VIETNAM LIKELY TO ASSOCIATE WITH COPENHAGEN ACCORD BUT NEEDS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000058 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SECC TODD STERN AND JONATHAN PERSHING STATE FOR OES/EGC (DREW NELSON, RACHEL KASTENBERG, KATE LARSEN) STATE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE, G/ENV, EGAT/ESP STATE PASS TO NOAA/NOS/OIA (JONATHAN JUSTI) STATE PASS TO INTERIOR FOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (GREG SMITH, SUE HASELTINE, STANLEY PONCE, JANINE POWELL) EPA FOR OIA (MARK KASMAN) USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE/INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS (CYNTHIA MACKIE AND ELIZABETH LEBOW) BANGKOK PASS TO RDMA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ENRG ECON KGHG VM SUBJECT: VIETNAM LIKELY TO ASSOCIATE WITH COPENHAGEN ACCORD BUT NEEDS PUSH TO DO IT QUICKLY REF: 2009 HANOI 1440; 2009 HANOI 1246; 2009 HANOI 670 1.(U) Action Request: See paragraph 7. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: Ambassador Michalak urged Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen to support Vietnam's association with the Copenhagen Accord by January 31. Nguyen noted his support for the Accord and stated that he was preparing documentation to present to the Prime Minister in support of association. If the United States prioritizes Vietnamese association with the Accord, we recommend direct communications from top U.S. negotiators to the Prime Minister and Minister Nguyen. Nguyen noted Vietnam's satisfaction with COP-15 and appreciation for the positive role played by the United States. He also urged increased U.S. assistance to Vietnam's climate change response efforts and provided a detailed list of possible projects. End of Summary. Minister Nguyen Seeking Prime Minister Approval to Associate with Copenhagen Accord -------------- --- ¶3. (SBU) On January 20, Ambassador Michalak met with MONRE Minister Nguyen to urge Vietnam to quickly associate with the Copenhagen Accord. Earlier this month, the Ambassador had made a similar request to Deputy Foreign Minister Phan Binh Minh. According to Nguyen, the GVN negotiating team, including himself, supports the Copenhagen Accord. MONRE, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are preparing documents for the Prime Minister to advocate that Vietnam associate with the Copenhagen Accord. Minister Nguyen will try to get a decision by January 31 (Note: A working level negotiator earlier told ESTHOff that it was unlikely that the Government of Vietnam (GVN) could satisfy all internal requirements to sign before January 31). Minister Nguyen will highlight ongoing and potential USG climate change support in his communications with the Prime Minister to help convince him to associate with the Copenhagen Accord Vietnam Satisfied with COP-15 Negotiations -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Nguyen, who served as the deputy head of the Vietnamese delegation, felt that the Copenhagen Accord reflected Vietnam's positions at COP-15. Vietnam is proud of its role in Copenhagen and Nguyen felt that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's speech before the assembly reflected a harmonization of the positions of developed and developing nations. Nguyen emphasized that though Vietnam is a member of the G-77, which he referred to as "the G-77 and China," it maintains an independent voice. Nguyen was pleased with the U.S. role at Copenhagen, including its interactions with the Vietnamese delegation. He felt that President Obama's active participation was critical to achieving the Accord. Vietnam Requests Additional U.S. Support HANOI 00000058 002.2 OF 002 -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Nguyen stated that while the Ambassador came to persuade him to associate with the Copenhagen Accord, he had come to persuade the Ambassador to increase U.S. support for Vietnamese climate change responses. Nguyen noted that we can expect all high-level GVN interlocutors to raise this issue in meetings with their U.S. counterparts. Nguyen highlighted the following priorities for the GVN: assistance for GVN efforts to implement the National Target Program to Respond to Climate Change; increased support for the bilateral climate change working group, including more regular meetings; help for Vietnamese efforts to develop climate change, weather, and sea level forecasting and warning systems, along with natural disaster preparation and mitigation; backing for REDD initiatives; assistance for efforts to save the Mekong Delta from sea level rise; and support for initiatives to develop climate change resistant strains of rice. Ambassador Urges Vietnam to Support New Technologies -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Ambassador Michalak noted that Nguyen's list built upon existing U.S.-Vietnamese cooperation and emphasized the USG desire to assist Vietnam's climate change responses. While we hope to expand that cooperation, we need to ensure that the USG coordinates any support internally and with other donors. Further, international assistance remains dependent on domestic climate change legislation. The Ambassador noted that while the United States would like to assist Vietnam to develop new rice strains, Vietnam needed to develop legislation that supported such new technologies, such as biotech. Action Request: High-Level USG Advocacy -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Given the comments from Minister Nguyen, we urge Washington to send letters to the Prime Minister from Todd Stern (from head of COP-15 delegation to head of COP-15 delegation) and from Jonathan Pershing to Minister Nguyen (from deputy head of COP-15 delegation to deputy head of COP-15 delegation) urging quick GVN action. We think such correspondence could convince the GVN to expedite its review process to reach a final (and likely positive) determination by January 31. Should we move forward with such correspondence, we recommend that the letters highlight Vietnam's active and positive role at Copenhagen (the GVN is quite proud of its participation),recognition of Vietnam's position as one of the countries that will be most severely affected by sea level rise, and the strong USG desire to bolster technical cooperation between the two countries. The letters should include positive references to any meetings between the two delegations at Copenhagen. Finally, we suggest language noting that rapid association with the Accord will be consistent with Vietnam's positions at the COP and bolster Vietnam's position as a well-regarded voice in the developing world. Michalak