VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0312/01 1061233
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161233Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0759
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEHWN/AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN 0801
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 0348
RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON 0819
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 5114
RUEHBH/AMEMBASSY NASSAU 0267
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE 0581
RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN 0477
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO 1627

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000312 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EPSC Q CORNEILLE AND COLON 
ALSO FOR WHA/CEN AND WHA/CAR 
ALSO FOR OES DAS REIFSNYDER AND OES/EGC 
ALSO FOR S/ECC - SPECIAL ENVOY STERN 
ENERGY FOR L. EINSTEIN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG ECON KSUM KGHG PREL PGOV CS
SUBJECT: COSTA RICA WELCOMES QENERGY AND CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP OF THE 
AMERICAS,Q OFFERS INITIAL IDEAS 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Senior Costa Rican officials, including the 
Minister of Foreign Trade and the Minister of Environment, Energy, 
and Telecommunications (MINAET), welcomed President ObamaQs planned 
announcement of an QEnergy and Climate Partnership of the Americas 
(ECPA) at the upcoming Summit of the Americas (SOA).  The Ministers 
will raise ECPA at President Oscar AriasQ April 15 cabinet meeting. 
MINAET offered initial ideas for an ECPA (see Para 6) emphasizing 
joint efforts on climate change adaptation and mitigation that also 
contribute to poverty reduction, economic reactivation, job 
creation, and strengthening of low-carbon economies.  (See Para 5 
for full list of GOCR delegation to the SOA.)  END SUMMARY. 
 
GOCR Welcomes ECPA as QGreat News 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Regional Environmental Officer (REO) discussed ref points 
with Minister of Environment, Energy, and Telecoms Jorge Rodriguez 
on April 14.  Rodriguez, who will attend the Summit of the Americas 
with President Oscar Arias, welcomed President ObamaQs impending 
announcement of the QEnergy & Climate Partnership of the Americas 
(ECPA) as Qgreat news.Q  He said that ECPA appears to address many 
of Costa RicaQs interests regarding clean energy and energy 
efficiency.  Rodriguez appreciated that ECPA is not yet a fully 
formed venture and that the USG wanted input and ideas for the 
partnership. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In parallel, ECONOFF presented the general outline of the 
ECPA's proposed priorities and strategic framework to Minister of 
Foreign Trade Marco Vinicio Ruiz.  Although the minister will not 
attend the SOA, he nonetheless is engaged on how environmental 
issues impact economic development and the need to balance the two 
by committing to sustainable economic activities.  Minister Ruiz was 
enthusiastic on the general outline of ECPA and praised the 
collaborative approach of the initiative.  Likewise, POLOFF raised 
ECPA with Herbert Epinoza, who is organizing the Foreign MinistryQs 
team for the SOA.  He was very interested in the idea and would 
welcome further details. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Ministers Ruiz and Rodriguez both said that they will 
discuss the ECPA proposal at President AriasQ April 15 cabinet 
meeting.  Minister Ruiz added that he will see President Arias for 
at least two meetings that day and that he would approach President 
Arias specifically about ECPA. 
 
Costa RicaQs SOA Delegation 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Below is Costa RicaQs SOA delegation list: 
 
-- President Oscar Arias; 
-- Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno; 
-- Minister of the Environment, Energy & Telecoms Jorge Rodriguez; 
-- Minister of Communications Mayi Antillon; 
-- Ambassador to Trinidad & Tobago Ricardo Thompson; 
-- OAS Ambassador Jose Enrique Castillo (dual-hatted at the moment 
as the acting GOCR Ambassador to the U.S.); and 
-- Four assistants (for a total of 10) 
 
Initial GOCR Ideas for ECPA 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Late on April 14, Minister Rodriguez passed to REO MINAETQs 
initial ideas for ECPA.  These ideas point to the GOCRQs hopes for 
joint efforts on climate change adaptation and mitigation that also 
contribute to poverty reduction, economic reactivation, job 
creation, and strengthening of low-carbon economies.  Below is an 
unofficial translation of MINAETQs non-paper. 
 
BEGIN TEXT OF MINAET NON-PAPER 
 
ENERGY AND CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP OF THE AMERICAS 
 
The governments of Central America and the United States of America 
in the framework of the international, regional and bilateral 
 
 
 
 
agreements subscribed by both parties on climate change matters, 
ALIDES, CONCAUSA I, CONCAUSA II, UNFCCC, the 2008 San Pedro Sula 
Summit, and the guidelines of the Central American strategy on 
climate change, the declarations of the President of the United 
States, Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Todd 
Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change; given the need to undertake 
effective strategic actions for the adaptation and mitigation of 
climate change and recognizing that climate change is a security 
issue and that all countries have common but differentiated 
responsibilities, we agree to develop a joint action plan for the 
adaptation and mitigation of climate change that will contribute to 
the reduction of poverty, economic reactivation and creation of 
employment and the strengthening of low-carbon economies. 
 
¶1. Areas of interest 
a.  Clean energy. 
b.  Trade and investment (CAFTA-DR) of clean technologies. 
c.  Efficient transportation systems. 
d.  Public infrastructure. 
e.  Sustainable land use management. 
f.  Financing mechanisms for climate change. 
g.  International cooperation. 
h.  Research and development for technology transfer. 
i.  Vulnerability and risk management. 
j.  Science and education (IPCC, CCCC, CCNCC, CCLCC) 
k.  Public participation (consultation and institutional dialogue 
). 
l.  Public and private governance (national councils on climate 
change and executive units). 
 
¶2. Levels of action 
 
a.  Global: Joint agreements in the negotiations of the UNFCCC, COP 
15, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2009. 
b.  Hemispheric: Summit of the Americas, Trinidad and Tobago, April 
¶2009. 
c.  Regional: SICA (Central American Integration System) and CARICOM 
(Caribbean Community) 
d.  National: countries, strategies, and national action plans. 
e.  Local: Municipal governments and civil society organizations. 
 
¶3. Mechanisms 
 
a.  Bilateral political dialogue CA-US (High level). 
b.  Sectoral dialogue (Ministers). 
c.  Transversal dialogues (Cabinet, legislative and judicial ). 
d.  Government Q Civil society dialogue (Consultative Committee of 
the SICA, which represents civil society in SICA). 
 
¶4. Follow-up 
 
a.  Central America: SG SICA, CCAD, Ministerial Fora and CCSICA 
b.  United States of America: Department of State, Department of 
Commerce, Environmental Hub, and the following agencies: EPA, NOAA, 
DOE, DOI, USGS, and USAID. 
 
¶5. Indicators and Verifications 
 
a.  Joint work schedules, resources and terms (multidisciplinary 
teams) 
b.  Consensus agendas for negotiations (joint documents for fora of 
political negotiations) 
c.  Thematic programs for cooperation (bilateral Qregional, 
bilateral-bilateral) 
d.  Number of regional and national projects formulated and 
implemented. 
 
END TEXT OF MINAET NON-PAPER 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Costa RicaQs initial warm embrace of the proposed ECPA 
reflects the GOCRQs commitment to promoting renewable energy and 
 
 
sustainable forestry, as well as Costa RicaQs stated goal of 
attaining carbon neutrality by 2021.  It also reflects the GOCRQs 
desire to play a leading role in the region on climate change.  The 
challenges will be first, in translating the GOCRQs lofty aims into 
pragmatic action, and second, in soliciting/including enough 
regional input to obtain full buy-in on ECPA, without making the 
initiative too unwieldy. 
 
CIANCHETTE