TUNISIA WILL NOT ASSOCIATE WITH COPENHAGEN ACCORD

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000074

SIPDIS

OES FOR NELSON/KASTENBERG/LARSEN
ALSO FOR S/SECC, NEA/MAG, AND NEA/RA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2020
TAGS: ENRG KGHG SENV PREL TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIA WILL NOT ASSOCIATE WITH COPENHAGEN ACCORD
BEFORE JANUARY 31

REF: A. TUNIS 33

B. STATE 3080

Classified by Ambassador Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) On January 29, the Ambassador raised the Copenhagen
Accord with Minister of Environment Nadhir Hamada,
reiterating the request made on January 15 (ref A) for
Tunisia to associate itself with the Accord. Hamada replied
that due to Tunisia's desire to coordinate its response with
other countries in the region and with the G-77, its decision
on whether to associate with the Copenhagen Accord would be
taken after January 31.


2. (C) Comment: Based on Minister Hamada's comments, it is
clear that Tunisia takes an active interest in climate
change. The minister told us he attended President Obama's
speech at Copenhagen, as well as most other major speeches
and sessions that went late into the night. He expressed
strong views on the need for global action and on what he
called the mixed results of the Copenhagen conference, making
special reference to the unhelpful positions of China and
Mexico. Traditional Tunisian caution on multilateral issues,
combined with its stated need for inter-agency consultation
(ref A),make it unlikely that Tunisia will act quickly. End
comment.

GRAY