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O 211121Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COPENHAGEN 000409 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/SECC, OES, EUR/NE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KGHG PGOV PREL EINV DA
SUBJECT:  Denmark and Greenland Agree on Dialogue Toward COP-15 on 
Emissions 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000409  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.  NOT FOR 
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Recent reported statements by new Greenland Self 
Government Premier Kuupik Kleist raised concerns that Greenland 
would opt out of any deal negotiated by Denmark (which has 
sovereignty over it) at COP-15 and embarrass the Danish government 
in its role as host of COP-15.  Danish sources tell us that in 
meetings the week of September 14 with Prime Minister Rasmussen and 
Minister of Climate and Energy Hedegaard, Kleist was more 
conciliatory and agreed to a dialogue intended to provide political 
cover for Greenland's eventual accession to any COP-15 climate deal. 
 According to the Danish government, Greenland and the Faroe Islands 
will retain the right to opt out of the deal, as the Faroese did 
with the Kyoto Protocol.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Background:  According to Danish officials, Greenland and 
the Faroe Islands have the constitutional right to opt out of 
whatever is agreed to by Denmark at COP-15.  The Faroese did opt out 
of the Kyoto Protocol; Greenland did not.  According to Danish 
climate officials, the Faroe Islands government hopes to join what 
is agreed to at COP-15, and will announce plans to reduce emissions 
20 percent by 2020. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Meanwhile, technical level discussions between the climate 
ministry and Greenland had soured and broken off earlier this year. 
After the election of a new government in Greenland with greater 
autonomy, the media depicted a rift between Greenland's interest in 
developing its industrial base, and Denmark's desire as host to 
secure an ambitious agreement at COP-15. 
 
Press Speculate about Denmark/Greenland Rift 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Recent public debate on COP-15's implications for Greenland 
has been more polemic, with Greenlanders arguing for a level playing 
field with EU industry, which benefited from distribution of free 
emissions permits.  In June, Premier Kleist argued that the current 
climate quota model is unjust for economies like Greenland's, 
because it would lock the Greenlandic economy in a state of 
pre-industrialization.  He complained of a lack of political 
dialogue between Denmark and Greenland about the implications of a 
deal at COP-15. 
 
¶5.  (U) On the eve of his visit to Copenhagen, on September 13 
Kleist reportedly referred to Climate Minister Hedegaard's 
"Greenland Dialogue" with climate negotiators, saying: 
 
"This is not about Greenland's current interests. We feel that we 
have been made a showcase of climate change.  We are always happy to 
receive visitors, but if the outcome is an agreement which will 
preserve Greenland as a museum where we cannot develop industry, it 
will not have been very beneficial to welcome (Min.) Hedegaard's 
guests...There is a reason why the G-77 is active in the climate 
debate. Ideally, one might have hoped that the global climate policy 
could simultaneously serve to get a more equal and fair view of the 
division of the world's goods.  That part remains missing." 
 
¶6.  (U) In response to growing press speculation that Greenland 
might join the G-77 group for climate negotiations, Minister 
Hedegaard wrote in a lengthy rebuttal, published in a Danish daily 
September 17: 
 
"Greenland is not a developing country. Greenland has a GDP of 
USD36,700 per capita, approximately 14 times higher than the GDP in 
Sudan, which currently chairs the group of developing countries, the 
G77.  Greenland now has a CO2 emission per capita similar to that of 
Denmark.  Greenland is in many ways a highly developed society and 
chose itself to become part of the Kyoto agreement and thereby 
assume the obligation to reduce its CO2 emissions.  No one doubts 
that Greenland has a need for business development, and that 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000409  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Greenland as an Arctic community in many ways is in a special 
situation.  There is no doubt that it is a challenge for the Kingdom 
to find solutions that accommodate both the needs for development 
and climate concerns.  That is why we for quite a while have had a 
meaningful dialogue between Denmark and Greenland on how to best 
address these challenges." 
 
