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