden- da m the report: (a) Addendum l contains proposals pertaining to tim Periodicity of Gov- erning Council sessions, as called for by the Council in decision 10/I, III, pare~ aph 2; CO) Addendum 2 reports on the re- ' gional presence of UNEP. as called for in Governin8 Council decision 10/2. section VI, as well as on the Pennant financial implicatinns, as requested by the Economic and Social Council in reanludnn 1982/56, paragraph l 1: 0378-777X/83/$3.00 .~ 1983 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland)
Transcript
UNITED NATIONS ACTIVITIES
UNEP/GC
11th Session 'l~e eleventh session of the Gov-
emin 8 Cunncil of the United Nations Envirtmmeni Programme (UNEP) is u:hadulcd for the I I - 24 May, 1983, in NaimbL The provisional agenda for the session (GC l I l l ) was distributed on 24 September If'g2. In accordance with om praaticc c{ previous years, those papers ['or consideration by the .~.~im~ which ha,~: already been rc- ~ived, ore summa;'~zed below, A m- Oofl of the sessit~ ~s planned for the flext iSs,ac,
Alemds and Or,~mdzation of the Work of the Semite { Itt'~ 2al
lr, view of the Governing Coun- cil's decision last year to include the ~ e of the environment report as a ~p~a'alc ilem tm its agenda, the Execu- tive Dimctnr has r,:commendcd that the general debate cover provisional agenda items 4 (Executive Director's mportt and 6 (cv-ordinatitm ques- liOnsl,
In keeping with established prac- tice, ~hc Governing Council will prob- ably ,~stub[ish two ~,essional cummil- Icc~ Se~sinnal Committee I would dc~l i'rincipaJly with Programme Mat- tcr~ L~rovisionaJ ag,mda item 7) and the Es~utive Director has proposed that. m line with a recommendation made to the effect thai some additional items or sub-items could be allocated m tl~ commiuces, the Council also ctmsi.~r assigning to Committee l item 8 lCo-ordinatiou and FoUow-up o[ the: Implementation of` the Plan of AClanl tO Combat Desertification). which the Committee may wish to consider when it reviews the ~,¢ti',,i~es of the programme on ecesystems.
Sessional Committee 11 would be concerned, as in the past, with the Environns:nt Fund (item 9), compris- ing Implementation of the Fund Pro- gramme in 1982, Management of the Environment Fund, Financial Report and Accounts for the Biennium 1980--81 ended 3I December 1981, and Project and progr-,tunn¢ Evalua- tion (sub-trams a, b, c, and d). Com- mittee II would also deal with item 10, Administrative and Budgetary Mat- tars.
Executive Director 's Report (item 4: GC 1112; GC 11/3 and Adds. 1, 2.3,4, 5. 6J
The Executive Director is submit- dog to the Council at its eleventh session, for the fLrst time, an annual report for 1982 (GC. II/2) in book form. incmporatin8 all or parts of a number of reports that had previously been submitted xn separate documents. such as the programme performance report, the implementation of the Fund Programme, relationships with non- governmental organizations, etc. The annual report thus touches on a num- ber of items o[ the provisional agenda.
In his report to the Governing Council, the Executive-Director m- views 1982 in mtrosTcct. Among the numerous decisions and developments at the last session he cortsidars that "three actions should be singled out, for they arc of special importance to the entire environment progrmnme of the UN sy.~¢cm": (I) the system-wide :nedium-te:ma cnvironmant programme (SWMTEP); (2) the adoption of a "package" of three decisions "which, when taken together, open el:, a new vist~ for UNEP". The main propose of the package is to enable UNEP to
render more assistance to developing counmas in their efforts to deal with the serious environmanml problems confronting them; and (3) the adoption by the Council of a hing-mrm pro- gramme on environmental law.
The Executive Director speaks of the absurd discrepancy between the serious concern rag, stared by Govem- manfs at both sessions of the Cotmcfl last year and the resources devoted by those same governments to the envi- ronment. He concludes, therefore, that despite achievements in 1982, the year was a disappointing one for UNEF.
In his inUoductory report (GC I I / 3), the Executive Director inter alia: (a) Reports on the implementation and follow-up by the secretariat of a number of resolutions and deCsinns adopted by the Governing Council hal reported on in other documents before the Council; Co) Refers to resolutions and deci- sions adopted by the General Assem- bly at its thirty-seventh session and by the Economic mad Social Council in 1982 that call for specific actions by UNEP, and make proposals for their implemantadon.
Them are also a number of adden- da m the report: (a) Addendum l contains proposals pertaining to tim Periodicity of Gov- erning Council sessions, as called for by the Council in decision 10/I, III, pare~ aph 2; CO) Addendum 2 reports on the re- ' gional presence of UNEP. as called for in Governin8 Council decision 10/2. section VI, as well as on the Pennant financial implicatinns, as requested by the Economic and Social Council in reanludnn 1982/56, paragraph l 1:
(c) Addendum 3 reports on dae fu- mxc development of =thc cnvinnuncutal imxr'pective document, in compliance with Gov~ning Council decision 10/5, pmagraph 3; (d) Addcndum 4 z,~ports, in oompH- mace with rem~don IV of the Council at im session of a speci~.l character, on the adveJ~ environmental impfica- tions of the p ~ Israeli project to build a canal linking the M e d i ~ an Sea to the Dead Sea; (e) Addendum 5 contains a pmgxcss r e p ~ on the implementation of Council decisions 10/4, 10/6 and 10/26; (0 Addendum 6 contains an upcht- mg of the Executive Director's report. submitted to the Coumcil at its ttm.Lh scssinn ou the impacts of aparlheid on the er.,,'imnment.
Periodid~ and Duration of Govern- ing Council Sessions fGC I I/3?Add. 1)
By decision 10/l of [lle i~ t aessi- on, the Governing Council expressed the view that "'consideration should be gsven to convening sessions of the Governing Council every two years and that adequate mran~ements should be made m follow up the implemeuta- tion of Govcz'ning Council decisions ~tween sessiom of the Council". In the same decision, dm Council also, decided to postpone its final ttcon~- mendation to the General Assembly until the coming session of the Cmmcil "'on the basis of a relxnt zo he present- ed by the Executive Director after consudtalion wizh Governments. etc.
A letter was duly srnt by the Executive Dkccmr to all Govcmmeuts zcqucsling them to convey their views on the subject oF periodicity of Gov- emiag Council sessions to him by 31 Januar~ 1983. At the time of prepara- tion of the present rclm~t , however, the process of consultation among the pemument zprc~"dR|tiw',s was still continuing. The Executive Director will repmt on the r--~tdts of t h e e consultmmns to the Couacil at the coming session.
