FORMAL INVITATION FROM SECRETARY RICE

UNCLAS STATE 000521 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR AMBASSADORS AND DCMS FROM SECRETARY RICE WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC AND CEQ E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG SENV TRGY EPET EAID SOCI KSCA KGHG, KPAO, OPDCCH, CH, GM, BR, AS, ID, SI, UK, MX, RS, IN, CA, FR, SF, IT, KS, JA SUBJECT: FORMAL INVITATION FROM SECRETARY RICE TO MEM COUNTRIES TO ATTEND THE WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY (WIREC) MARCH 4-6, 2008 REF: A) STATE 138428 B) STATE 80334 -------------- ACTION REQUESTS -------------- ¶1. Action Requests: Ambassador or appropriate senior embassy official is requested to deliver the text in paragraph eight as a letter from Secretary Rice to either the host government's SIPDIS foreign minister or, if known, the host government's designated Minister-level head of official delegation to WIREC 2008. Posts at their discretion may send copies to other ministers who have indicated an interest in attending WIREC. Paragraphs four to seven contain post-specific instructions for Beijing, New Delhi, Tokyo, and USEU based on communications received from posts. No signed original will follow. Posts are asked to confirm delivery of the letter via return cable. Please include name and contact information for post WIREC POC in the response cable. ¶2. All action addressee posts are requested to inform their Host governments that Official Individual Country Ministerial-level delegations may consist of a maximum of 10 individuals per country, composed of up to three Ministers, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Energy, Agriculture, or Environment (or the equivalent Ministers covering those ortfolios) and three subnational government representatives. The European Commission is also invited to send a delegation of 10 members. We defer to each country's Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to determine their country's precise makeup of the 'Official WIREC Ministerial Delegation,' as well as to inform us of their 'Head of Delegation,' assuming more than one Minister-level delegate is part of that country's official delegation. However, we appreciate Embassy engagement with the MFA to ensure that the delegation is comprised of appropriate Ministers and subnational government representatives. ¶3. All action addressee posts are requested to inform their Host governments that each member of the delegation must submit an individual registration form to confirm attendance at WIREC ¶2008. Official delegates may register for the conference via the internet at http://www.usea.org/WIREC/official_party_regi stration_pub_0001.pdf. ¶4. Action Request for Beijing: Please address the letter to National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Ma Kai. ¶5. Action Request for New Delhi: Please address the letter to Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee. ¶6. Action Request for Tokyo: Please address the letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura. ¶7. Action request for USEU: Please address letters to EC Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and EC Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas. -------------- TEXT OF LETTER -------------- ¶8. Begin text of the letter: Dear Mr./Madam Minister: (or other appropriate salutation) The U.S. State Department will host the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008) in Washington on March 4-6, 2008. WIREC 2008 is the third global ministerial-level event on renewable energy after Bonn in 2004 and Beijing in 2005. WIREC will serve as a global platform for ministers and senior leaders from the private sector, sub-national governments, and civil society to discuss and share information about the benefits of renewable energy, identify best practices and barriers, and consider policy options and measures needed to encourage the rapid development of renewable energy in their countries. I am pleased to invite (insert name of country) to send an official delegation to WIREC 2008. Approximately 2,000 delegates will participate in the three-day conference at the Washington Convention Center, and we envision participation by U.S. Cabinet secretaries and senior White House officials. SIPDIS I would like to offer your head of delegation a speaking role at WIREC. Please confirm to the U.S. Embassy as soon as possible who will lead your delegation and whether your head of delegation wishes to accept the invitation to speak. In the spirit of the International Action Program that was agreed to at the Bonn Conference, I am also inviting your government to consider making a voluntary national pledge at WIREC to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in your country. The consolidation of national governments' pledges, as well as pledges from other major stakeholders (sub-national governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, and multi-stakeholder partnerships),will be one of the major outcomes of WIREC. I look forward to your official delegation's active participation in WIREC 2008. Sincerely, Condoleezza Rice End text. -------------- DEADLINE -------------- ¶9. Posts are asked to deliver the letter from the Secretary to the minister who has been designated to head SIPDIS the official delegation, if known, or, if a head of delegation has not been decided, to the foreign minister, no later than OOB Wednesday, January 9, to ensure the official delegates receive the invitation in time to block out the WIREC dates on their schedules. Responses should be slugged for OES for WIREC Action Group Leader Stan Specht and OES Special Assistant Camille Hill. -------------- POC FOR QUESTIONS -------------- ¶10. For additional information about WIREC 2008, contact OES' WIREC Action Group Leader Stan Specht (OES/PCI) at SpechtSH@state.gov and consult the official WIREC website at www.wirec2008.gov. RICE