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FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
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INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USUN NEW YORK 000924 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KGHG SENV UN
SUBJECT: UN CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT: SEEKING MOMENTUM FOR 
COPENHAGEN 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The Secretary-General's September 22 
high-level event on climate change drew leaders from nearly 
one hundred countries just a day before the start of the UN 
General Assembly and three months before the anticipated 
Climate Change Convention ministerial in Copenhagen. Leaders 
from a select number of countries including the U.S. and 
China addressed the plenary while nearly 50 others created 
video statements available online.  The SYG also hosted a 
dinner for 24 national leaders, including President Obama, to 
further the climate change dialogue at the highest levels. 
While only a few public statements contained new proposals or 
initiatives, there was wide support for greater collective 
effort at achieving a positive outcome in Copenhagen, and 
increased awareness of the consequences of inaction. The 
Secretary-General expressed satisfaction with the "political 
will" shown by leaders at the summit, but admitted the many 
problems remaining in the complex climate negotiations. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
LEADER'S OPENING COMMENTS 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The September 22 climate summit opening plenary 
included remarks by the SYG Ban Ki-moon, several invited 
guest speakers, and leaders of the United States, Maldives, 
China, Japan, Rwanda, Sweden, Costa Rica, and France (in 
order of appearance).  All statements either made in person 
or submitted to the UN website are available at 
www.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/gat eway. 
 
¶3. (U) SYG Ban called for a commitment to the Copenhagen 
negotiations on climate change by empowering negotiators with 
new flexibility and urged offers instead of demands for 
concessions.  Ban reiterated the four essential elements of 
any new climate agreement:  an adherence to scientific fact, 
adaptation assistance for the poorest nations, financial 
resources to address mitigation, adaptation and technology 
transfer; and an acceptable governance structure.  After 
Ban's remarks, the General Assembly hushed to hear President 
Obama's first-ever address at the UN, including his call for 
the phase-out of government subsidies for fossil fuels to be 
further discussed later that week at the G-20 meeting in 
Pittsburgh. 
 
¶4. (U) President of the Republic of Maldives, Mohamed 
Nasheed, faulted his own nation for consistently pointing out 
the danger of climate change, but not pointing the way to a 
solution.  Nasheed received loud applause from Alliance of 
Small Island States (AOSIS) delegates when he said that 
developed nations must accept binding emission reduction 
target consistent with an average temperature increase below 
1.5 degrees Celsius. China President Hu Jintao, in his 
historic first address at the UN, laid out his own  four 
global principles for meeting the climate change challenge: 
fulfilling respective responsibilities and the need to follow 
the principle of "common but differentiated 
responsibilities", achieving mutual benefit and win-win 
outcomes, promoting common development between nations, and 
ensuring that financing and technology are made available to 
promote green technologies.  He described some ongoing 
Chinese efforts concerning energy efficiency, developing 
renewable energy and nuclear energy, increasing forest 
coverage by 40 million hectares by 2020, and stepping up 
efforts to develop green technology; but he did not announce 
any new Chinese commitments that many had been led to expect. 
 
¶5. (U) New Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama repeated 
his post-election pledge (with certain caveats) to reduce 
Japan's emission by 25 percent by 2020.  He called on 
developed nations to develop rules to encourage 
private-sector financing and establish a framework for the 
transfer of green technology to developing nations while 
protecting intellectual property rights.  Rwandan President 
Paul Kagame called for changing the current carbon cap and 
trade system to allow a greater flow of funds to more 
developing nations.  Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt 
described efforts made by Europe to address climate change 
but said Copenhagen must go further. Costa Rican President 
Oscar Sanchez described defense spending as a savings account 
to draw from to combat climate change. 
 
¶6. (U) French President Nicolas Sarkozy closed the national 
leaders' opening remarks.  He made two proposals which drew 
loud applause from some of the crowd: he resurrected 
President Chirac's call for creating a "UN Environment 
Organization," but with the twist that such an entity should 
manage the world's actions on climate change.  He also called 
for the heads of state from the world's main economies to 
meet in mid-November to table concrete proposals for the 
December Copenhagen dialogue. 
 
PRERECORDED VIDEO STATEMENTS 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000924  002 OF 003 
 
 
----------------------------- 
¶7. (U) To the consternation of many member countries, the 
Summit on Climate Change adopted a novel approach to 
accommodating in a short time span statements by member 
states.  Rather than spend days allowing each leader the 
chance to address the body in person, leaders not speaking in 
the Opening Plenary were invited to submit prerecorded video 
statements that were posted on the Summit on Climate Change 
website and on YouTube.com.  The Secretariat received 50 
submissions. 
 
¶8. (U) The various submissions generally fall under three 
categories: developed countries, developing countries, and 
small island nations fearful for their very survival.  The 
developed countries, for the most part, reaffirmed previous 
commitments to limit the increase in global temperatures to 
no more than two degrees Celsius by stabilizing greenhouse 
gas emissions at 450 parts per million or lower.  These 
countries highlighted their respective national (or regional 
in the case of the EU) strategies to control emissions, with 
the EU also announcing several billion Euros for a fast-track 
adaptation financing package.  Greece, for example, plans to 
reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020 and cover 20 
percent of its energy needs from renewable sources. 
 
