U.S.-EU HIGH LEVEL DIALOGUE ON CLIMATE CHANGE,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HELSINKI 001137

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
DOE FOR U/S GARMAN AND SEULE
WHITE HOUSE FOR CEQ/JCONNAUGHTON AND DBANKS
EPA FOR RMEYERS AND GWAXMONSKY
STATE PASS TO G/CCONNORS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV ENRG TRGY TSPL ELTN EUN EPET FI
SUBJECT: U.S.-EU HIGH LEVEL DIALOGUE ON CLIMATE CHANGE,
CLEAN ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN HELSINKI


--------------
Summary
--------------


1. At the first-ever High Level Dialogue on Climate Change,
Clean Energy and Sustainable Development (HLD) October 24-25
in Helsinki, the U.S. and EU agreed to strengthen bilateral
efforts in areas including clean coal, carbon sequestration,
energy efficiency, renewables, methane recovery, and
biofuels. There was reaffirmation that the U.S. and EU
share common objectives of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, improving the global environment, enhancing
energy security, and cutting air pollution and that the two
sides are already working together in a number of fora. The
High Level Dialogue was established at the EU-U.S. Summit in
Vienna in June, with the objective of building on existing
transatlantic initiatives and further advancing the 2005 G8
Gleneagles Plan of Action for Climate Change, Clean Energy
and Sustainable Development. In Helsinki, U.S. Delegation
Chair Under Secretary Dobriansky expressed satisfaction with
the give-and-take during this two-day dialogue. At the
closing press conference, she announced that the U.S. would
host the next HLD meeting in 2007. German representatives
stated that as President of the European Commission and head
of the G-8 in 2007, Germany will emphasize energy efficiency
and follow up on other topics from the current HLD agenda.
German Head of Delegation said strongly that the next 2007
HLD should take place in the U.S. in May under German
leadership. Media coverage reflected the positive tone of
the dialogue. Text of an agreed joint press statement is at
para 10.

Principal Participants


2. U.S.:
U/S Paula Dobriansky, Department of State
Chairman James Connaughton, White House Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ)
Under Secretary David Garman, Department of Energy (DOE)
Associate Assistant Administrator Robert Meyers,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Ambassador Marilyn Ware, U.S. Embassy Helsinki
Ambassador Boyden Gray, USEU

Finland:
Minister Jan-Erik Enestam, Ministry of the Environment
Minister Mauri Pekkarinen, Ministry of Trade and Industry,

EU Commission:
Director General Mogens Peter Carl, DG Environment
Deputy Director General Fabrizio Barbaso, DG Transport and
Energy

Germany:
State Secretary Matthias Machnig, Ministry of Environment
Director General Urban Rid, Ministry of Environment

--------------
Themes and Highlights
--------------


3. During two half-days of intensive working sessions,
delegations from the U.S., Finland, the European Commission
and Germany covered a broad array of topics related to
climate change, clean energy and sustainable development.
Reflecting an approach of "a little bit for everybody,"
discussion sessions included on-going U.S.-EU cooperation;
greenhouse gas; carbon capture and storage; cleaner energy,
including renewable energy and clean diesel; cleaner
vehicles; and biodiversity. The talks demonstrated that the
U.S. and EU have far more in common than we have differences
on a broad range of issues. The dialogue was thorough,
technical, and amicable throughout. What follows are
highlights of selected HLD themes. We have also noted
certain action and follow-up items for the coming weeks and
months.

--------------
Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions
--------------


4. While EU Commission and Finnish officials called for a
Kyoto-like post 2012 approach to further reduce emissions,
U.S. officials advanced the idea that government should act
as a catalyst for private sector innovation, such as the

HELSINKI 00001137 002 OF 004


development of clean coal. Delegates stressed, however,
that U.S.-EU bilateral cooperation was not enough - cleaner
coal technology needed to be shared with rapidly developing
countries like India and China. Both sides agreed that
housing, consumer products, cars, tires, and lighting were
all ripe sectors for further U.S.-EU bilateral cooperation.
U/S Garman noted that the U.S. is aggressively moving
forward with carbon capture, storage and sequestration
technologies; however, complicated legal frameworks present
cumbersome barriers. U.S. and EU delegates shared views on
the effectiveness of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership
Forum and agreed to strengthen cooperation.


5. U/S Dobriansky called upon participants to advance the
Gleneagles Plan of Action and work together to address
climate change through developing technologies, while
focusing on improving energy security and reducing poverty
by ensuring global economic development. She highlighted
the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and
Climate as a model for Kyoto and non-Kyoto countries alike
to foster economic growth while also reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. She cited three examples for further
transatlantic cooperation: 1) methane capture and recovery,
2) improvements in energy efficiency including the aviation
sector and further use of programs like EPA's and DOE's
Energy Star, and 3) building international standards for
biofuels, particularly biodiesel.

--------------
Clean Energy Fuelling Clean Vehicles
--------------


6. Both the U.S. and EU recognized the need for a mix of
traditional and alternative (complementary) energy sources
to meet collective energy needs, especially in the
transportation sector. While Europe tends to support
regulatory (punitive) measures to reduce emissions of
pollutants and greenhouse gases, the U.S. prefers a market-
based approach that creates incentives for the private
sector to develop new technologies and for consumers to
utilize those technologies. CEQ's Connaughton pointed to
U.S. income tax cuts that generated incentives for consumers
to replace dated technology in their homes with newer, more
efficient forms. Both sides recognized the need for a
breakthrough in technologies for the storage of energy from
renewable sources, and identified this as an area for
collaboration. EU officials emphasized that developing
renewable energy is a top priority and that the EU's new
energy policy is intended to improve competitiveness while
decreasing emissions and energy dependence.


