U/S DOBRIANSKY VISIT TO MADRID 9/29 - 10/1

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 001073 SIPDIS G FOR U/S DOBRIANSKY, DAN ROCHBERG E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2018 TAGS: SENV KGHG EAGR KWMN KIRF SMIG SP SUBJECT: U/S DOBRIANSKY VISIT TO MADRID 9/29 - 10/1 REF: MADRID 1002 Classified By: DCM Arnold Chacon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Under Secretary Dobriansky visited Madrid September 26-October 1 to participate in an American Chamber of Commerce in Spain conference on clean energy and climate change. The U/S delivered a keynote speech on climate change and renewable energy at the conference. U/S Dobriansky also participated in bilateral meetings with Spain's Secretary of State for Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment, Rural Development and Marine Affairs, and with the Deputy Foreign Minister. She also attended a climate change breakfast hosted by Ambassador Aguirre and participated in a media roundtable. U/S Dobriansky visited the control center of Spain's national electricity system operator. End Summary. Migrant Resettlement, Trafficking in Persons, Religious Freedom Meeting -------------- ¶2. (C) Under Secretary Dobriansky met with Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Angel Lossada on September 29 to discuss migrant resettlement, trafficking in persons, and religious freedom. She also briefed Lossada on U.S. renewable energy and climate change policies. Under Secretary Dobriansky thanked Lossada for Spain's agreement to accept between 8 and 10 Cuban protected migrants from Guantanamo, indicating that the International Organization for Migration is poised to move forward. Lossada said, "We're there," regarding Spain's commitment, asked for more details about financial provisions, and provided a point of contact within the Ministry to coordinate the final resettlement agreement. The Under Secretary also congratulated Lossada on Spain's impressive efforts in the fight against trafficking in persons. Lossada underscored the issue's importance and announced that an OSCE report on Spain's efforts will be issued shortly. Under Secretary Dobriansky encouraged expedient passage of a law that would grant equal tax status to notorio arraigo religions, mentioning her previous conversations with former Spanish Ambassador Westendorp on this issue. Lossada said the MFA and Justice Ministry were coordinating the tax status issue and he would make inquiries about next steps. Climate Change Meeting -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Also on September 29, Under Secretary Dobriansky, �0A;accompanied by Agriculture Department Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas Dorr, met with GOS Secretary of State (vice-minister equivalent) for Climate Change Teresa Ribera. U/S Dobriansky reviewed USG positions and expectations for this December's UN Climate Conference in Poznan. She noted the bipartisan agreement on key aspects of USG policy, particularly the need for meaningful participation from major emerging economies, and described how she expected the transition between administrations to work. The Under Secretary explained the value of the Major Economies process as a way to productively engage China, India, and other non-OECD major emitters, and she predicted that the next Administration would want to continue with a similar, though not necessarily identical, process. ¶4. (SBU) "Hay Partido": Using the Spanish for (roughly) "we have a game," Secretary Ribera welcome U/S Dobriansky's statements and signaled that there is ample common ground for U.S.-Spanish cooperation on climate policy. Ribera suggested that, despite U.S. preference for a bottom-up approach and European preference for top-down targets, both Spain and the United States have the political will to address the problem and both are seeking an effective and fair international regime. She did, however, highlight a number of "tricky points" that she hoped could be addressed in Poznan and beyond, including legal issues and technical work on the concept of "measurable, reportable, and verifiable" actions. Ribera indicated that she expected negotiators to be able to make progress at Poznan, with the shared goal being to reach agreement at Copenhagen in 2009. ¶5. (SBU) USDA Under Secretary Dorr expressed concern about the EU biofuels sustainability criteria proposed by France. He said these criteria would be suspect if, like EU actions on genetically modified organisms, they were not based on science. Ribera acknowledged the value of biofuels but added that in her view they were a transitional technology that would not be a long term solution for transport fuel. (Comment: In previous meetings, Ribera has shared her vision of a future with electric vehicles as the long term transportation solution. Our understanding is that she is not a major player in GOS decision making on biofuels policy. End Comment.) Other Events -------------- ¶6. (U) Under Secretary Dobriansky gave a speech on U.S. climate change policy on September 29 at a conference on renewable energy sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain. At a September 30 breakfast meeting hosted by Ambassador Aguirre, she discussed post-Kyoto climate change negotiations with Spaniards from the Congress, government, business, and academia. Also on September 30, she was interviewed by several journalists and visited an innovative electricity grid control center to see how wind power was integrated into the national grid. ¶7. (U) Under Secretary Dobriansky has cleared this cable. AGUIRRE