ACTION REQUEST: CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION WITH EU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 097542 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KGHG SENV ENRG TRGY EUN SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION WITH EU MEMBER STATES IN PREPARATION FOR OCTOBER EU COUNCILS AND MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS ¶1. (U) This is an action request for all Posts in EU Member State capitals. Please see paragraph 2. -------------- OBJECTIVES -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In preparation for the European Economic and Financial Affairs and Environment Council meetings October 20 and 21, respectively, and the European Council meeting of heads of government October 29-30, Department requests Posts in EU Member State capitals inform host governments of the United States position on current climate change negotiations, drawing on the talking points below. ¶3. (SBU) Department requests that Posts in EU Member State capitals and USEU Brussels convey the following points as appropriate to EU host government and European Union officials. Posts are requested to make points orally only and not leave a nonpaper. Although eliciting a formal response from the host government is not necessary, Department requests Post's reporting of host government's formal or informal reaction on this topic. ¶4. (SBU) The points that follow may also be used verbally only in discussion with the press, NGOs, think-tanks, academics, and other opinion leaders, with the exception of the last point, which is for use with government officials only. -------------- REPORTING DEADLINE AND POINTS OF CONTACT -------------- ¶5. (U) Posts are requested to report host government response to these points by cable slugged to OES/EGC Wendy Moore (202 647 2425, moorewc@state.gov) and EUR Matthew Beh and Susan Parker-Burns (202 647 1820, behmk@state.gov, and 202 647 5965, parker-burnssm@state.gov),on or before October 2. -------------- -------------- BEGIN TALKING POINTS FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND OTHERS -------------- -------------- -------------- --- U.S. Climate Change Policy and Actions: Domestic -------------- --- -- President Obama is taking the United States in a new direction in the fight against climate change. He has made climate and clean energy issues one of his top priorities domestically. -- The President's stimulus package - the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - contains more than $80 billion in new clean energy investments. President Obama has also set a new policy to increase fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas pollution for all new cars and trucks. The new standards will ultimately require an average fuel economy standard of 35.5 miles per gallon in 2016 and are the equivalent of removing about 180 million cars from the road over the next 6 1/2 years and saving nearly two billion barrels of oil. -- The President is also working with Congress to craft what, if it passes, will be the most far-reaching climate legislation in the world. -- The targets in the pending Waxman-Markey energy and climate legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is pending in the U.S. Senate -- with reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% below 2005 levels by 2050 -- are consistent with keeping the increase in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. -- Both the U.S. under our pending legislation and the EU plan to reduce emissions by about 20% in the next decade. -- The costs of reducing emissions to meet our respective targets are comparable. STATE 00097542 002 OF 003 SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION WITH EU MEMBER STATES IN PREPARATION FOR OCTOBER EU COUNCILS AND MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIO -- Our pending legislation also covers more of the economy - about 85% - than EU rules, and mandates reductions year-by-year all of the way to 2050. No other country's proposal provides a regulatory framework that extends past 2020 to the levels needed to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations. -------------- U.S. Objectives for the December UNFCCC COP-15 in Copenhagen: A Lasting Global Agreement With Commitments From All Major Economies -------------- -- While strong U.S. and developed country action is necessary, that alone will not solve the climate change problem. This is a global crisis that demands a global solution. -- There is simply no way to preserve a livable planet unless the fast-growing emerging countries whose economies are having a significant impact on global emissions make a contribution to curbing emissions along with developed countries. The simple math of accumulating emissions won't allow otherwise. -- Major emerging countries have taken important actions to address climate change. Yet they can and will need to do more. -- To reach a deal at Copenhagen, we are asking major emerging countries to: 1) Undertake their national actions, at a level that puts them on a path that is consistent with what the science demands, and to *commit internationally* to carry them out. 2) Estimate the emissions reductions from these actions, report actions transparently, and subject actions to international verification. -- This is a reasonable request. We are not asking these countries to commit to a target, but rather to commit to undertake actions and reflect them as part of the agreement. -- We are not asking this of all developing countries, only the major emerging ones. -- The vast majority of developing countries should focus on creating low-carbon development plans, with financial and technical assistance from developed countries. -------------- Financing Low-Carbon Development -------------- -- We are not simply seeking an agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions: we are seeking a sustainable development agreement. Development and low-carbon growth are inextricably linked - a *low-carbon* future is the only *sustainable* future. -- What we seek is an international agreement that will permit all countries to realize their full potential to develop in a low-carbon, sustainable way. -- If we can strike a deal in Copenhagen, we expect an agreement to generate a substantial increase in financing and technology transfer. This will be a benefit both to the climate to development, as actions taken to develop more efficient and cleaner technologies will generate jobs. -- The U.S. is committed to providing financial and technological assistance to help the most vulnerable countries adapt to the effects of climate change and to move toward low-carbon development. -- We should maintain our focus on designing a framework that includes both private and public funds which go toward solving the problem. -- The U.S. is clear in its intent to secure a strong international agreement, and together we can meet the climate change challenge. -- To secure an environmentally effective agreement, the U.S. and the EU must speak with one voice in telling major STATE 00097542 003 OF 003 -------------- -------------- The U.S. Proposal *Is* Comparable With That Of The EU -------------- -------------- -- The targets in our pending legislation are consistent with keeping the increase in global temperature to 2 degrees C, and represent efforts comparable to those of the EU and other developed countries. This is supported by the following points of analysis: 1) Both the U.S. under our pending legislation and the EU plan to reduce emissions by about 20% in the next decade. 2) The costs of reducing emissions to meet our respective targets are comparable. 3) A Netherlands Environmental Agency study found that the U.S. mid-term targets are comparable to an EU target of 20 to 30% below 1990 in 2020. 4) Our pending legislation also covers more of the economy - about 85% - than EU rules, and mandates reductions by law year-by-year to the year 2050. 5) U.S. population and economic growth are projected to be higher than those of the EU, so U.S. per capita reductions will likely be greater than those of the EU. -- If the U.S. reduced emissions 25% below 1990 by 2020, instead of the reductions planned under our pending legislation, the difference to the atmosphere would be less than 2 parts per million. That's not a difference that matters. What matters is that we establish strong domestic actions that will lead to a fundamental transformation to a low-carbon economy in a timely way. -------------- -------------- END TALKING POINTS FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND OTHERS -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- BEGIN TALKING POINT FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS ONLY -------------- -------------- -- There is no prospect for our pending Waxman-Markey legislation to undertake more aggressive reductions. Rather than continuing to press the U.S. to "do more," Europe should press for real commitments from major developing countries. -------------- -- END TALKING POINT FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS ONLY -------------- -- CLINTON