VZCZCXRO2567
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHPB
DE RUEHML #0199/01 0312332
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 312332Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6434
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 000199 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
BANGKOK FOR REO HHOWARD AND RDMA WBOWMAN 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS EMERY 
STATE ALSO FOR OES/EGC DREW NELSON, RACHEL KASTENBERG, KATE LARSEN 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE, G/ENV, EGAT/ESP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ECON PGOV PREL KGHG RP
SUBJECT: Philippines Copenhagen Reaction:  Government Negotiators 
Divided, NGOs Seethe, Press Constructive 
 
Ref: A) State 3080 B) Manila 142 C) 09 Manila 2483 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  President Arroyo and her chief climate envoy 
Heherson Alvarez have expressed strong support for the Copenhagen 
Accord and the United Nations (U.N.) negotiating process.  President 
Arroyo moderated the Philippines' pre-Copenhagen climate change 
position by telling the delegation not to let the Philippines' 
insistence on "deep and early cuts" in greenhouse gas emissions for 
developed countries stand in the way of an agreement.  Alvarez was 
optimistic about the Accord and the United Nations (U.N.) 
negotiating process and said GRP attempts to influence a common 
ASEAN position had yielded mixed results.  Working-level Department 
of Foreign Affairs (DFA) negotiators were deeply disappointed with 
the way the Copenhagen talks were run and the Accord's lack of 
binding commitments by developed countries to cut emissions. 
Philippine non-governmental organizations (NGOs) faulted both the 
Danish hosts' poor planning and conduct of the meeting as well as 
U.S. "inflexibility" with respect to G-77 positions for what they 
describe as a failed conference.  The Philippine mainstream media 
have presented a reasonably balanced view of the Copenhagen talks 
and its consequences.  End Summary. 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
President, Top Climate Envoy Support Accord, U.N. Forum 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) As reported reftel B, the Philippines' lead climate change 
negotiator, former Senator and Environmental Secretary Heherson 
"Sonny" Alvarez told Economic Counselor and EST&HOff on January 19 
that he planned to associate the Philippines with the Copenhagen 
Accord by the January 31 deadline.  During the demarche meeting 
Alvarez described his and President Arroyo's views on the Accord, 
reiterated his support for the United Nations Framework Convention 
on Climate Change (UNFCC) process, and provided an update on 
Philippine efforts to inform a common ASEAN position on climate 
change.  Alvarez said that although he was disappointed that the 
Copenhagen talks had "diminished" the Kyoto Protocol, he was 
generally optimistic about the Accord and the United Nations (U.N.) 
negotiating process.  He expressed support for the agreed-upon 
transparency requirements, noting that "without verification the 
Accord is a punctured balloon."  He maintained that although the 
Copenhagen talks were arduous, the U.N. remained the proper forum 
for climate change negotiations, because it was important to include 
as much of the world community as possible.  Although the 
Philippines was a "shy delegation," not a leader, at the talks, 
Alvarez said GRP attempts to influence a common ASEAN position had 
yielded mixed results, noting that he had instilled a greater sense 
of "climate change urgency" in talks with Thailand's Prime Minister 
(PM), but that Singapore remained non-committal. 
¶3. (SBU) President Arroyo moderated the Philippines' pre-Copenhagen 
climate change position by telling the delegation not to let the 
Philippines' insistence on "deep and early cuts" in greenhouse-gas 
emissions for developed countries stand in the way of an agreement, 
according to Alvarez.  He noted that he had publicly endorsed the 
Accord during the final hours of the Copenhagen meeting, while 
President Arroyo described the results as "a step forward in the 
right direction" during media interviews upon her return from the 
climate summit. 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Working Level Dismayed with Small Group Talks 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials who had 
participated in the negotiations were much less sanguine about both 
the process and the outcome of the talks.  Director of the 
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Office of the United Nations and 
International Organizations Leila Santos told EST&HOff that the 
Danish chair, former Minister for Climate and Energy Connie 
Hedegaard, "directly and deliberately misinformed" her and other 
working group negotiators by repeatedly denying that small-group 
meetings were taking place outside the plenary forum, even after 
their existence "was all over CNN."  She faulted the Danish 
Presidency more than the UNFCC process, however, saying she and her 
DFA colleagues were willing to give the upcoming COP-16 in Mexico 
City "another shot."  Santos said the "only positive" of the Accord 
was the extension of the mandates of the two working groups.  She 
was disappointed that the United States did not commit to deeper 
cuts in emissions and noted that the Philippines remained "bound to 
the G-77."  As of January 26, the DFA was still consulting 
internationally with the G-77 and internally with the Departments of 
Energy and Agriculture with respect to the Philippines association 
with the Accord, according to Santos. 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
President Trims - Some Say Purges - GRP Climate Delegation 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶5. (SBU) NGOs have made up a significant portion of the GRP's 
climate change delegations since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de 
 
