The Commission on Sustainable Development - 2004

Commission on Sustainable Development CSD-12, New York, United States, 14 - 30 April 2004

The twelfth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-12) reviewed and evaluated progress made in implementing sustainable development commitments set by the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002, and focused on identifying obstacles and constraints. The main themes of this CSD-12 Review Session were water, sanitation and human settlements.

WWF together with other international development and environment NGOs, called on the governments at CSD-12 to review and correct the inadequacies relating to the funding and delivery of integrated water resources management and water supply and sanitation services.

The UN sub-committee, the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) met in New York from 14–30 April 2004 to evaluate progress on commitments made at the 1992 Rio Summit and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. The two focus areas for this session dealt with 'Water, Health and Human Settlements' and progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goals. Ministers and officials from over 200 countries attended the session.

Background: The global water crisis
Over one billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. Each year, 250 million cases of water-related diseases lead to over 2 million deaths. Around the world, poor communities consistently identify the provision of reliable and safe water as one of their leading priorities.

If current consumption patterns continue, nearly three-quarters of the world’s accessible freshwater will be utilised by 2025 and half the world's population will live in water-stressed river basins.

In developing countries an estimated 90% of wastewater is discharged without treatment into rivers and streams. This contamination denies approximately 3.3 billion people access to clean water. Polluted water contributes to the death of average 15 million children every year.

This increasingly critical situation was recognised in the UN Millennium Development Goals' target to reduce the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by half by 2015. An initial step was taken with the commitment at the WSSD to develop integrated water resource management and water efficiency plans by 2005. To date, the international community is not on course to meet these targets.