OES MEETING WITH EU PRESIDENT AND GERMANY ABOUT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 000958

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
STATE FOR OES/PCI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG SENV TRGY TSPL FI
SUBJECT: OES MEETING WITH EU PRESIDENT AND GERMANY ABOUT
THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (CSD)-15



1. Summary: On September 19th US State Department's Special
Representative for Sustainable Development Jonathan
Margolis, Senior Energy Advisor Griff Thompson and Embassy
Econ Officer Glenn Lewis met Finnish representatives of the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Environment,
and a German representative from the Ministry of the
Environment to discuss preparations for the 15th Session of
the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in May

2007. EU representatives indicated their intention to
focus on "access to energy" as a prism through which to
view CSD-15 themes. In the coming months, the group agreed
to 1) focus on implementation and concrete outcomes, 2)
attract private sector participation, 3) enhance G-77
support, and 4) identify possible follow-up activities
after CSD-15. End Summary.

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US Position and supporting papers
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2. Margolis and Thompson provided Finnish and German
counterparts with an overview of USG approaches towards
energy issues in CSD-15, providing a summary of all
negotiated text on energy over the past 16 years at UN
conferences, a compendium of U.S. led practical solutions
and programs in the energy sector, a "white paper"
describing possible outcomes for CSD-15, and the UN's
Energy Matrix (the UN document that will catalogue and
highlight all voluntary actions and potential policy
approaches to address energy.

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Focus on access to energy/no global renewable energy
targets
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3. Finnish representative Jukka Uosukainen, Deputy Director
General in the Ministry of the Environment noted that
Finland had made the decision to focus on areas of
agreement with the US for CSD-15. Finnish technical
experts explained that they intended to use "access to
energy" as the organizing principle for all four themes of
CSD-15. Uosukainen also noted that in upcoming internal
coordination meetings the EU member states would be asked
to undertake reviews and assessments of voluntary programs
that could be brought forward to CSD. He also expressed
support for cataloguing these programs through the UN's
Energy Matrix. Regarding negotiations, Uosukainen noted
that the EU did not expect to gain agreement for a global
renewables target and instead wanted to catalogue local and
national level efforts on renewables. Comment: this
approach differed from that reported by Minister Al-Attiyah
in our bilateral consultations with him and his team
(SEPTEL).

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A matrix for policy options
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4. Uosukainen noted that their assessment was that it would
not be productive to seek new far reaching negotiated
targets at CSD-15. In further discussions, Uosukainen
elaborated that the EU was considering ways to use the
Matrix to identify policy options that countries could
adopt at a local and national level to achieve energy
objectives, including local or national optional renewable
energy targets (such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards
that have been adopted by over 20 states in the US). The
US responded that using the Matrix in this way to catalogue
a menu of possible policy options, instead of negotiating
global targets, was fully consistent with our approach.
Comment: both German and Finnish representatives noted that
given the sensitivities in some G-77 circles about any
policy prescriptions in this area, an approach that
emphasized national experiences and options instead of
global negotiations was desirable at this point.

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Following up on progress
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5. Both the Finnish and German representatives expressed
interest in developing a follow up mechanism to CSD-15.
They were explicit in noting that the purpose of this
mechanism would be to track progress on projects and
programs, not to create a new UN normative body. In
further discussions, our European colleagues expressed
support for the US suggestion that the existing energy

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partnerships - GVEP, REEEP, REN21 (all of which the US
participates in) would serve as main entities tracking
progress and provide information to interested member
states and stakeholders. One area of particular interest
was to integrate energy into national development plans,
such as Poverty Reduction Strategies, and to follow-up on
such efforts four years down the road to monitor progress.

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Role of the private sector
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6. Finnish and German representatives expressed strong
interest in highlighting the role of business and other
stakeholders, and expressed satisfaction with the CEO
panels from CSD-14. They further agreed to US suggestions
that CSD-15 include opportunities for ministers, CEOs,
mayors and other stakeholders to engage in direct
discussion. The goal of such discussion would be to
identify the roles and actions needed to spur
implementation of programs and activities to address
"access to energy". We agreed to jointly approach the UN
Secretariat for CSD-15 to request that it provide the

SIPDIS
logistical arrangements for such sessions at CSD-15. We
also agreed that a common message to CSD Chair Al-Attiyah
encouraging him to reinforce the role of the private sector
would be useful.

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Further consultations
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7. Our Finnish colleagues informed us of their intentions
to host a broad consultation with JUSCANZ and G-77
countries in December in Brussels. We noted that other
JUSCANZ countries might want an opportunity to consult with
their EU counterparts before G-77 countries were brought
in. The Finns agreed to follow-up directly with Canada,
the JUSCANZ chair to finalize modalities.


8. Comment: We were encouraged by the positive and
constructive tone adopted by our EU colleagues. They
seemed to want to engage in a problem solving approach with
us and were careful to avoid hot button issues that have
separated us in the past. That said, the Finns and Germans
were careful to note that their internal policy setting
process with all EU member states had yet to take place.
Also, the Commission did not join what was originally
billed as a US-Troika consultation. Even so, we are
guardedly optimistic and hope the Finns can deliver on the
approach they previewed with us.

WARE