Written
Statement of
Dr.
Harlan L. Watson
Senior Climate Negotiator and Special
Representative
Bureau of Oceans and International
Environmental and Scientific Affairs
U.S. Department of
State
Before the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Asia, the
Pacific, and the Global Environment
United States House of
Representatives
Hearing on:
“Climate Change and Vulnerable
Societies: A Post-Bali Overview”
February 27, 2008
Mr. Chairman and Members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to
discuss “Climate Change and Vulnerable Societies: A Post-Bali Overview.”
I would specifically like to
address the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference held in Bali in
December 2007; how the United States promotes international cooperation on
climate change; its engagement with the
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS); and ways in which the United States
and the UN can work together to protect vulnerable societies.
1. December 2007 Bali UN Climate Change Conference
The UN Climate Change Conference
held December 3-15, 2007, in Bali,
Indonesia, was the
largest such conference held to date.
There were over 10,800 participants, including over 3,500 delegates from 188
Parties and 3 Observer
States, more than 5,800
individuals from observer organizations, and nearly 1,500 media
representatives.
The United States’ three negotiating objectives for Bali
were: (1) to reach consensus on launching negotiations on a post-2012 climate
change arrangement; (2) to ensure that we had a comprehensive negotiating
roadmap that would include the prospect of
meaningful actions by both developed and developing countries to tackle the
climate change challenge; and (3) to agree to complete negotiations by
2009 in order to prepare for implementation, which would start in 2013. All three of those objectives were met with
the successful adoption of the Bali Action Plan.
The Bali Action Plan launches a
two-year negotiation process to strengthen the international response to
climate through “full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention
through long-term cooperative action, now, up to and beyond 2012, in order to
reach an agreed outcome and adopt a decision” at the fifteenth session of the
Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 15) in 2009. The Plan’s consists of four fundamental
building blocks:
(1) Enhanced national/international action on
mitigation of climate change, including:
- “Measurable,
reportable and verifiable nationally appropriate mitigation commitments or
actions, including quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives
by all developed country Parties, while ensuring the comparability of
efforts among them, taking into account differences in their national
circumstances;” and
- “Nationally
appropriate mitigation actions by developing country Parties in the
context of sustainable development, supported and enabled by technology,
financing and capacity building, in a measurable, reportable and
verifiable manner.”
(2) “Enhanced action on adaptation” that takes
into account “the urgent and immediate needs of developing countries that are
particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, especially
the least developed countries and small island developing States, and further
taking into account the needs of countries in Africa affected by drought,
desertification and floods”;
(3) “Enhanced action on technology development and
transfer to support action on mitigation and adaptation”; and
(4) “Enhanced action on the provision of financial
resources and investment to support action on mitigation and adaptation and
technology cooperation”.
In addition, the negotiations are
to address “a shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including
a long-term global goal for emission reductions,” and are to be conducted under
a subsidiary body under the Convention known as the “Ad Hoc Working Group on
Long-term Cooperation under the Convention” (AWG-LCA).
As we move forward with the
negotiations under the AWG-LCA, which begin in Bangkok
March 31-April 4, the United
States is committed to working with other
countries to reach an agreed outcome that is both environmentally effective and
economically sustainable. Only an
arrangement meeting both of these objectives can win public support.
To be
environmentally effective, a new approach must be truly global and involve
measurable, reportable, and verifiable actions by the world’s largest producers
of greenhouse gas emissions¾both developed and developing countries alike. Without substantial participation by developing
economies, global greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise over the next
50 years, even if the United
States and other developed countries cut
their emissions to zero.
To be economically sustainable, our actions must uphold the hopes
of people everywhere for economic growth, energy security, and improved quality
of life. Lowering the cost of emissions
reductions requires speeding up the development and deployment of technologies
that will fundamentally improve the way we produce and consume energy—such as
the capture and storage of carbon dioxide emitted from coal-fired power plants;
more affordable nuclear and gigawatt-scale renewable power; biofuels, electric,
natural gas, hydrogen, and other clean alternatives to petroleum; and greater
energy efficiency. In the absence of
technology and cost advances in these areas, reducing global emissions on the
necessary scale will be impossible without significantly sacrificing economic
growth globally.