The Execafive Director does not believe that it would create: serious
difficulties for the UNEP secretariat i f the Govc~in 8 Council "v~re to mect only once every two yees. However. whea considering ,his matwJ. " i t is imperative that th= Cm~r~il te2~e into Full account the decision of the Gener- al Assembly, as ~ n t a i n ~ in resolu- tion 37/2M of 21 Dazmber 1982, with regard to the cycle fm the Assem- bly's review of both Lhe UN pro- gramme budg~ and the UN medimn- W.,ITI1 p]aR" ".
Document l l/31Ad~ i lists the various possibilities or change in the periodicity of Counc!; sessions and the problems cunnectc~ with such a change. The Exccuti~-e Director notes that i f the Cu3vcmin b Council should decide to have biennial sessions, a number of legislative changes would be nccessaiy, and fists the more impor- tant changes in annex II of the doc~ mcnt _
Process or Preparat ion or the Ew, i- raamenlal Perspedive to the Year 2O00 and Beyond (GC IIPJJAdd. 3)
Dining the session of a spe~" character of the Governing Coup.-:' several Govcrnme~ts prcscnt~ ¢or,- ethic proposals for the n~.emaliou of the perspective document_ Foll~':~,a~. debate on the subject, resolution ~. :.~r, ad,~ptcd. ~aviting ~c Governing Co~, cil to cslabli.sh a special cormni~.L.r. ,o pmposc Ioug.term envi~omncnzal slra- tegics for achic,~mg sus:ainablc devel- op}aeut to ~ year 2000 and beyond. GC 11/3/Add. 3 ~ o r t s on the prcira- afion of ~ c document.
The nature of the pcrsllective decu- IIleUi has hL*eJ1 agX~.,cd With 13~sp~.,Ct tO the three components of the document - shared pe~ceptious oF enviroumenml xssu~ amf of the effm'ts needed to deal witli .~ iT = ~e.ntal problems, a 10mg- term ag,:. : fo~ action, and tions] goals ~ the world community.
T~e views of the Governing Coun- cil or, sh=cd pcscqxiom, as expscs~ed in the N.,dmbi Declaration, alrcad~ p i n . d e ~be sUmin~ point For the devel- opment of a documem along tbesc lines_
The Executive Dimcmx has ~a- mired Governments on the process of prepmmem, usm s ~ a l ~ m p r ~ coezacts with permar~m mim:sema- fives at Naimbi. the infmmal consullw lions bek~ at Nairobi in Dccemb~ 1982, and his visits to countries. "rbccc has also been a formaL roared of writ~n conselmtians initiated by his note daz- ed 16 August 1982. which remittal in 21 ~.plies by 31 January 1983
Analysis of these mlplies has shown that tbe written commJtmion was inconclusive:
Two of the replies acknowlc~cd receipt of the Executive Din~tof'$ note, one expressed the v~:w thai the prepandioa of the l:r.,,nl~ctvc sbo.ld not entail the allecatiun of any addi- tional resources to the UN bed~ct, and one sought ro plnce mcasmcs of eJvt- mnmental prote~:tion in the context of political, ecolnomic and social ¢l~di- tions_ The remaining 17 ~ c:t- pressed sebstandve vicw~ which cmdd be summed up as follows: ta) o~e Government felt that the UNEP tariat was compctcat to p~pme the pcr~..ctivc; (b) one Govc~n~*~ sla-
• :at it di~ nm fa,J ma" the eslablish. ' ~f a commissima m a linked
• ess" (c) four G~vemments mp- F~.~'d d~e estal~ishm~nLs of u ilt~r- g,:~e.,~,~:.-mai laepunaary ¢ommitt=e :,$ - ~': {,~! three Goverlnn~nls sei~poN- , ~: ,~. ~ ;ad~shnzat of a special com- .~:" ,,. '~ dune: (e) seven Govemmems "v .,ed a linked laucess i a ~ v i a 8 ~, ~ a commission and an imergovem. ~c ~ml process; one of rinse govern- ,w.nts sta:ssed that it ~ a e d m ,aee aa ope'- ":nded Prepamm~ Commiltec
GovCrumcnt was against elthcr a missien or a aew m~ /tot" imlltated mechanism.
R e m m m m d a l i e a s e / t h e i~rector
ARla~Bh thc p~cparatioa of an ~.vimmncn~l p ~ m ~ i ~ documma is clcar~ withi,, the mandate of UN- EP. bccamc of ~ m s m m ~ of mvi~ toamema sad dcvclolmema co.- ccras, thc c n v i r o ~ pe~qzctive is bound to bz of dgnif~n<e, and ~e-
quire ~tion, at the national and re- glOpal levels end by other intergovern-
~m concerned with economic and ~m~l~l develvpmem es well ~ with the envir~mmenl, The Igr~peclive must d~re f i ~ i ~v id¢ a bamewofk for the ~tivi | iet of all thw,¢ concerned and a hush* for the negott~dcms end agree- ,~nt on th~ n:levum modes of co- ~,~rari~rt.
l h : E~,ecutivc Director thus eon- clnd~ t t ~ the Govemlng Council ,h~mltl have the cevtral responsihilily he pr~Faring and teconunending ec- tam tm the perspective, The perspec- tive mu~,t build ul~m ~lcvunl mater/al. ~t I~ exl~¢clCd to touch upon ¢conomlc t, kv¢ltl~Ht~f.n[ and NoflJb-Sou[b mlati- ,m~. an~ it ~hould induce an expansion . f Imblic underslanding and comm;t- meal Io Ihe global envin]nme,~tal
A~ p~sl c'tperienL'c ia the tIN has shm'n, d~al tl~ dcvck,pn~enL of a lung- t~rln pCfSl'~Clivc of l~is kind eaunot approprnatciy he dear • ith by bodies such ~,~ the (k~g.'ni~tg, .vuncil alone. I1~ I'acCLUiec Di~.'k',~ "msi~cnl thai I ~ ~r, dllt~htt~nl cq ~y ,nl,-rgovem- In~gllil( cOmnliltee nf King Governing Council ~ u l d b= Ih'." retell effrctivc ~ay of preparing the dt~ument. Such a ~'t.~llUilh.'e mu.q[ t3~:P,t~ basic materi- U[ ~l~J ~r,.~[It;~als Oil ~hich it would ~t~k, ;rod the material could he 1,1~ pined h~ tl~ [ ~ F p ~C~hU'iat il,~:lf. l'he, w*,u~,d have a financia~ imriica- tltat Or. the Escculive Diderot could dr~v. upon ma~crial prepared else- wE:re fhcre would still be some rCttUIl'¢nl¢lll for UNEP s¢crflariat ~,,rt. hat the financial incidence could ptulvahI? be ahsot'bed.
