PARIS ECOLOGICAL GOVERNANCE CONFERENCE: CHIRAC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000452 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NAIROBI PLS PASS TO USDEL TO UNEP GC MEETINGS; DEPT FOR G, OES, EUR, IO, OES/ENV, EUR/WE; WHITE HOUSE FOR CEQ EPA AND DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL BRUSSELS FOR ESTH SMITHAM USUN NY FOR SNOWDEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV AORC FR SUBJECT: PARIS ECOLOGICAL GOVERNANCE CONFERENCE: CHIRAC REITERATES CALL FOR A UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT ORGANIZATION REF: PARIS 00108 ¶1. (U) Summary: The Paris Conference on Ecological Governance - as anticipated - reiterated the call for the creation of a United Nations Environment Organization (UNEO), as well as the adoption of a Universal Declaration of Environmental Rights and Duties. Following on the heels of the strong statement on the science of climate change issued on Friday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change working group, the Friday/Saturday Paris Conference, attended by world-class environmental activists and policy-makers, received wide media attention. As tangible next steps, Morocco has agreed to host the first meeting of a group of 40-some countries who are "Friends of the United Nations Environment Organization" at a time to be determined. Of interest, as climate change was a key topic of discussion at the Conference, Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) speaking at the opening plenary urged that a world summit be convened to discuss ways of creating a post-Kyoto climate regime. End Summary. -------------- Chirac's Call -------------- ¶2. (U) On February 2 and 3 at the Elysee Palace, President Chirac both opened and closed the Paris Conference on Ecological Governance, contributing many of his personal thoughts on the need for greater world efforts to tackle environmental challenges. In his opening address he said that "The planet is sick..." and is subject to "increasingly frequent hurricanes, floods, and droughts. Species are dying out at an alarming rate." Alluding to the just-released 'Summary for Policymakers Assessment' report of the IPCC, he squarely attributed these ecological problems to human activity. He claimed the world's environmental governance institutions are fragmented and inadequate to the crisis, indeed, in his words they are "ill-suited to the crucial issue of the 21st century, the environment." In the body of his opening address, Chirac spoke not only of the need for a Universal Declaration of Environmental Rights and Duties, but also for a carbon tax, the proceeds of which would be used to support developing countries in addressing their environmental challenges. The carbon tax would be analogous to the French-inspired airline tax to offset costs for countering infectious diseases in developing countries. ¶3. (U) With regard in particular to the creation of a UNEO, Chirac credited the United Nations Environment Program as "outstanding," but "it does not have adequate powers or institutional clout." He said,"We must aim to transform it into a fully-fledged United Nations agency. This UNEO will act as the world's ecological conscience. It will carry out impartial and scientific assessments of environmental dangers. It will have policy-making terms of reference giving it the legitimacy to implement action jointly decided...." He said at the outset that the conference's goal would be to establish "a pioneering group" of countries to advance the UNEO project and "win over those who are still hesitant to join us." Such a group made it into the final Paris "Call for Action" document read by Chirac at the close of the conference. -------------- Environmental activism -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The opening and closing sessions of the conference had perhaps more the resonance of a colloqium of environmental activists than an intergovernmental group of negotiators. British anthropologist Jane Goodall, for example, spoke on behalf of the animal kingdom and His Holiness Bartholomew I of the Orthodox Church described his support for religion, science and the environment. Sir Nicholas Stern summarized his economic message that PARIS 00000452 002 OF 003 mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases now will generate future savings. By video link, Al Gore gave his perspectives on climate change post the publication of the IPCC summary. And, Nicholas Hulot, the French environmental activist and almost presidential contender provided his vision for a truly environmentally conscious future. Presentations by these and other celebrities provided thought for reflection. ¶5. (SBU) But, what was striking was that so many of those invited to speak described their particular areas of interest rather than addressing the subject of President Chirac's quest for support of the UNEO proposal. For example, UN Secretary General Ban welcomed the gathering by video link, SIPDIS and highlighted environmental challenges faced by the world, but stated clearly that the focal point for addressing these concerns was the already existing United Nations Environment Programme. He said that he endorsed reforms that would create "a more coherent system of environmental policies," but he fell well short of addressing the need for a new specialized UN environmental body. Similarly, European Commission President Barroso stated that Europe must lead the way to address environmental concerns and that a system was needed to get others to participate more fully in international processes. However, Barroso did not explicitly call for the creation of a UNEO. -------------- Workshop on Environmental Governance -------------- ¶6. (U) Between the opening and closing sessions, six concurrent working group sessions were held on biodiversity, water, health, climate, patterns of consumption and environmental governance. Each was attended by a mix of about a hundred policymakers and representatives of environmental groups, academics, and business representatives. Embassy ESTH Counselor exclusively attended the one workshop addressing environmental governance, the one which considered the proposal for the creation of a UNEO. At that session, many of the interventions were set pieces and in the limited time available there were few opportunities for free debate. ¶7. (SBU) One theme which quickly emerged in the environmental governance workshop was a lack of confidence in the existing international system, given the nature of the challenges facing the world environment. Much reference in that regard was given to the just-released IPCC working group report on the state of the science of climate change. But at the same time, there was no consensus on the need to create a completely new United Nations organization. Many interventions supported finding ways to improve and reform the international environmental system. A number spoke of a UNEO concept which would be "modern and light," unlike the stereotype unwieldy UN specialized agencies with bloated bureaucracies. The more modern approach would, advocates claimed, incorporate mechanisms involving not only governments, but also NGOs, as well as the private sector. It would be a dynamic body engaged in "networking" and creating new models for addressing environmental concerns. Representatives of the United Nations University and the International Institute of Sustainable Development referred to work underway in their organizations exploring these and other options. The Japanese delegation gave perhaps the bluntest cautionary statement to the effect that the Japanese government was "unprepared" to ask the Diet for "a new budget for a new UN organization." ESTH Counselor, while aligning the U.S. with "countries skeptical of the need for the creation of a new UNEO," mentioned that addressing efficiencies in the existing system made sense. He also emphasized that the USG focus was on implementing the Millenium Development goals, not on creating new international bodies. In the summary of the workshop by former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe and Indian politician and environmental activist Sunita Narain, however, little attention was paid to those who had expressed PARIS 00000452 003 OF 003 objections to the UNEO concept. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: One must credit President Chirac for the excellent timing of his Conference on Ecological Governance. Coming as it did at the same time as the release of the new IPCC report, there was already a threshold of excitement about the need to do more about the environment. The celebrity environmental activists appreciated the platform Chirac created for them to provide their environmental messages. That said, even at a conference convened for the sake of the creation of a United Nations Environmental Organization, there was no consensus of opinion on that topic. The best that could be said is that there was a consensus of opinion that more attention needs to be paid to world environmental imperatives. End Comment. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON