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DE RUEHRO #1326/01 3080739
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030739Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1094
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ROME 001326 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/PGI FOR D. TESSLER 
EUR/WE FOR C. JESTER AND S. HARTMANN 
STATE PASS TO CEQ FOR G. BANKS 
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR C. CONNORS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG EAID EFIN EAGR IT
SUBJECT: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES UNDER THE ITALIAN G8 PRESIDENCY 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - RELEASABLE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ITALY; 
PARAS AS MARKED. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Embassy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) staff met with key Italian officials to review early ideas and 
plans for environmental issues under the Italian G8 Presidency, with 
particular reference to the G8 Environment Ministerial.  Key issues 
discussed include: Ministerial location, format, agenda, possible 
outcomes, challenges and related meetings and initiatives.  On 
climate change, the GOI is hoping for a newsworthy USG statement at 
the April 18-19, 2009 Environment Ministerial.  The GOI understands 
that the new U.S. Administration will take some time to determine 
the details of its climate policy and team, but hopes that the July 
8-10, 2009 G8 Summit (with a likely Major Economies leaders' 
meeting) can be an opportunity to "turn the corner" en route to the 
December 2009 UN climate talks in Copenhagen.  The visiting EPA 
official also met informally with several faith-based leaders at the 
request of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, to discuss 
opportunities for collaboration.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) On October 3, EPA Acting Deputy Director and Senior Advisor 
for the International Organizations Program of the U.S Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) James Morant met with Italian officials to 
discuss plans for the 2009 G8 Environment Ministerial.  (Mr. Morant 
serves as the U.S. National Focal Point for the G8 Environment 
Ministerial.)  Key interlocutors included Environment Ministry 
Director General for Research, Environment and Development Dr. 
Corrado Clini and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) G8 Sous-Sherpa 
for Foreign Affairs Min. Guido La Tella. 
 
G8 Environment Ministerial - April 18-19 in Sicily 
 
¶3.  (U) Environment Ministry Diplomatic Advisor Min. Antonio 
Bernardini said that the G8 Environment Ministerial currently is 
scheduled to take place on April 18-19, 2009 in Siracusa, Sicily, 
the hometown of Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo (reached 
by air via Catania).  The Ministerial will be held in an historic 
fortress overlooking the harbor, he said, so the meeting site itself 
will be very secure.  The challenge, from the security perspective, 
will be moving delegates from their hotels to the fortress through 
the narrow streets of the old city, he said.  DG Clini noted that 
some plans will need to be developed for the non-governmental 
organization (NGO) participants likely to be drawn by the event, and 
suggested that the Prime Minister's office may be working on that. 
He said that the first meeting of G8 experts/senior officials to 
prepare for the Ministerial likely will take place in February, on 
the margins of an OECD meeting. 
 
Key USG Messages on G8 Environmental Issues 
 
¶4.  (U) In the meeting with Clini and Bernardini, and later at the 
Foreign Ministry, the U.S. participants noted that the USG supports 
the Sherpa and Sous-Sherpa process and wants to ensure that it 
proceeds effectively.  They added that: the USG is keen to work with 
Italy towards a successful Summit for Prime Minister Berlusconi and 
for the new U.S President; that the USG is generally pleased with 
the results of Hokkaido Summit; that follow-through on promises is a 
key U.S. interest and the USG is eager to work with Italy to that 
end; that the USG is concerned that climate change has appeared to 
crowd out other critical environmental issues which deserve 
attention; and that the USG therefore would seek to ensure a 
balanced approach to the agenda, reviewing with Italy 
environment-related priorities for 2009 and beyond. 
 
Ministerial Format: G8 + 5 + Egypt + possibly more 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Bernardini noted that the Environment Ministerial likely 
will include the G8 + 5 (Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, South 
Africa), as well as Egypt (first Arab country invited) and maybe 
some other Mediterranean countries.  Other participants noted that 
international organizations would be invited, as appropriate to the 
final agenda.  Noting that in Japan, many developing country 
participants had complained they were unnecessarily excluded from 
many events, Bernardini said that Minister Prestigiacomo is seized 
with the issue of making the Environment Ministerial better.  He 
added that given the equality accorded to participants in the Major 
Economies (ME) process, maintaining all the G8 distinctions between 
G8 and outreach countries makes even less sense. 
 
GOI Hoping for Newsworthy USG Statement on Climate Change at 
Ministerial 
 
¶6.  (U) Bernardini described Italy's "dual role" vis-a-vis climate 
change, as it seeks to maintain its position as a leading European 
Union (EU) member but at the same time also to negotiate with the 
 
ROME 00001326  002 OF 004 
 
 
U.S., China and India.  Mentioning that he had met with 
representatives of both the Republican and Democratic campaigns 
while in Boston in September, DG Clini said he understood that it 
would take a while for the new U.S. administration to make any new 
policy decisions on climate change quickly.  But, he expressed hope 
that the Environment Ministerial could be an opportunity for the 
U.S. to make some newsworthy statement of its views on climate 
change, "some movement forward."  Mr. Morant noted that the 
Environment Ministerial will likely be the first trip overseas for 
the new Administration's EPA Administrator, so it could provide an 
opportunity for explaining the new Administration's views.   Clini 
added that both campaign teams seemed focused on getting China and 
India on board with an agreement, and that they, therefore, were 
looking closely at technology transfer and technical cooperation 
issues.  He noted Italy's long involvement in China in those areas, 
including building and supplying hardware and software for a key 
Beijing air quality monitoring station. 
 