!~ ~3¢~'ial ~,'OIrLqIiSSIoo &.~ fecoln- m¢lltk.d b) t[~" C ~ ' i [ at the session ol ~ ~.[',,'ci~.l character would faci!itatc tilL' l~rcpar,ttion of the pcrsp~-live - but ,a¢l: u commission can I~ established • 'ltty ~{ d IlUn~l~f 0[" Govcrruncnts are I,t~'itarcd to fmancc the conunissinn. lilt t:xecutivc Direclor s'ressed thai :he ,ta~us and compositiou of such a '~LlllLiitlSSil'~n would be -ely inlponaot: "'~at Ex t r i ca t e of n+embers of the
Commission in publit: assign- nmnzs at a high political level a,n~'or of ~ espcrl nature;
Enviremmen~al PolicF and Law, 10 I1-. ~
(b) Con6,mity with the Independent Commission on Lqtemational Development Issues (the Brandt Commisainn) and the Indepen- dent Commi,,sion on Disarma- mant and S¢:urily Issues (the Palme Commission) by the in- nlusion of some membe~ who were also membe~ of [hose Commissions (the terms of refer- ence, composition and informs- lion on financing of those com- missions could be made availa- ble upon mquesO;
(c) Balaneed geographical and polit- ical diswihutimt:
(d) Appointment of the chairman ~xtd vicc-chakman by the Seerc- taxy-Ueneral in consultation with [he Executive I)hector.'"
"n~c intergovemmcotal conunittee (see abovel, v, ouid serve as the vehicle for ~he discharge of the Governing Council's ~sponsibilRy for the prepa- i'atien Of the persnc%'tive document. As well us pveperin 8 the dnd't of the document, it would also serve as the internredia~ between the Ct~uncil and the commission. It would therefore need to c~mmunic~tte to the conums- sion at a very early stage, the Coun- cil's views as to how the commission might help in the wepat'a.tion of fixe document.
Details of how the two bodies might interrelate in their work, etc,. ere set out in the annex to document ] ]/3/Add, 3_
The Executive Director suggests that the Governing Council may wish to consider t'~."ommending to the Gen- eral Assembly a linked ptoc--~s draw- ing upon the ~ Jews p~gented in docu- ment I I/3/Add. 3. as the most apprp- priate modality for the preparation of the envkonn~nt~l p e ~ t i v e . He sta- tes that should the Council so reenm- mend. it will ~dso need in detern~ne the slrocttu~ and terms of n~[erenL'e of ils coromiUee attd propose suggestions for the structure and ten'us of mfe~ence of the special commission; agree on time-table for rite I~paration of the pe~pective, aqd consider ~nd make recommendat~nns mganling the finan- cial implications of the prepara~on of the environmental perspective
I ~ v i m n m m l a l Consequonces e f the b r a e a Project to BnAd a Canal l l n k i ~ the Medi tm-mtean Sea to the I k a d Sea [Rcsoltuio~ tV of the Session of • Specml ~ C-C i t~Md. 4l
The Executive Din:ctor was m- quested "'to prepa~ ... a sm¢ b- on any adverse environmental implications ... and to submit ~ contents of this study . . to the Governing Ctxmeil at its eleventh session".
The summary of the report says that [he Israeli project will establish a water conduit [hat will convey Medi- terranean Sea water acrn,ss some lIO kms to the Dead Sea. It will r e , , ~ the pmv~Iing uend of subsidence of the Dead Sea level to an i~itial rise of some I0 mattes and eventually lain it at a new level o f - 390.5 t r¢l~s MSL.
P o . ~ l e adveF~c envi~mnmental con~.*quences of [he project relate to: (al accidental enmaminatiml of mgioa. t l acquifezs and their water resou~L~S: (b) dislu_,bance of fannhmd in the coastal lands of the Gaza Stz/p; (c] ch ~,tges in level of the Deed Sea which v,, ~dd cause iuuudatio~ of land mound i~ sho~es at pr~=~nt used foe vari~,ms p ~ ' s and provide fog potential ~sotore developn-c~tt schemes: [d) changes in level stradficadna chcmi~IW of the Dead Sea water whk'h .x~dd affect the Arab Potash Coava- n)= (el the cont'epc of equitable utilize- finn of shm-ed natured tt'~onxees as applied to the potential w~ of the difference in level between tl~ Meth- tenauean and the Dead Sea. a limited o~soorc-e shared by Jordan and Israel.
l}eaXn~ w i lh Sertmw EavtrmmteuUd Pre~ems in Devdepiu8 Countries (Progn:~ ~-"qpen und~e ImFkmemUuion of GC" 13¢~:bic~.s t0 f4. tD~b and IGr2t~ 13C t I:.~'AdtL
lu z~]~i.on to t l~ above decmom, the main ce-spon~a~ (the Govern- meats of Federal Ret~blic o f G~nna- ny. free NetheJrland.~. mx,,,l Sweden) ha~e pledged substantial suppo~ fog an ex- p e r i n g n ~ period up to the twelt~h session of the Governing Council The Governments of the Ned~dands emd
0318-777XlB3;$3.QO ¢~ 1983 Elsevier Science Pobl ishers B.V. (Nor th -Ho l land)
Sweden have earmm'ked US $ I mil- lion each for the period 198~-1983. and the G ~ of I ~ Federal Republic o['Gm~mny has off'ere, l sup- porl in /~nd, in I ~ fona of c~msulb ants. ~ , Wahriug tad equipment. f~r the same period. They have also indicated their pt'e~nmccs :¢:sarding the way in which their Mmuld be utilized. S ~ ~ g a p~ference for an app~ach dcsigncd to deal with s e ~ u s e~vironmeuud problems in a long-term, ccmpt'e~.w sire mauner, while the Federal Re]pub- Lic of Germany and the Ncthm'lands have showu rate.st in a m ~ e approach, n : s p o n ~ g to v e ~ specific and manageable pmbleu~, f o l a t e d in terms of~d Aoc technical assistance z~quests Smm de,,'cl,.zping counmes that ueed immediate action.
ht m'der to t~_spond m ~ s e aeci- sions of the Governing Couture and
~ m accouat the views of their co-sp~asc~ UNEP has developed a ~ . ~ ~ to the develop- meat of the c l e m m ~ u s e m¢clm- m . The basic aim is ~. f ~ i l i u ~ the flow of addilimud resotm.'cs :c t~~¢cl the mo~'t serious euvimmneaml pro- blems of dewlopin~ ~ounUies. Ab dmugh d~e mechanism is complex, it can be descn'bed as a b m k ~ sy- stem, with UNEP. in exercise of izs catalytic and co-odinadn8 role. ac~/u~ as a mcd~a~0¢ between dcvelopin~ cmumles wishing m formulate
to deal wkh their serious e w . ~ problems, on~ae hand. and dm~r c o u m x ~ and imdm, d c m ~ l l i ng m mptpo~ these pin- g.amines, on the ud~r.
