The 1st Meeting of the 3rd Phase of CCICED
Explanation of Drafting of and Amendment to Terms of Reference of CCICED Phase III and Rules of Procedures
In order to fit in the new development and requirement of CCICED Phase III, in consultation with the key donors such as Canada, Germany and Japan as well as the relevant ministries and some Council members and co-chairs of Task Forces, and based on the documents of the previous phases of CCICED, the Secretariat has drafted the Terms of Reference of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (hereinafter referred to as TOR), and the Rules of Procedures of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (hereinafter referred to as ROP). The TOR has been revised many times and was submitted to the State Council in June 2001, and has been ratified by the State Council in principle. In accordance with the instructions of the Bureau of the Council, the Secretariat has drafted the Reform Program, which was submitted to the State Council on February 7,2002, with approval. The key elements of the Reform Program has been integrated into the TOR and POP. These two key documents are provided to the Council Meeting for review. The brief explanations on these two documents are as follows:
1. TOR
The TOR was drafted based on the TORs of the previous two phases of the Council. The basic contents of the background, mandate and purposes of the Council in the previous documents remain in the new one. In the meantime, the articles on the matters of organization, procedures and financial arrangement remain in the new document, with amendments to some words.
The experiences of the Council in the previous two phases indicate that the Council used to pay attention to the researches conducted by Working Groups and Task Forces, with significant achievements. In the past decade, the Council has enhanced both the policy demonstration and project demonstration, with more and more practical and operation results made. However, due to the huge number of Council members (almost 60 ones) and Working Groups reporting to the Council at the Annual General Meeting (at least eight ones), there is little time for the Council members to have discussions.
The Working Groups have been working independently for a long time, with little coordination in their research and few comprehensive studies being conducted. Some of the Recommendations are not focusing on key issues, which is not easy to be summarized and hard to attract the attention of the top decision-makers and decision- making departments. In addition, the feedback mechanism of the study and adoption the Recommendations is not so ideal, and it is not so easy to adjust the experts of the Working Groups. Therefore, relevant amendments have been made as follows:
A. The total number of the Council members is about 40, with approximately equally numbers for both the Chinese and international members;
B. The researches will mainly depending on Task Forces. The entire duration of the TFs will not exceed 24 months, thus increasing the flexibility and focuses of the researches on the key and urgent issues;
C. The capacity building of the Secretariat will be enhanced, and measures will be taken to strengthen the integrated researches and study on the TFs and the themes of the AGM;
D. Multi-channels of disseminating the Recommendations will be set up, including the non-governmental disseminating channels so as to promote the roles and effectiveness of the Recommendations;
E. To adopt the recommendations of some independent research institutes in an open way.
2. ROP
The ROP was adopted at the first meeting of the CCICED Phase I in April 1992, which was amended in October 1997 at the first meeting of CCICED Phase II. The amendment to the ROP in Phase III was based on the ROP of the amended ROP in Phase II. The principle for the amendment is to integrate the reform content into it so as to make it more practical and operational. In the amendment, the first, second, fourteenth and seventeenth sections remain in the new one, with revision on some words. The major amendment mainly ranges from the third section to thirteenth section, with some relevant new articles and amendments and supplementary contents. The key amendments mainly focus on the Bureau, Council members, Lead Experts, the Secretariat, Task Forces and Financial Issues. The key amended and supplementary contents are as follows:
A. There will be one new international vice-chair in the Bureau. Two executive vice-chairs will be designated in the Bureau, responsible for the decision-making and daily routine administration of CCICED. The Canadian Project Coordinator is a member of the Bureau;
B. The number of the members is about 40 ones;
C. One section on the Lead Experts is added;
D. The name of the supportive agency to CCICED set up by CIDA is the Secretariat Canadian Office (hereinafter referred to as Canadian Office);
E. Task Forces will be set up in an on-going process according to the requirements. The conditions and requirements for setting up TFs are identified;
F. CCICED will set up a Core Funding Mechanism. The principles for handling the Core Funds are identified.
