UNITED NATIONS		E
	Economic and Social Council     Food and Agriculture Organization	Distr. GENERAL FO: EFC/00/5 2 October 2000 Original: ENGLISH

Activities of other principal Subsidiary Bodies of ECE relevant to the Timber Committee

(Item 9 (b) of the Provisional Agenda)

Secretariat Note

Introduction

1. One of the Committee's strengths is that it is interested in developing partnerships with other organizations, and developing cross sectoral linkages, notably benefiting from ECE's cross sectoral nature. This document intends to inform the Committee very briefly of relevant activities and cooperation with other ECE Principal Subsidiary Bodies (PSBs). The Committee is invited to review this information, comment on it, and take it into account when determining its programme of work.

Trade and environment issues

2. Whatever action is decided on under trade and environment issues of the forest and forest products sector, it will be carried out in close cooperation with the ECE Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development and the Committee on Environmental Policies.

Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development

3. Under the auspices of the Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development the project on capacity building to improve trade finance and investment prospects for the Russian timber sector is being carried out. This project is being implemented using extra-budgetary funds. The Timber Section is advising the project coordinator on timber issues.

ECE Committee on Sustainable Energy

4. The Committee on Sustainable Energy will contribute a regional perspective to the preparations and lead-up to the annual session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in 2001, which will be devoted to energy-related environmental issues (CSD-9). At its session in November 1999, the Committee agreed to proceed with:

� a High-Level Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Sustainable Energy in a Competitive Market: Forging Partnerships, to be held in conjunction with the tenth session of the Committee in September 2000;

� preparations for a declaration and/or statement and recommendations by ECE member States on sustainable energy development, to be submitted to CSD-9 as an ECE contribution;

� establishment of an Intergovernmental Task Force, with sub-regional representation, to guide the work on this issue, which would be conducted between the ninth and tenth sessions of the Committee.

5. The Timber Committee secretariat will be approached for input (data, comment, contacts etc.) in the field of wood energy, where it has considerable experience, in the outlook studies and in servicing the teams of specialists on wood energy and on recycling, energy and market interactions.

Economic Analysis

6. The Economic Survey of Europe, prepared by the ECE Economic Analysis Division, constitutes an important input to the introductory economic chapter of the Annual Forest Products Market Review.

Environment

Implementation of Environmental Programme for Europe

7. The Third Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" (Sofia 1995) endorsed the Environmental Programme for Europe (EPE) and entrusted the Committee on Environmental Policy to oversee this process, and report on its implementation. The Committee, in cooperation with the European Environment Agency (EEA), will assess the implementation of EPE from the policy point of view. A report on progress in the implementation of the Programme was submitted to the fourth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe", �rhus (Denmark), June 1998. The Committee may ask contributions from other ECE PSBs, including the Timber Committee. The EEA is a partner for TBFRA 2000. In the context of the pan-European process the secretariat contributed to the action programme for the conservation of forest biodiversity approved by the forest ministers in Lisbon and the environmental ministers in �rhus.

Environmental performance reviews

8. The Committee on Environmental Policy reviews the environmental performance of ECE member countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, on how they meet domestic environmental policy objectives and relevant international commitments. The environmental performance reviews also support the Environmental Programme for Europe and monitor national progress in the implementation of Agenda 21. The Timber Section advises the Environment and Human Settlements Division on forestry and timber aspects of these reviews.

Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (UN/ECE)

9. The Convention's international cooperative programme on the assessment and monitoring of air pollution effects on forests collects comprehensive and comparable information on changes in forests under actual environmental conditions (in particular air pollution, as well as other stresses) with a view to determining cause-effect relationships. National and transnational surveys are carried out in cooperation with the European Commission using harmonized methodology. The task force programme is led by Germany and the Hamburg Federal Research Centre for Forestry and Forest Products. This EU/ICP programme provided and analysed data on forest condition for TBFRA 2000. A new multi-effect, multi-pollutant protocol was signed and adopted in December 1999.

Environmental data base development and dissemination

10. An environmental database is under development in the ECE Environment and Human Settlements Division. It will have a forestry and timber component to which the Timber Section will contribute.

Human Settlements

Development of human settlements statistics

11. Together with the Conference of European Statisticians, the Committee on Human Settlements develops and improves international human settlements statistics, including data on sawnwood which are published in the Bulletin of Housing and Building Statistics for Europe and North America. The latest issue of the Bulletin was published in July 2000 The possibility for setting up an ECE database on housing indicators is being considered.