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Viewing cable 09BRASILIA265, ENVIRONMENT MINISTER MINC PRAISES APPOINTMENT OF S/E STERN

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BRASILIA265 2009-03-06 20:10 2011-07-11 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Brasilia
VZCZCXRO2596
RR RUEHAST RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBR #0265/01 0652010
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 062010Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3716
INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 3653
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 7369
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 9183
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000265 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KGHG KSCA ENRG TBIO BR
SUBJECT:  ENVIRONMENT MINISTER MINC PRAISES APPOINTMENT OF S/E STERN 
AND LOOKS FORWARD TO A FACE-TO-FACE MEETING 
 
REF:  A) 2008 BRASILIA 1462 B) 2008 BRASILIA 1559 
 
BRASILIA 00000265  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.   Minister of the Environment, Carlos Minc, sees 
the twin issues of climate and energy as an opportunity for 
increased USG and Government of Brazil (GOB) cooperation.  He sees 
Brazil as playing the role of a bridge between the developed nations 
and the G-77 in upcoming climate negotiations.  He was also very 
enthusiastic about the appointment of S/E Todd Stern and said that 
he would welcome an early visit by S/E Stern to discuss climate 
change policies in the lead up to the December 2009 meeting in 
Copenhagen.  Minc also reported that Brazil was almost ready to 
conclude the debt swap with the United States under the Tropical 
Forest Conservation Act, praised U.S. position changes on Mercury, 
and pressed for the USG to consider ratifying the Convention on 
Biodiversity.   Given Brazil's importance in the climate debate, 
Minc's ideological leanings, and his influence within the 
administration, an early meeting between S/E Stern and Minc would 
present a perfect opportunity to increase cooperation between the 
USG and GOB in these negotiations.  END SUMMARY 
 
------------ 
BACKGROUND 
------------ 
 
2.  (SBU) On March 5, 2009 Ambassador Sobel met with Minister of the 
Environment, Carlos Minc.  The two had a wide ranging conversation 
regarding the Tropical Forest Conservation Act, Climate Change, 
Access and Benefit Sharing under the Convention on Biological 
Diversity, and potential areas of cooperation between the United 
States and Brazil. Minister Minc feels the new administration is 
creating space in which the United States and Brazil can work 
cooperatively on a number of environmental issues.  Minc 
specifically cited the U.S. position change in Nairobi during talks 
on mercury, a special personal interest of Minc's, as commendable. 
After breaking into chants of "Obama, Obama," the Minister stated 
that he has great hopes for the Obama administration and that he is 
eager to begin working with the administration at the highest 
levels. 
 
---------------- 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
---------------- 
 
3.  (U) Both Ambassador Sobel and Minister Minc agreed that there is 
a nexus between energy and climate change and that the combination 
of these two issues is becoming increasingly important for both 
countries.  They also agreed that both issues represent areas in 
which the United States and Brazil could mutually benefit from 
increased cooperation. 
 
4.  (SBU) Minc expressed his view that Brazil has made significant 
strides over the last year in the realm of climate change.  He 
pointed to GOB's adoption of a National Plan on Climate Change 
(REFTEL A), the creation of the Amazon Fund (REFTEL B), and the 
setting of domestic targets.  The Minister told Ambassador Sobel 
that the GOB has altered its strategy within the G-77 to one that 
advocates for other developing countries to take on specific 
responsibilities, different than those of the developed nations, but 
nonetheless identifiable.  (NOTE:  The Embassy has not yet seen this 
shift reflected in the Ministry of External Relations, which is the 
lead GOB agency for climate change negotiations.  This disconnect 
could indicate that changes are in the works, but it could also 
reflect Minister Minc's tendency to say what he would like to be 
true, rather than what has actually occurred. END NOTE).  The 
Minister also mentioned that it was the GOB's opinion that these 
governments would need help in the areas of funding, technology 
transfer, and capacity building to achieve these goals. 
 
5.  (SBU) The Minister conceded that some of the G-77 nations, 
specifically China and India present a particular challenge in this 
regard, but that he envisioned Brazil playing the role of a bridge 
between the developed nations and the developing in these 
negotiations, with the eventual goal of finding an outcome to which 
both parties could agree and fulfill.  He envisioned an opportunity 
for moving from what he called  a "less-less" scenario in which 
developed countries failed to carry through on their commitments and 
developing nations set unambitious targets, to "more-more" scenario 
in which both groups undertook and met appropriate and meaningful 
goals.  He called on the United States to bridge these divides by 
setting a strong example on these issues.  Minc agreed with 
Ambassador Sobel that both countries seemed to be moving toward a 
common position in support of emissions caps.  (NOTE:  As with 
Minc's early comment, this may be more a reflection of his personal 
opinion than the government's official position.  END NOTE) 
 
 
BRASILIA 00000265  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
6.  (SBU) Minister Minc was also very encouraged by the appointment 
of S/E Stern to coordinate US climate change policy.  He said that 
S/E Stern sounded "like a messiah" who would be leading US efforts 
to re-engage with the international community on climate change.  He 
welcomed the appointment and said that S/E Stern would be welcomed 
here in Brazil, Minc himself would be interested in meeting with 
him, and concluded Stern should visit at the soonest possible 
opportunity.  The Minister indicated that this would be a positive 
step forward and would help the United States and Brazil to find 
common ground in advance of the United Nations Convention on Climate 
Change negotiations in Copenhagen this December. 
 
--------------------------------- 
TROPICAL FOREST CONSERVATION ACT 
--------------------------------- 
 
7.  (U) Minister Minc told Ambassador Sobel that the agencies 
involved in the Tropical Forest Conservation Act have completed 
their legal reviews and that they were close to concluding the 
agreement.  According to Minc, the main outstanding item was the 
need on the GOB's part to conclude its agreement with the NGO, the 
Brazilian Bio-Diversity Fund (FUNBIO), which has been selected to 
administer the project resources.  He expected that their agreement 
should be concluded in the next week or so.  He also expressed a 
hope that future rounds of debt swap may be offered under the TFCA 
and that they would face fewer bureaucratic obstacles and would be 
much faster to conclude once the first round is complete.  Minc 
indicated that he would be very eager to pursue further debt swap 
installments once this one is finalized. 
 
--------------------------- 
ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING 
--------------------------- 
 
8.  (U) Minister Minc mentioned at two different points during the 
conversation that he was disappointed by the fact that the US had 
not yet ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and, 
by extension, was not a party to its provisions on Access and 
Benefit Sharing (ABS).  He expressed an opinion that this agreement 
was critical, particularly in making sure that developing countries 
rich in biodiversity, such as Brazil, were not taken advantage of by 
developed nations.  He feels that it is odd that the United States 
is the only major nation that has not ratified the agreement.  Minc 
expressed a hope that the Obama administration would make 
ratification of the CBD a priority. 
 
9.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Minc's eagerness to work with the Obama 
administration on climate change was very apparent.  While the 
Ministry of the Environment is not the lead agency in international 
climate change negotiations, the MMA under Minc's leadership has 
shown a desire and ability to shift GOB policy on the issue.  In 
Minc's words, his ministry has continually "found a way" to 
influence the debate and encourage official policy to more closely 
resemble that of the MMA.  It is likely that his ability to do so is 
in part due to Minc's strong connections within the Lula 
administration, particularly with Lula's influential chief of staff 
- Dilma Rousef.  An early visit by S/E Stern could help Minc to keep 
up this momentum and push GOB climate policies on the international 
scale to be ever more aligned with USG interests going into 
Copenhagen.  END COMMENT. 
 
SOBEL