March 2, 2001

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

        On behalf of the members of the International Climate Change Partnership (ICCP), I am writing to express our views on U.S. participation in the negotiations on an international climate change treaty. The ICCP is an international coalition of companies and industries (see enclosed list) committed to responsible participation in the climate change policy process. As such, ICCP members have been active participants in international climate negotiations since 1991.

        ICCP continues to recognize climate change as an important issue with which governments should be concerned, and we have consistently advocated an international climate policy framework based on national flexibility and market mechanisms. This framework, which was first enunciated by the United States in 1996, contains the following key elements:

• comprehensive approach that includes all sources and sinks and does not allow individual gases to be singled out
• maintenance of maximum national flexibility (no common policies and measures)
• unfettered use of market-based mechanisms (emissions trading, joint implementation, clean development mechanism) with full fungibility
• identification of a long-term objective
• developing country participation

        Based on this framework, ICCP believes that the Kyoto Protocol is incomplete and should not be ratified until all of the key elements have been addressed. While the treaty starts to establish a market-based framework for addressing the issue on a global basis, it is a work in progress. It sets ambitious targets to be met in an unrealistic timeframe and does not provide for developing country participation. The treaty negotiators have also failed to identify an appropriate long-term objective. Although some progress has been made to address these shortcomings since the treaty was first approved, there are still a great number of issues to be resolved in order to ensure an agreement that is fair, effective, and commensurate with the global risks we face.

        There are those who would say that the U.S. should take this opportunity, with the collapse of COP 6 and the transition to your Administration, to disengage from international climate negotiations. ICCP believes that the United States should continue to engage in a policy of constructive engagement in the international climate change policy process and continue to pursue the basic U.S. framework for achieving a ratifiable international climate treaty. We would urge your Administration to work closely with "umbrella group" countries and to build upon the substantial progress that was made on many of these issues before and at COP 6.

        ICCP members look forward to working with you in the coming year on these important issues.

Enclosure

cc: The Honorable Colin L. Powell
      The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman