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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004618 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/26/17 
TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG PREL FR
SUBJECT: CLIMATE CHANGE: FRANCE ON THE EVE OF BALI 
 
REF: STATE 159374 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR STAPLETON FOR REASONS 1.4 B & D 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: U.S. and French approaches to reducing GHG emissions 
diverge dramatically.  Jean-Louis Borloo, State Minister for the 
'super' Ministry for the Environment told the Ambassador pointedly 
that, in his opinion, the U.S. was not doing enough to reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions, and the world was waiting for a USG 
commitment.  Politically savvy and obstreperous, Borloo will lead 
France's delegation to Bali and could become the lead voice on 
climate and environment in the EU with the onset of the French 
presidency.  The GOF, however, is split regarding cooperation with 
the USG on environment.  France's climate negotiator Brice Lalonde, 
for example, stressed to us his interest in the U.S. vision for a 
Bali roadmap.  He praised the U.S. as the source for 'the ideas' that 
can serve as a way forward in the complex process and recognized the 
extent of private sector, university, state and local initiatives. 
USG policymakers and negotiators should be mindful of this split in 
assessing and managing French positions. End summary. 
 
---------------------------- 
Environment Front and Center 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) President Sarkozy placed the environment at the center of his 
government, creating a 'super' Ministry with responsibility for 
ecology and sustainable development, but also including energy, 
transportation, and regional planning.  Borloo was chosen for this 
post only after Alain Juppe failed in his election bid for the 
National Assembly. Minister of State Jean-Louis Borloo is the third 
ranking official in the French government after Sarkozy and Prime 
Minister Fillon.  An ambitious politician in his own right, he backed 
Sarkozy only when the outcome was clear. Borloo was a successful 
businessman before entering politics.  He leads the center right 
Radical Party and is known for his bluntness.  Borloo is riding high 
on the success of the the Grenelle for the Environment, a month-long 
national review of environmental issues. 
 
¶3.  (C) On October 25, Sarkozy articulated measures to implement the 
outcomes of the Grenelle.  Specific examples which impact key U.S. 
interests include a 'suspension' on the sole genetically modified 
crop being planted in France and consideration of a carbon tax on 
imports from Kyoto non-participants.  Sarkozy has, since his 
election, in public statements, pressed the U.S. to take a clear 
leadership role in global climate negotiations, most recently in his 
address to the U.S. Congress.  We expect Sarkozy and his government 
to continue this refrain at Bali and when France assumes the EU 
presidency. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Critic-in-chief of U.S. environmental policy 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Unable for two-and-a-half years to meet with Borloo, 
Ambassador Stapleton called on the Minister of State on November 21. 
He stressed that the U.S. was in the lead in terms of concrete 
actions to reduce emissions and emissions intensity.  The U.S. 
government had succeeded in the first Major Economies Meeting in 
bringing the 17 major emitting economies, including China and India, 
to the table.  The Ambassador stressed that without major emerging 
economies as part of a global framework, the world could not succeed 
in combating climate change. Stapleton also stressed the U.S. public 
and private investment in new technologies, and the programs 
initiated at the state and municipal levels. 
 
¶5.  (C) Borloo expressed disappointment with U.S. climate efforts, 
claiming that the U.S. is doing little to reduce emissions. 
Highlighting U.S. consumption, the metric he returned to again and 
again in an animated discussion was tons of carbon per inhabitant per 
annum.  He underscored not only the different ratios between the U.S. 
and Europe, but also between the U.S. and China.  For Borloo, the 
U.S. needs to use its undeniable economic might to effect immediate, 
large-scale change in the way we live and consume energy.  He 
repeated that limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius was 
essential to humanity and required a 50 percent reduction in global 
emissions.  He opined that the time for action is critical.  Today, 
decisions can be taken democratically, he said, in ten years it will 
be too late for democratic choices and radical measures would have to 
be imposed. 
 
------------------ 
Borloo at Bali.... 
------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) In response to our question, Borloo said that his goal for 
Bali would be to persuade the U.S. to rethink its role in the global 
process and take immediate steps to reduce emissions domestically. 
He pressed the Ambassador for a USG target for greenhouse gas 
reductions and called for market mechanisms such as the European 
 
PARIS 00004618  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Emissions Trading System.  Borloo stated that the U.S. market 
approach "cheats" by failing to include environmental costs in 
pricing. 
 
