Cablegate: Assistant Secretary Sullivan's Meeting with French

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RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHFR #3392/01 2251018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131018Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9463
INFO RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 2064
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1861
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E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG ECON FR
SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY SULLIVAN'S MEETING WITH FRENCH
AUTHORITIES ON THE PRESIDENT'S MAJOR ECONOMIES CONFERENCE

REF: (A) Paris 2065 (B) Paris 2747 (C) State 109658

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1. (SBU) Summary. On August 9, EEB Assistant Secretary Dan Sullivan
met with officials from France's Ministry of Ecology, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and the Prime Minister's office, to discuss the
President's September 27-28 Major Economies Conference. The French
were supportive of the initiative, noting that U.S. leadership will
be necessary to bring emerging countries, such as India and China,
to the table. All French officials noted, however, that conference
topics should include technological innovation and market-based
instruments to limit emissions. The French also expressed interest
in having more than one representative participate in the
conference. End summary.

2. (SBU) In all his meetings, A/S Sullivan set out the general
goals of the conference, which he emphasized was the beginning of a
process to reach agreement on a new global framework and long-term
global goal on greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions by the end of 2008.
He underscored that this goal and the global framework developed by
the major economies would contribute to a global agreement under the
U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change by 2009.

Ministry of Ecology
- - - - - - - - - -

3. (SBU) Alexandre Joly, Cabinet Deputy Director for the Minister
of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Sustainable Planning (MEDAD)
Jean-Louis Borloo, told A/S Sullivan that the GOF is re-creating its
environmental policy. Following up on President Sarkozy's pledge
during the presidential campaign, the GOF is preparing for a meeting
in October 2007 that will define a new approach to environmental
policy and an action program for the next five years. The U.S.
conference in September will occur in the middle of this review
process, which will make it difficult for France to make any firm
commitments. Nonetheless, there is already a certain consensus
about the importance of an "economic approach" to improving energy
efficiency in the housing sector, reducing vehicle emissions by
twenty-five percent, and increasing the percentage of renewables in
the overall energy mix (i.e. EU's 2020 target).

4. (SBU) Joly explained that the new "super-ministry" has structured
itself to be "a weapon against climate change." The ministry
consolidates parts of four different ministries and oversees sectors
which account for sixty percent of GHG emissions in France (see
reftels for further clarification on the new super-ministry).
Because Minister Borloo is influential in the GOF, Joly believes the
Ministry will be able to implement considerable changes in
environmental policy.

5. (SBU) Joly welcomed and indicated there would be French support
for President Bush's climate initiative, stating that U.S.
leadership will be critical in order to get emerging emitters such
as India and China to agree to reductions in their GHG emissions.
The GOF will consider the conference a success if a consensus
emerges that includes India and China. However, he noted that
France is concerned about the U.S. focus on technical solutions.
Joly added that France strongly believes that market mechanisms are
required to change behavior and limit emissions. Joly believes
Minister Borloo would be interested in attending one day of the
conference, but asked for clarification of the schedule to determine
where ministerial participation would be most appropriate. He also
asked for recommendation for appropriate level of attendance at
other sessions.

5. (SBU) Joly added that the GOF has already created a matrix
similar to that which the United States will request all countries
fill out prior to the Major Economies Conference. He noted that
France has gone one step further in determining the return on
investment for each of France's energy programs. The obvious
technological solution for reducing GHG emissions is nuclear power,

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he said, which accounts for seventy-nine percent of France's energy
production. Another twelve percent comes from hydro-power. The end
result is that there are few GHG emissions in France's power sector.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

6. (SBU) Cyrille Pierre, MFA Acting Director for Economic and
Financial Affairs, and Frederic Joureau, MFA Environment Officer,
were generally supportive of the U.S. initiative, calling it an
"interesting approach" to gather all the main emitters. They were
relieved to learn that the initiative will not be a substitute to a
more broad-based approach to reducing GHG emissions under the
UNFCCC. Echoing the sentiment at the Ministry of Ecology, MFA
officials highlighted the importance of recognizing market-based
solutions as a way to change behavior and spur technology
development. They also said they hoped the initiative would be more
than "just an extension of the Asian Pacific Partnership" with its
perceived focus on technical solutions to GHG emissions. The "key
to any post-2012 framework will be to find ways to merge both
technological and market-based approaches," the said. "Only by
doing this will everyone agree to be involved." The International
Energy Agency (IEA), for example, has developed some approaches
along these lines, mixing technical cooperation with policy measures
and market-based instruments.

7. (SBU) MFA officials also expressed concern that the EU was only
granted 10 seats total, and one for France. They did not view this
as sufficient. They also thought it would make sense to give the
international financial institutions a seat at the table at the
conference, particularly given the World Bank's ongoing work
regarding climate change issues. Finally, they raised concerns over
the link between trade policies and climate change. Specifically,
the GOF believes developing countries should be required to commit
to lowering tariffs on environmental goods and services in exchange
for technology transfer from developed economies. Pierre and
Joureau suggested the conference would be a good time to discuss a
"global bargain" in this area.

Prime Minister's Office
- - - - - - - - - - - -

8. (SBU) A/S Sullivan heard similar themes -- including an interest
in discussing market mechanisms at the conference -- in a meeting
with diplomatic, energy and transportation advisors to Prime
Minister Francois Fillon. Energy and Industrial Policy Advisor
David Molho and Diplomatic Affairs Counselor Arnaud Barthelemy also
probed for U.S. thinking on the interplay among national mid-term
goals, long-term goals, and, possibly, sectoral goals. Molho
suggested that it might be appropriate to include discussion of
green taxes, as well as tariff issues, on the agenda. Barthelemy
also asked for clarification of delegation size, indicating that it
would be helpful if French representation was not limited to one
participant.

9. (SBU) Barthelemy and Molho welcomed A/S Sullivan's suggestion
that U.S. officials would continue consulting with partners in the
time remaining before the conference. This would be particularly
important in fleshing out information the United States hoped to
generate prior to the conference. In response to questions about
the timing of the conference so soon after Ban Ki Moon's climate
change dinner, A/S Sullivan assured his interlocutors that the
United States sees the major economies conference as fully
supportive of -- not competing with -- U.N. efforts. Looking ahead,
Barthelemy asked whether the conference would result in an agreed
conference statement. He suggested informally that a chairman's
summary might help reduce the amount of time that could get
otherwise get taken up with negotiating a formal statement.

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10. (U) A/S Sullivan cleared this cable.

PEKALA

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