In order m deal with all d'tese ix._~nes m~d I ~ n g together the several a~v i d c s ,hal ar~ being caxTi~l oat simulmneousP/ in implemeuumon of tl~ ~bu~ ~ Omncd d~ci- sious, and thus mifinfiu 8 a clearing- house tTpe mechanism in UNEP, a special in-lmese msk-fov:e has been created within the s ~ a d a t whos~ memb¢~ ~ xespousii~e, in addiuon to their no~mal dudes, for co-mdiuat- ing all the clearinghouse a~ivixi~s, i the ~ ~ sul~isioa of the Executive Di~c~or,
dye Director circuh~cd a note to Gov- ernmen~ and member:, of ~ c UN z3's~m rcquestin8 their, ~v0s on ways and means for UNEP to ~ mcm~ approwiateLv d~ plannm'_,. ~ d ~mple- me.t~firm of envix~munc.'ttal activities in developing countries. By 3! lnnu- m7 1983, only five Govenu~e~Jz and cisht members of the UN system had responded(]}
The general reaction of Govern- merits has been favourable zo dm ch:u- ing-house app*'~"h_ Lri'q agencies have expressed daeit sapport ~ar and intcutiou to collabortat wit~ UNF..IP in the mechanism, while ,it Gte same lime tnking account ofmtv~, onmenml ~sues in d'~ir owu acdvid~.
ReBinding implc~, entafion of the cle..menls o! GC 10/4 ~ ~tcnsive c~n_q.d- radons have: taken plat. ~ with appmpei- ale UN organizadoos, m panlcular the re4,ioual cormnissions, and tha UNEP r~ional offv2es to ideal ly subject sreas and aclivides of impmxan.:,c to each re, 'on.
"'On the basis of ctmmlidatcd views, including mo~e of Govem- meu~. U N I ~ win proceed - d ~ o ~ h l . ' q F O ' r E l ~ and ~ awmlsblc so~v_-es - to identify..rod compile a ~ of relevam ~ q m ~ e i ius~ufion~."
The Execmiv'c Diz~ctor rmggesis d~e Go,~-uin 8 Council stmuld
d~c~clc on ~ wa3~ and means it considet, s feau~e for enabling UNEP to d~d mo~ a p p ~ a z e ~ widz smous envixonmenm Wo0~.ms or devetopteg *.'ouetries.
I m l m m .,* . W m l m d ~GC" I I ~ ' A d ~ b)
This rc lx~ stales ~ linle hzs hap~ned m Sout~ Af'zica te m ~tez~ally tt~ pictme c~nvcyed m the Couacil aZ the last sessmn. "'Far fwm showing a~y serious inc3tamio~ m cha~e izs racial policies in r,-~-pome m the caUs of the Uaired Nmioos and the intm~..~doml conmauni~, and mus v~ dace t~,~ " .~ ~ ,~'.~l hnr,~n impacts, the Somh Ah. : . . ~ovcnuncnz comimtes .'o persist in t~*~_.~ policies, nmst nom- ;~l)' It~ ~uxitonal separadoa of the A~icm~ aud ram-African potmalat~ons
gmupmss within lhe Afdc,,, p o p ~ - drm.'" The pzmem n:pmt pays q~ci,d aUention m dze bemtman ixu~. ~pe* chdly the n:~em g m n ~ 8 ~ so-cMl~ " ' i n d e X ' " to Ihe CisJwt. eund m mvitoam~tal implkmio~, h ua~s dm d~ sot/at aml emmzmic muidcms likely Io be faced by th~ people of the Ciskci -~ the nmionah of a so.cMicd ~'independem'" bamnsm~ will be e ~ mine fena~h~h~ alum the)" bare ~,'x.s m dze pa.~.
dthe I ~ 0 w m m Z Bzlpart [Item $~ GC I 14)
This ~epon is mcltzdk-d f,x the liz~z time as a separate item m the pwvi. sionai aBenda (in nesp.,m.qc to a ck~i- slog at the last scssiouL to uu'vr as a basis for subsmmive dicba]~ trod ~ t ioa by the Council. II deals with thtcc ~po:ifi¢ subj~t~ appra~-ed b~ mt Council at its tenth session: (,,) b~md- ous wastes. (bl avid nzil. md Ic~ r.a~rormze~ ~ af farms.
"Fat ~'*Wxt hitdz~b~ the ~ encmmu:~l aud ~ e m m ~ zo ~ ¢ them.
Harm, dm~ With reSmd m ,s,- Webk, m o~
hazmdous waute the zcpea com.-lydes that " a v o i d i ~ i m f m ~ , a~
vigilaace and me pmvis, b,m ~ n~m~m- t ~ y - w i t ~ facdizics fer depoud, p~f-
Raeva than s m m ~ off wire pmcen- ~ived mtions, cumu~s shoed mi0q~
l~qg ,whaz should be deee tu ova- come lhe risks of each pmlticuhu' waste m each p e n k - e ~ site. Th~ m i f ~ kad to mcsc ~ at u:a. ~ ~ posal on land would oftc~ I~
AcM rain With n~ard to me ptob/¢m ot" ~ !
rain, the rcptm c~achtdes tl~t ~ luzcsponseWGCl0/6, dz~Execu- ~ d of the d~te'rcnl ethno-culttaa] zegions of the worm vaz~ ~n lheir
ability to ~,ithst, md it. So the first thing to do is to work om how much each environment can rasist acid fail- out. This assessment would then form the basis for implementing pollution conb'ol measures to keep the deposi- titm to safe levels. However. as this in prm:tice is difficult to do, " a stepwise approach to controlling acidification ~eems irt be more fe~ible, both politi- cally and economically". In the near futullc the crucial i~sue is whether ca,retries are. ready to take the mea- sures needed to cut back emissions to an acceptable level. The Executive Director feels that the consensus ~ : h e d by ~he :Ministerial Conference on Acidifira~inn of the Environment (see Envirnr,:',~n~ai Policy and Law, Vol. ? (1~g2,' ] , page 73), was ex- tremely e]:cnli; '~ing about this.