MANILA 00000199  002 OF 002 
 
 
Janeiro (Ref C).  The Copenhagen-bound team, however, was both half 
the size of and 'NGO-light' relative to earlier delegations. 
Several experienced Filipino negotiators known for their hard-line 
G-77 views were cut from Alvarez's delegation, as were all 
representatives from Filipino NGOs, leaving only members of three 
international NGOs (the World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam, and Conservation 
International) on the roster.  (Note:  Several of the more strident 
G-77 countries recruited the Philippines' castoffs, with Sudan 
taking Bernaditas Muller, and Vicente Paolo Yu negotiating for 
Bolivia.  End Note.)  While Alvarez told us the executive office cut 
the delegation for budgetary reasons, representatives of local NGOs 
were convinced President Arroyo was behind the changes. 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Climate Coalition Faults Danes, Sudanese, and U.S. for "Depressing 
Outcome" 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶6. (SBU) Danish procedural ineptitude, U.S. inflexibility to G-77 
demands, and Sudanese intransigence made for a "depressing outcome" 
at Copenhagen, according to Ronaldo Gutierrez, who attended the 
COP-15 as an observer for the Philippine Network on Climate Change 
(PNCC).  (Note: Observers credit the PNCC, a consortium of 10 
Philippine environmental NGOs, with shaping the GRP's pre-Copenhagen 
climate change position.  End Note.)  The poor procedural skills of 
Danish PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Conference Chair, slowed the 
negotiations and needlessly offended G-77 delegates, Gutierrez said. 
 He also claimed that U.S. negotiators rejected virtually all G-77 
proposals, thus setting the stage for U.S. "brinksmanship" that led 
to the Accord.  While he faulted Sudan for intransigence, Gutierrez 
also noted that Sudan's likening of the climate deal to a 
"holocaust" discredited its opponents and spurred many G-77 
countries to vote in favor of taking note of the Accord. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Maria de la Paz and Blas Tabaranza, who attended as 
observers for Haribon, a prominent, mainstream Philippines 
environmental NGO, complained of Copenhagen's failed logistics, 
describing kilometer-long lines outside the Bella convention center 
and registration procedures that took six hours or more.  On a 
substantive note, they also faulted the U.S. delegation for the 
blanket rejection of G-77 proposals, and described the Copenhagen 
Accord as "worse than no agreement at all."  La Paz and Tabaranza 
consider the Accord's burden sharing (between developed and 
developing countries) provisions a renunciation of the Kyoto 
Protocol's principle of "common but differentiated 
responsibilities," and described the USD 30 billion fast track fund 
as "token and paltry." 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Balanced Press Coverage Plays Down Blame Game 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In contrast to the heated rhetoric of the environmental 
NGOs, the mainstream Philippine press presented a much broader 
perspective of the Copenhagen summit.  Although press reports 
universally described the talks as failed, few attributed that 
failure solely to the developed countries and instead offered 
diverse analyses and ways forward.  For example, feature articles in 
major dailies titled "Better Than Nothing" and "There's Still 
Mexico" proposed individual activism (one article suggested planting 
trees in lieu of birthday gifts), continued engagement with the 
United States and China, and more consistent domestic energy 
policies as post-Copenhagen strategies.  While coverage of the 
Copenhagen talks has dwindled in recent weeks, the prominence of 
climate change as an election issue promises to increase visibility 
of the topic in coming months, according to media analysts. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment.  We will continue engaging our interlocutors in 
the government to urge expeditious association with the Accord and 
report any substantial developments.  End Comment. 
 
Bassett