United Nations

NEW YORK, 11 August (UN Headquarters) – The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development will review salient trends and issues in energy development and use for sustainable development during its second session at Headquarters, which will be held from 14 to 25 August.

 Topics to be discussed include energy and the residential sector; renewable sources of energy, with special emphasis on solar energy; new financial mechanisms and economic instruments to speed up investment in sustainable energy development; promising strategies and initiatives to accelerate the development and implementation of sustainable energy technologies; and coordination of energy activities within the United Nations system.

 The Committee will also take up key issues relating to the integrated planning and management of land use, and to the impact of the quantity and quality of shared waters of riparian States on ecosystems and freshwater development, use and protection.  In addition, the Committee will consider the strengthening and coordination of United Nations activities in the field of water resources.

 Also on the agenda for the two-week session is a review of the Secretary-General's reports prepared for the eighth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development dealing with issues of integrated planning and management of land and water resources.  The Committee may also consider a contribution to the ninth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development.  Other issues are the follow-up to its first session; the outcome of the seventh and eighth sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development; implications of the world energy assessment report for sustainable energy policy development; and the multi-purpose use of hydro resources.

Prior to adopting its provisional agenda, the Committee is expected to elect officers for the second session.  The officers of the first session were: Christian M. Katsande (Zimbabwe), Chairman; Wilhelmus Turkenburg (Netherlands) and John Michael Matuszak (United States), Vice-Chairmen.  Wafik Meshref (Egypt) and Owen MacDonald Kankhlungo (Malawi) served as Rapporteurs.

The 24-member Committee was created through Economic and Social Council resolution 1998/46 of 31 July 1998, annex I, which merged the Committee on New and Renewable Sources of Energy and on Energy for Development and the Committee on Natural Resources.

The Committee’s other members are:  Adam Edow Adawa (Kenya); Carlos Alberto Aguilar Molina (El Salvador); Hernan Bravo Trejos (Costa Rica); Dmytro Victorovych Derogan (Ukraine); Bernard Devin (France); Malin Falkenmark (Sweden); Siripong Hungspreung (Thailand); Jon Ingimarsson (Iceland); Ahmad Kahrobaian (Iran); Badr Kasme (Syria); Markku Juhani Makela (Finland); Messaoud Moumaout (Algeria); Sergey Natalchuk (Russian Federation); Ainun Nishat (Bangladesh); Neculai Pavlovschi (Romania); Carlos Augusto Saldivar (Paraguay); Eddy Kofi Smith (Ghana); Raymond Marcio Wright (Jamaica); and Zhang Guocheng (China).