U.S. climate change policy: U.S. climate change negotiator: The U.S. is actively engaged and is leading a number of new multilateral climate change initiatives

Climate change is an issue of great importance and concern to both Canada and the United States. Despite our different perspectives on the Kyoto Protocol, we work closely together, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora, to address the challenges of global climate change.There is a widespread impression that the United States is not taking climate change seriously, and has been acting "unilaterally" in its approach because of its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol. This is not the case, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. In fact, the U.S. is actively engaged, both domestically and internationally, and is leading a number of new multilateral climate change initiatives.The U.S. climate change policy, as articulated by U.S. President George Bush, reaffirms the U.S. commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and its ultimate objective: to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate.The policy recognizes the need to take near-term actions, while maintaining economic growth that will improve the world's standard of living. It is grounded in the reality that addressing the issue of climate change will require the sustained effort by all nations over many generations. And it will require the development and deployment of new transformational technologies during this century that will allow us to produce and use energy with little or no net emissions of GHGs.President Bush's climate change policy has three basic components designed to address both the near-term and long-term aspects of climate change: (1) slowing the growth of GHG emissions; (2) laying important groundwork for both current and future action through major investments in science, technology, and institutions; and (3) international cooperation with other nations to develop an efficient and effective global response.The first component involves a series of actions aimed at slowing the growth of our GHG emissions. The president set a national goal of reducing U.S. GHG intensity (GHG emissions per dollar of GDP) by 18 per cent over the next 10 years. Meeting this commitment will achieve 100 million metric tons of carbon-equivalent emissions reductions from business-as-usual estimates in 2012 alone, and more than 500 million metric tons through 2012, an amount equivalent to taking 70 million cars off the road.The U.S. has in place more than 60 federal (and many more State) programs, some mandatory, some incentive-based, and some voluntary, that will help to slow the growth in U.S. GHG emissions over the next decade and beyond.Federal mandates include Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), appliance and Clean Air Act standards. In addition, a number of States have enacted standards requiring that a certain proportion of electricity generated within the state be supplied by renewable energy sources, as well as restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.We have in place, or are implementing, numerous voluntary programs that are helping consumers and many corporations to make great strides in reducing their GHG emissions.One example is the ENERGY STAR program, which identifies energy efficient products for the home and workplace. In 2002, with the help of the ENERGY STAR program, Americans prevented GHG emissions equivalent to those from 14 million vehicles while saving more than $7-billion. By 2012, the program is expected to avoid about 50 million metric tons of carbon-equivalent GHG emissions per year and to reduce energy bills by about $15-billion annually.Climate change is an issue of great importance and concern to both Canada and the United States. Despite our different perspectives on the Kyoto Protocol, we work closely together, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora, to address the challenges of global climate change.There is a widespread impression that the United States is not taking climate change seriously, and has been acting "unilaterally" in its approach because of its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol. This is not the case, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. In fact, the U.S. is actively engaged, both domestically and internationally, and is leading a number of new multilateral climate change initiatives.The U.S. climate change policy, as articulated by U.S. President George Bush, reaffirms the U.S. commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and its ultimate objective: to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate.The policy recognizes the need to take near-term actions, while maintaining economic growth that will improve the world's standard of living. It is grounded in the reality that addressing the issue of climate change will require the sustained effort by all nations over many generations. And it will require the development and deployment of new transformational technologies during this century that will allow us to produce and use energy with little or no net emissions of GHGs.President Bush's climate change policy has three basic components designed to address both the near-term and long-term aspects of climate change: (1) slowing the growth of GHG emissions; (2) laying important groundwork for both current and future action through major investments in science, technology, and institutions; and (3) international cooperation with other nations to develop an efficient and effective global response.The first component involves a series of actions aimed at slowing the growth of our GHG emissions. The president set a national goal of reducing U.S. GHG intensity (GHG emissions per dollar of GDP) by 18 per cent over the next 10 years. Meeting this commitment will achieve 100 million metric tons of carbon-equivalent emissions reductions from business-as-usual estimates in 2012 alone, and more than 500 million metric tons through 2012, an amount equivalent to taking 70 million cars off the road.The U.S. has in place more than 60 federal (and many more State) programs, some mandatory, some incentive-based, and some voluntary, that will help to slow the growth in U.S. GHG emissions over the next decade and beyond.Federal mandates include Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), appliance and Clean Air Act standards. In addition, a number of States have enacted standards requiring that a certain proportion of electricity generated within the state be supplied by renewable energy sources, as well as restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.We have in place, or are implementing, numerous voluntary programs that are helping consumers and many corporations to make great strides in reducing their GHG emissions.One example is the ENERGY STAR program, which identifies energy efficient products for the home and workplace. In 2002, with the help of the ENERGY STAR program, Americans prevented GHG emissions equivalent to those from 14 million vehicles while saving more than $7-billion. By 2012, the program is expected to avoid about 50 million metric tons of carbon-equivalent GHG emissions per year and to reduce energy bills by about $15-billion annually.Also, the U.S. is employing near-term incentives for carbon sequestration to increase the amount of carbon stored in our farms and forests. Under the 2002 Farm Bill, the U.S. will invest up to $47-billion in the next decade for conservation measures on its farms and forest lands-including measures that will enhance the natural storage of carbon. