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Viewing cable 07PARIS3392, ASSISTANT SECRETARY SULLIVAN'S MEETING WITH FRENCH

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07PARIS3392 2007-08-13 10:18 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Paris
VZCZCXRO8597
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
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0462
RUEAEPA/EPA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 003392 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB, EEB/ESC, G, OES, OES/EGC, EUR, EUR/RPE, EUR/WE, KGHG 
WHITE HOUSE FOR CEQ 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL 
USAID FOR EGAT ENERGY TEAM 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO EFTOFFS, HUB OFFICERS, ECON/POL WITH ENERGY 
PORTFOLIOS, FAS 
 
CEQ FOR FOR DAVID BANKS 
 
NSC FOR JONATHAN SHRIER 
 
FOR USG ONLY; NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
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 
 
PARIS 00003392  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
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, 
 
PARIS 00003392  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
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. 
 
 
PARIS 00003392  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
10. (U) A/S Sullivan cleared this cable. 
 
PEKALA