VZCZCXRO2973
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHSL #0023/01 0201437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 201437Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0366
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHSL/AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA 0426

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000023 
 
SIPDIS 
 
OES FOR D. NELSON, K. LARSEN, AND R. KASTENBERG 
EUR/CE FOR J. MOORE AND M. LIBBY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KGHG ENRG PGOV LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAK CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATOR ASSESSES PATH FORWARD FROM 
COPENHAGEN 
 
REF: BRATISLAVA 13 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000023  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Fresh off a trip to the EU Environment 
Ministers meeting in Seville this past weekend, Slovakia's lead 
Climate Change negotiator Helena Princova told us that her EU 
counterparts are frustrated by the results of Copenhagen and 
will seek to refocus efforts to ensure continued progress in 
¶2010.  Princova told us that much informal discussion in Seville 
centered around how the EU can adjust its strategy to reclaim a 
leadership role in future negotiations.  Princova reiterated 
Slovakia's support for the Copenhagen Accord and spoke at length 
about her perception of the path forward.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) As reported reftel, Slovakia fully intends to both 
associate itself with the Copenhagen Accord and inscribe 
mitigation actions.  Princova told us that as of January 19, the 
EU was still uncertain whether to do so collectively or as 
individual countries--she said a split has developed because 
some eastern European countries, notably Poland, are concerned 
about burden sharing and would like the ability to submit their 
mitigation actions independently.  Princova told us that she 
expects the EU will ultimately act as a unit and submit an 
emissions reduction target of 20% from 1990 levels.  If it turns 
out that EU countries associate separately, Princova told us 
that Slovakia would inscribe the same 20% reduction on its own. 
She told us that Spain is developing a political statement on 
behalf of the EU, but that it might not be completed until after 
the January 31 deadline for association with the Accord. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Princova told us that the biggest surprise at 
Copenhagen for her and many EU colleagues was the "increased 
self-confidence" of China, India and Brazil.  She described the 
Seville meeting over the past weekend as somewhat introspective, 
as negotiators struggled to take stock of the new geopolitical 
reality and tried to determine which "new alliances need to be 
built."  Princova asked our impression of Russia's negotiating 
strategy, saying that no one she has spoken with can identify 
what Russia's aims are and commenting that the EU is very 
interested in learning more. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Further reflecting on Copenhagen, Princova told us that 
it was a major mistake to enter such a high-level conference 
without an agreed-to text.  She added that there was much 
discussion in Seville of organizing a "Friends of the Accord" 
meeting to be held in the spring, in an effort to make further 
progress before the next scheduled meetings take place in Bonn 
this summer.  Princova said that several in Seville were 
advocating for a "more concentrated negotiation," in an effort 
to avoid the paralysis that can take place when so many 
negotiating partners are at the table.  She told us that she 
thought a smaller negotiating body would be acceptable to the 
EU, but she quickly added that this would be an impossibility 
due to Chinese objections.  She explained that the Chinese 
Ambassador to Slovakia told her shortly before Copenhagen that 
any narrowing of negotiating partners would be "completely 
unacceptable" to China. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Looking forward, Princova told us that it will be 
crucial to overcome the lack of trust that she says pervaded the 
Copenhagen conference.  She identified developmental aid as the 
best way to accomplish this, saying that the EU and USG should 
prioritize efforts to design the mechanism for such aid and get 
it underway by the end of the year.  Princova also mentioned 
that some of her EU colleagues were advocating for making such 
assistance conditional on association with the Copenhagen 
Accord, with the hope that such conditionality might make some 
countries think twice before acting to derail future 
negotiations (COMMENT: She was referring here to the efforts of 
countries such as Venezuela and Sudan that resulted in the COP 
only "taking note" of the Accord. END COMMENT.) 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶6. (SBU) While Slovakia has never been particularly vocal in the 
EU's internal climate change deliberations, it has always been 
quick to support calls for greater action--for example, Slovakia 
was prepared to endorse a 30% reduction level for EU states at 
Copenhagen, although this seems to have since been taken off the 
table.  The Slovak government's support for strong action stems 
more from perceived economic interest than actual concern about 
the threat of climate change.  Princova told us in December that 
Slovak emissions are currently 35% below 1990 levels, and she 
thinks that Slovakia would have little trouble meeting a 30% 
target for 2020--something that is definitely not the case for 
many of the other EU countries with which Slovak industry 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000023  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
competes. 
EDDINS