VZCZCXRO3077
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHMD #0309/01 0721828
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121828Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4476
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000309 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS CEQ, TREASURY FOR DAS KEN PEEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN - DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON US-EU CLIMATE CHANGE 
COOPERATION 
 
REF: SECSTATE 24257 
 
¶1.  Summary 
------------ 
 
(SBU) EconCouns and ESTOff delivered reftel points to Teresa 
Ribera, GOS Director General for Climate Change in the 
Environment Ministry, in a March 11 meeting.  DG Ribera does 
not expect any surprises for the U.S. from the European 
Council meeting this week.  She said the objectives are to 
reinforce the EU's unilateral emissions reduction commitment 
and to consider reactions to the Eureopan's Commision's 
January 23 emissions reduction proposal.  Ribera described 
the EU's commitment (and implicitly the commitment the EU 
would want from the U.S.) as challenging and requiring an 
enormous effort, but not unrealistic.  She speculated that 
the EU would ultimately want the US to reduce emissions below 
1990 levels.  Ribera also explained the European and Spanish 
mindset in establishing ambitious emissions reductions goals. 
 She believed that reactions by some European business groups 
to the Commission's proposals were simply a negotiating 
position.  Ribera, who discussed the Clean Technology Fund 
with Treasury DAS Peel last month, expressed Spain's 
"sympathy" with the idea but warned that developed countries 
had reacted in a negative way. 
 
 
¶2.  No Surprises Expected from Council Meeting 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
(U) Ribera does not expect any surprises for the US to come 
out of the March 13-14 European Council meeting.  She said 
the objectives of the meeting are to: 
-- Reinforce the EU's unilateral commitment on medium-term 
emissions reductions 
-- Consider reactions to the European Commission's January 23 
emissions reduction proposal 
 
 
¶3.  EU's View of U.S. Emissions Target 
-------------------------------------- 
 
(SBU) Looking further in the future, Ribera said the EU 
definitely has not taken a position on the level of 
commitment it would like to see from the U.S.  She did 
speculate, however, that ultimately the EU will want the U.S. 
to do more than return to 1990 emissions levels by 2020. 
While recognizing that the EU's unilateral commitment (and 
implicitly what the EU would hope to see from the U.S.) will 
be very challenging and will require an enormous effort, 
Ribera said she did not believe the goal would be 
unrealistic.  When asked why the EU selected one of the most 
extreme of the IPCC's 177 scenarios, she emphasized the 
importance of setting extremely ambitious targets.  Ribera 
said if we do not establish ambitious goals for 2020, then it 
will be that much harder to do what needs to be done by 2050. 
 She also said that due to all of the compromises that will 
likely be made in the negotiating process, the world might 
well fall short of whatever goal is set, and failure to 
fufill a less than ambitious goal would have very negative 
consequences.  Post believes that this reflected more of a 
personal opinion, rather than a formal GOS position. 
 
 
¶4.  Private Sector 
------------------ 
 
(SBU) Ribera said that Europeans, and particularly the 
Spanish, recognized the importance of providing incentives 
for the private sector to develop new technologies and 
industries to help reduce emissions.  She said that under the 
first stage of Kyoto, Spain had agreed to a very ambitious 
target (NOTE: Which it has not met), which had encouraged 
Spanish companies to invest early in new technology and 
alternative energy.  Those companies were now benefiting from 
a more favorable position, relative to their counterparts in 
other countries.  Acknowledging that this was not a 
universally shared view, Ribera said industry opposition to 
the European Commission's proposals for emissions reductions 
was to be expected, and she described much of this opposition 
as simply a negotiating position. 
 
 
¶5.  GOS Reaction to Clean Technology Fund 
----------------------------------------- 
 
(SBU) Ribera had discussed the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) 
 
MADRID 00000309  002 OF 002 
 
 
with Treasury DAS Ken Peel on February 12 on the margins of 
the Spanish renewable energy mission to Washington (septel). 
She said Spain viewed the initiative sympathetically and 
agreed on the importance of deploying clean technology to 
developing countries.  However, the GOS' reaction is one of 
caution.  She said many developing nations have reacted 
negatively to the CTF concept, which she believed was related 
to concerns over the fund's governance and transparency 
requirements.  She said the concept has been very 
controversial among a wide range of developing countries. 
Ribera also shared a concern that making these resources 
available to developing countries might reduce their sense of 
urgency in making ambitious commitments to reduce emissions. 
(NOTE: Post responded that it seemed more likely that the 
provision of resources would increase their confidence that 
they could assume and meet ambitious commitments). The GOS is 
generally interested in participating in the CTF, but would 
first need to understand how these issues will be resolved. 
AGUIRRE