UN REFORM: CSD NOW FOCUSED ON ACCESS TO ENERGY -

UNCLAS PARIS 005073 SIPDIS DEPT FOR IO/T, OES/PCI, EUR/WE, ROME FOR FODAG, NAIROBI FOR PERMREP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ECON EAID AORC FR UN SUBJECT: UN REFORM: CSD NOW FOCUSED ON ACCESS TO ENERGY - FRENCH INTERIM REPLY TO U.S. POINTS REF: STATE 114906 ¶1. In June, Embassy provided sustainable development points contained para 10 reftel to Marc Trouyet, an officer in the United Nations and International Organization Division of the French Foreign Ministry, for information or comment. He recently provided an informal, interim note to the Embassy (see para two). He also indicated he hoped to be in a position to provide additional views particularly about his government's position going into the next CSD cycle, after upcoming inter-agency discussions. ¶2. Trouyet noted that the French government "generally" agrees with the U.S. position that the results of the Commission on Sustainable Development should translate themselves concretely into "improvements on the ground" and should not lead to negotiation of yet more objectives. That is not to say that certain political options might not still be required to be negotiated to assist implementation of Johannesburg goals. He cited as an example the lifting of obstacles which hinder the mobilization of personnel or capital. On the other hand, the French would wish that the CSD continue to serve as a place of dialogue between all the interested parties and governments on the objectives of sustainable development. In this regard, the French government hopes that the CSD would remain the place for articulating, forming up, and realizing public/private partnerships. The French government does not wish to see the CSD reduced to a marketplace of partnerships ("une foire aux partenariats"),nor serve as a beauty pageant ("un concours") for projects. STAPLETON