G8 Summit an Opportunity to "Turn the Corner" En Route to 
Copenhagen 
 
¶7.  (SBU) DG Clini added that the world "won't likely get a clear 
climate change policy at the 2009 G8 Summit; it might possibly 
happen at the United Nations (UN) climate negotiations in 
Copenhagen" in December 2009, but not likely before.  (Bernardini 
interjected, with Clini's assent, that Italy did hope that 
nonetheless the Italian G8 Summit could be an important "turning of 
the corner" en route to an agreement in Copenhagen.)   Clini 
suggested that the U.S. and Italy therefore use the coming year to 
work together in the areas of climate science and technology (S&T), 
where some progress can be made while policy issues are still being 
sorted out.  He noted that the U.S. and Italy can work together in 
the G8 format, and also on low-carbon society issues.   On the 
relationship between the Environment Ministerial and the Major 
Economies (ME) process, Clini said that there won't be any action 
items flowing from the Ministerial to the expected ME leaders' 
meeting to be held along with the G8 Summit; the ME process will be 
separate.  Similarly, DG Clini mentioned that there will be one or 
two international meetings on bioenergy issues between now and the 
G8 Summit; the results of those meetings will go directly to the 
Summit text negotiators, rather than through the Environment 
Ministerial, he said, since the Global Bioenergy Partnership was a 
G8 Summit initiative. 
 
Foreign Ministry Seeks to Include Emerging Economies, NGOs in G8 
Process 
 
¶8.  (U) In a meeting with MFA Sous Sherpa Guido La Tella and his 
staff, La Tella stressed that Italy supports the Heiligendamm 
initiatives and the ME process as ways to include emerging economies 
more in the G8 process.  He said Italy believes that the emerging 
economies must be involved more than they were in Japan, and that 
this requires more time for them at the Summit.  He explained that 
somewhere on day two or on the morning of day three of the three-day 
Summit, there would be an ME leaders' meeting (assuming 
circumstances still call for it by spring 2009).  He noted that the 
MFA tries to have a lot of interaction with non-governmental 
organizations, with the aim of being more inclusive; this attitude 
also applies to the G8.  Mr. Morant noted that G8 engagement with 
NGOs had evolved from a separate seminar at the 2001 Trieste 
Environment Ministerial to the current practice, in which civil 
society and international institution participants sit in on the 
meetings themselves. 
 
GOI to Host 2009 ME Leaders Meeting, Provided that the ME Process is 
Bearing Fruit 
 
¶9.  (SBU) La Tella said that at the 2009 G8 Summit, Italy would plan 
to have a "full Major Economies Meeting (MEM) session, provided that 
the process continues and will be bearing fruit."   He remarked that 
"The MEM was created to overcome U.S.-European divisions on climate 
change; the issue can't be solved without India, China and Brazil." 
He said that "Italy was supportive of the MEM from the start, and is 
still supportive."   He flagged Italy's willingness to host a Major 
Economies negotiators' meeting "in the first part of the Italian G8 
Presidency...if need be."   (The Italian G8 Presidency runs from 
January to December 2009.) 
 
Climate Change Among "Inescapable" Summit Topics 
 
¶10.  (SBU) La Tella listed the four topics from which the 2009 G8 
Summit "cannot escape" as:  1) Financial crisis, 2) 
Poverty/Development/Africa, 3) Food Security and 4) Climate Change. 
Of these, he termed climate change the "most frustrating" issue he 
has had to deal with as Sous Sherpa, saying that "the breakthroughs 
 
ROME 00001326  003 OF 004 
 
 
so far, while not insignificant, have not been major, either."  He 
added that "Italy is willing to put it at the top of the agenda, 
provided...the required convergence of views" exists - but noted 
that it "isn't there yet."  La Tella said he didn't know if there is 
enough time to resolve the issue by the UN meeting in Copenhagen in 
December 2009.  Given the change in the U.S. Administration, the USG 
will require a few months to settle its new policy, he noted, 
concluding, "It's too early for the G8 Summit to produce major, 
major results [on climate], but we can try to use it to give an 
impulse to the process, as a stepping stone." 
 
Environment Ministerial and G8 Text Negotiations on Separate Tracks 
 
¶11.  (U) La Tella foresaw discussion possibilities only for two or 
three environmental topics at the Summit, including climate, and 
possibly biodiversity and/or forests as the other.  The MFA was 
particularly interested in the forest topic, and was studying it to 
see if there were appropriate Summit action items in that area. 
Both Environment DG Clini and La Tella noted that the G8 Environment 
Ministerial and the G8 Summit text negotiations are on separate 
tracks, and that there will not be an input channel from the 
Environment Ministerial to the Summit track.  La Tella confirmed 
that the Environment Ministry would have the lead on organization 
and text negotiations for the Environment Ministerial, as will other 
relevant Italian ministries for the other sectoral ministerials.  He 
encouraged the U.S. to exchange views with Italy as to which issues 
the Environment Ministerial should focus on, and which the Summit 
should focus on, holding that there should not be a full overlap 
between the two. 
 