2. Promoting International
Cooperation on Climate Change
President Bush has repeatedly highlighted
the importance of international cooperation in developing an effective and
efficient global response to the serous, complex and long-term challenge of
climate change.
Under President Bush’s leadership, the U.S. has
brought together nations to tackle jointly clean energy technology and climate
change challenges. As shown in
Attachment 2, 102 nations and the European Union are participating in these bilateral
and multilateral collaborations.
Since 2001, the United States has initiated a broad
array of bilateral and multilateral collaborations focused on achieving
practical results that can accelerate development and commercialization of new
technologies, advance climate change science, and address deforestation and adaptation
to climate change. These include 15
bilateral climate partnerships
with key countries and regional organizations, as well as multilateral technology partnerships, such as the Asia-Pacific
Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP), Carbon
Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), Group on Earth Observations
(GEO), Generation IV International Forum (GIF), Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership (GNEP), International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy (IPHE),
and Methane to Markets Partnership (M2M).
Recent U.S.
advances in promoting international cooperation on climate change and the
environment are discussed below and include:
·
Accelerated
phase-out of ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs);
·
The Major Economies Process on Energy Security and
Climate Change;
·
The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and
Climate;
·
Innovative
financing mechanism;
·
Proposed
elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers for clean energy goods and
services;
·
Washington International Renewable Energy
Conference 2008 (WIREC 2008); and
·
Domestic
investment in cleaner, more efficient technologies and international assistance
to address climate change mitigation and adaptation and deforestation and other
domestic action.
Cooperation with Alliance
of Small Island States (AOSIS) Members States is also highlighted where relevant.
Accelerated Phase-Out of Ozone-Depleting Hydrochlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs):
Following a
proposal and strong endorsement by the United States,
the 191 Parties to the Montreal Protocol—including all AOSIS Member States—reached
an historic agreement to accelerate efforts to ensure recovery of the
stratospheric ozone layer at a September 2007 meeting in Montreal.
The Parties agreed to speed up by a decade the phase-out of
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which were originally considered transition
chemicals used as substitutes for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) because they
deplete the ozone layer less. The
agreement will also have substantial benefits for the climate system as it will
spur development of new alternatives to HCFCs that have low or no global
warming affect and will
reduce greenhouse gases by at least 3 billion metric tons over the coming
decades.
Major Economies Process on
Energy Security and Climate Change: In May of last year, President Bush announced
the United States
would work closely with other major economies to develop a detailed
contribution to a new global arrangement under the UNFCCC. This “Major Economies” initiative has
received broad international support, including from G8 and Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The United States hosted the first
meeting in late September 2007, bringing together 17 major economies accounting
for nearly two-thirds of the world’s population, more than 80 percent of the
world’s economic output, 80 percent of global energy use, and nearly
three-fourths of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Guided by the
consensus in Bali, the Major Economies met again in Honolulu, Hawaii
on January 30-31, 2008, to discuss a work program that can contribute to key
elements of the Bali Action Plan. Among
the topics discussed were: (1) a
long-term, global emissions reduction goal; (2) national plans that include
mid-term goals, backed by a nationally-appropriate mix of regulations,
incentives, and public-private partnerships; (3) cooperative technology
strategies and other actions in key sectors, especially fossil power
generation, personal transportation, and sustainable forest management; (4)
innovative financing mechanisms and the elimination of tariff and non-tariff
barriers for clean energy goods and services; (5) improved emissions accounting
systems to verify progress; (6) ways to help countries adapt to climate change
and gain access to technology, especially for developing countries; and (7) ways
of structuring a post-2012 arrangement that would encourage, rather than deter,
actions by major developing and developed countries, and incorporate positive,
not punitive, ways to ensure accountability.
