VZCZCXRO4080
PP RUEHGR
DE RUEHSP #0527/01 3231840
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181840Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9515
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0497
RHMCSUU/DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT OF SPAIN 000527 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/EGC, WHA/EPSC, WHA/CAR 
SAN JOSE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HUB TIM LATTIMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KGHG ENRG TD
SUBJECT: SLOW PROGRESS ON T&T'S NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY 
 
REF: 07 Port of Spain 1159 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Although Trinidad and Tobago's leadership has 
made a variety of public statements calling attention to climate 
change, the country still lacks a clear strategy to reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions.  The recent creation of a dedicated 
climate change unit within the Ministry of Planning, Housing, and 
the Environment suggests the GOTT is organizing to address climate 
change in a more systematic way as the country prepares to host the 
Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government 
Meeting in 2009.  Newly proposed energy policy changes that may lead 
to reduced vehicle emissions offer further evidence that the GOTT is 
thinking more strategically about climate change.  However, it 
remains unclear how T&T will balance a real world -- as opposed to 
rhetorical -- environmental strategy with its industrial development 
program.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Following his November 2007 re-election, Prime Minister 
Manning shifted the environmental portfolio from the Ministry of 
Public Utilities to the Ministry of Housing and Planning.  Shortly 
thereafter, on the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government 
Meeting in Uganda (ref), the PM publicly tasked newly appointed 
Minister of Planning, Housing and the Environment, Emily Dick-Forde, 
with developing a proposal to address greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions.  Neither this shift, nor Manning's remarks sparked 
immediate action.  In fact, it was not until June 2008, with the 
2009 Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government 
meetings looming, that the issue resurfaced on the GOTT's public 
agenda. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In June, Manning addressed attendees at a regional 
investment conference, proclaiming that a "global crisis" was 
looming.  He pointed to climate change as one crisis element and 
noted that the Caribbean was already feeling the effects - 
witnessing changes in weather patterns, coastal erosion, and greater 
threats from hurricanes.  The PM highlighted the need to increase 
fuel efficiency and the use of alternative energy, but he offered no 
concrete plans. In her June 5 World Environment Day address, 
however, Minister Dick-Forde heralded T&T's general commitment to 
reducing GHG.  In this regard, she highlighted a reforestation 
program and a long-standing solar water-heating demonstration 
project, as well as the Environmental Management Authority's (EMA) 
efforts to put into effect new air pollution rules.  Further, she 
announced that the GOTT had "commissioned the development of a 
Carbon Neutral Strategy...[that] will be the basis for the 
development of our country's national climate change policy." 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
SIGNS OF REAL MOVEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY? 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (U) Two developments in August suggest there is indeed some 
momentum toward defining a climate change policy.  First, John 
Agard, outgoing EMA Chairman and a member of the Intergovernmental 
Panel on Climate Change, and Minister Dick-Forde, announced a five 
year, US$5 million project to restore the Nariva Swamp.  Funded by 
the World Bank, the Nariva Swamp Restoration and Carbon 
Sequestration Project will replant 1,300 hectares of deforested 
land.  Under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the carbon 
credits generated from this project will be purchased by the World 
Bank and sold on the carbon trading market.  This collaboration 
between the EMA and the Ministry is noteworthy, as Agard has and 
continues to publicly encourage the GOTT to take a more aggressive 
stance on environmental issues using market incentives. 
 
¶5. (U) Second, the Ministry of Planning, Housing and the Environment 
established the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit.  This 
new unit is charged with developing a national climate change policy 
and is headed by Kishan Kumarsingh  (Note: Kumarsingh is chair of 
the T&T Cabinet-appointed working group charged with formulating 
GOTT notifications under the Kyoto Protocol and a former chair of 
the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice of the 
U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.)  Having led climate 
change policy development and implementation at the EMA, Kumarsingh 
is well positioned to lead this new unit.  In a conversation with 
EconOff, Kumarsingh indicated that his mandate is to develop a full 
strategy to address climate change.  With the Ministry focused on 
policy development, Kumarsingh expects the EMA will shift its 
climate change focus to implementation.  Both the Ministry and EMA 
will increase the staff devoted to climate change issues, Kumarsingh 
said. 
 
