U.S.-RUSSIA ENVIRONMENT WORKING GROUP: ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MOSCOW 000261 STATE FOR EUR/RUS, OES/PCI, EUR/PGI STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID/E&E INTERIOR FOR KIM MAGRAW INTERIOR PLEASE PASS TO NPS, FWS, AND USGS FWS FOR STEVE KOHL, JANET HOHN, GEOFF HASKETT NPS FOR SUE MASICA AND RUDY D'ALESSANDRO NOAA FOR RENEE TATUSKO AND JENNIFER DUPONT OSTP FOR JOAN ROLF USDA FOR FAS/OCRA NINA HORGAN SIPDIS SENSITIVE AIDAC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV PREL ECON TSPL SOCI EFIS KGLB RS SUBJECT: U.S.-RUSSIA ENVIRONMENT WORKING GROUP: ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY POSITIVE, BUT SEEKS MORE DETAILS ON U.S. DRAFT AGENDA REF: A. 09 MOSCOW 3013 (NOTAL) ¶B. 09 MOSCOW 2538 (NOTAL) MOSCOW 00000261 001.2 OF 004 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On January 27, officials of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology (MNRE) gave their initial reaction to the U.S.-proposed agenda for the Environment Working Group of the Bilateral Presidential Commission. They suggested that OES DAS Daniel Reifsnyder head a USG delegation to Moscow in March for the first Working Group meeting. They warmly accepted a proposal for cooperation on management of mercury and other toxic chemicals -- and were particularly eager to learn from the U.S. Superfund experience -- and they promised a more detailed proposal soon. They cautioned that accelerating cooperation on a Beringia shared cross-border protected area should wait until Russia creates a federal park in Chukotka, a process that has dragged on longer than expected. They were open to discussing the other proposals on the USG list, but asked for further clarification on most of them. They did not embrace the idea of interagency and multidisciplinary cooperation on issues like climate change and illegal logging, but preferred to focus on the particular aspects of these issues that fall under their own ministry's jurisdiction. END SUMMARY. -------------- Working Group Meeting Time and Participants -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On January 27, Igor Zotov, Deputy International Relations Director, and Andrey Peshkov, Head of the Office of Cooperation in the area of Nuclear Industry Safety and Waste, of the International Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) gave us their initial reaction to the USG's proposed agenda for cooperation under the Environment Working Group (EWG) of the Bilateral Presidential Commission. Zotov said that Deputy Minister Igor Maydanov has designated him as MNRE's chief point of contact on the Environment Working Group. The Russian side will determine its participants once the EWG agenda is agreed. Responding to Under Secretary for Global Affairs Maria Otero's letter to Minister Maydanov, they tentatively agreed to a mid-March visit by OES DAS Daniel Reifsnyder. They hoped that Under Secretary Otero could visit Moscow in April for an initial meeting of the Working Group co-chairs. They noted that the Russian government schedule in May would be too busy for such a meeting. -------------- Arctic Cooperation -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Regarding the proposed Beringia cross-border joint protected area, Zotov and Peshkov said that Russia is still conducting environmental feasibility studies on establishment of a federal park on the Russian side of the Bering Strait. (NOTE: The MNRE department responsible for national parks -- not represented at this meeting -- had predicted last September that these studies would be finished by December 2009 - ref. B. END NOTE.) They said the Beringia proposal is very attractive and should not be rushed. Our interlocutors indicated that we need to wait until these studies are finished before agreeing on concrete steps to increase future MOSCOW 00000261 002.2 OF 004 cooperation. In view of FM Lavrov and Secretary Clinton's interest in the topic, they agreed to check on when the feasibility study is expected to be completed and will aim to tell us more in the coming days. In response to our question, they agreed to verify that April would be a propitious time for an anticipated visit of National Park Service officials to discuss the protected area. (NOTE: We described the difference in urgency between the MFA and MNRE on January 28 to MFA North America Department Bilateral Affairs Office Counselor Azar Dzhioyev, who seemed frustrated that MNRE had not provided the MFA with any reaction to the U.S. proposal for the EWG. He took on board the suggestion that it would be useful for MFA to clarify the timing for Russian government designation. END NOTE.) ¶4. (SBU) On the proposal for cooperation on salmon river conservation, MNRE proposed redefining this area as "conservation of rare and endangered salmonids [as defined under Russian endangered-species legislation] and their spawning grounds," as these are the only types of salmon and salmon habitat over which MNRE has jurisdiction. Commercial fish and fisheries fall under the Federal Fisheries Agency, a separate federal agency. They requested more detail on what specifically the USG has in mind in this area. (COMMENT: Limiting this cooperation to only endangered salmonids may mostly limit it to joint academic research. END COMMENT.) ¶5. (SBU) The Russians are eager to cooperate in the management and cleanup of contaminated sites, but they wish to define the issue more precisely. The United States and Russia have cooperated in this area under the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission and the Arctic Council's Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP). MNRE is very interested in U.S. Superfund experience and hopes our countries can realize projects that we began discussing four years ago. They proposed that this cooperation complement existing cooperation within ACAP, where a financing mechanism and history of U.S.