We hope these discussions, which will continue at the Third Major
Economies Meeting to be hosted by France in April, will produce
tangible outcomes that can be endorsed at a Major Economies Leaders’ Meeting
later this year. This would fulfill last
year’s G8 pledge for the Major Economies to make a “detailed contribution” to
the UN negotiations.
Asia-Pacific
Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP): The
Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate (APP), launched in
January 2006 by ministers from Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of
Korea, and the United States, is addressing increased energy needs and the
associated issues of air pollution, energy security, and climate change. The APP provides a unique opportunity to
engage China and India in
constructively moving their energy economies toward a more climate-friendly
direction. At last October’s New Delhi APP Ministerial Meeting,
Canada
became the seventh member of the Partnership.
This innovative public-private sector effort is
accelerating the development and deployment of cleaner, more efficient
technologies through more than 110 individual projects in major sectors
such as power generation, cement, steel, aluminum, and buildings. For example, a majority of the world’s major
aluminum producers have committed to 2010 reduction goals from 1990 tailored to
their capabilities, including an 80 percent reduction from perfluorocarbon (a
very potent greenhouse gas) emissions per ton of aluminum produced for the
industry as a whole; at least a 33-percent reduction of fluoride emissions per
ton of aluminum produced; and a 10-percent reduction in average smelting energy
usage per ton of aluminum produced. The President’s fiscal year (FY) 2009 Budget
request includes $52 million to support APP.
Innovative financing mechanism: In his September 28, 2007
address to the first Major Economies Meeting, President Bush proposed that Major
Economies “join together to create a new international clean technology fund .
. .supported by contributions from governments from around the world . . . [to]
help finance clean energy projects in the developing world.” The President asked Treasury Secretary Hank
Paulson to coordinate this effort and to begin exploratory discussions.
In his State of the Union address last month, President Bush announced he is committing $2 billion over the next
three years to create a new international clean technology fund
and his FY 2009 Budget request for the Department of the Treasury includes $400
million for the first
payment. The proposed clean technology fund
has three major objectives: first, to
reduce emissions growth in major developing countries through accelerated
deployment of clean technologies; second, to stimulate and leverage private
sector investment in existing clean technologies; and third, to encourage
developing countries to pursue environmentally sound policies to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. The United States
believes countries seeking access to the fund should be undertaking credible
national plans to limit greenhouse gases and have those plans reflected in a
post-2012 international climate change arrangement. The United States also believes
beneficiaries of the fund should be prepared to work in good faith to eliminate
trade, regulatory and other investment barriers for clean energy and other
environmental goods and services. The
fund will address the growing problem of accelerating greenhouse gas emissions
growth in major developing countries like China
and India,
and will help ensure that the developing country demand for energy will be met
with clean energy projects by supporting the additional cost of clean
technology investments over their dirtier alternatives. The Administration is working with major
donor and developing countries to create a multilateral fund that will catalyze
resources of the multilateral development banks and the private sector to
create innovative financing instruments to spur clean technology investments in
the major developing country economies.
Proposed Elimination of Tariff and
Non-Tariff Barriers for Clean Energy Goods and Services: Another avenue to help accelerate use of
cleaner, lower-carbon technologies and infrastructure is through elimination of
tariff and non-tariff barriers for clean energy goods and services. Last November, the United States and EU jointly
proposed in the World Trade Organization to rapidly eliminate the tariff and
non-tariff trade barriers that impede investment in clean technologies and
services. The World Bank has estimated
that removing such barriers from about 40 climate-friendly technologies whose
global trade totaled $130 billion in 2006 would lower the cost of cutting
emissions and could increase clean technology trade by an additional 7-14
percent.
