If we ever get a global tax -- that is the day I stop working.
International Cooperation:
The United States is engaged in extensive international efforts on climate change, both through multilateral and bilateral activities. The President’s FY 2006 Budget includes $198 million for international climate change assistance. Multilaterally, the United States is by far the largest funder of activities under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The President’s FY 2006 Budget contains $5 million for the UNFCCC and IPCC. We remain fully engaged in multilateral negotiations under the UNFCCC, and have created or worked to revitalize a range of international climate initiatives within the last two years, including the following programs:
Methane-to-Markets Partnership: Announced by the EPA in July 2004, the Methane-to-Markets Partnership is a new and innovative program to help promote energy security, improve environmental quality, and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions throughout the world. The Partnership will work closely with the private sector in targeting methane currently wasted from leaky oil and gas systems, from underground coal mines, and from landfills. EPA estimates that this Partnership could recover up to 500-billion cubic feet of natural gas (50-million metric tons of carbon equivalent) annually by 2015. Capturing and using “waste” methane will provide for a new energy source that stimulates economic growth and reduces global emissions of this powerful greenhouse gas. The United States will commit up to $53 million to the Partnership over the next five years. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom joined the United States in launching the Methane to Markets Partnership at a November 2004 Ministerial meeting in Washington, DC. The private sector, development banks, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to participate in the Partnership through becoming a member of the Project Network. For more information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/methane/international.html and www.methanetomarkets.org.
International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy: Announced by the Secretary of Energy in April 2003 to implement internationally the goals of President Bush’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and FreedomCar Partnership, the United States hosted the first Ministerial meeting of the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy in Washington, D.C., in November 2003. The Partnership’s 15 countries and the European Union (EU) are working together to advance the global transition to the hydrogen economy, with the goal of making fuel-cell vehicles commercially available by 2020. The Partnership will work to advance research, development, and deployment of hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies, and develop common codes and standards for hydrogen use. For more information, please visit www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/international_activities.html.
Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum: The United States hosted the first meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) in Tysons Corner, Virginia, in June 2003. CSLF is focused on the development of improved cost-effective technologies for the separation and capture of carbon dioxide for its transport and long-term storage. The purpose of the CSLF is to make these technologies broadly available internationally, and to identify and address wider issues relating to carbon capture and storage. CSLF, which now includes 15 countries and the EU, held its second Ministerial meeting in September 2004 in Melbourne, Australia, where ministers approved 10 capture and storage projects as well as a Technology Roadmap to provide future directions for international cooperation. For more information, please visit www.fe.doe.gov/programs/sequestration/cslf/.
Generation IV International Forum: The United States has led the development of the Generation IV International Forum, a multilateral partnership fostering international cooperation in research and development for the next generation of safer, more affordable, and more proliferation-resistant nuclear energy systems. This new generation of nuclear power plants could produce electricity and hydrogen with substantially less waste and without emitting any air pollutants or greenhouse-gas emissions. Since the Forum was formally established in July 2001, the United States has led the development of a technology roadmap, and increased support for R&D projects carried out in support of the Forum’s goals. For more information, please visit http://gen-iv.ne.doe.gov/intl.html.
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership: Formed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August 2002, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) seeks to accelerate and expand the global market for renewable energy and energy-efficiency technologies. As the world’s largest producer and consumer of renewable energy, and with more renewable energy generation capacity than Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom combined, the United States is one of 17 countries who are partners in REEEP. The United States also actively participated in the Renewables 2004 conference sponsored by the German Government in June 2004, and submitted five action items intended to provide specific technology plans and cost targets for renewable energy technologies using solar, biomass, wind, and geothermal resources.
Regional and Bilateral Cooperation: The United States has negotiated agreements with major international partners to pursue research on global climate change and deploy climate observation systems, collaborate on energy and sequestration technologies, and explore methodologies for monitoring and measuring greenhouse-gas emissions. Since June 2001, the United States has launched bilateral partnerships with Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, the EU, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and South Africa on issues ranging from climate-change science to energy and sequestration technologies to policy approaches. The countries covered by these bilateral partnerships account for over 70% of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Global Environmental Facility: Global Environmental Facility: The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is the financial mechanism under the UNFCCC. The United States contributes more than any other country to the GEF. The FY 2006 request for the GEF includes $25 million for climate change-related programs, roughly 23% of the total request for GEF ($107.5 million). This commitment will fund technology transfer and capacity building in developing countries.
Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA): As of May 2005, eight countries have TFCA agreements: Bangladesh, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Panama (two agreements), Peru, the Philippines, and Jamaica. These agreements are offered to eligible developing countries to relieve certain official debt owed the United States while at the same time generating funds to support local tropical forest conservation activities that store carbon. These agreements will generate over $95 million for tropical forest conservation in countries over the life of the agreements.
President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging: On July 28, 2003, the Department of State launched the President’s Initiative Against Illegal Logging, developed with the objective of assisting developing countries in their efforts to combat illegal logging, including the sale and export of illegally harvested timber, and in fighting corruption in the forest sector. The initiative represents the most comprehensive strategy undertaken by any nation to address this critical sustainable development challenge, and reinforces the U.S. leadership role in taking action to counter the problem and preserve forest resources that store carbon. For more information, please visit www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2003/22843.htm.
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