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