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that actions taken to date will sequester over 12 million metric tons annually by 2012.The president's fiscal year 2005 budget, which seeks some $4-billion for climate change science and technology programs, also supports the near-term objective. The 2005 budget also proposes nearly $5-billion in tax incentives over the next five years, and $7.3-billion over the next 10 years to encourage purchases of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, to promote residential solar energy and combined heat and power systems, and to reward investments in wind, solar, biomass and nuclear energy production.The second component of U.S. climate change policy focuses on laying the groundwork for both current and future action-investments in science, technology, and institutions. We need better science to promote better decision-making; better technology to slow GHG emissions growth; and better institutions to enable us to pursue the lowest-cost emissions reduction opportunities, whatever they may be, whenever they arise over time, and wherever they occur both within and across nations. This component is closely linked to the multilateral initiatives described below.The third component is international cooperation, which recognizes the importance of working with other nations to develop an effective and efficient global response to the complex challenge of climate change. Since 2001, the U.S. has established formal bilateral climate change relationships, with many partners including Canada, Japan, the European Union (EU), Italy, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia among the developed countries; as well as the countries of Central America, China, India, Republic of Korea, Mexico, and South Africa among the developing countries. Together with the United States, these countries account for more than 70 per cent of global GHG emissions.While each of these bilateral relationships is unique, there is a common interest in advancing climate change science and technology. For example, the U.S.-Canada Working Group on Climate Change has identified more than 60 such joint activities between our two countries.One of the greatest barriers to advancing climate change science is the lack of necessary environmental data required to understand the Earth system. To address this major deficiency, the United States hosted the Earth Observation Summit in Washington last summer that was attended by over 50 nations and international organizations, including Canada. The goal of the summit and follow-on activities is to design and implement over the next 10 years a new international, integrated, sustained, and comprehensive Earth observation system that will greatly advance our understanding of climate change. The second summit will be held in Tokyo at the end of April.With regard to technology, there is a growing realization that existing energy technologies, even with substantial improvements, cannot meet the growing global demand for energy while delivering the emissions reductions necessary to stabilize atmospheric GHG concentrations. We need to develop and deploy revolutionary technologies for energy production, distribution, storage, conversion, and use. Some examples include carbon sequestration, hydrogen, and advanced nuclear technologies. The U.S. is not only pursuing these domestically, but is also leading three major multilateral international technology efforts and participating in a fourth.Carbon sequestration involves removing carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion emissions and permanently storing it in deep underground formations. International cooperation in carbon sequestration research is a key aspect of our approach. The Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, a multilateral effort to advance technologies that capture and store carbon emissions, was inaugurated formally at a ministerial meeting in June 2003, during which 13 coal producing and consuming nations and the European Commission signed an international charter establishing a framework for cooperative research and development. The forum's partners, including Canada, will also be invited to participate in our $1-billion FutureGen project to design and construct the first emission-free coal-fired power plant.As part of President Bush's groundbreaking effort to look beyond traditional energy sources, U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham called for the establishment of an International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy to coordinate multinational research and development programs to accelerate the transition to a global hydrogen economy. That partnership was launched in November 2003 with 15 international partners, including Canada. The public-private collaborations envisioned under the Partnership will address the technological, financial, and institutional barriers to hydrogen and develop internationally recognized technology standards to speed market penetration of new hydrogen-based technologies.We also recognize nuclear energy as a clean energy choice, both in the near- and longer-term. Under the U.S.-led Generation IV program, 10 nations, including Canada, are working on new fission reactor designs that will be safer, more economical and secure, and able to produce new products, such as hydrogen.Taken together, these multilateral research and technology initiatives, if successful, add up to what can only be described as a long-term revolution in our energy systems. Not only will these technologies put us on a path to stabilizing atmospheric GHG concentrations, they will also ensure secure, reliable, affordable, and clean energy to power economic growth and development across the globe.The United States takes the issue of climate change very seriously, and remains committed to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. We are investing billions of dollars to address climate change, both in the near and long-term. We are also fully engaged internationally, and are leading major multilateral and bilateral climate change initiatives, many of which involve Canada. While we may differ in our approaches to addressing climate change, we are all working toward the same goal.Harlan L. Watson is the senior climate negotiator and special representative, U.S. Department of State. The preceding is an edited version of his remarks from a digital video conference between Washington, D.C., U.S. Embassy, Ottawa and U.S. consulates general in Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver on Feb. 18, 2004.

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U.S. climate change policy: U.S. climate change negotiator: The U.S. is actively engaged and is leading a number of new multilateral climate change initiatives

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