Washington
International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC 2008):
Next week, the United States
will host the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC
2008) in Washington, DC, March 4-6. WIREC 2008, the third international
ministerial-level event on renewable energy, will be a key opportunity for
government, industry and civil society leaders to advance the integration of
renewable energy and advanced shared goals for climate, sustainable development
and energy security. It will focus on
rural development, finance, commercialization/market adoption, research and
development, as well as other cross-cutting issues, and includes a
ministerial-level meeting for governments (federal and local), the private
sector and civil society, and co-located, but separately-managed trade show and
exhibition. We are aware that renewable
energy is of particular interest to AOSIS and its Member States
and pleased that we expect attendees to include officials of ministerial rank
or higher from 12 AOSIS Member States.
Domestic Investment in Cleaner, More
Efficient Technologies and International Assistance to Address
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation and Deforestation and Other Domestic
Action: The United States
will continue its massive domestic investment to develop and deploy cleaner,
more efficient technologies, to address adaptation to climate change and
deforestation— both domestically and internationally. From FY 2001-2008, the United States will
have invested nearly $45 billion for climate change — $22 billion for
technology research and development, $15 billion for science, $6 billion for
tax incentives, and $2 billion for international assistance — and the President’s FY 2009 Budget requests
nearly $8.6 billion for climate-related activities. In addition, $38.5 billon in loan
guarantees for clean technology is available through FY 2009 and an additional
$4 billion in loan guarantees is available until used.. The U.S.
and Japan
account for most global spending in this area and we encourage other countries
to step up their efforts.
The U.S. will also continue its strong
support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the financial mechanism under the UNFCCC, and the
Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA)
to address climate change mitigation and adaptation and deforestation, which accounts
for roughly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. For FY
2009, the Administration is requesting $80.0 million for the GEF for the third
of four payments toward a total U.S.
contribution of $320 million pledged during the fourth replenishment (GEF-4),
and a total of $20 million for TFCA. We are also combating illegal logging and the
export of illegally harvested forest products in Africa, Asia, and Latin
America through the President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging,
including in the Congo Basin Forest Partnership to better manage 80 million
hectares — an area the size of Texas — in the world’s second largest tropical
forest.
The United States collaborates with
developing country partners—including a number of AOSIS Member States—in a
broad range of activities designed to better understand climate and its
implications for development and to build resilience to climate variability and
change. These activities include analyzing data from Earth observations,
developing decision support tools, and integrating climate information into
development programs and projects. All
of these activities assist these countries in developing stronger institutional
capacity and more flexible and resilient economies that have the ability to
address both the challenges and the opportunities presented by changing
climatic conditions.
The ultimate goal of adaptation is to develop flexible
and resilient societies and economies. A
diverse, robust, and open economy can better withstand many types of
disruptions, including those related to climate events. The greatest progress will be assured through
strategies that together improve energy security, alleviate poverty, reduce
harmful air pollution, and reduce greenhouse gases.
Good governance, sustainable economic growth, environmental protection, and
poverty alleviation go hand in hand.
Well-governed societies are inherently more resilient and adaptable to
changing economic, social or environmental conditions of all kinds. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC),
whose mission is to reduce global poverty through the promotion of
sustainable economic growth, is particularly relevant. MCC is based on the principle that aid
is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom and
investments in people. Focused MCC
effort has produced a portfolio of 16 compacts with countries in Africa,
Central America, Eurasia, and the Pacific — including with AOSIS
Member States Cape Verde
and Vanuatu—totaling
$5.5 billion. In addition, 15 threshold agreements have been signed — including
with AOSIS Member States Guyana and São Tomé and Príncipe — totaling
nearly $325 million. The President’s FY
2009 Budget request for the MCC is $2.225 billion.
The United States is
also collaborating internationally on monitoring and adaptation tools, such as
the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) being developed by the
Group on Earth Observations (GEO). GEOSS will help give communities early
warning of natural disasters, and improve decision-making for agriculture,
coastal development and other economic sectors that are affected by climate
variability and change. A key U.S.
contribution to GEOSS is SERVIR, supported by NASA and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“Servir” is the Spanish word for “to serve,” and SERVIR is a system that
enables researchers and decision makers in Central America to use U.S. satellite
data for environmental monitoring and management. Over the past two years, USAID and NASA have
been working to extend the SERVIR model globally. A new hub is being
established in East Africa, with funding in the President’s FY 2009 Budget
request for two more regional hubs in Africa and one in Asia
(which would support AOSIS member states).
