G8 CONFERENCE ON THE ENERGY SECURITY AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 002206 SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB, EEB/ESC, G, OES, OES/EGC, EUR, EUR/RPE, EUR/WE, KGHG WHITE HOUSE FOR CEQ SENSITIVE SIPDIS CEQ FOR DAVID BANKS; EEB FOR DAS HENGEL SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. E.O. 12356: N/A TAGS: SENV ENRG GM SUBJECT: G8 CONFERENCE ON THE ENERGY SECURITY AND CLIMATE REF: (A) Berlin 2152 ENTIRE TEXT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On December 3, the German government hosted its last major G8 conference on the theme of energy and climate change, a major priority during both its G8 and EU presidencies. Ministers and senior representatives of G8 countries, the European Union and Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa met to discuss the role of foreign policy in guaranteeing a secure energy supply and protecting the global climate. In the afternoon, the conference was opened to include international organizations and other major energy producer and consuming countries. The U.S. delegation was headed by Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Reuben Jeffery III. The conference resulted in a Chair's Summary that discussed the importance and link between energy security and protecting the climate, the need to work together multilaterally and the importance of mitigation and adaptation to achieve these goals. END SUMMARY. CONFERENCE STRUCTURE -------------- ¶2. (U) The morning session was opened by Foreign Minister Steinmeier and included all G8 members, the EU and the five outreach countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa). Environment Minister Gabriel also addressed the conference. The afternoon session included members of international organizations and other countries, e.g., Australia and Norway, which have major energy security and climate change concerns. The U.S. delegation included Under Secretary Reuben Jeffery, Deputy Assistant Secretary SIPDIS Douglas Hengel and OES/EGC Drew Nelson. CLIMATE PROTECTION AND FOREIGN POLICY -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Participants from both G8 and O5 countries discussed the interaction between foreign policy and climate protection. German Foreign Minister Steinmeier opened the event with an address on the importance of energy security and climate to foreign policy and argued that energy security was by its very definition a national security concern. German Environment Minister Gabriel complimented the EU on adopting more stringent climate reduction goals than the Kyoto Protocol requires. He also said that Germany is well on its way to meeting its C02 reduction targets and emphasized the success of the close coordination between EU climate and energy goals. Gabriel said it is necessary for all countries, including the developing world, to reduce its emissions. Otherwise the reductions in Germany and Europe will have no real effect. ¶4. (SBU) France said that all major emitters, both the G8 and O5 countries, must take responsibility for climate change. India, in particular, argued that it was inherently unfair to hold developing countries to he same standard as developed countries in terms o overall CO2 emissions. Developing country paticipants said they support the fact BERLIN 00002206 002 OF 003 that climate change is a global challenge, but rejected the notion that the burden of fighting climate change should fall equally. This idea was supported by several developed countries, including Norway, Italy and Germany. ¶5. (SBU) The United States reiterated the importance it places on climate protection, US goals in the Major Economies process, and the importance of the G8 energy security principles agreed at the St. Petersburg summit. INCREASING ENERGY SECURITY THROUGH COOPERATIVE ACTION -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Participants agreed that climate change is one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century and that it needs to become a central issue of our foreign policies. Representatives also agreed that a secure energy supply and climate protection are closely linked and called for integrated polices under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to foster both. International organizations such as the IEA and IEF play a crucial role in this. The IEA argued that consumer and supplier countries share many issues related to energy security, including investment and price stability/predictability. The IEF argued that diversity of supply is key. ¶7. (SBU) The United States emphasized that good governance is key to managing a variety of stresses, including from climate change, and pointed to the importance of open investment regimes to enhance global energy security. This is true for both consumer and producer countries. This was supported by France, who argued that increased transparency would lead to better investment decisions. Norway called for non- discriminatory investment regimes. ¶8. (SBU) Participants from developing countries, e.g., Indonesia, China, Brazil and India, called for increased technology transfer to ensure that developing countries can have access to the technology they need to meet both their energy security and climate change goals. Japan raised concerns over the protection of intellectual property rights in technology transfer. ¶9. (SBU) The United States emphasized the need for cooperation on the development of new technology. Russia called for the need to increase dialogue between consuming, producer and transit countries. Both Russia and Norway discussed the need for security of demand as well as security of supply. The EU called for the development of an energy security diplomacy that would strive to resolve conflicts over resources diplomatically. GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Diversity of supply was seen as key to global energy security. Several participants discussed the benefits of nuclear energy to energy security and combating climate change. South Africa said that diversification is crucial to energy security and endorsed the need for nuclear energy. BERLIN 00002206 003 OF 003 This was supported by a number of other countries including France and India, as well as the IEA. ¶11. (SBU) Energy efficiency was also widely discussed and supported as a neutral way of increasing energy security and combating CO2 emissions. CLIMATE CHANGE AS A CHALLENGE TO GLOBAL SECURITY -------------- --- ¶12. (SBU) Many participants discussed the challenge of climate change to global security. Steinmeier spoke of the potential for climate change to result in conflicts over dwindling resources, especially access to food and water. Gabriel discussed the potential impact of climate change on both the economy and the political and security spheres. He talked about the possibility of widespread immigration due to climate change and the destabilizing impact this could have. The EU described climate change as a "threat multiplier" that will have major impact on the global economy and competition for energy resources. ¶13. (SBU) The United States discussed the need to look at adaptation as well. Crucial to this is early warning systems. The U.S. highlighted its investment in early warning systems. Japan and France also discussed the need for adaptation in the face of climate change. Brazil described adaptation as the poor cousin of mitigation. BALI: THE WAY FORWARD -------------- ¶14. (SBU) Many participants echoed Steinmeier and Gabriel's comments that discussions at the Bali climate change conference will be essential to drawing up a global strategy to combat climate change. Steinmeier said that discussions at the Bali climate change conference will be difficult but a global strategy to combat climate change is vital to avoiding future conflicts. Indonesia said Bali will strive to bridge the two schools of thought over the need for hard climate change targets and the need for flexibility. India said it was important that Bali lay out a roadmap for a post-2012 agreement on climate change and that this should not be seen as a post- Kyoto agreement. ¶11. This cable was cleared with DAS Hengel. TIMKEN, JR