Additionally, in an informal briefing to Copenhagen's diplomatic 
community on September 16, Premier Kleist remarked that while 
Greenland wanted to remain within the "Danish framework " at COP-15, 
it was also important to recognize that Greenland's economy now 
requires a faster growth rate.  He added that Greenland accepts its 
responsibility to global environmental interests, but it was also 
important that "Denmark and the world understands our need to 
develop further."  In response to a question from Japan's 
ambassador, Kleist suggested that COP-15 should arrive at solutions 
"that address G-77 issues and development requirements." 
 
(SBU) PM Firm; Climate Minister Flexible 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Peder Lundquist, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the 
Ministry of Climate and Energy told REO on September 17 that in a 
September 14 meeting, the tone of political relations between the 
two governments had improved sharply.  In his meetings in 
Copenhagen, Kleist was apologetic about press reporting of his own 
statements on COP-15, claiming he was misunderstood.  (Lundquist 
said the Greenland press often exaggerates differences between the 
Greenland and Danish governments.)  Kleist told Danish leaders that 
Greenland sincerely wants to participate in a climate deal, as long 
as it can show Greenlanders concessions won from Denmark. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) According to Lundquist, who was not in the meeting, PM 
Rasmussen told Premier Kleist that Denmark would not abandon the 
EU's "polluter pays" principle for Greenland, and Kleist did not 
object.  Rasmussen explained that it would not be politically 
feasible to exempt Greenland from the cost of emissions permits 
entirely, but that Denmark would consider how it could help 
Greenland absorb the costs of any deal. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) In a September 15 meeting that Lundquist did attend, 
Minister Hedegaard agreed with Kleist to reopen dialogue intended to 
permit Greenlandic participation in an agreement at COP-15 and 
reduce the costs of Greenland's participation.  It would be 
premature to make any commitments prior to a COP-15 deal being 
finalized, however, and Greenland would remain free to decide 
whether to join what Denmark agrees to at COP-15. 
 
Elements of Dialogue 
-------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) According to Lundquist, Hedegaard and Kleist agreed that 
the climate ministry would help the Greenland government analyze the 
emissions implications of planned industrial developments, starting 
with the plans of U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa to invest approximately 
USD 3.5 billion in an aluminum smelter and associated hydropower 
facility.  (Four or five other projects are earlier in the planning 
stage, and can be reviewed later.)  The ministry's Danish Energy 
Agency (DEA) would conduct the technical analysis, focusing on 
timelines for emissions (with the critical period being in the short 
and mid-term, to 2020, according to Lundquist).  The DEA would also 
compare the savings from using Greenlandic hydropower vs. coal-fired 
power elsewhere - the Greenlanders argue, for example, that on a 
global scale they are helping reduce overall emissions by hosting a 
project like the Alcoa smelter, since it can use hydropower in 
Greenland, as opposed to coal or other fuels somewhere else.  The 
intention is for both sides to better understand the issue, not to 
make a formal determination.  That understanding will help both 
sides understand the cost implications of any COP-15 deal for 
Greenland. 
 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000409  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Hedegaard also agreed that the Ministry will seek to 
access national funding for further hydropower development in 
Greenland (with some EU matching funds possible).  Both these 
efforts will take place over the coming month.  Then Hedegaard and 
Kleist will meet again to discuss.  Other meetings are anticipated 
before COP-15. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Denmark cannot and will not invite Greenland to 
participate in actual COP-15 negotiations as an entity separate from 
Denmark, according to Lundquist.  However, Greenland may be invited 
to be present as members of the Danish delegation and may be invited 
by Denmark to attend the November 15-16 pre-COP meeting in 
Copenhagen. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Politically, Greenland's new government wants to 
participate on the world stage by joining an agreement that emerges 
from COP-15, but needs to show voters back home it has won some form 
of concession from Denmark to cushion the economic costs during this 
early phase of its industrial development.  Hence the contrast 
between public statements by the new premier, intended for internal 
consumption, and his more measured approach to Danish leaders.  For 
its part, the Danish government seems reassured and confident that 
it can work with the Greenlandic government and is willing to keep 
the door open to a compromise short of a full exemption.  We will 
closely monitor this issue for its potential impact on Denmark's 
climate policies and on U.S. interests in Greenland. 
 
FULTON