The Convention After 10 Years: Accomplishments and Future Challenges

The United States has a realistic, ten-year goal of reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of the U.S. economy by 18% by 2012. We are laying the groundwork for current and future action through substantial investments – nearly $5 billion this year – in science and technology. We have 14 formal bilateral climate change relationships with other countries and regional organizations that together with the United States account for more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. We have also initiated five multilateral science and technology initiatives, including; the Group on Earth Observations, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy, the Generation IV International Forum for developing cutting-edge nuclear reactor technologies, and the newly launched Methane to Markets Partnership.

We are particularly proud of the new Methane to Markets initiative. It is a model of how developed and developing countries can work together as true partners to mitigate the second most important greenhouse gas in a way that is profitable, increases clean energy supplies and supports national development goals. In this partnership, we and other Annex I Parties are working cooperatively with such non-Annex I countries as China, India, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and Nigeria.

In addition, the United States is active in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, a UK initiative launched at WSSD to enhance the sustainable delivery of energy in the developed and developing world. Through these technology initiatives, we envision revolutionary changes in the world’s energy systems.

The President’s paper notes there are many accomplishments over the past 10 years in which we should all take pride. Through the collective and individual actions of all Parties, we have helped place the issue of climate change on local, national and international agendas, in the forefront of public and media attention, and within the strategic planning of a growing number of businesses. Under the Convention, we have built institutions and put processes in place that enable governments to take action, coordinate those actions, and then measure the results. The Convention has also encouraged the development and deployment of cleaner, more efficient technologies. It has helped generate an impressive level of bilateral and multilateral assistance to developing countries that supports their efforts to address the long-term challenge of climate change. Since 1990, the United States alone has provided over $2 billion.

Science tells us that we cannot say with any certainty what constitutes a dangerous level of warming, and therefore what level must be avoided. However, there have been substantial advances in climate change science. Since 1990, the United States has spent over $23 billion to better understand the complex issue of climate change and variability.

There has also been progress on adaptation and technology. COP-8’s Delhi Ministerial Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainable Development emphasized the need for effective and results-based adaptation measures, and for capacity-building to facilitate the integration of adaptation concerns into sustainable development strategies. The Declaration also makes clear that to be effective, climate change policies must be compatible with economic growth, not impede growth.

Over the years, our discussions have evolved away from limited one-size-fits-all policies to a more practical approach that underscores the importance of sustainable development, adaptation, and technology. There is an increasing acceptance of differences in national circumstances in developed and developing countries. Parties also appreciate that different approaches can contribute toward the same goal, and that international cooperation – both within and outside the Convention – can take many forms.

Climate change remains a complex issue. Parties are developing and implementing their approaches, either under the Convention or the Kyoto Protocol. Many lessons are to be learned – lessons that will provide a foundation for future action in climate change. We need to absorb and analyze these lessons learned before committing to new actions.

One of the important lessons is that the Convention cannot make countries accept approaches that are not consistent with their national circumstances. Its decision-making process has tended to favor top-down mandates, rather than bottom-up, results-oriented solutions.

As a key step for reinvigorating the global response to climate change, we believe the Convention could serve more effectively as a forum for guiding efforts, strengthening the exchange of information and reviewing progress rather than acting as a regulatory structure. We also see a need to continue to strengthen the Convention’s information base through better inventories globally and improved National Communications. More work is needed to incorporate adaptation and mitigation into a sustainable development framework. One possibility is for the Convention to draw upon the WSSD partnership model and engage the private sector more completely, for example, through international cooperative efforts in technology.

Finally, Madam Chair, we believe that the goal of reinvigorating the Framework Convention is a process already well underway. The Convention is a living document that provides great flexibility. We are achieving real results through multilateral partnerships and initiatives.

While advancing and expanding these promising, innovative approaches, the United States recognizes certain realities:

• Meeting the Convention’s ultimate objective is a long-term, generational goal;
  
• Fossil fuels are plentiful and will remain the dominant energy source for decades;
  
• Developing countries can not be expected to reduce their energy consumption for the foreseeable futuregiven that their overriding priority is poverty reduction;
  
• There is no "silver bullet" technology. Neither existing technologies nor one specific technology can fully address this issue. Breakthroughs and a broad portfolio of options are required;
  
• Any future climate regime should encourage all Parties to take actions, help facilitate their ability to do so, and allow them to implement climate change programs of their own choice and according to their special needs and unique national circumstances.