Austria Still Pitching Vienna For IRENA Headquarters

UNCLAS VIENNA 000739 SIPDIS, SENSITIVE STATE FOR EEB/ESC MONOSSON, OES/EGC THOMPSON, IO/EDA WEBBER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG KGHG SENV AU SUBJECT: Austria Still Pitching Vienna For IRENA Headquarters REF: A) State 59971, b) Froats-Monosson emails ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Austrian MFA reps continue to pitch Vienna as headquarters for the nascent International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA),but acknowledge that the UAE has cleverly played the "South" card in promoting itself. Austrians argue Vienna offers synergies and that a UAE headquarters would be isolated and stifling for expatriate staff. We made clear that the USG plans to support Abu Dhabi, even though our participation is still under discussion with Congress. End summary ¶2. (SBU) At a meeting June 18, Post raised reftel points with MFA reps Christian Krepela (head of the Department for Environment and Energy) and with Ernst-Peter Brzezovsky (head of the Department for International Conferences and Organizations) of the Ministry of European and International Affairs, which has the lead on IRENA issues. (NOTE: per ref B, Post had already told the GoA informally that the USG could not support its headquarter candidacy - END NOTE). ¶3. (SBU) The GoA continue to pitch us and other governments in its campaign to host IRENA's headquarters. The campaign has two principal arguments. The first is networking/synergy, namely Vienna's strong existing "energy cluster" of international organizations. Vienna already hosts international organizations with energy focus including OPEC, OFIC (OPEC's Development Fund), the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP),the Energy Community (focusing on southeast Europe),and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis/IIASA (whose researchers model climate change and other relevant issues). The MFA argues that Vienna would give IRENA key "synergies" not available in Bonn, much less in the UAE. ¶4. (SBU) The second GoA argument is Vienna's long experience hosting international organizations and conferences. Office space for the expected large number of IRENA employees would be available "from day one" (versus the UAE facility, which has not broken ground). The region already has a qualified workforce on energy and administrative issues. With many embassies from the developing world, Vienna would offer many more countries the chance for representation than Bonn or Abu Dhabi. ¶5. (SBU) GoA interlocutors expressed understanding for why the USG supports UAE, but raise potential objections to Abu Dhabi (much more than Bonn). Speaking candidly, GoA reps implied that the UAE does not have the experience of an existing UN city, is quite isolated from leading experts and practitioners of renewable energy (most of whom are in Europe),and might not offer world-class professional and personal opportunities for expatriates (in particular women). ¶6. (SBU) The Austrians see the Director-General/DG issue as closely intertwined with the selection of the headquarters -- i.e. in practice a DG would come from a developed country if the HQ goes to a developing country (or vice versa). They spoke favorably of the Nigerian candidate -- but stopped short of endorsing him/her -- pointing out that the headquarters is permanent (where the DG serves just for four years),so member states should be careful not to choose the headquarters for transient political reasons. ¶7. (U) The Austrian delegation to the Sharm El Sheik meeting will be headed by MFA Secretary-General (deputy to Minister) Johannes Kyrle, highlighting the importance that Austria attaches to its HQ candidacy. ORDWAY