Energy & Environment
Documents & Texts from America.gov
27 April 2009
Secretary Clinton At the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, Todd. Thank you very much. Thank
you. (Applause.) Well, I'm delighted to welcome all of you to the
State Department for this very consequential meeting. As I look
around the table, I think I have met in bilateral forums with all
of the countries here, if not in multilateral forums, over the last
nearly 100 days. And at each and every one of those meetings, global
warming, climate change, clean energy, a low-carbon future has been
part of our discussions. And I'm very pleased to welcome the personal
representatives of 17 major economies, the United Nations, and observer
nations to this first preparatory meeting of the major economies
on energy and climate.
I think it's significant that this discussion is taking place here
at the State Department, because the crisis of climate change exists
at the nexus of diplomacy, national security and development. It
is an environmental issue, a health issue, an economic issue, an
energy issue, and a security issue. It is a threat that is global
in scope, but also local and national in impact. I'm delighted that
our Special Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern, will be working
with you, as will Mike Froman, who sits at that nexus in the White
House between the National Security Council and the National Economic
Council.
You know the details or you would not be here. There is much going
on in the world today that challenges us, and it is remarkable that
each of your nations has committed to this because we know that
climate change threatens lives and livelihoods. Desertification
and rising sea levels generate increased competition for food, water
and resources. But we also have seen increasingly the dangers that
these transpose to the stability of societies and governments. We
see how this can breed conflict, unrest and forced migration. So
no issue we face today has broader long-term consequences or greater
potential to alter the world for future generations.
So this morning, I would like to underscore four main points. First,
the science is unambiguous and the logic that flows from it is inescapable.
Climate change is a clear and present danger to our world that demands
immediate attention. Second, the United States is fully engaged
and ready to lead and determined to make up for lost time, both
at home and abroad. The President and his entire Administration
are committed to addressing this issue and we will act.
Third, the economies represented here today have a special responsibility
to pull together and work toward a successful outcome of the UN
climate negotiations later in the year in Copenhagen, and I'm delighted
that Denmark could join us because they are going to host this very
important meeting. And the Major Economies Forum provides a vehicle
to help us get prepared to be successful at that meeting.
And fourth, all of us participating today must cooperate in developing
meaningful proposals to move the process forward. New policy and
new technologies are needed to resolve this crisis, and they won't
materialize by themselves. They will happen because we will set
forth an action plan in individual countries, in regions, and globally.
It took a lot of work by a lot of people to create the problem of
climate change over the last centuries. And it will take our very
best efforts to counter it.
First, I want for the American audience principally, but also for
international audiences, to underscore what I said here just a few
weeks ago when we had the meeting of the Antarctic consultative
group. Some of the countries were represented here. The science
is conclusive. The evidence and impact is getting more dramatic
every year. Facts on the ground are outstripping worst-case scenario
models that were developed only a few years ago. Ice sheets are
shrinking. Sea levels are rising. Oceans are becoming more acidic,
threatening coral and other life forms. So the imperative is clear.
We are called to act, and future generations will judge us as to
whether we do or not.
Second, the United States is no longer absent without leave. President
Obama and I and our Administration are making climate change a central
focus of our foreign policy. We are, as Todd has often said, back
in the game. We don't doubt the urgency or the magnitude of the
problem. This forum is not intended to divert attention from working
towards solutions, but to assist us in creating those solutions.
And we are moving quickly. On April 17th, in a decisive break with
past policy, our Environmental Protection Agency announced its finding,
that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions threaten
public health and welfare. This move will open the door for more
robust tailpipe emission regulations.
President Obama has proposed a broad, market-based cap on carbon
pollution that would include a mandatory national target through
the year 2050, when emissions would be cut by 80 percent. A market-based
cap will encourage game-changing private investments in clean energy
and improvements in efficiency, streamlining our regulatory process,
stimulating new jobs and growth, and setting us on the road to a
low-carbon economy. We, with our stimulus package of just a few
months ago and our continuing emphasis will make significant, direct
investments in clean energy technology and energy efficiency. And
our EPA is paving the way for more stringent auto emission standards.
Now, we are well aware that some see the economic crisis as an
excuse to delay action. We see it in an exactly opposite way, as
an opportunity to move toward a low carbon future. So we work on
that internally and we look forward to working with all of you.
We believe that the $80 billion in President Obama's recovering
plan, which includes funding and loans for clean energy development,
targets to double our country's supply of renewable energy over
the next three years. And we also are working very hard on programs
to make homes and buildings more energy efficient. We think this
is something that all countries can do in this immediate economic
crisis to make this a green recovery, and some of you are far ahead
in doing that. We are also reengaged in the UN framework convention
negotiations and looking forward to working throughout this year.
Third, as major economies, we are responsible for the majority
of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. We may be at different
stages of development and we certainly may have different causes
of the emissions that we are responsible for, but we think coming
together and working to address this crisis is comparable to the
G-20 nations addressing the global economic crisis. That is why
I want to assure you that the United States will work tirelessly
toward a successful outcome of the UN Framework Convention negotiations.
There is no sense in negotiating an agreement if it will have no
practical impact in reducing emissions to safer levels. The math
of accumulating emissions is clear. So we all have to do our part,
and we need to be creative and think hard about what will work in
order for us to achieve the outcomes we hope for.
It is going to be both a national and local responsibility, as
well as a global one. I believe that this forum can promote a creative
dialogue and a sense of shared purpose. Of course, each economy
represented here is different. And some, like mine, is responsible
for past emissions, some responsible for quickly growing present
emissions. But people everywhere have a legitimate aspiration for
a higher standard of living. As I have told my counterparts from
China and India, we want your economies to grow. We want people
to have a higher standard of living. We just hope we can work together
in a way to avoid the mistakes that we made that have created a
large part of the problem that we face today.
And it will be harder, not easier, if we fail to meet the challenge
of climate change for all countries, particularly developing countries,
to continue the growth rates that they need to sustain the increase
in standard of living that they're looking for.
And finally, I would hope that we could develop through this mechanism
concrete initiatives that leaders of the major economies can consider
when they meet in Italy in July. We have to come up with specific
recommendations. Breakthroughs can and should come from anywhere
and everywhere. That's why creative diplomacy and genuine collaboration
is called for. And I think proposals for transformational technological
changes, creating markets for such changes, subsidizing them on
a declining basis so that we can get those new technologies into
the market, whatever combination of incentive and mandatory requirements
that will accomplish this change in the short run, should be considered.
Being good stewards as we must be of this fragile planet that we
inherit together, requires us to be pragmatic, not dogmatic. We
have to be willing to embrace change, not just repeat tired dogma.
And I think we have to be ready to do whatever it takes and whatever
the earth demands to succeed in addressing this common danger to
our future.
I remember many years ago, as a young woman, seeing the first pictures
that came back from space of earth, and looking at that blue and
green orb as it spun on its axis, and I remember being so struck
about how it was this place of light and life in what appeared to
be just darkness and no life, so far as we knew. We now bear the
responsibility in this generation, and the United States is ready
to do our part. We are ready to listen and learn and to participate
as a partner and also as a leader at this critical juncture. We
want to be sure that that fragile planet we inhabit continues to
provide for the greatest opportunities for our children and generations
to come. But in order to do that, we have a historic responsibility
to come together and actually create a new history.
So I appreciate your coming. I look forward to the reports of your
deliberations. And I urge all of us to do what we know we must do
to put our world on the right track to deal with this crisis. Thank
you all very much. (Applause.)
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