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.

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OBJECTIVES
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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.

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REPORTING DEADLINE AND POINTS OF CONTACT
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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.

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BEGIN TALKING POINTS FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND OTHERS
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U.S. Climate Change Policy and Actions: Domestic
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-- 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.

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U.S. Objectives for the
December UNFCCC COP-15 in Copenhagen:
A Lasting Global Agreement
With Commitments From All Major Economies
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-- 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.

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Financing Low-Carbon Development
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-- 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


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The U.S. Proposal *Is* Comparable With That Of The EU
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-- 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.

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END TALKING POINTS FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND OTHERS
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BEGIN TALKING POINT FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS ONLY
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-- 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.

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END TALKING POINT FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS ONLY
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CLINTON