JUN-09-1999 10 49 OES FRONT OFFICE 202 647 0217 P 06 16 3 9 June 1999 To Please See Attached List From Climate Change USDEL Bonn - Mark G H Subject Update No 8 for the Subsidiary Body Meetings of fce_ TTf Framework Convention on Climate Change June 8 9 1999 Attached is an uaof cml and infoimal report on the tenth meetings of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation SBI and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice SBSTA to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change These meetings are being held in Bonn from May 31 to June 12 1999 This report contains infonnation on and gleanings from these meetings and related activities fium the afternoon of Tuesday June 7 through the morning session on Wednesday Tune 8 Also included with this report is the latest issue of the ECO a periodic publication by various environmental groups which is sometimes infoiraative often insulting and generally anti-U S along with the copy of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin which tries to keep tabs on the open sessions and which should be read as a complement to our reporting A supplement entitled Supplement No 8 to this report contains additional detailed reporting on recent events and meetings It should also he read in conjunction with this Update Although unclassified this report is ncrt intended for use distribution or discussion outside of the U S Government JIJN-09-1999 10 49 □ES FRONT OFFICE 202 647 0217 P 07 16 9 June 1999 Subject Climate Change Update No 8 on the SBI SBSTA-10 Meetings in Bonn Mechanisms Discussion Opens Smoothfe with no Bombshells or Mud Slinging Compliance Working Group Decides Dates for Next Submissions but Decision on Intersessional Gathering Blocked by G-77 i e Saudi Arabia The Atmospherics The atmospherics were moderate to calm throughout the day with windier weather expected to be in the forecast for late Wednesday and Thursday Tuesday afternoon and evening saw continued work in both plenary and contact group sessions Intergovernmental Work Schedule One Step Forward Two Steps Back Antigua Barbuda’s Ambassador John Ashe tried without success on June 8 to move the EU and JUSCANZ representatives towards accepting the G-77 proposals concerning the intergovernmental process including the organization of COP-5 in October and timing of COP-6 in October November 2000 A new draft proposal was circulated and discussed on June 9 with some compromise in the dates for e high level segment suggested However the G-77 is in considerable disarray on this issue so that the spokesman for the group Venezuala’s Ambassador Herrera frequently had to admit there was no G-77 consensus on the various points raised It does appear that COP-5 will start on October 25 although this agreement has not as yet been formalized More concern is focused on the dates for the high level segment Ashe proposed a compromise by suggesting that the high level segment will be held from Tuesday to Thursday Nov 2-4 1999 Everyone remains scattered on the page on this point It does appear broadly accepted that the plenaries will be oriented around two interactive discussions or “exchanges of view” to pacify those uncomfortable with the term “interactive” Two topics were initially proposed 1 national experiences dealing with climate change and best practices and their effects plus 2 the way forward promoting implementation of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and the early entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol However developing countries thought that “best practices” sounds patronizing “Lessons learned” might be better In addition China has proposed adding a 3 third topic on reviewing progress towards achieving the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and issues for COP-6 In addition it has been proposed that no general Statements would be made by Parties altiiougb this is still resisted by some countries JUN-09-1999 10 49 □ES FRONT OFFICE 202 647 0217 P 08 16 The offer of the Netherlands to host COP-6 was wannly received although e would have to be careful not to provoke any untoward or counter-productive reaction the dialogue could be very interesting End Comment CompUance Update Once Again the Saudi are apparently Blocking Consensus The compliance discussions moved along slowly during a June g meeting 'mth an August 1 date for the next due date for submissions tentatively agreed this is m order to accommodate a demand by Saudi Arabia and others for papers to be prepared m all languages Decision about accepting an EU offer to host an mtersessional informal Srion'’ on compliance was blocked by the G-77 Annex I w ts these discussions to take place prior to COP-5 the G-77 insists that they take place after COP-5 Sensmg that this woulcL in fact imperil the likelihood for a compliance decision by COP-6 especi ly