The Environaw~tal Aspects of Ener- Farms
The mlx~ ,lazes that the 1970's bmugh¢ inzv focus the general realiza- lian that fossil fuel resources, especial- ly oil and natural gas. are finite in nature and [hat countries should ex- plan: the possibilities of using other ~um:e~ uf energy as well. establishing thereby an appropriate energy mix to n,~'~t their demands fi~r sustainable th:velnpmenl. Recently much attenlian has ~"¢n ~iven to the development of renewable stmrces of energy. An im- ptllTAl~l ~O~ial advantage of these ,,~u~c"s of energy is their potential for I~nnmting development in rural areas ,I the devdc, ping coumties.
Many ctgmzries are seeking to ~,~ve their energy prohlems by paying ,pccial attention to energy farms - atca~, of Land and water devoted eaclu- • ,ivcly to grov ing plants tbr energy. Fuel crops car. he fast growing trees, t.'onvcnlional clops, or water plants - ~ny planls, L~r n xlure t f plants, which arc nntxc valuable as fuel than as ~ything tilL'.
'l'i~ rel~tt t:onclude~ tha.' many qm.stions uzc still largely unanswered, :;~ri~ms stwial and institutional pro- hiltnls could be caused by cnnflicls
Environmental Policy and Law, 10 0fl83~
and how much to growing food. Pollu- tion and other environmental problems could result from the large-scale ener- gy farms - running into tens, even hundreds of thousands of hectares - that are being contemplated. There wilt have to be a careful early assess- ment to make sure that "green ener- gy" is develope.d in an appropriate and environmentally :,ound way.
in chaptor ILl of his annua~ report the Executive Director reports on cur- rent developments with raspect m the co-ordinating and catalytic rok of UN- I//P. Document 11/5 contains ff:e report of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination to the Council. (The Athninistrafive Committee on Conrdi- nation (ACC) which is chaired by the Secretary-General of the UN and whose members include the execuhve heads of the specialized agencies, as well as a number of senior officials of • e UN secretariat, is the highest organ res3onsihle for administrative co-orth- nat,.,o within the UN system.I
'n:e Executive Director convened a meeting of officials designated by the ex,:cufive heads of their organizations in September 1982 to prepare for the discussion on environment and the eunsideratiou of the present relXm by the Committee. The meeting was pre- ceded on 13 September by a meeting of the Inter-Agency Working Group on DeseVfification. The report is divid- ed into three sections - the minds in the development of 0.e environment programme, the system-wide medium- term environment programme (SWM- TEP), and the implementaliou of the Plan o[ Action to Combat Desertifica- don.
Trends
The Committee noted in particul, ar the new emphasis placed by the Gov- erning Counci~ on the need to enhance the capacity of developing countries to deal with their envirooraenlal pro- blems and concerns, as well as on
the similarity of many of their environ- mental problems. It refers to decision 10/26 of the last session, where the Governing Council biter alia request- ed the Executive Director to review the relevant an"angements in order to en- sure that envirunmunml considmutious are m o ~ fully taken into account in development pmgrammes and projects of UN organizafiom and multilateral and bilateral aid institutions. The Committee acknowledges the need to deal with regional environmental pro- hiatus on a specific basis and, whenev- er necessmy, to develop the ad hoc co- operation mechanisms which may be required between ti'¢ countries con- earned. It stresses the need to facilitate co-operation between countries of dif- ferent continents which share commo~t environmental problems (i.e.. mann- gercent of ~ p i c a l [orests or arid zo- nes). thus enhancing technical co- operation between developing cotm- U'ies. It considers that the regional comu~ssines of the UN are a suitable forum for pmm~ing environmental awareness of the political level within the regions, and for studying the i Lter. actions bel~veeo environment and de- vehipmont, in close co-operation with the regional structures of organs, or- ganizations and bodies of the UN system
The System-wide Medmm-term Eav~- co,lent Progronune
The Committee considers SWM- TEP a most useful framework for ensuring better co-operation and co- ordination among agencies involved in related environmental activities, and it is of the opinion that the further development of the system-wide pro- gramme should lake plac~ in the for- mulation of the biennial prognunme and budget documuRs of all orglmiza- tions concerned, including UNEP it- self. It states that this can be done through thematic joint lnugramming and through bilateral and multilateral coasul~uioes ~ n UNEP and mh- er o r ~ o u s . "Each orPsniTation, and UNEP itself, should provide clear descdpfious of the ac~vides they in-
m'er I~1, much [and, water and I'enil- fostering regional and horizontal co- tend to carry out. independendy or in ~n'v ~hould be given to energy fmxos, operatiou among countries in view of co-operation with LINEP and indicate
the ~s¢:m-ccs requirt..d from trxe Envi- mnmem Fund and from the budgets of the other organizations_" The Com- m~tt~ expressed the hope that these exercises will be conducted on the basis indicated, so as lead to more e l ~ d v e coordination of activities proposed by the system as a whole. Therefore, it considers that the pro- gramme budget type document s .hich LTNEP zs preparing should [uIly t'z:flect sys~-n~wia,- ioformadoo on proposed activities for all subject axcas of the enviromgnent pmgrmmae, including the above-mentioned indications ~'- resources. "Ibis wil l provide the Go,/- truing Co~mcil, as well as other imcr- ested a~anizadons, with a clear pro- seatadon of wbaz is inU:nded m 1~ done, by which o~ganiza6on and with wJ~t msoulocs,
Co-ordJ~oa and Follow-up of the Implememmiea oJC lhe Plan o~ Action To Com~e Deser~ficanon
(it lmplcmen~um m due global level The Com~ttne refcm:d to de~i-
sion IQ/I4J82, in which the Council urged a[; Governments, mgani~tions of the UN system, other mlelgovem- mental botJi~, ~on-eov~nmemal and a~' other orgmnzations to augment tlxeir ~qfqrts to p~vent and combat desc~ficaLion i~, ordm to accclm'at~ process i~, impl--zncnz~ the recom- mendations of the Plan of Action to Combat Dr~crtificafion for immediaxe i~iti,J acliou. ]i] ~ same d c c i ~ n , the Council ~rL.'ed all Gover~.neals to rc- .~pond fa,~omably and promptly to de Srcmtary-General's inqmries, bet the Cc~i l~cs notes that by mid-Augusl
" :? mdy I1 C-mvemme~ had re- pt~d Dxcs~ replies have beea *nken into acc~ant in Lira preparation of the Secretary-General's r .-p~ to the C-en- eJral Assembly m its ihi~y-seventh ,session.