USAID is a leader
among development agencies in the area of adaptation to climate change. USAID’s Global Climate Change team released
an Adaptation Guidance Manual in 2007.
The Adaptation Guidance Manual is designed to assist USAID missions and
other development partners to understand, analyze, and respond to the potential
impacts of climate change on development challenges, and to develop effective
approaches to solving those challenges. The Manual has been well received, has
been widely and independently distributed by many climate change and
development list serves, and is already being applied or adapted by development
and climate change stakeholders in the field.
USAID is also developing
guidance on best practices for coastal resilience to current and expected
future risks to supplement the Adaptation Guidance Manual. The Coastal Resilience Guide will feature
best practices, policy needs for an enabling environment, and guidance on
finding and using data. The Guide will
draw from lessons learned in post-tsunami projects, coastal resilience
projects, and climate change adaptation projects in coastal areas. USAID and its partners at the University of Rhode Island
are holding a workshop on the new coastal guidance at the 4th Global Conference
on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands in April in Hanoi, Vietnam. Funds have been set aside to fund the
participation of AOSIS participants.
Furthermore, a pilot project will be implemented this year in a
community in the Pacific.
Other examples of U.S.
international cooperation on adaptation are the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Pacific Islands Regional Integrated Science and
Assessment (Pacific RISA) program, the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), and USAID ongoing
marine/coastal management programs in the CTI area. Pacific RISA emphasizes reducing Pacific Island
vulnerability to climate-related extreme events such as drought, floods and
tropical cyclones and effective engagement of Pacific Island
communities, governments and businesses in developing effective policies to
build resilience in key sectors such as water resource management, coastal
resources, agriculture, tourism, disaster management and public health. The CTI, which
involves Indonesia (Central
and Eastern), Timor-Leste, the Philippines,
Malaysia (Sabah), Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands,
is focusing on three primary areas: (1)
protecting coral reefs from man-made and natural disturbances, (2) developing sustainable
fisheries, and (3) ensuring food security for the region’s inhabitants.
And the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) is
providing funding for ongoing marine/coastal management programs in the CTI
area.
Here at home, the Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-140) enacted in December mandates
substantial, mid-term requirements for vehicle fuel efficiency (40 percent
improvement), renewable fuels (36 billion gallons annually), and efficiency of
appliances, lighting systems, and government operations. The changes brought about by this law will
prevent U.S.
emissions of billions of metric tons of greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere. Other countries are looking
very closely at what we did to see how they might apply similar approaches in
their countries.
3. Concluding
Remarks
The United States believes it is important to engage
with AOSIS and its Member
States and other UNFCCC
Parties, and, as noted above, has in place a wide variety of ongoing
multilateral and bilateral programs to address their climate change mitigation
and adaptation needs. We also engage
regularly with AOSIS and its Member States during sessions of the UNFCCC
Conference of the Parties and its subsidiary bodies, as well as in other UN venues,
such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Commission
on Sustainable Development (CSD). We
look forward to continuing our ongoing dialogue as we all work together to
reach a successful climate change arrangement in 2009 that will attract broad
international support.
Mr. Chairman and Members
of the Subcommittee, I thank you for this opportunity
to testify before the Subcommittee. I
would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
Attachment 1: Bali Action
Plan
Attachment 2: U.S.-Initiated Multilateral and
Bilateral/Regional Partnerships—1 of 3
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APP
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CSLF
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GEO
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GIF
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GNEP
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IPHE
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M2M
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MEM
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Bilateral/
Regional
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MCC
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Albania
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Algeria
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Argentina
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