7. EPA AAA Meyers highlighted recent U.S. regulations to
reduce emissions by up to 95 percent in cars and passenger
trucks and 90 percent in heavy duty trucks and non-road
vehicles. U.S. officials recognized that better use of
diesel would reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and
overall emissions. Several EU delegates lamented that
biofuels may have a negative environmental impact on
biodiversity and land use, particularly in Europe. U/S
Garman emphasized the promise of science, technology and
research in achieving a sustainable energy future, and he
cited numerous examples related to possible future energy
production, transmission and storage. He expressed hope
that next year's HLD would focus on advancing opportunities
for U.S.-EU collaboration on basic energy research.

-------------- --------------
Biodiversity Loss: Policies and Opportunities for Joint
Efforts
-------------- --------------


8. DG Carl highlighted Commission and member state efforts
to preserve biodiversity. In addition to conserving
national parks, the EU has identified 2,000 sites, (20
percent of EU territory),where an environmental impact
study assessing biodiversity is required prior to commercial
development. Dobriansky underscored U.S. efforts to focus
on both domestic and international policies to preserve
biodiversity, including healthy forest initiatives,
reurbanization with landscape corridors for migration,
stringent endangered species laws, marine sanctuary laws,
and prevention of over-fishing. The U.S. leverages
environmental and labor clauses of free trade agreements
with developing nations to address tropical deforestation, a
policy approach the EU Commission expressed interest in

HELSINKI 00001137 003 OF 004


adopting. Both sides agreed they are interested in moving
beyond arresting the extinction of endangered species to
focusing on their restoration.

--------------
Comment
--------------


9. Despite earlier disagreements with the Commission on an
HLD agenda that included both energy and climate change, the
Finnish Presidency succeeded in pulling together a
discussion that successfully explored the synergies between
energy policy goals and actions on addressing climate
change, reducing air pollution and improving the global
environment. The U.S. was able to underscore for the press
and conference delegates that EU-U.S. cooperation is ongoing
on these issues, and the US has remained engaged by
highlighting the comprehensive 2005 G8 Gleneagles Plan of
Action. Kyoto came up, but not often, and its mention
provided opportunities for the U.S. side to highlight the
growth of the U.S. economy and accompanying decreases in the
growth rate of emissions. As U/S Dobriansky noted, we have
a tremendous public diplomacy opportunity to "celebrate our
successes." Environment Minister Enestam confirmed to U/S
Dobriansky that the Finns view the HLD as a highlight of
their Presidency and hope that it has laid the foundation
for future engagement.


10. Text of joint U.S.-EU press release
EU and U.S. will continue dialogue on climate change,
clean energy and sustainable development

Joint Press Release

The European Union and the United States held the
inaugural meeting of the EU-U.S. High Level Dialogue on
Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development
in Helsinki, Finland, on October 24-25, 2006.

At the EU-U.S. Summit in Vienna in June, the leaders
agreed to establish this dialogue in recognition of the
serious and linked challenges in tackling climate change,
promoting clean energy and achieving sustainable
development globally.

The objective of the Dialogue is to build on existing
transatlantic initiatives and further advance the 2005 G8
Gleneagles Plan of Action for Climate Change, Clean Energy
and Sustainable Development. The talks are guided by the
ultimate objective of the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change.

EU and U.S. delegations at the Helsinki meeting
highlighted the substantial and growing level of U.S.-
European collaboration and explored areas for further
work.

Discussion topics included: policies and measures to
promote low greenhouse gas emission technologies; cleaner
energy; cleaner and more efficient vehicles; and
biodiversity loss.

The two sides recognized their common objectives of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving the global
environment, enhancing energy security, and cutting air
pollution.

Both sides underlined the importance of creating the right
mix of both supply and demand side policies, including a
variety of market-based mechanisms to accelerate
commercial use of clean technologies.

The EU and U.S. delegations agreed to strengthen bilateral
cooperation including to

-- Promote the commercial deployment of clean coal and
carbon sequestration technologies, including through the
Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum;

-- Promote energy efficiency, particularly in the
transportation sector and for buildings and appliances;

-- Enhance methane recovery including through the Methane-
to-Markets Partnership;


HELSINKI 00001137 004 OF 004


-- Research, develop and deploy second-generation
biofuels;

-- Overcome barriers to the use of renewable energy
sources and biofuels, including through the development of
international standards;

-- Address global biodiversity loss through natural
resource conservation and other joint efforts; and

-- Enhance energy access for sustainable development
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue joint
dialogue and efforts under the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change including work on long term cooperative
action in the process established in Montreal in December

2005.

The participants agreed to continue the dialogue through
annual meetings. The next High Level Meeting will be in
2007 in the U.S.

Finland's Environment Minister Jan-Erik Enestam and
Minister of Trade and Industry Mauri Pekkarinen hosted the
meeting for the EU Presidency, along with Environment
Director General Mogens Peter Carl and Transport and
Energy Deputy Director General Fabrizio Barbaso from the
European Commission. The United States delegation, led by
Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs
Paula Dobriansky, was co-chaired by White House Council on
Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton and Under
Secretary of Energy David Garman. Other participants

SIPDIS
included Secretary of State, Ministry of the Environment,
Matthias Machnig from Germany, upcoming EU Presidency, and
representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.

End joint press release.

WARE