The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) opened its 61st session on 12 September 2006 at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States. One of the 154 items to be considered concerns sustainable development and covers implementation of UN environmental conventions, containing a report by the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity on the ongoing work regarding the Convention, including the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. See http://www.un.org/ga/61/issues/sustdev.shtml (item 53 (f), report available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information. The General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the UN. It meets in regular session each year from September to December, and thereafter as required.

06/10/2006