if it IS held in November 2000 AOSIS agreed with the position t en by the G-77 and then in a move of startling clarity indicated that it supported the EU umbrella suggestion that the meeting be held prior to COP-5 fComment- We understand from the Chinese that the only G-77 member with strong views on the topic of the timing for the intersessional is Saudi Arabia We wiU to Mohammad al-Sabban to try to change his views but we are not sanguine as to the prospects for success given his negative and recalcitrant behavior End Conunent “The Mechanisms Discussion Have Begun” End Comment After all of the delays by bomb threats and G-77 caucusing the mechanisms discussion occurred in a session of the joint SBI SBSTA working group on June 8 Although the G-77 especially China and the group’s spokesman on this issue India suggested that the new G-77 China '‘consensus paper'’ should serve as the basis for discussion the chairman of tire Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice Chow Kop Kee of Malaysia doggedly pursued his determination to follow the headings listed in the synthesis document These headings are somewhat controversial for some Parties but Chow emphasized that he was using them for this discussion only for the sake of expediency For the next composite text which he said he will prepare he will use the headings agreed to by Parties at COP-4 JUN-09-1999 10 49 □ES FRONT OFFICE 202 647 0217 The discussion went on for several hours It was stultifyingly boring and US India China and a few others identifying paragraphs liom die multiple texts noting where there appeared to be convergence Norway’s Georg Borsting was a p cularly brilliant practitioner of this verbal ballet With little advance notice he juggled paragraph numbers in a way which was admired by all of those who realized how difficult and tedious a task this was rCommcnt- Only two sectious remain for discussion at the afternoon session of the jomt working group on June 9- Both Saudi Arabia’s al-Sabban and Venczuala s Herrera indicated that the G-77 China will now turn its attention to feveloping a group posiUon on ioint implementation and emissions trading Al-Sabban implied that fiirther discussion of these items in the SBI SBSTA working group wifi have to await these results- Herrera indicated that he thought this discussion could go ahead but wthout the participation of the G-77 China Chairman Chow also told us on June 9 that this is his intention although it will be interesting to see how this actuaUy plays out when push comes to’shove during the afternoon session End Comment The Sinks Discussions “Suddenly Afloat Again There has been some progress in the seemingly endless discussions on land i e and land use change and forestry discussions LULUCF The proposed decision wll recommend a workshop to study the results of the IPCC Special Report on Article 3 4 once this has been released In addition there appears to be a consensus a eement whereby data release would be linked to a decision-making framework Also there -will be a recommendation made to the IPCC to get it started on methodology issues Some additional new text will be submitted at the LULUCF meeting scheduled of June 9 Bunker Fuels StiU Mired in Controversy but Light is Dawning One of tlie more controversial issues with NGOs is the decision being proposed on bunker fuels The ins and outs of the discussion are covered in reports by DOT and DOD in Supplements 7 and 8 Suffice it to note that Saudis while they were our inadvertent allies in deleting specific references to aUocation are also obstructing any language referring to elements of the Kyoto Protocol using the feeble argument that it has not entered into force They explicitly said that Article 2 2 is one of the items that needs further work but was not captured in the Buenos Aires plan of action We have been accused by some of oux NGOs of working in collusion with the Saudis and preventing consideration of the IPCC Special Report We have denied this is The case and pointed out that the one point where we called for deletion of a reference to this report was because of its inclusion in a paragraph which contained other unacceptable language The fact that the Saudis supported us was not the result of any P 09 16 JUN-09-1999 10 50 □ES FRONT OFFICE 202 647 0217 collusion The Saudis obviously saw this as in their best interests We support the IPCC report and have moved that a reference to it be retained in an appropnate place m the report We have spoken to Annie Petsonk of the EDF about our concerns and beheve we have assuaged her for the moment NGO Meetings - Process Compliance Sinks Budget and One Major Complaint are the Focus of Interest At die Tuesday night meetings with environmental NGOs about 16 U S -based NGOs are present the major issues raised were bunkers as noted compliance siijs and process