AS MCMURRAY'S VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND HIGHLIGHTS

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000108

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

OES/FO, EAP/FO, EAP/ANP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV ENRG NZ
SUBJECT: AS MCMURRAY'S VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND HIGHLIGHTS
SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION

REF: A. WELLINGTON 36

B. 06 WELLINGTON 670

(SBU) Summary: OES Assistant Secretary Claudia A. McMurray's
January 17-19 meetings with New Zealand officials advanced
US-NZ bilateral cooperation on a broad range of scientific
and environmental issues, including climate change,
sustainable fisheries, and whale conservation. On January
16, A/S McMurray renewed a cooperative arrangement between
the U.S. Geological Survey and New Zealand's National
Institute of Water and Atmosphere (NIWA),drawing favorable
local press coverage. Her talks with Energy Minister David
Parker and other GNZ officials revealed that New Zealand and
the United States face similar challenges in balancing
energy, economic, and environmental demands, suggesting these
could be useful areas to explore under our bilateral Climate
Change Partnership. A/S McMurray also encouraged New Zealand
to join the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT).
End summary.


2. (U) En route to Antarctica to commemorate 50 years of U.S.
and New Zealand cooperation on the Southern continent, A/S
McMurray met in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with
Minister for Conservation Chris Carter, Minister for Climate
Change David Parker, and officials from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT),Ministry of Fisheries
(MFish),Ministry for the Environment (MfE),the Department
of Conservation (DOC) and the National Institute of Water and
Atmosphere (NIWA).


3. (U) In Wellington on January 16, A/S McMurray was briefed
by officials at the at the National Institute of Water and
Atmosphere (NIWA) on the many areas of U.S.-New Zealand
cooperation, including atmosphere and climate science,
energy, natural hazards, fresh water, aquatic biodiversity
and security, fisheries and aquaculture, and biotechnology.
The NIWA officials emphasized the value they derive from
cooperative climate change science work with US officials,
including measuring greenhouse gas levels in Pacific ocean
and Antarctic ice core samples. The briefing was followed by
a signing ceremony at which A/S McMurray joined Acting Chief
Executive of NIWA Bryce Cooper to renew a cooperative
arrangement between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and
NIWA. The very positive New Zealand media reporting on the
event highlighted A/S McMurray's observation that the United
States views scientific and economic cooperation as the
backbone of the US-New Zealand bilateral relationship.


4. (SBU) During a discussion with MFAT and other GNZ
officials on New Zealand's domestic fisheries management
program, the Kiwis told A/S McMurray about New Zealand's
problems with abalone poaching. While New Zealand's domestic
abalone sector is licensed to catch about 1050 tons of
abalone meat per year, an estimated additional 800 to 900
tons of abalone is poached from New Zealand waters.
According to the NZ Ministry of Fisheries, the poaching is
mostly run by the same Asian gangs that traffick drugs in the
region. While the GNZ takes aggressive steps to reduce
poached abalone bound for Hong Kong and China, much still
gets through and the Government has been forced to reduce the
amount that can be caught legally in order to sustain
domestic abalone stocks. A/S McMurray suggested New Zealand
help address the poaching problem by joining the first
ministerial of the Coalition against Wildlife Trafficking, to
be held in Nairobi in early February. Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Deputy Secretary Caroline Forsyth,
who led the discussions for the Kiwi side, said GNZ
officials would try to attend the ministerial and would look
into the possibility of New Zealand's signing up for the
Coalition. (FYI: Forsyth has since told the Embassy that
although New Zealand will unfortunately not be able to attend
the Nairobi meeting, the GNZ is still considering whether to
join the Coalition. End FYI.)


5. (SBU) In a separate meeting that day, Dave Brash, General
Manager, Ministry for the Environment, told A/S McMurray that
formulating an effective New Zealand climate change policy is
especially challenging because the country's
agriculturally-based economy is both sensitive to the effects
of climate change and the major contributor to New Zealand's
emissions. Approximately 50 percent of emissions come from
the country's farms, mostly from ruminant animals, their
waste, and nitrogen fertilizers. In July 2006, the GNZ put
forward an economy-wide climate change strategy that aims to
coordinate the sometimes competitive policy interests of the
energy, transport and land management sectors (ref B).
During a January 17 lunch, Energy Minister Parker, who is
also the country's Minister for Climate Change, provided A/S
McMurray with one example of how it is difficult in practice
for GNZ to find the balance between these competing
priorities. Citing interest by ExxonMobil and Chevron in
exploring hydrocarbon development off New Zealand's southern
coast, Parker admitted that this would be at odds with the
Government's stated preference for renewable resources. But,
he added, New Zealand has to consider all options because it
will face increasing energy supply and security challenges as
the country's North Island natural gas reserves wane.


6. (SBU) A/S McMurray also discussed whale conservation
during a number of her meetings with GNZ officials.
Referring to the upcoming May meeting of the International
Whaling Commission (IWC) in Anchorage, Alaska, A/S McMurray
noted the likely challenge to the aboriginal bowhead quota,
particularly given that Japan will be Vice Chair. New
Zealand expressed the view that like-minded countries should
stay away from a Japanese reform meeting planned for
February, expressing concerning over Japanese attempts to
"knock out" conservation from the IWC. A/S McMurray welcomed
New Zealand's offer to be helpful in Alaska.
Keegan