VZCZCXRO3570
RR RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM
RUEHTRO
DE RUEHHI #0058/01 0210333
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210331Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0757
INFO ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHMFIUU/HQ EPA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 0186
RUEHC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0404
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000058 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR SECC TODD STERN AND JONATHAN PERSHING 
STATE FOR OES/EGC (DREW NELSON, RACHEL KASTENBERG, KATE LARSEN) 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE, G/ENV, EGAT/ESP 
STATE PASS TO NOAA/NOS/OIA (JONATHAN JUSTI) 
STATE PASS TO INTERIOR FOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (GREG SMITH, SUE HASELTINE, STANLEY PONCE, JANINE POWELL) 
EPA FOR OIA (MARK KASMAN) 
USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE/INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS (CYNTHIA MACKIE AND ELIZABETH LEBOW) 
BANGKOK PASS TO RDMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG ECON KGHG VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM LIKELY TO ASSOCIATE WITH COPENHAGEN ACCORD BUT NEEDS 
PUSH TO DO IT QUICKLY 
 
REF: 2009 HANOI 1440; 2009 HANOI 1246; 2009 HANOI 670 
 
1.(U) Action Request: See paragraph 7. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary: Ambassador Michalak urged Minister of Natural 
Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen to support Vietnam's 
association with the Copenhagen Accord by January 31.  Nguyen noted 
his support for the Accord and stated that he was preparing 
documentation to present to the Prime Minister in support of 
association.  If the United States prioritizes Vietnamese 
association with the Accord, we recommend direct communications 
from top U.S. negotiators to the Prime Minister and Minister 
Nguyen.  Nguyen noted Vietnam's satisfaction with COP-15 and 
appreciation for the positive role played by the United States.  He 
also urged increased U.S. assistance to Vietnam's climate change 
response efforts and provided a detailed list of possible projects. 
End of Summary. 
 
 
 
Minister Nguyen Seeking Prime Minister Approval 
 
to Associate with Copenhagen Accord 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) On January 20, Ambassador Michalak met with MONRE Minister 
Nguyen to urge Vietnam to quickly associate with the Copenhagen 
Accord.  Earlier this month, the Ambassador had made a similar 
request to Deputy Foreign Minister Phan Binh Minh.  According to 
Nguyen, the GVN negotiating team, including himself, supports the 
Copenhagen Accord.  MONRE, together with the Ministry of 
Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, are preparing documents for the Prime Minister to advocate 
that Vietnam associate with the Copenhagen Accord.  Minister Nguyen 
will try to get a decision by January 31 (Note: A working level 
negotiator earlier told ESTHOff that it was unlikely that the 
Government of Vietnam (GVN) could satisfy all internal requirements 
to sign before January 31). Minister Nguyen will highlight ongoing 
and potential USG climate change support in his communications with 
the Prime Minister to help convince him to associate with the 
Copenhagen Accord 
 
 
 
Vietnam Satisfied with COP-15 Negotiations 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Nguyen, who served as the deputy head of the Vietnamese 
delegation, felt that the Copenhagen Accord reflected Vietnam's 
positions at COP-15.  Vietnam is proud of its role in Copenhagen 
and Nguyen felt that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's speech before 
the assembly reflected a harmonization of the positions of 
developed and developing nations.  Nguyen emphasized that though 
Vietnam is a member of the G-77, which he referred to as "the G-77 
and China," it maintains an independent voice.  Nguyen was pleased 
with the U.S. role at Copenhagen, including its interactions with 
the Vietnamese delegation.  He felt that President Obama's active 
participation was critical to achieving the Accord. 
 
 
 
Vietnam Requests Additional U.S. Support 
 
HANOI 00000058  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Nguyen stated that while the Ambassador came to persuade 
him to associate with the Copenhagen Accord, he had come to 
persuade the Ambassador to increase U.S. support for Vietnamese 
climate change responses.  Nguyen noted that we can expect all 
high-level GVN interlocutors to raise this issue in meetings with 
their U.S. counterparts.  Nguyen highlighted the following 
priorities for the GVN: assistance for GVN efforts to implement the 
National Target Program to Respond to Climate Change; increased 
support for the bilateral climate change working group, including 
more regular meetings; help for Vietnamese efforts to develop 
climate change, weather, and sea level forecasting and warning 
systems, along with natural disaster preparation and mitigation; 
backing for REDD initiatives; assistance for efforts to save the 
Mekong Delta from sea level rise; and support for initiatives to 
develop climate change resistant strains of rice. 
 
 
 
Ambassador Urges Vietnam to Support New Technologies 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ambassador Michalak noted that Nguyen's list built upon 
existing U.S.-Vietnamese cooperation and emphasized the USG desire 
to assist Vietnam's climate change responses.  While we hope to 
expand that cooperation, we need to ensure that the USG coordinates 
any support internally and with other donors.  Further, 
international assistance remains dependent on domestic climate 
change legislation.  The Ambassador noted that while the United 
States would like to assist Vietnam to develop new rice strains, 
Vietnam needed to develop legislation that supported such new 
technologies, such as biotech. 
 
 
 
Action Request: High-Level USG Advocacy 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Given the comments from Minister Nguyen, we urge 
Washington to send letters to the Prime Minister from Todd Stern 
(from head of COP-15 delegation to head of COP-15 delegation) and 
from Jonathan Pershing to Minister Nguyen (from deputy head of 
COP-15 delegation to deputy head of COP-15 delegation) urging quick 
GVN action.  We think such correspondence could convince the GVN to 
expedite its review process to reach a final (and likely positive) 
determination by January 31.  Should we move forward with such 
correspondence, we recommend that the letters highlight Vietnam's 
active and positive role at Copenhagen (the GVN is quite proud of 
its participation), recognition of Vietnam's position as one of the 
countries that will be most severely affected by sea level rise, 
and the strong USG desire to bolster technical cooperation between 
the two countries.  The letters should include positive references 
to any meetings between the two delegations at Copenhagen. 
Finally, we suggest language noting that rapid association with the 
Accord will be consistent with Vietnam's positions at the COP and 
bolster Vietnam's position as a well-regarded voice in the 
developing world. 
Michalak