VZCZCXRO9939
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHC #7542/01 2630427
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200408Z SEP 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
INFO EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMCSUU/HQ EPA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 097542 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KGHG SENV ENRG TRGY EUN
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION WITH EU 
MEMBER STATES IN PREPARATION FOR OCTOBER EU COUNCILS AND 
MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request for all Posts in EU Member 
State capitals.  Please see paragraph 2. 
 
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OBJECTIVES 
---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In preparation for the European Economic and 
Financial Affairs and Environment Council meetings October 20 
and 21, respectively, and the European Council meeting of 
heads of government October 29-30, Department requests Posts 
in EU Member State capitals inform host governments of the 
United States position on current climate change 
negotiations, drawing on the talking points below. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Department requests that Posts in EU Member State 
capitals and USEU Brussels convey the following points as 
appropriate to EU host government and European Union 
officials.  Posts are requested to make points orally only 
and not leave a nonpaper.  Although eliciting a formal 
response from the host government is not necessary, 
Department requests Post's reporting of host government's 
formal or informal reaction on this topic. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The points that follow may also be used verbally 
only in discussion with the press, NGOs, think-tanks, 
academics, and other opinion leaders, with the exception of 
the last point, which is for use with government officials 
only. 
 
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REPORTING DEADLINE AND POINTS OF CONTACT 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) Posts are requested to report host government response 
to these points by cable slugged to OES/EGC Wendy Moore (202 
647 2425, moorewc@state.gov) and EUR Matthew Beh and Susan 
Parker-Burns (202 647 1820, behmk@state.gov, and 202 647 
5965, parker-burnssm@state.gov), on or before October 2. 
 
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BEGIN TALKING POINTS FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND OTHERS 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
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U.S. Climate Change Policy and Actions: Domestic 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
-- President Obama is taking the United States in a new 
direction in the fight against climate change. He has made 
climate and clean energy issues one of his top priorities 
domestically. 
 
-- The President's stimulus package - the American Recovery 
and Reinvestment Act - contains more than $80 billion in new 
clean energy investments.  President Obama has also set a new 
policy to increase fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas 
pollution for all new cars and trucks. The new standards will 
ultimately require an average fuel economy standard of 35.5 
miles per gallon in 2016 and are the equivalent of removing 
about 180 million cars from the road over the next 6 1/2 
years and saving nearly two billion barrels of oil. 
 
-- The President is also working with Congress to craft what, 
if it passes, will be the most far-reaching climate 
legislation in the world. 
 
-- The targets in the pending Waxman-Markey energy and 
climate legislation that passed the U.S. House of 
Representatives and is pending in the U.S. Senate -- with 
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of 17% below 2005 
levels by 2020 and 83% below 2005 levels by 2050 -- are 
consistent with keeping the increase in global temperature to 
2 degrees Celsius. 
 
-- Both the U.S. under our pending legislation and the EU 
plan to reduce emissions by about 20% in the next decade. 
 
-- The costs of reducing emissions to meet our respective 
targets are comparable. 
 
 
STATE 00097542  002 OF 003 
 
SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION WITH EU 
MEMBER STATES IN PREPARATION FOR OCTOBER EU COUNCILS AND 
MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIO 
-- Our pending legislation also covers more of the economy - 
about 85% - than EU rules, and mandates reductions 
year-by-year all of the way to 2050.  No other country's 
proposal provides a regulatory framework that extends past 
2020 to the levels needed to stabilize greenhouse gas 
concentrations. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
U.S. Objectives for the 
December UNFCCC COP-15 in Copenhagen: 
A Lasting Global Agreement 
With Commitments From All Major Economies 
----------------------------------------- 
 
-- While strong U.S. and developed country action is 
necessary, that alone will not solve the climate change 
problem. This is a global crisis that demands a global 
solution. 
 