¶9. (U) The tone of the developing nations' statements was 
somewhat less positive.  Most developing nations felt owed by 
the developed nations and want increased access to credit and 
financing to pay for "greener" technologies.  Sri Lanka, for 
instance, blamed the "ignorance and sheer greed and 
rapaciousness" of developed countries for the current 
"dangerous predicament."  These countries agree that climate 
change is a huge problem however; they argue that they cannot 
afford to take the appropriate measures without substantial 
assistance.  Brazil nevertheless announced a national plan to 
reduce Amazon deforestation by 80 percent by 2020. 
 
¶10. (U) The statements from the last group of countries, 
consisting mostly of members of Alliance of Small Island 
States (AOSIS), consisted of appeals for urgent action as 
they are rapidly losing their coastlines to rising water 
levels.  Barbados' summarized the AOSIS position by noting 
that these countries will be "the first to suffer the most 
serious and damaging impacts of climate change, even though 
they have contributed least to the problem." 
 
CLOSING SESSION SEES SYG DEMAND COOPERATION AND 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
DANISH PM CALLING FOR A CLOSING SUMMIT IN DENMARK 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶11. (U) The Closing Plenary session of the Climate Summit 
included remarks by leaders and officials from Grenada 
(speaking on behalf of AOSIS), Sudan (speaking on behalf of 
the G77), Denmark, and the Secretary-General. Attendance at 
the final session was noted by observers to be at a lower 
level and not as well attended as the opening plenary. 
 
¶12. (U) The Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas, 
speaking on behalf of the AOSIS leaders summit that took 
place the day before, reiterated  the grave danger that 
climate change poses to island states and their ecosystems. 
He noted that "urgent, decisive, and ambitious actions are 
necessary at the global level," declaring that, "the cost of 
inaction far exceeds the cost of action." Specifically, 
Thomas repeated AOSIS's call for an ambitious effort to keep 
temperature increases to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius 
above pre-industrial levels, arguing this as the only course 
of action since "we are at a tipping point." 
 
¶13. (U) The Minister of Environment and Urban Development for 
Sudan, Mr. Ahmad Babiker Nahar, offered comments on the 
plight of the developing nations. (Note: The SYG pointedly 
refused to allow Sudan, as G77 chair, a higher-profile 
participation in the Summit for the obvious reason of the ICC 
indictment against President Bashir, and this rankled G77 
delegates throughout the weeks leading up to the summit.  End 
note.) Nahar repeatedly spoke about the needs of the G77 and 
claimed that the cooperative efforts aimed at combating 
climate change must "be coordinated with social and economic 
development, the overriding priorities of developing 
countries." The Minister also pointed repeatedly to the UN 
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the only 
authority governing steps forward, a common complaint of the 
G77 whenever the SYG attempts to raise the profile of climate 
change at the UN. 
 
¶14. (U) The Danish Prime Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, 
urged leaders to focus on the December Climate Convention in 
Denmark (rather than consign Copenhagen as coming too soon 
for a meaningful outcome). Rasmussen outlined his strong 
expectations for Copenhagen, noting that the outcome "should 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000924  003 OF 003 
 
 
be ambitious, should be binding, and should adhere to the two 
degree scenario (for maximum global temperature rise)". He 
critiqued the current pace of change by nations as 
insufficient and urged leaders to find a way to do more. 
Towards this end, the Prime Minister expressed his 
willingness to invite heads of state to finish the Copenhagen 
talks at the summit level, if necessary. 
 
¶15. (U) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon offered his overview 
of the day's events, which in addition to the statements 
described above, also included eight small-group roundtable 
discussions comprising about  25 states each, and a Global 
Leaders Forum lunch that brought together senior government 
officials and chief executives of private companies active on 
climate change issues.  U.S. Special Climate Envoy Todd Stern 
represented the U.S. at both the Leaders Forum Lunch and in 
the roundtable event to which the U.S. was assigned.  In his 
summary, the SYG noted the need for Copenhagen to lead to a 
comprehensive deal that supports the needs of developing 
nations and that is in-line with poverty eradication 
initiatives. Striking an optimistic note, the SYG said "I 
sensed a keen willingness for leaders to come together" and 
then announced his intention to  "set up a high-level panel 
after Copenhagen" with the aim of assessing strategies for 
implementing whatever protocols might be adopted there.  The 
SYG finished the Plenary by offering awards to younger 
environmental activists and showing two historical clips of 
the Earth rising and setting over the lunar horizon.  Later 
that evening, the SYG hosted 24 heads of state/government to 
a private dinner lasting nearly three hours, bringing 
together a range of states big and small, and drawing such 
leaders as  Presidents Obama, Hu, Medvedev and Sarkozy, and 
Prime Ministers Brown, Rudd and Hatoyama, among others. 
(Other national leaders at the dinner came from Bangladesh, 
Guyana, Spain, Kiribati, Norway, Canada, Korea, Denmark, 
Costa Rica, Italy, Algeria, Sweden, Chile, South Africa, and 
Brazil.  As in 2007, India's Prime Minister notably did not 
attend the SYG's climate change summit.)  Although not 
formally a part of the official program, the private dinner 
discussion was likely the highlight of the SYG's day and 
possibly its most productive element. 
RICE