issues Unlike last Friday’s meeting the concern about compUance at this session was more in terms of where we see the process headmg rather than any cifics NGOs were impressed with the progress made on the sinks issues and praised USDA s Margot Anderson and her team for their collective efforts No mention was made about the data issue which had dominated last week’s meetings As noted in the section of sinks this issue has apparently been resolved by the contact group The business NGOs some 40 or so raised a greater variety of issues They were interested in how we see the process shaping out over the next few days Don Perlman asked about the compliance deUberations about an infoimal session and implied tiiat he hoped this would be open to outside paiticjpants and observers In response the reporting officer told him that that would depend on the nature of the meeting some are for governments only others are open to outside observers some are sponsored by governments which have a big Say as to who is invited others are more open-ended as is the case with the current meetings The business groups also expressed their deep concern over an NGO consultation meeting organised by the Secretariat on June 8 to discuss ways to “improve” relatio witii the NGOs and to ‘facilitate” their participation in the process The Secretanat had attempted to bar many of the major groups from participation in this meeting including both the GCC and the International Chamber of Commerce We agreed that the Excutive Secetaiy may have erred in convening a meeting at this time and will discuss the matter withi Cutajax- Side Events Proceeding Smooth David Doniger Dick Morgenstem Rick Bradley and Jennifer Macedonia are among USDEL members who have been either speakers or presenters at various side events Reporting officer will address a business group organized by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy tonight Some of their reports on these events arc contained in the supplemental to our periodic updates P 10 16 JUN-09-1999 10 50 □ES FRONT OFFICE 202 647 0217 P 11 16 Y David spoke at an event last week on emissions trading while Dick acquitted himself well at a panel hosted by Swedish Climate Action Network last night On Monday Jennifer Macedonia displayed her insights on the registries issue She handled Jo Simons of the UK quite deftly when lie latter challenged Jennifer’s reference to the need to register the trades internal to the EU “bubble” under Article 4 COP-4 Bureau Meeting Under the Chair of COP-4 President Maria Julia Alsagaxay of Argentina the Bureau of COP met at noon on June 8 Nothing momentous emerged from the two hour conversation other than to note that Saudi Arabia was represented by its chief delegate Mohammad al-Sabban for the first time Dates were proposed for COP for meeting s thrdugli COP-9 in 2003 We mildly chastised our Bureau representative Norway for not making these conditional on the timing of COP-6 Tlie Saudis continued their effort to slow down the process by insisting that documents all be prepared in six languages prior to meetings a legitimate complaint but it was not made out of concern for non-anglophone representatives Kazakhstan was reported to have submitted its request to join Annex I in lime for it to be considered at COP-5 Norway reported that this submission was made in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 2 g of the Convention a much easier notification process rather than the Article 5 amendment procedure which was contained in the initial letter we saw from Kazakhstan We will try to check tliis point with the Kazakhs if they are still in Bonn Providing his report to the Bureau SBSTA Chairman Chow expressed optimism that he would be able to get through all three of the mechanisms under discussion which would provide tlie basis for a new text He was not challenged in either his assessment or his indication of future action The next Bureau meeting is tentatively planned for September 19 - the day before the infonnal ministerial being organized by Alsagaray in Warsaw the seat of her heir apparent the Polish Environment Mirister JIJN-09-1999 10 50 □ES FRONT OFFICE 202 647 0217 Final Comment We are not quite at the end gam© for this meeting This will have to await the treatment of the remaining two mechanisms - joint implementation JI and international emissions trading lET However tliere is acceptable progress on either key items of interest - technology transfer sinks bunkers compliance and communications so it appears likely that we will be comfortable in characterizing this conference as a success despite the fits and starts on the mechanisms issue However these fits Starts have strengthened our arguments as to the need for an additional series of subsidiary body meetings m 2000 prior to hosting COP-6 in March or April of 2001 End Comment P 12 16