Potential Environment Ministerial Topics - Climate, Biodiversity + 
What? 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Diplomatic Advisor Bernardini said that they were 
forwarding possible Environment Ministerial topics to Min. 
Prestigiacomo, and were open to including new topics in addition to 
climate change, especially topics on which something enduring can be 
built.  Biodiversity was of particular interest, he noted; one 
possible topic in that area was access and benefit-sharing (ABS). 
SCICouns commented that if the GOI were looking for an "easy win," 
ABS certainly would not be one, and that it would entail the 
involvement of many USG agencies in addition to EPA.  Other possible 
topics that Bernardini mentioned were the "3R" (reduce, re-use, 
recycle) initiative; environmental governance; how to move cities 
toward more sustainable energy consumption; oceans and marine 
protected areas; and trade and the environment. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Environment Ministry expert Federica Fricano noted that 
there is a campaign to involve city mayors in sustainable energy 
efforts (e.g., congestion charges/traffic restrictions), which 
already includes 14 cities; the Ministry is the "focal point" for 
Europe in this campaign.  One idea would be to involve additional 
cities, perhaps through a "twinning" program.  Mr. Morant suggested 
that there might be action items from previous G8 Future Forums 
which could be highlighted at the 2009 Environment Ministerial, 
thereby increasing follow-through and accountability in the G8 
process. 
 
Clini Calls for Renewed U.S.-Italy Cooperation on Climate Change 
S&T 
 
¶14.  (U) Clini said that he hopes to breathe new life into the 
bilateral climate S&T partnership between the U.S. and Italy, which 
is coordinated for the Italian side by the Environment 
Ministry-supported non-profit Euro-Mediterranean Climate Change 
Center (CMCC).   He noted the December 1, 2008 conference being 
organized jointly by his directorate, the Embassy, the Italian 
Foreign Trade Institute and CMCC, titled "Leading Low-Carbon 
Technology in Italy and the U.S.: Moving Research from the 
Laboratory to the Market," and suggested that one or two of his 
counterparts from the State Department and/or EPA come to Rome on 
December 1, to help him open the event.  That would provide an 
opportunity for a bilateral meeting on the margins, in which the 
U.S. and Italy could discuss plans for the G8 Environment 
Ministerial, as well as for the UN climate change negotiations 
opening that day in Poznan, Poland, he said.  (Note: While Post 
would welcome State and/or EPA participation in the December 1 
event, Post understands that the difficulties of travel to Poznan 
may make that infeasible.  Perhaps another alternative would be a 
bilateral U.S.-Italy meeting with DG Clini in Poznan.  End note.) 
Clini added that it could be useful to "reinvigorate" participation 
by the U.S. State and Energy Departments in the Environment 
Ministerial. 
 
G8-related meetings in Mexico City and Parma 
 
ROME 00001326  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Environment Ministry expert Fricano mentioned that on 
November 20 a seminar will take place following up on a Japanese G8 
initiative to encourage information-sharing at the city level on 
promoting the transition to a low-carbon society.  She said that the 
meeting will take place on the margins of a meeting of mayors and 
other leaders of Latin American cities; the Japanese will attend, 
and will propose the idea of a network of scientific institutions 
working on low-carbon-energy issues, which would include developing 
country institutions.  Mr. Morant noted that he was not sure that 
the U.S. would participate in the event, since another meeting in 
that area might not be productive.  He added that a letter was in 
draft explaining the U.S. views in more detail.  Bernardini 
separately mentioned that at the suggestion of Under Secretary to PM 
Berlusconi Gianni Letta, Italy will host a G8-related Environment 
and Health Conference in November 2009 in Parma (the site of the 
EU's European Food Safety Authority), and would seek participation 
in particular from the U.S., Japan, and Russia. 
 
Meeting at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See 
 
¶16.  (U) Embassy Vatican hosted Mr. Morant and representatives from 
the Holy See and Catholic religious orders for a round-table 
discussion on environmental issues on October 3.  Roundtable 
participants included representatives of the Franciscan, Jesuit and 
Dominican orders, as well as the two Rome-based international 
associations of male and female religious orders representing some 
one million brothers and nuns.  Participants shared their 
environmental priorities and gave examples of initiatives in 
multilateral advocacy, education and practical projects throughout 
the world.  Mr. Morant outlined U.S. engagement at the multilateral 
and bilateral levels, emphasizing U.S. concern for the long-term 
global impact of environmental policies.  (Note:  Recent statements 
by Pope Benedict XVI and senior Vatican officials underline that the 
environment is becoming a priority on the international agenda for 
the Holy See and the Catholic Church.  End note.) 
SPOGLI