BRAZIL TO HOST MINISTERIAL MEETING ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001585 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/EGC, OES/ETC, OES/ENV, IO/EDA, IO/T, G E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV UN EAGR ECON KSCA BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL TO HOST MINISTERIAL MEETING ON INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, RIO DE JANEIRO, SEPTEMBER 3-4, 2007 REF: BRASILIA 1351 ¶1. (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE, BUT UNCLASSIFIED. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry briefed representatives of embassies about its "Ministerial Meeting on International Governance for Sustainable Development," which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, September 3-4. The Foreign Ministers and Environment Ministers of twenty countries and the European Commission are expected to discuss ways to strengthen international governance and to translate the concept of sustainable development into effective action. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) On August 8, the head of the Foreign Ministry's Environment Department, Luis Alberto Figueiredo Machado, briefed representatives from the twenty countries invited to the "Ministerial Meeting on International Governance for Sustainable Development," which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, September 3-4. (Note. During the May 16-17 bilateral meeting in Brasilia on the Common Agenda for the Environment, the Brazilian delegation told the USG delegation headed by U/S Paula Dobriansky that Brazil was disappointed with the results from the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and they wanted to see a stronger UNEP and a stronger CSD. At that time, they gave advance notice of this upcoming conference. They explained that they would like to discuss how to move forward on global governance in a way that does not continue the polarization of the French proposal for a World Environment Organization (REFTEL). END NOTE.) INVITEES ¶4. (U) Figueiredo listed the invitees as follows: Africa (Senegal, South Africa, Kenya and Egypt); Europe (France, Germany, United Kingdom, Portugal, Russia, and the European Commission); Asia (Japan, China, India, Pakistan, and Indonesia); Western Hemisphere (the United States, Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Antigua and Barbuda). In addition, representatives from the mission to the United Nations in New York from Mexico and Switzerland will attend; they have been facilitators in the ongoing discussion on this topic. Further, Achim Steiner from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Mr. Sha Zukang from the United Nations will speak. 
 ¶5. (U) The Brazilians reported that Germany, France, South Africa, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Senegal had indicated they would send representatives at the minister level. Figueiredo added that China was considering whether to send a minister. He also said that Washington was studying whether to send U/S Paula Dobriansky. ¶6. (U) Figueiredo underscored that Environment Minister Silva and Foreign Minister Amorim would be ready to have bilateral meetings on the margins of the conference. BRASILIA 00001585 002 OF 003 AGENDA AND CONCEPT PAPER ¶7. (U) The conference is being billed as an informal dialogue and not a negotiating session. There will not be an agreed upon text, rather the two co-chairs (Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Environment Minister Marina Silva) will prepare a co-chairs' summary. Brazil would then submit the co-chairs' summary to the next G-8 meeting. ¶8. (U) Figueiredo explained that the purpose of the meeting is to provide a comprehensive debate on how to address the weaknesses in the current system of international governance concerning sustainable development. They distributed a provisional agenda for the two-day meeting. It calls for a discussion of the current structure, including a presentation by Steiner on UNEP and Zukang on the Commission for Sustainable Development and relevant UN agencies. The second day is designated for consideration of "options for future treatment of the governance for sustainable development," which is concluded with the presentation of the co-chairs' summary. ¶9. (U) The Brazilians also distributed a five-page concept paper, which lays out their view of the weaknesses in the current international environmental governance system. There are numerous references to a lack of a stable stream of funding, and decrying the heavy reliance on voluntary contributions. Further, the Brazilians point to a lack of coordination among the CSD, UNEP, the Global Environment Facility (GEF),and the secretariats for the various multilateral environmental agreements. The concept paper raises as a discussion question whether UNEP should be given an "institutional upgrade." However, the paper does not make a judgment on that option. ¶10. (U) The provisional agenda and the Brazilian concept paper have been sent to OES/EGC Kirsten Jaglo. Addressees can also obtain a copy by contacting the Environment, Science, and Health (ESTH) Counselor Richard Driscoll at Embassy Brasilia. These documents should be available on a website soon to be created by the Brazilian government. "WE ARE VERY CLOSE" ¶11. (SBU) After the briefing, Figueiredo talked with ESTH Counselor and repeatedly stressed that he thought the positions of the USG and Brazil on international governance were very close. This is consistent with the statements the Brazilians made during the May meeting of the CAE (REFTEL). ¶12. (SBU) At a subsequent courtesy call meeting with ESTH Counselor, Figueiredo stressed two additional points: First, Brazil does not want to see environmental concerns being put over sustainable development concerns. There must be a balance between economic considerations and the environment, rather than as the French and others seem to view the environment trumping economic matters. While Brazil had been pleased to see the concept of sustainable development begin to take prominence over the previous myopic view just on the BRASILIA 00001585 003 OF 003 environment, Figueiredo feared there were pressures for backsliding toward an environment first view of the world. He saw this embodied in the French proposal for the World Environment Organization. ¶13. (SBU) Second, however, Figueiredo stated that Brazil was not necessarily opposed to creating new structures or revising existing ones so long as mentioned above the environment was not the only or paramount concern in whatever structure or arrangement was developed. SOBEL