Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09COPENHAGEN409
2009-09-21 11:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Copenhagen
Cable title:  

Denmark and Greenland Agree on Dialogue Toward COP-15 on

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COPENHAGEN 000409 

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DEPT FOR S/SECC, OES, EUR/NE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV KGHG PGOV PREL EINV DA
SUBJECT: Denmark and Greenland Agree on Dialogue Toward COP-15 on
Emissions

COPENHAGEN 00000409 001.2 OF 003


(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COPENHAGEN 000409

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/SECC, OES, EUR/NE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV KGHG PGOV PREL EINV DA
SUBJECT: Denmark and Greenland Agree on Dialogue Toward COP-15 on
Emissions

COPENHAGEN 00000409 001.2 OF 003


(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) Summary: Recent reported statements by new Greenland Self
Government Premier Kuupik Kleist raised concerns that Greenland
would opt out of any deal negotiated by Denmark (which has
sovereignty over it) at COP-15 and embarrass the Danish government
in its role as host of COP-15. Danish sources tell us that in
meetings the week of September 14 with Prime Minister Rasmussen and
Minister of Climate and Energy Hedegaard, Kleist was more
conciliatory and agreed to a dialogue intended to provide political
cover for Greenland's eventual accession to any COP-15 climate deal.
According to the Danish government, Greenland and the Faroe Islands
will retain the right to opt out of the deal, as the Faroese did
with the Kyoto Protocol. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Background: According to Danish officials, Greenland and
the Faroe Islands have the constitutional right to opt out of
whatever is agreed to by Denmark at COP-15. The Faroese did opt out
of the Kyoto Protocol; Greenland did not. According to Danish
climate officials, the Faroe Islands government hopes to join what
is agreed to at COP-15, and will announce plans to reduce emissions
20 percent by 2020.


3. (SBU) Meanwhile, technical level discussions between the climate
ministry and Greenland had soured and broken off earlier this year.
After the election of a new government in Greenland with greater
autonomy, the media depicted a rift between Greenland's interest in
developing its industrial base, and Denmark's desire as host to
secure an ambitious agreement at COP-15.

Press Speculate about Denmark/Greenland Rift
--------------


4. (U) Recent public debate on COP-15's implications for Greenland
has been more polemic, with Greenlanders arguing for a level playing
field with EU industry, which benefited from distribution of free
emissions permits. In June, Premier Kleist argued that the current
climate quota model is unjust for economies like Greenland's,
because it would lock the Greenlandic economy in a state of

pre-industrialization. He complained of a lack of political
dialogue between Denmark and Greenland about the implications of a
deal at COP-15.


5. (U) On the eve of his visit to Copenhagen, on September 13
Kleist reportedly referred to Climate Minister Hedegaard's
"Greenland Dialogue" with climate negotiators, saying:

"This is not about Greenland's current interests. We feel that we
have been made a showcase of climate change. We are always happy to
receive visitors, but if the outcome is an agreement which will
preserve Greenland as a museum where we cannot develop industry, it
will not have been very beneficial to welcome (Min.) Hedegaard's
guests...There is a reason why the G-77 is active in the climate
debate. Ideally, one might have hoped that the global climate policy
could simultaneously serve to get a more equal and fair view of the
division of the world's goods. That part remains missing."


6. (U) In response to growing press speculation that Greenland
might join the G-77 group for climate negotiations, Minister
Hedegaard wrote in a lengthy rebuttal, published in a Danish daily
September 17:

"Greenland is not a developing country. Greenland has a GDP of
USD36,700 per capita, approximately 14 times higher than the GDP in
Sudan, which currently chairs the group of developing countries, the
G77. Greenland now has a CO2 emission per capita similar to that of
Denmark. Greenland is in many ways a highly developed society and
chose itself to become part of the Kyoto agreement and thereby
assume the obligation to reduce its CO2 emissions. No one doubts
that Greenland has a need for business development, and that

COPENHAGEN 00000409 002.2 OF 003


Greenland as an Arctic community in many ways is in a special
situation. There is no doubt that it is a challenge for the Kingdom
to find solutions that accommodate both the needs for development
and climate concerns. That is why we for quite a while have had a
meaningful dialogue between Denmark and Greenland on how to best
address these challenges."