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CLEANER ENERGY COMING, BUT NO RENEWABLES PUSH IN SIGHT 
 
PORT OF SP 00000527  002 OF 003 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶6. (U) The GOTT unveiled several energy policy measures in its 
FY-2009 budget that may ultimately reduce motor vehicle emissions, 
estimated to account for more than forty percent of local GHG 
emissions.  In her September 22 budget presentation to Parliament, 
Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira announced a higher tax rates 
for motor vehicles and an immediate increase in the subsidized price 
of premium gasoline from TT$3.00 to TT$4.00 per liter (US$0.50 to 
US$0.67).  The increase in the price of gas is intended to target 
luxury vehicles, as subsidized prices for lower grade gasoline and 
diesel remain unchanged.  The brunt of the motor vehicle tax rate 
increase falls on cars with smaller engines.  Local economists 
question whether these measures will have any impact on consumption 
or traffic congestion.  Nevertheless, they are the GOTT's first 
serious attempt to shift incentives in response to a massive 
increase in motor vehicle ownership (and road congestion) in recent 
years.  Nunez-Tesheira also announced that the GOTT will convert its 
vehicle fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG), increase the number 
of service stations equipped to supply CNG, and eliminate taxes and 
import duties on CNG conversion kits.  While the Minister of Finance 
outlined some possible avenues for encouraging CNG adoption, 
Kumarsingh indicated that his Ministry has yet to develop a specific 
CNG policy or timeline for implementation. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In the power sector, the T&T Electricity Commission has 
improved price incentives and is in the process of modernizing 
metering.  The GOTT also has signaled its intent to upgrade existing 
gas-fired power generating plants with more efficient combined cycle 
plants.  Nevertheless, T&T still has some of the lowest cost 
electricity in the hemisphere.  While this has been a key selling 
point to attract foreign investment, it offers little incentive to 
develop T&T's renewable energy potential.  The Ministry of Energy 
claims to be considering renewable energy options, but no specifics 
are available. 
 
---------------------------------- 
STICKING TO SIDS CONSENSUS FOR NOW 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) T&T's climate change policy perspective remains unaltered 
(ref).  The GOTT is primarily concerned with sea level rise and 
weather pattern disruptions.  T&T continues to support the goal of 
achieving less than a two degree Celsius increase in temperature 
from pre-industrial times, a position favored by most Small Island 
Developing States (SIDS).  Kumarsingh also noted to EconOff the 
GOTT's support for keeping carbon dioxide concentrations below a 
maximum level of 450 ppm to avoid catastrophic damage to the 
environment.  In terms of accountability, T&T rejects the use of per 
capita emissions as a metric for evaluating country level carbon 
dioxide contributions.  (Note: T&T ranks among the top ten per 
capita carbon emitters in the world.) 
 
¶9. (U) As in previous conversations, Kumarsingh identified 
adaptation as a priority for T&T, particularly given the nation's 
small contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions and the 
disproportionate impact climate change will have on SIDS.  Yet, 
there is growing interest in mitigation as demonstrated by the newly 
proposed CNG initiative and reforestation project.  Kumarsingh 
suggested T&T is interested in increasing such activities by noting 
the Ministry's hope to undertake a carbon capture storage 
demonstration project and expand its access to the Clean Development 
Mechanism.  Securing start up financing for such initiatives, 
however, may be challenging.  While Kumarsingh did not rule out the 
implementation of a cap and trade system, he noted a GOTT preference 
for industry to self-regulate.  Irrespective of current or future 
project, Kumarsingh emphasized the importance for technology 
transfer to help SIDS adapt to climate change and mitigate its 
impacts. 
 
------------------------------ 
COMMENT: I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) With climate change a topic for both the Summit of the 
Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings, the GOTT 
may face pressure to further define its climate change policy, 
mindful of its status as one of the world's top ten per capita GHG 
emitters.  Ambassador Luis Alberto Rodriquez, T&T's National Summit 
Coordinator, told a local audience in June that T&T "should not 
ignore our responsibility to strive for environmental 
sustainability" and called for the development of alternative energy 
sources.  Nonetheless, the GOTT also has made clear that as a small 
developing country, it feels the heavy lifting on climate change 
must take place elsewhere.  Whether it moves beyond scattered 
initiatives and soaring rhetoric to actual sustained action that 
 
PORT OF SP 00000527  003 OF 003 
 
 
impacts on its natural gas-based development model remains to be 
seen. 
 
AUSTIN