GERMANY UNCONVINCED OF FEASIBILITY OF MAJOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 000320

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2018
TAGS: SENV KGHG ENRG EUN GM
SUBJECT: GERMANY UNCONVINCED OF FEASIBILITY OF MAJOR
ECONOMIES LEADERS' DECLARATION DRAFT LANGUAGE

REF: A. A. STATE 24257


B. B. BERLIN 38

C. C. BERLIN 316

Classified By: Economic Minister Counselor Robert A. Pollard
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) ECONOFF delivered ref A points to Karsten Sach,
Environment Ministry Deputy Director General for
International Cooperation (and Germany's lead climate
negotiator). Sach was familiar with the points, which were
similar to points made by Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) Chairman Jim Connaughton during a February 26 visit to
Berlin. Sach said he does not believe China and India will
accept commitments laid out in a Major Economies Leaders'
Declaration, as the U.S. hopes, without more differentiation
between the responsibilities of developed and emerging
economies. He said the U.S. still needs to commit to do more
than China or India. Sach argued that it would not be
practical for Major Economies to make a commitment first and
then try to work out all the details later. While the U.S.
may have a bottom-up approach to global climate change
issues, Sach said, the German approach is still top-down.
Germany accepts that sectoral agreements and technology can
be beneficial, Sach continued, but these should only be in
addition to absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction
requirements.


2. (C) Sach acknowledged that the U.S. is unhappy with EU
language pushing for 25 to 40 percent GHG emissions reduction
cuts with respect to 1990 levels. It must be the
government's job to push the envelope and to raise public
awareness, Sach insisted. It is "self-limiting" for the U.S.
to say it already knows the extent of what can be achieved.
ECONOFF emphasized the limits of what the Senate will ratify
and discussed the range of legislative proposals currently in
Congress. Sach expressed skepticism about claims that the
U.S. is doing more than Europe with respect to climate
change. Sach repeated Environment Ministry State Secretary
Matthias Machnig's February 26 request for the actual GHG
reduction amounts embodied in the Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007. In response to ECONOFF's reminder that
the IPCC has multiple scenarios for staying under a 2 degree
Celsius temperature rise, Sach said that "if we wait until
2075 or 2100 then we'll all be dead."


3. (SBU) Sach also objected to the use of the language
"nationally appropriate". Sach feels this is merely an
excuse that any country could use to back out of its
obligations. Further, he reiterated Germany's position that
the Major Economies Process should not deal with the issues
of adaptation or deforestation, mentioning the World Bank's
engagement on the latter issue in particular (ref B). Sach's
comments indicate he has a very open channel of communication
with his French counterparts. For instance, in speaking
about the two billion dollar U.S. contribution to the Clean
Technology Fund, Sach said he "heard from Paris that only 100
million was allocated and this amount still depends on your
Congress." At the end of the meeting, Sach mentioned that he
is working very hard on the Sustainability Ordinance with
respect to biofuels (ref C).


4. (SBU) ECONOFF also delivered the demarche talking
points to Reinhard Krapp, the Head of the Environment
Division at the Foreign Ministry. Krapp had no feedback on
the U.S. position and instead talked primarily about the
upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference which will take place in
Bonn in May. The government is close to finishing its "Stern
Report on Biodiversity." Krapp noted that Chancellor Merkel
plans to address the conference during its second week.
TIMKEN JR