As part of a Business Council for Sustainable Energy delegation, I met with Paula Dobriansky, Undersecretary for Global Affairs at the Department of State on Friday.  Dobriansky serves as the head delegate for the U.S. at the climate change negotiations.

The BCSE is an industry trade group for the efficiency, natural gas and renewables industries in the U.S.  The Council supports the adoption of a binding international treaty to address climate change.

Not surprisingly, her tone was moderated in contrast to her remarks at the NAM meeting in early September.  She expressed her "commitment," along with others in the Administration like Jim Connaughton at the Council on Environmental Quality, to put forward a plan to address climate change.  Though she could not say what form the plan would take or provide an indication of the timing of its release -- especially in light of the September 11 attacks.

Dobriansky confirmed that she intends to attend the next set of climate change negotiations scheduled for late October in Morocco (COP-7).  The U.N. has not postponed or cancelled the meetings.

She also confirmed that the U.S. would not block other nations from adopting rules to implement the Kyoto Protocol at COP-7.  The U.S. will engage in climate change convention issues and inject itself to protect U.S. interests, including non-tariff trade barriers and competitiveness issues.

There was a general discussion of the merits of cross-border and regional greenhouse gas trading through NAFTA or other mechanisms, but the Administration's thinking on this is still in the conceptual phase.

Please let me know if you have any questions.


Lisa Jacobson
Enron
Manager, Environmental Strategies
1775 Eye Street, NW
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20006

Phone: +(202) 466-9176
Fax: +(202) 331-4717