-Russian cooperation in this area already exist. Peshkov stressed that Russia sees the United States as its strategic partner in these areas and would like to greatly increase joint activities and rebuild a "unified front" in ACAP vis-a-vis other member states that, according to Peshkov, do not share our joint vision. He promised to give us concrete proposals for areas of cooperation and potential joint funding for joint projects in the coming days. In an aside, Peshkov asked that the United States support renewing Russia's -- and specifically his -- chairmanship of ACAP for the next two years, noting that the first ACAP Chair, an EPA representative, served two terms. -------------- Chemicals Management and Illegal Logging -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Russians are eager to cooperate on mercury management and promised to give us a more detailed proposal in the coming days, including possible joint financing for joint projects. Peshkov stressed that Russia is interested in an equal partnership and intends to allocate funds comparable to the U.S. contribution. ¶7. (SBU) On issues related to the Montreal Protocol and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) phaseout, the Russians prefer to define this area in terms of "introducing best available ozone-friendly technologies" and are interested in further discussion. They also MOSCOW 00000261 003.2 OF 004 asked if the Working Group would discuss the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Peshkov requested to add an area for discussion: a strategic approach to chemical management that would combine commitments under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the Stockholm Convention, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and the Global Mercury Partnership. ¶8. (SBU) On issues of illegal logging and forest fires, Zotov and Peshkov emphasized that MNRE only has jurisdiction over forests in national parks, federal nature preserves, and other federally protected lands and the federally designated buffer zones surrounding them, which cover a total of around 10 percent of Russia's land. Forested lands that are open to commercial logging fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Forestry Agency, part of the Ministry of Agriculture. Zotov and Peshkov insisted that cooperation on illegal logging in commercially logged forests must take place under the Agriculture Working Group in direct cooperation with the Agriculture Ministry. Nonetheless, they pointed out that working to combat illegal logging on federally protected lands and buffer zones could be a viable area for cooperation in the EWG, since illegal logging is a significant problem there. -------------- Climate Change and Other Cooperation -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Since MNRE's takeover of the state hydrometeorological service Roshydromet in the 2008 government shakeup that followed President Medvedev's election, MNRE now has jurisdiction over a wide spectrum of issues in the area of climate change, including state policy on climate change, climate monitoring and research, as well as regulating emissions. However, Peshkov and Zotov said that cooperation on alternative energy and energy efficiency must take place within the working groups on science and technology or energy. Peshkov did not take on board the suggestion to work jointly with these groups. ¶10. (SBU) In the area of "environmental institutional development," the Russians asked that the USG clearly define these terms. They did not understand what was meant by this category and could not respond to it. Peshkov interjected sharply that if this term was the U.S. way of criticizing how Russia has organized its environmental agencies, that subject is not up for discussion. (NOTE: Peshkov himself suggested cooperation in this area in July 2009 at an environmental roundtable following the presidential summit, when he suggested bilateral cooperation on "harmonizing environmental legislation and standards." END NOTE.) We reassured them that we understood this to mean broader issues such as civil society engagement in environmental preservation and environmental education programs such as GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment),but agreed to check. ¶11. (SBU) On the issue of invasive species, Peshkov and Zotov said they were aware of U.S. struggles with invasive Asian carp in the Great Lakes; however, they averred that Russia does not have a problem with invasive species. They asked that the U.S. side further clarify the topics of wildlife and marine conservation. Peshkov suggested that this title be changed to "biodiversity." MOSCOW 00000261 004.2 OF 004 They also asked that "wetlands and watersheds" be further clarified, and they asked for further specifics on proposed cooperation in the area of transboundary air pollution, though they are in principle open to discussion on these topics. ¶12. (SBU) COMMENT: High-level U.S. contacts with Russian environmental policymakers have been rare in recent years as Russia has weakened the authority of government agencies that craft environmental policy and that enforce environmental regulations. NGOs tell us frankly that there is hardly anyone in the Russian government left with whom to work. MNRE, overwhelmingly focused on natural resource extraction, is notorious among Russian government agencies for its lack of coordination, with one MFA official calling it a "black hole." For all these reasons, MNRE's cautious response was surprisingly positive. Of our MNRE contacts, Peshkov has shown by far the most interest in the Working Group. Zotov, who is unknown in environmental circles, deferred throughout the meeting to Peshkov, who came to MNRE from the Federal Service for Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor) and is an expert in toxic waste and chemicals management. These areas had the most detailed discussion and were the only areas in which MNRE showed unreserved enthusiasm and willingness to counter with a detailed proposal for cooperation. MNRE so far has consistently refused to consider joint work with other Russian agencies. Although this view is discouraging and inefficient, MNRE is unlikely to change it unless other ministries approach it with proposals for joint work. It is not customary for Russian ministries to coordinate with each other. But the Ministry of Agriculture, which has the lead on illegal logging, has already shown a willingness to do exactly that. At the USG's urging, that ministry will likely allow representatives from the Ministry of Health and Social Development to work on food safety, an approved topic for the Agriculture Working Group. BEYRLE