-- There is simply no way to preserve a livable planet unless 
the fast-growing emerging countries whose economies are 
having a significant impact on global emissions make a 
contribution to curbing emissions along with developed 
countries.  The simple math of accumulating emissions won't 
allow otherwise. 
 
-- Major emerging countries have taken important actions to 
address climate change. Yet they can and will need to do 
more. 
 
-- To reach a deal at Copenhagen, we are asking major 
emerging countries to: 
 
1) Undertake their national actions, at a level that puts 
them on a path that is consistent with what the science 
demands, and to *commit internationally* to carry them out. 
 
2) Estimate the emissions reductions from these actions, 
report actions transparently, and subject actions to 
international verification. 
 
-- This is a reasonable request.  We are not asking these 
countries to commit to a target, but rather to commit to 
undertake actions and reflect them as part of the agreement. 
 
-- We are not asking this of all developing countries, only 
the major emerging ones. 
 
-- The vast majority of developing countries should focus on 
creating low-carbon development plans, with financial and 
technical assistance from developed countries. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Financing Low-Carbon Development 
-------------------------------- 
 
-- We are not simply seeking an agreement to limit greenhouse 
gas emissions:  we are seeking a sustainable development 
agreement. Development and low-carbon growth are inextricably 
linked - a *low-carbon* future is the only *sustainable* 
future. 
 
-- What we seek is an international agreement that will 
permit all countries to realize their full potential to 
develop in a low-carbon, sustainable way. 
 
-- If we can strike a deal in Copenhagen, we expect an 
agreement to generate a substantial increase in financing and 
technology transfer.  This will be a benefit both to the 
climate to development, as actions taken to develop more 
efficient and cleaner technologies will generate jobs. 
 
-- The U.S. is committed to providing financial and 
technological assistance to help the most vulnerable 
countries adapt to the effects of climate change and to move 
toward low-carbon development. 
 
-- We should maintain our focus on designing a framework that 
includes both private and public funds which go toward 
solving the problem. 
 
-- The U.S. is clear in its intent to secure a strong 
international agreement, and together we can meet the climate 
change challenge. 
 
-- To secure an environmentally effective agreement, the U.S. 
and the EU must speak with one voice in telling major 
 
STATE 00097542  003 OF 003 
 
 
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The U.S. Proposal *Is* Comparable With That Of The EU 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
-- The targets in our pending legislation are consistent with 
keeping the increase in global temperature to 2 degrees C, 
and represent efforts comparable to those of the EU and other 
developed countries.  This is supported by the following 
points of analysis: 
 
1) Both the U.S. under our pending legislation and the EU 
plan to reduce emissions by about 20% in the next decade. 
 
2) The costs of reducing emissions to meet our respective 
targets are comparable. 
 
3) A Netherlands Environmental Agency study found that the 
U.S. mid-term targets are comparable to an EU target of 20 to 
30% below 1990 in 2020. 
 
4) Our pending legislation also covers more of the economy - 
about 85% - than EU rules, and mandates reductions by law 
year-by-year to the year 2050. 
 
5) U.S. population and economic growth are projected to be 
higher than those of the EU, so U.S. per capita reductions 
will likely be greater than those of the EU. 
 
-- If the U.S. reduced emissions 25% below 1990 by 2020, 
instead of the reductions planned under our pending 
legislation, the difference to the atmosphere would be less 
than 2 parts per million.  That's not a difference that 
matters. What matters is that we establish strong domestic 
actions that will lead to a fundamental transformation to a 
low-carbon economy in a timely way. 
 
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END TALKING POINTS FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND OTHERS 
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BEGIN TALKING POINT FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS ONLY 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
-- There is no prospect for our pending Waxman-Markey 
legislation to undertake more aggressive reductions.  Rather 
than continuing to press the U.S. to "do more," Europe should 
press for real commitments from major developing countries. 
 
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END TALKING POINT FOR USE WITH GOVERNMENTS ONLY 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
CLINTON