Additionally, in an informal briefing to Copenhagen's diplomatic
community on September 16, Premier Kleist remarked that while
Greenland wanted to remain within the "Danish framework " at COP-15,
it was also important to recognize that Greenland's economy now
requires a faster growth rate. He added that Greenland accepts its
responsibility to global environmental interests, but it was also
important that "Denmark and the world understands our need to
develop further." In response to a question from Japan's
ambassador, Kleist suggested that COP-15 should arrive at solutions
"that address G-77 issues and development requirements."

(SBU) PM Firm; Climate Minister Flexible
--------------


7. (SBU) Peder Lundquist, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the
Ministry of Climate and Energy told REO on September 17 that in a
September 14 meeting, the tone of political relations between the
two governments had improved sharply. In his meetings in
Copenhagen, Kleist was apologetic about press reporting of his own
statements on COP-15, claiming he was misunderstood. (Lundquist
said the Greenland press often exaggerates differences between the
Greenland and Danish governments.) Kleist told Danish leaders that
Greenland sincerely wants to participate in a climate deal, as long
as it can show Greenlanders concessions won from Denmark.


8. (SBU) According to Lundquist, who was not in the meeting, PM
Rasmussen told Premier Kleist that Denmark would not abandon the
EU's "polluter pays" principle for Greenland, and Kleist did not
object. Rasmussen explained that it would not be politically
feasible to exempt Greenland from the cost of emissions permits
entirely, but that Denmark would consider how it could help
Greenland absorb the costs of any deal.


9. (SBU) In a September 15 meeting that Lundquist did attend,
Minister Hedegaard agreed with Kleist to reopen dialogue intended to
permit Greenlandic participation in an agreement at COP-15 and
reduce the costs of Greenland's participation. It would be
premature to make any commitments prior to a COP-15 deal being
finalized, however, and Greenland would remain free to decide
whether to join what Denmark agrees to at COP-15.

Elements of Dialogue
--------------


10. (SBU) According to Lundquist, Hedegaard and Kleist agreed that
the climate ministry would help the Greenland government analyze the
emissions implications of planned industrial developments, starting
with the plans of U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa to invest approximately
USD 3.5 billion in an aluminum smelter and associated hydropower
facility. (Four or five other projects are earlier in the planning
stage, and can be reviewed later.) The ministry's Danish Energy
Agency (DEA) would conduct the technical analysis, focusing on
timelines for emissions (with the critical period being in the short
and mid-term, to 2020, according to Lundquist). The DEA would also
compare the savings from using Greenlandic hydropower vs. coal-fired
power elsewhere - the Greenlanders argue, for example, that on a
global scale they are helping reduce overall emissions by hosting a
project like the Alcoa smelter, since it can use hydropower in
Greenland, as opposed to coal or other fuels somewhere else. The
intention is for both sides to better understand the issue, not to
make a formal determination. That understanding will help both
sides understand the cost implications of any COP-15 deal for
Greenland.


COPENHAGEN 00000409 003.2 OF 003



11. (SBU) Hedegaard also agreed that the Ministry will seek to
access national funding for further hydropower development in
Greenland (with some EU matching funds possible). Both these
efforts will take place over the coming month. Then Hedegaard and
Kleist will meet again to discuss. Other meetings are anticipated
before COP-15.


12. (SBU) Denmark cannot and will not invite Greenland to
participate in actual COP-15 negotiations as an entity separate from
Denmark, according to Lundquist. However, Greenland may be invited
to be present as members of the Danish delegation and may be invited
by Denmark to attend the November 15-16 pre-COP meeting in
Copenhagen.

Comment
--------------


13. (SBU) Politically, Greenland's new government wants to
participate on the world stage by joining an agreement that emerges
from COP-15, but needs to show voters back home it has won some form
of concession from Denmark to cushion the economic costs during this
early phase of its industrial development. Hence the contrast
between public statements by the new premier, intended for internal
consumption, and his more measured approach to Danish leaders. For
its part, the Danish government seems reassured and confident that
it can work with the Greenlandic government and is willing to keep
the door open to a compromise short of a full exemption. We will
closely monitor this issue for its potential impact on Denmark's
climate policies and on U.S. interests in Greenland.

FULTON