Diringer Testifies Before House Global Warming Committee

Elliot Diringer, Vice President for International Strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, testified today before the U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Diringer's testimony focused on the major international climate change negotiations taking place later this year in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the path toward achieving a post-2012 climate treaty.

“The Copenhagen conference should be considered a major success if it produces a strong interim agreement that puts a full, final and ratifiable treaty within reach,” said Diringer. “We have before us an historic opportunity to mobilize an effective multilateral response to climate change.  It is incumbent on the United States to lead both at home and abroad to ensure its success.”

Diringer was one of four panelists invited to address the first House Committee hearing of the 111th Congress focused on international climate negotiations. The hearing examined critical preconditions for achieving success in Copenhagen. 

Diringer's testimony highlighted the following key points. His full testimony is available online at www.pewclimate.org/testimony/diringer/02-04-09.

• Governments have made important progress since the 2007 Bali conference in strengthening their national efforts and in laying groundwork for a new multilateral agreement. In anticipation of new U.S. leadership, governments recently agreed to enter into “full negotiating mode” with the aim of achieving a comprehensive agreement later this year in Copenhagen. 
• To be effective, a post-2012 climate framework must establish verifiable commitments by all major economies, including economy-wide emission targets for developed countries, and a range of policy commitments for developing countries. The major challenges for Copenhagen are agreeing on: a range of “comparable” emission targets for developed countries; the basic terms of developing country action and a process to further specify them; the appropriate means and level of support for developing country actions; and how countries' efforts are to be measured and verified. 
• The Copenhagen conference should be considered a major success if it produces a strong interim agreement that puts a full, final and ratifiable treaty within reach. This agreement should establish the basic architecture of a post-2012 framework; indicate the range of emission reductions and the level of support that developed countries are prepared to commit to; and initiate a process to determine the specific actions to be undertaken by developing countries. 
• To ensure success in Copenhagen, the United States must lead at home, by quickly enacting comprehensive mandatory legislation to reduce U.S. emissions, and abroad, through vigorous multilateral and bilateral engagement. In fashioning domestic legislation, Congress can strengthen the hand of U.S. negotiators. Provisions authorizing a stronger U.S. effort and stronger support for developing countries upon ratification of a new climate treaty could provide important leverage to secure stronger commitments from other countries.

The hearing's other speakers included John Bruton, delegation of the European Commission and ambassador to the U.S., Rob Bradley, director of the International Climate Policy Initiative at the World Resources Institute, and Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy.

For more information about global climate change and the activities of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, visit www.pewclimate.org.

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