--------------------------------- 
France's EU Presidency Priorities 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Regarding France's mid-2008 EU presidency, Borloo suggested 
several major themes for work, including energy efficiency; renewable 
energy; the carbon market; and the development of a tax levy on 
imports from countries not party to a system of controlling 
greenhouse gas emissions.   He gave examples as to how he thought 
such a system might work. (Note: Immediately prior to meeting the 
Ambassador, Borloo had made a presentation to the Council of 
Ministers which included a point about this border tax proposal. 
News media quote him as saying, "For those countries not 
participating in the fight against climate change," the GOF will 
reiterate its call for "border adjustment mechanisms" to avoid unfair 
competition and environmental dumping.) 
 
----------------------------------- 
On the other hand, other voices.... 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) While the U.S. continues to be the object of criticism 
regarding climate policies from a number of quarters in France, there 
is also informed comment to the contrary.  At a seminar on November 
21, for example, two French climate experts saw the U.S. as key to 
international climate efforts.  Brice Lalonde, Ambassador for Climate 
Change Negotiations, remarked in his public comments that no progress 
on international climate talks can occur unless the European and U.S. 
positions merge.  Lalonde credits U.S. research as having paved the 
way for work on the climate internationally and that U.S. research 
into climate-friendly energy technologies is "impressive."  He 
similarly referred to the U.S. experience - including in dealing with 
cap-and-trade systems - as "extremely valuable" and that U.S. 
participation was essential and a 'sine qua non' to bringing China - 
the most worrisome emitter of GHGs - on board the international 
process.  Among other points, Lalonde said that as the EU-27 becomes 
more complex, Europe can benefit from studying U.S. approaches in the 
environmental domain.  He and the other French expert praised the 
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and work underway in California on 
energy efficiency.  In a conversation following the seminar, Lalonde 
told ESTH counselor that he was very interested to learn the U.S.'s 
vision for Bali and that France seeks to work with the U.S.  He said 
good ideas for Bali were at a premium and he hoped the U.S. would 
come to Bali armed with them.  It was - for him - the ideas, and not 
political ideologies, that would make Bali work. 
 
------------------------------ 
Biotech is another problem.... 
------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Ambassador also raised with Borloo concerns over French 
action on genetically modified crops.  Borloo agreed that BtMon810 
corn seeds, the only variety permitted in France, presented no food 
safety concerns.  He assured the Ambassador that in January the 
biotech issue would be clarified by the French government.  He also 
understood the commercial interests some farmers had in production of 
transgenic corn, and those needed to be taken into consideration. 
But, he claimed that there nonetheless existed a problem with corn 
due to its "dissemination" or cross-fertilization characteristics. 
He conjectured that a traditional French farmer growing only "bio" 
products could find that transgenic ones had - through wind or other 
natural mechanisms - entered into his own production.  The farmer, 
Borloo said, could be sued because his products had been contaminated 
by even a very small fraction of transgenic material.  Borloo 
underscored, therefore, that this technology required additional 
analysis. 
 
---------------------------------- 
And conflicting signals on biotech 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (C) Borloo had been detained at the weekly Council of Ministers 
meeting, providing an opportunity for a lower key discussion with 
Borloo's chief of staff Christian Fremont, a professional 'prefet' in 
the French governmental system.  Fremont generally responded 
positively about biotech products, alluding to a French Academy of 
Sciences statement regarding the need for biotech crops to feed the 
world's population in the future.  He also described France's 
anti-GMO movement led by the charismatic rabble rouser Jose Bove, as 
"noisy."  Remarkably he thought that the Grenelle process may have 
provided activists with their day in court leading to greater public 
confidence regarding GMOs.  He downplayed Sarkozy's action calling it 
a temporary "suspension" not a freeze.  He welcomed U.S. expert 
presentations to the French body to be constituted to review (once 
again) biotech issues.  Fremont also acknowledged USG trade concerns, 
saying that France was very much aware of these. 
 
PARIS 00004618  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶11. (C) Comment: This was the first opportunity we have had for a 
bilateral with Borloo, a key figure on the environment.  Borloo 
surprised us with his knee-jerk ideological views on environmental 
issues.  He is a sharp contrast to his boss, a smart pragmatist eager 
to bridge differences to work with the United States.  We expect that 
Borloo will be grandstanding at Bali, setting up his EU role, and we 
caution that he is quite good at it.  That said, other players are 
more interested in what the U.S. is actually doing and will follow 
the Elysee's more open approach to engaging the USG.  All of this 
argues strongly that our Bali delegation needs to be well armed with 
a detailed, factual presentation of the progress we have made and our 
compelling vision for the future.  End Comment. 
 
STAPLETON