COSTA RICA WELCOMES QENERGY AND CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP OF THE

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000312 STATE FOR WHA/EPSC Q CORNEILLE AND COLON ALSO FOR WHA/CEN AND WHA/CAR ALSO FOR OES DAS REIFSNYDER AND OES/EGC ALSO FOR S/ECC - SPECIAL ENVOY STERN ENERGY FOR L. EINSTEIN SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ENRG ECON KSUM KGHG PREL PGOV CS SUBJECT: COSTA RICA WELCOMES QENERGY AND CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP OF THE AMERICAS,Q OFFERS INITIAL IDEAS ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Senior Costa Rican officials, including the Minister of Foreign Trade and the Minister of Environment, Energy, and Telecommunications (MINAET),welcomed President ObamaQs planned announcement of an QEnergy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) at the upcoming Summit of the Americas (SOA). The Ministers will raise ECPA at President Oscar AriasQ April 15 cabinet meeting. MINAET offered initial ideas for an ECPA (see Para 6) emphasizing joint efforts on climate change adaptation and mitigation that also contribute to poverty reduction, economic reactivation, job creation, and strengthening of low-carbon economies. (See Para 5 for full list of GOCR delegation to the SOA.) END SUMMARY. GOCR Welcomes ECPA as QGreat News -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Regional Environmental Officer (REO) discussed ref points with Minister of Environment, Energy, and Telecoms Jorge Rodriguez on April 14. Rodriguez, who will attend the Summit of the Americas with President Oscar Arias, welcomed President ObamaQs impending announcement of the QEnergy & Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) as Qgreat news.Q He said that ECPA appears to address many of Costa RicaQs interests regarding clean energy and energy efficiency. Rodriguez appreciated that ECPA is not yet a fully formed venture and that the USG wanted input and ideas for the partnership. ¶3. (SBU) In parallel, ECONOFF presented the general outline of the ECPA's proposed priorities and strategic framework to Minister of Foreign Trade Marco Vinicio Ruiz. Although the minister will not attend the SOA, he nonetheless is engaged on how environmental issues impact economic development and the need to balance the two by committing to sustainable economic activities. Minister Ruiz was enthusiastic on the general outline of ECPA and praised the collaborative approach of the initiative. Likewise, POLOFF raised ECPA with Herbert Epinoza, who is organizing the Foreign MinistryQs team for the SOA. He was very interested in the idea and would welcome further details. ¶4. (SBU) Ministers Ruiz and Rodriguez both said that they will discuss the ECPA proposal at President AriasQ April 15 cabinet meeting. Minister Ruiz added that he will see President Arias for at least two meetings that day and that he would approach President Arias specifically about ECPA. Costa RicaQs SOA Delegation -------------- ¶5. (U) Below is Costa RicaQs SOA delegation list: -- President Oscar Arias; -- Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno; -- Minister of the Environment, Energy & Telecoms Jorge Rodriguez; -- Minister of Communications Mayi Antillon; -- Ambassador to Trinidad & Tobago Ricardo Thompson; -- OAS Ambassador Jose Enrique Castillo (dual-hatted at the moment as the acting GOCR Ambassador to the U.S.); and -- Four assistants (for a total of 10) Initial GOCR Ideas for ECPA -------------- ¶6. (U) Late on April 14, Minister Rodriguez passed to REO MINAETQs initial ideas for ECPA. These ideas point to the GOCRQs hopes for joint efforts on climate change adaptation and mitigation that also contribute to poverty reduction, economic reactivation, job creation, and strengthening of low-carbon economies. Below is an unofficial translation of MINAETQs non-paper. BEGIN TEXT OF MINAET NON-PAPER ENERGY AND CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP OF THE AMERICAS The governments of Central America and the United States of America in the framework of the international, regional and bilateral agreements subscribed by both parties on climate change matters, ALIDES, CONCAUSA I, CONCAUSA II, UNFCCC, the 2008 San Pedro Sula Summit, and the guidelines of the Central American strategy on climate change, the declarations of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change; given the need to undertake effective strategic actions for the adaptation and mitigation of climate change and recognizing that climate change is a security issue and that all countries have common but differentiated responsibilities, we agree to develop a joint action plan for the adaptation and mitigation of climate change that will contribute to the reduction of poverty, economic reactivation and creation of employment and the strengthening of low-carbon economies. ¶1. Areas of interest a. Clean energy. b. Trade and investment (CAFTA-DR) of clean technologies. c. Efficient transportation systems. d. Public infrastructure. e. Sustainable land use management. f. Financing mechanisms for climate change. g. International cooperation. h. Research and development for technology transfer. i. Vulnerability and risk management. j. Science and education (IPCC, CCCC, CCNCC, CCLCC) k. Public participation (consultation and institutional dialogue ). l. Public and private governance (national councils on climate change and executive units). ¶2. Levels of action a. Global: Joint agreements in the negotiations of the UNFCCC, COP 15, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2009. b. Hemispheric: Summit of the Americas, Trinidad and Tobago, April ¶2009. c. Regional: SICA (Central American Integration System) and CARICOM (Caribbean Community) d. National: countries, strategies, and national action plans. e. Local: Municipal governments and civil society organizations. ¶3. Mechanisms a. Bilateral political dialogue CA-US (High level). b. Sectoral dialogue (Ministers). c. Transversal dialogues (Cabinet, legislative and judicial ). d. Government Q Civil society dialogue (Consultative Committee of the SICA, which represents civil society in SICA). ¶4. Follow-up a. Central America: SG SICA, CCAD, Ministerial Fora and CCSICA b. United States of America: Department of State, Department of Commerce, Environmental Hub, and the following agencies: EPA, NOAA, DOE, DOI, USGS, and USAID. ¶5. Indicators and Verifications a. Joint work schedules, resources and terms (multidisciplinary teams) b. Consensus agendas for negotiations (joint documents for fora of political negotiations) c. Thematic programs for cooperation (bilateral Qregional, bilateral-bilateral) d. Number of regional and national projects formulated and implemented. END TEXT OF MINAET NON-PAPER COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Costa RicaQs initial warm embrace of the proposed ECPA reflects the GOCRQs commitment to promoting renewable energy and sustainable forestry, as well as Costa RicaQs stated goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2021. It also reflects the GOCRQs desire to play a leading role in the region on climate change. The challenges will be first, in translating the GOCRQs lofty aims into pragmatic action, and second, in soliciting/including enough regional input to obtain full buy-in on ECPA, without making the initiative too unwieldy. CIANCHETTE