The t c l ~ t also rcvie'*s zke steps taken to tcmo~,e ~c ¢'z~$~'~ds to rapid p~gn~s : the: ~m~'dgroenmZiun of d~ Plan oi A¢::o,, v,b~h had boc~ previously idm]~s~,:~ ~j the Commit- ~:e. Of these co-ma~s, some of w~ch an: yet to be n-mo~ed, the Committee co~ l le~ ~ "'lack of
maaw UN C~m4~ra~ ~ l~aum~zPcm~m~ ig[r/
pofiucaJ will m~J slmru~gc of lmmb constitute majm obSUcie~ I~ progress", and exprc~:d ~ "'dcelp concern o,'cr a disappoindng Fed ia- cttasingty wca~in8 stmmiun".
Programmm tllecm 7:GC t I,'Z~CI~ D/:GC IL7:GC |I,J_GC
Er~.ironmentul Luw
By d~.'~mo 10~17 of )t M ~
ed the F.xccutiw D e p ~ to c'oavc'~ a scco~l session of the ~ Hot- Working
Jar the El~xxanoa of a ~ Frsn~- work Cmvcnt/¢~ for tl~ P r o ~ m t of the Ozmw I =yet m Aut-,'nn 1982. mrd to ~ to the C-~¢mi~ Ceuci t izs eleventh .~-..~ioe a further t, epoa ,~ the work u/ the Wm'kh~ Cm~lp. T~u~ F~t part of the s..~.'oud sessioa oi ~le A~ Hoc Weda~ ~ (Ge~lm, 10-17 Dct.c~er 1982) comr~tmmd the f i ~ r~d secc~l ~admp of d¢ d r ~ conw.mioa. "l'h¢ sessk,~ wd] n ~ m ~ ia Geneva from 12m2l ~ i q ~ , m~l
Initial actio'~ t.,.o the following top- ics hts been o," will he. subject to the approval of the Governing Council, dev.lt with as Far:, of the activities for the implememation of the relevant decisions: protection of the ozone lay- er (decision 10/171; mariue pollution from land-based sources; transport, handlm;j and disposal of toxic and dangerc.as wastes and international trade in potentially harmful chemicals Idecision 10/24); legal end administra- live m~:chanisms for the prevention and redress of poilu,ion damage (deci- sion 11~/221, Members of the UNEP secretmist and consultants are prepar- ing the relevant documents for the coming meetings on these subjects
Initial action on environmental im- pact assessment, namely the develop- meat of model legislation or guidelines which could assist Governments to make provision in national legislation or regional ag.:.'ements for environ- mental impact a.~,sessment and the dis- sermnation and public use of informa- tion thereon, will begin in 1993. as this action would involve major sub- st~ntive work including the convening o r ,,d hot. expert group memings.
'nilial actiun on the trsnspon, han- dling and disposal of toxic and danger- ous WaSlC~ .rod intemslinual trade in potentially hknnful chemicals, interna- tional co-operation in environmental enmrgeocies, soil conservation and comt~l zone management will he dis-
Environmental Policy and Law, 10 f ? ~ )
cussed al informal inter-agency cow suhations in Febroau,' 1983.
Initial action on trarabounda.~j air pollution and legal and administrative mechanisms will be discussed at infor- mal inter-agency consultations in June 1983.
Initial acdon on the promotion of rivers and other inland waters against pollution has already been taken; the secretariat has drawn the attention of the United Nations Secretariat to the action taken by the Council, suggest- ing that the question of non-unviga- fiounl uses of imematiunal woW, r- courses be given higher priority among the subjects trna~d by the intematinnal Law Coramission.
The Governing Council may tt, ish to rake note of the above actions.
By its decision 10/22, the Govern- ing Council decided, within the frame- work of the action to he initiated as follow-up to the Ad Hoc Meeting of Senior Government Officials Expert in EnvironmenLal Law, to consider ',he mandate, Future work programme and composition of the Working Group of Experts on Environmental Law at its eleventh session.
Within that h'arcework, the Gm,-- eming Council may wish to maintain the Working Group of Experts on Environmental Law, as pmsendy com- posed, as a body For dealing with general topics in the field of environ- mental taw (e.g. liability and compen- satiun) requiring long-term work, with od hoc working groups of experts on specialized subject areas, e.g. ozone, wastes and chemicals, being main- tained or established as necessary.
A report of the Executive Ducctor on inrernatinnal conventions and protocols in the field of the environ- ment is contained in 11!9.
Associated with this report will be a further supplement (Inf. 5/Suppl. 6) to the compendium uf such convert- lions and protoco!; submitted to the Council at its hfth session. These reports represent the Executive Direc- tor's respunse to the Council request, inter alia, that they be kept infonmed annually of progress made in securing adherence tO a~recmcnts Coocerohlg the environment.
Co-ordinatlon and Fultow-ap of the Plan of Acl~n to Combat Desertifi- ~Jfiou tltem 8: Ud= IIl]O)
The report recounts b,4e[ly the prt~--~,s achieved in this area since the last ~ssion of the C~:-~ming Council. O'hc report un the implcme.~tatiun of the Plan in the Sodano-Sabefian re- ginn, will appear as an addundum to this rq~nt.)
It concludes that the year has passed with almost nothing to indicate a reversal in the detenerating fronds leading m more desextificstion and more loss of cropland and consequent- ly less food for man and animals. There are grounds For serious concern in ',l?at developing countries affected by dcsemfication still continue to ac- cord low priority to desertification in their development plans and in their bilateral development assistance nego- tiatioes - "'available sohrfioos cannot be applied to problems which are not presenged For sohidun".
The C~ncral Assembly has once again reiterated its call ro all affected countries to heed its repeated appeala, and the report Feels it to be opportune for the Governing Council - the body entx'usted with the follow-up and coor- dination of the implementation of the Plan o[ Action - to consider adopting some rigorous decisions, "including a stern warning to all those concerned to take action befurn it is mo late". The report places a special duty on the coming st;asian of the Governing Council, meeting only one year beforn the end o[ the seven-year perfud set by the UN Conference on Desertificatinn i-or implementation of the immediate action to elaborate further meusurcs which it considers to be effective means of accelerating progress in im- plementing the recommendations of the Plan For immediate intitial action.
The Environment Fund (Item 9)
UNEP derives its fiamme from the UN Regtd~ Budget; the Fund of the United Na'ions Envimnmunt Pro- gramme (the Environment Fund); the Revolving Fund (Information): [YqEP
E n v i r o n m e n t a l Po l i cy a n d Law, 10(1.983)
T, ABLE I Esl~lm~¢d ~ of ~e rcso~ncs utvailabic in 1~82 (~ m~l~as el d~n) . CO: Cmv~£e~ cm're~3,: NCC: Not~'~.,avenJble c-,.n~'?
