United States Participation in Annual Climate Change Conference

The fourteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-14) will take place December 1-12, 2008, in Poznan, Poland. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Dr. Paula Dobriansky will lead the U.S. delegation.

Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality James L. Connaughton will join in representing the United States at the high-level portion of the conference on December 11-12. Chairman Connaughton is a senior advisor to President Bush and his personal representative to the Major Economies Meetings on Energy Security and Climate Change.

Ambassador and Special Envoy to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Dr. Harlan Watson will serve as the alternate head of the U.S. Delegation during the two week negotiation. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Environment and Sustainable Development Daniel Reifsnyder will serve as a senior member of the U.S. Delegation. U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe will also attend the high-level segment of the conference.

Additional departments and agencies to be represented on the U.S. Delegation include the Department of Agriculture; the Agency for International Development; the Department of Energy; the Environmental Protection Agency; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce; and the Treasury Department. The U.S. Delegation will include officials from the National Security Council and the White House Council on Environmental Quality; and Members of Congress and congressional staff.

Effective December 1, 2008, media representatives interested in contacting the U.S. Delegation in Poznan should email uspresscop14@yahoo.com. For further information about U.S. climate change policy, please see: www.state.gov/g/oes/climate.

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