Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky to Lead U.S. Delegation to Annual Ministerial Conference of U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change

Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky will head the U.S. delegation for the ninth annual Conference of Parties (COP 9) to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Milan, Italy December 1 through 12, 2003.

Dr. Harlan L. Watson, Senior Climate Negotiator and Special Representative at the U.S. Department of State, will serve as alternate head of the U.S. delegation, which also includes senior officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Agency for International Development.

The Ministerial session is built around three roundtables: 1) climate change, adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development; 2) technology use, development and transfer; and 3) assessment of progress at the national, regional and international level. Under Secretary Dobriansky will co-chair the roundtable on technology. Conference delegates from 180 countries will exchange views and discuss key themes for the future.

The United States is an active participant in the Framework Convention and will use the conference COP to share its approach to climate change, which includes large investments in both the science of climate change and in developing and deploying transformational energy technologies that will help reduce emissions and contribute to economic growth around the world.

For more information, contact Susan Povenmire of the U.S. Department of State, at the U.S. Delegation Press Office in Milan at 011-39-02-461-416 and visit http://www.state.gov/g/oes/climate.

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