CC ~ CC T~a~
p~lance of F-m~ .-maiml from 1981 , "-dud=g uaptid p]cdSc 19T8-1981) I I . [ ] ~. 'l 2~..57
Co~ nlbe~ons fix 1982- ~ id by 31 Decemher 1982 24.73 -Lgl 28.74 Coa~n'bm~ms pledges fair t 982 but [t~t paid hy 3 t
L982 0.53 0.04 0.67 incnme (aft~..r pt'~idmg r e s ~ 5.¢
choruses in fisancial tv.ser~e) 2.28 10.~) 1.40
To~I resoerccs avail~thk 39.50 15.18 35.]8
Generul Trust Funds; special purpos~ ,~"ast f'~DdS;, and COUlltcIp~..~ concrinu- tiens_ The following papers, oonccrn- ing provisional a~,:ncla items 9a, b, c, and d, arc sununan~d b.:low: devel- opment and utUization of the Fund's
in 1982 (11/12); the m v o l - ing fund (11/12 Add . I ) ; detags o f inoomc and expenditure in respect of each u'ust or otber fund (11113); tbe status of implementation as of 31
December 1982 of the approved pro-
gramme and p in .amine support costs For 1982-1983 (Il l15).
Resources Available 1982
The resources avai lable m the En- v i ronm=nt Fund 1982 were estimated on 31 December 1982 before the into rim accounts for the year were fina- liz=d. The estimated figures, which arc only tentat ive, am shown in Tat,4e I.
This estimated total of $ 55.38 million is some $ 2 million lower than in 1981, due mainly to a f~l in the dollar value of contributions.
1982 was the secood year in suc- cession for v, hich there was a decline in the value of total contributions.
Discounted at a 10 pement inflation ~te per ann:~m, the 1982 conU'ibutioas
"~spoad app~nximatcly to $ 21 mil- b ;n 1978 values.
I. The Second Year of ~he Biemiium 1 ~82-1983 A. Outlook for resources in 1983
By 31 December 1982, 83 coun- u'i.es had made firm pledges to contrib- ute amounts totalling $ 29_42 million to the Environment Fond for 1982,
although only fo~ty.-ninr of those counlries had milch: firm pledges by that dam to conRibute h 1983. the amounts pledged for [hat year totatlmg $12.84 milliun. The Executive Direc- tor's tentative es~mte of total m- anm'~--es avai lable to the F.md in [983 is shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2 Esfinm~ of total resotuees available in 1983 (m milhons of do]bu~},
117
ments and the fumls available fca new
projects, sec TaMe 4.
II. Accompl~kment of 1982-198J Programme
The level o f pmglmm~ accom- plishment compared with "the pro- gramme approved for tlu: |9if2-|983 bicunium ~ a whole, taking into a~- count cxpcndiimcs incurred in 1982 ~md pro~ected for 1983, is foreseen as shown in Table 5.
If this level of exl~ndilure is real- ized, it will mean that unly 62 peJ cent of the ovendl appmeed proMmnme and only 57 per eem of the approved bieunium programme o f Fund ztq,vi.
tics v ~ be accor,~pLished.
TABLE 3 Phms for ,h~ 19~3 Ftmd ptu~mlmc fm mill i l l i l of d l l ~ L
CC NC~ Tot~ CC NCC Tet~
Pm~'tmme ted ina- F.f~ma~l level of F~d gnm~e ~ o t ~ t'e,x, lICe - II,[I]
a s~ l l~ .u~ [9~3 11.52 L0.88 22.40 Fundpmgrm~me ~dmatcd cunmbufio~ l i l iv i l i l~ mid
in 1983 26.Q0 4.00 30.00 ~ acri~lies 2R.75 IO.l a .]8.}9 Ozhe~ in~me- 148 (0.681 0.80 Less muJerspcmJinl un~r ToI~ 39.00 L4 20 53_2.0 mc precc~n8 fine (5.75) 12 Ct3) C,' 78)
the financial r~ctwc in acco~cc 't.zrh Gee- I]tl=acc m he catrind eming Cnenc~ decision 1~'27. pmat. 24. foewtnl to 1984 5.Lq 5.05 I i.O~
Taking all factors into account, the Executive Di~ctor believes that he would be justified in expecting an increase in the Level of cuntrib,,aions in 198J. and that a reasonable target fo r ~ -.. ar might be $ 33 million. How-
e~ "r bc .~ecognizesthal a considerable num~r of uncertainties sunmund the outlook ~or con~bufions, paniculady when measured in terms or-US dollars, ag.d so, ~or the th~ac be.ing, he proposes to cont inue to plan on the basis o f a figure of $ 30 million,
R. The use (y. e soi, rc es in 1983
On the basis o f ,:i~ tbmgo ing esti- mate of rcscttrccs, the Exacufivc Di- rc,:tor is at pzcsunt planning a Fund programme for 1983 as shown in Table 3, For the 1983 project commit-
TABLE 4 1q83 prujr~ ELmmmmeml tad hm~ iv~mbt f,x nee, pa~e~ (as al 31 December l t l l ; i m~
CC .NCC "Io~l
1983 c ommn retails mpl~'uvcd" I] .2N 4 ¶5 2153
1982 coili.~ to I, . ,ph.~ Io 19B3' ~.60 I.-10 590
Avldlablc for m:kfiilonal rundJn 8 of caisziul llcilivili~ uf Jar new pro/cc~ 6.87 4.33 tl.~l.l
Toad 28.'J5 10.18 3&q?,
• licluding Fund ~ i~ien~ • ]~ pn~, i~,i oil' dl commili~li W ~ rephesed from ill2 will he c~d~l ~ 19114.
Ill The Biennium 1984-1985 A. The outlook for resources in 1984-1985
By decision 10/27, paragraph 23, the Executive Dw:ctOr was requested "'1o prepare, for "onsideraliun by the Governing Council at its eleventh ses- sion, a Fund programme ['or 1984--1985 ba.~cd on total contribu- tions in those t ' ~ years of $85 mil- lion". Aecor~- : ty , taking into ac- couat the proj~, ed balance of the Fund Io be ca=*~=r! t'orward from 1983 to 1984, thc Ex.=utive Director is planning a programme for the next n~dium-term Feriod based on the m- sources shown in Table 6.
TABLE 6 E~immed reso~ces for the p~iod 1984-1985 (in millions of dollars).
