ROMANIA FULLY SUPPORTS ASSOCIATION WITH COPENHAGEN ACCORD

UNCLAS BUCHAREST 000033 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE ASCHEIBE, OES/EGC DNELSON AND KLARSEN, OES/ENV RKASTENBERG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KGHG SENV ENRG RO SUBJECT: ROMANIA FULLY SUPPORTS ASSOCIATION WITH COPENHAGEN ACCORD REF: STATE 003079 ¶1. Charge d'Affaires delivered reftel demarche points to Petru Dumitriu, Director General for Multilateral Affairs, and Cosmin Boiangiu, Director of the UN Department, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on January 15. Both were members of the Romanian delegation to the Copenhagen Conference of the Parties (COP). They confirmed Romania's support for and intention to associate with the Copenhagen Accord and to inscribe its mitigation actions. However, they explained that the mechanics of the association process for European Union (EU) member states were still being deliberated at the EU Council level, with Environment Ministers meeting in Spain the weekend of January 16-17 to discuss this and related issues. The details will depend on interpretation of the terms of the Lisbon Treaty. ¶2. While the MFA officials agreed that the Copenhagen agreement is an imperfect, less-than-ideal outcome, they believe it is a good result overall and expect a large number of countries to meet the January 31 deadline for association. Romania remains optimistic and is focusing on the strengths of the result and opportunities for future progress, with Dumitriu and Boiangiu emphasizing that the countries who agreed to the document represent 80 percent of global greenhouse emissions. They also stressed the importance of continuing the dialogue and are looking forward to resolving remaining issues at the next COP in Mexico at the end of 2010. Both underlined Romania's commitment to the EU's promised 20 percent reduction in emissions from the 1990 base level and mentioned that that commitment could increase to 30 percent if other countries demonstrate comparable efforts. Romania will contribute to financing mechanisms under the agreement and has pledged 15 million euro for fast track financing over a two-year period. The EU is still considering whether such donations should be made directly by individual member states or aggregated into one EU contribution, they said. ¶3. Consistent with past discussions on climate change, the Romanians raised the issue of their substantial emissions credits under the Kyoto Protocol, potentially worth billions of euro. They consider it very important that these credits transfer to the next international agreement, and they support further consultation on carbon credits and an integrated and regulated cap-and-trade system. Romania hopes to use the revenue from this trade to finance more investment in green technologies. GITENSTEIN