Joint Statement of the United States and The Russian Federation Following the Second Meeting of the U.S.-Russia Climate Change Policy Dialogue Working Group

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The second meeting of the U.S.-Russia Climate Change Policy Dialogue Working Group was held in Washington D.C. on April 13, 2004. The purpose of the working group is to help intensify and strengthen the cooperation between the United States and the Russian Federation on global climate change.

The Russian Delegation was headed by Dr. Alexander I. Bedritsky, Acting Head of the Federal Service of Russia for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), and composed of officials and experts from the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Science and Education.

The U.S. Delegation was headed by Dr. Harlan Watson, Senior Climate Negotiator and Special Representative of the Department of State, and composed of officials and experts from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

The two sides exchanged views on their respective activities relating to climate change since the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and discussed approaches to addressing developments that may arise in the framework of the UNFCCC. They discussed a wide range of on-going cooperation, including on climate observations, research and development of breakthrough technologies, improving energy efficiency, implementation of inventories, and carbon sequestration.

• Cooperation in the context of the 2007-08 International Polar Year, including through climate observations in the Arctic and Antarctic;
• Ìodeling of regional impacts of climate change;
• Continuation of TROICA;
• Research on Halocarbons and Nitrous Oxide in the oceans;
• Cooperation in a permanent long-term monitoring station of greenhouse gases (GHGs);
• Standardization of trace gas measurements;
• Investigations of local, regional and global climate effects of largest urban and industrial areas in Russia and the U.S.;
• Investigations of the crucial roles of North America and North Eurasia territories in the global cycles of GHGs;
• Detection of climate change signals in the upper atmospheric layers;
• Maintaining and operating an atmospheric observatory in the Russian Arctic;
• Operating an oceanographic observation network in the Russian Arctic;
• Assessment of effectiveness of GHG reductions due to U.S.-Russia collaborations; and
• Further consultations under the UNFCCC.

The two delegations also noted their close on-going cooperation in advancing international science and technology partnerships, in particular, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy, and the intergovernmental ad hoc Group on Earth Observations.

The two sides decided to continue climate change policy exchanges and to enhance their cooperative activities on climate change. The next meeting of the U.S.-Russia Climate Change Policy Dialogue Working Group will take place in Russia, in the early- to mid-2005 timeframe.