US to lead clean energy and climate talks at Major Economies Forum

Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Mark Dreyfus will represent Australia this week at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) in the United States.

Dreyfus will also take part in related meetings with key US, Chinese and EU officials, including the EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard.

The MEF is bringing together 17 nations for candid dialogue to generate political leadership on climate change ahead of December’s UN Climate Conference in Doha, Qatar.

“The US is leading the way as one of the largest global investors in clean energy,” said Dreyfus.

“Just like Australia, it has begun cutting pollution to make the transition to a low-carbon, clean energy economy. Despite political obstacles, there’s an impressive range of climate action occurring at national and state level.”

US climate action includes:

• Emissions trading schemes in 10 US states: California, which has established an economy-wide ETS; and Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, which have power sector emissions trading under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
• $48 billion of investment nationally in clean energy in 2011.
• US Government support for a Clean Energy Standard to raise clean electricity generation to 80% by 2035.
• EPA standards to regulate vehicle emissions and emissions from the largest industrial emitters, including proposed standards for new electricity power generation.

The 17 participants in the Major Economies Forum are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.

More than half of the economies participating already have, or are introducing, emissions trading to reduce carbon pollution at national or state level and all major economies are taking action to reduce pollution.

During a week of talks, Dreyfus will meet with Californian Governor Jerry Brown and the Chairwoman of California’s Air Resources Board, Mary D Nichols, as well as prominent Californian Congressman Henry Waxman. California, the world’s eighth largest economy in its own right, has recently implemented an economy-wide emissions trading system.

Dreyfus will also visit Washington to meet with Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality; David Sandalow, Undersecretary, Department of Energy; and Bob Periciasepe, Deputy Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has responsibility for developing environmental regulations to cut carbon pollution.