The difficulty at present facing the Es~utivc Director is that he has re- ceived virtually no pledges of contri- butions for the 1984--1985 biennium: as at 31 December L982, pledges of cunLnbutions for both 1984 and 1985 together entail, d $ 526,G00. Thus no firm basis t'or planning a programme exists and the Eaecutive Dit'~tor must cuntiane to ~ork on the guideline of $ 85 millima given to him by the Governing Council. Accordingly, he appeals to Governments in the
strongest terms to pledge contributions to the Environment Fund for 1984--1985 as quickly as possible ued if, for co.~ stitutional masons, it is not possible to make a finn pledge imme- diately, to provide him with at least an indicative, non-binding, figure of con- tributions upon which forward pLan- niog for 1984--1985 can I:m based. As ah'andy explained above, receipt of
fh'm pledges to contribute in 1984 is as important for the 1983 programme as for that of 1984.
B. The use of ruxources 19~4-19~5
If the pattern of resources suggest- ed in paragraph 12 materializes, the Fund programme for the biennium might be as iudicated in Table 7.
TABLE 7 Plans for the 1984-1985 Fund progntmme (in millions or dol- Im).
CC NCC Total
P l r o ~ e and pm- gramme s~ppmt cosLs 26.02 - 26.02'
Fund ptogramn~ activities ~.00 14.00 ?0.00
Fund programme rer, crve activities 2.00 - 2.nO
Less uudmpeudin 8 under the pr=c~ling two lines 15.BO) (1.401 t7.20)
• The I~l~mrr, e and pmgx'mumc support cos= budget fur 1884..-1985 wes still under ptepara- tim Lt the time this dceumunt was prepared end this figuse must mcco~li~gly be regarded Im tentative.
Environmental Policy and Law, 10 (1983]
C. Programme and programme support cosrs 1884-1985
The Governing Cmncil is to con- sider the programme and prugranm~ support costs budget under agenda item 10, although it must foe borne in mind that it is a budget financed from the Fund and has a first charge on it.
D. Fired programme acZivities 1984-1985
The Executive Directm- has p m- par~ a pmgramme budget for Fund programme act/~des iu 1984--1985 (GC 1JI7) costed at $ 70 million, in accordance with the programme pro- posed in paragraph 14. The s~mmre of the programme budget follows the general design of the system-wide medium-term environment pro- gramme, but is also aims to seduce the number of small budge[ lines. Them am thus 10 main budget lines instead of the 11 in the 1982-1983 approved medium-term plan.
If the Govmning Council approves the programme budget for 1984--1985 as presented, it will then be invited to approve the appomunmcnt of thn pro- posed $ 70 million budget among the IO new budget Lines (sc~ Table 8 below).
TABLE 8 Pm~ q~poninnmcm for Fuad lxogn'mmu .L-~vi6es 1984-t995.
E. Use of nun-convertible curren- cies in the Fut~d prngramree
As will he seen from Table 7 above, the projected programme of Fund acdvidas in 1984-1985 will in- valve a further draw down of non- convrJ~ib]e currency balances. The Executive Director believes that it is possible to do this within the pro- ~ e budget he has prepared, al- though he proposes that this part of the pmgrmnmc should bc nxlircctcd ~ he suggested lo the Governing Council at its tenth session "'placing a gmater emphasis on assessment and manage- ment activities, especially outside the contributing countries". However, he proposes to continue to make use of these cunmzcies For support activities, particularly training, where advantage ~" tn condnuc to be taken of training taci]ities available in cona~rits that conffibnte in their national currencies. At the ssrac time, he is proposing a follow-up stage in ~'hSeh expeds from the U-~ning institutions ~,: the c,)un- tries concerned will be sent to develop- ing countries to suI~'rvise the applica- tion of their tcchniqons and to establish national pmgntmmes there. Equip- ment from the Iz.alnmg institutions will also be scat to the developing coun- Izies as and when requLred. It is then hoped, as a third stage, to develop inter-counlry progremmes in these same am:as within the developing world.
IV_ Non-Converlible Currency _Pro- groplnle
NCC project commitments tot,'d- ling the equivalent of $ 4.32 milli, m were approved in 1982. These com- miUnents t'~ated m the years 1982-1985.
The mtel o[ project commitments in non.convertible cun~ncias was low- er in 1982 ($ 6.3 million) them it had been in 1981 ($ 7.37 rail!ion). This was because during 1982 discns!~ions were being held with the main contrib- utors in these cung'ncies in the light of the Executive Director's conclusions in his report to thc Governing Council in ~ t GC 10110/Add_ I at~d of
th~ Council's request to the Executive Director in decision 10/27, paragraph 9, to make the most '.:ffective use of all currencies, takin t into account the need for balanced project selectinn and bearing in mind ~hc conciusions con- taincd in his rei,erL Only live new NCC projecr.s ,N.,re approved in 1982 cnmparod with :ca in 1981, but a further seven ne,',.,ly approved projects contained NCC com~nenls_ In all, them were 28 active NCC projects in 1982 and a further 29 projects with NCC components. Of the five new NCC projects approved, only two were implemented with o ~ UN or- ganizatiooo as co-operating agencies and attempts to persuade UN organiza- tions to undertake the role of co- operating agency without involving the Fanvimnmem Fund Le additional costs were not particularly socenssf~l.
The total project commitments m NCC's. including projects undcrtakun mainly in ~ese currertcies (NCC projects] and projects undcs~aken mr.~,fly in convertible currency with some NCC components (partial NCC activities) were as at 31 December 1982, as shown in Table 9
Although the le,'el of nuw commit- ments incurred in NCCs for all yeses and the mlal .,:vet of commitments in NCCs in 1982 were lower than in 1981, the amount of these cuncncies used continued to exceed the unmtml of new conmbudons made ia them. New contributions totalled the cqedva- lent u[ $ 4.06 million in 1982 while ,! ;,.'~,~]nt oflqCCs used is expected 1o ~: J?~mximateIy $6 million, ln- dc~l, :~nlc holdings of NCCs have t~en effe~:tiw-ly ~ up and are now held in stfflicient amounts to finance new ectivitic~ Bank balances in these currencies declined from the eqoiva- lenl of $ 12.72 ira]lion at the cad of
1981 to $ 9.81 mitlion at the end of 1982.
NCC ba]anccl have now beccz re- duced from the peak revel of $16.79 million in December 1979 to $ 9.BI million at the end of Iq82.
V. The Rrvah, i:eg Fund fleJ~rma- r~on)
By decision 10/27, paragraph 16, the Governing Council requested Ihe EXecutive Dit~cto: m repot1 tO |t el ill eleventh session on problen~ ¢ncqml~ tend m the administration of the Re- volving Fund (inromtation).
The E,x¢cutive D~re¢¢oo p~post'g that the Rev~vin8 Fud t~ .qzk~ ished [w,.n the Envhm~nem ~und peu- gramme reserve up to a Iced of $ 2QO,000 on I Jmzua~ 1984. [ ]
