§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken to encourage United States participation in the climate change negotiations in Marrakech. [14254]
§ Mr. MeacherThe United States participated in the negotiations in Marrakech as a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is important that the United States remain engaged in global efforts to tackle climate change. We have kept the door open for them should they decide to re-engage with the Kyoto process in the future, and we are encouraging them to take domestic action consistent with the aims of Kyoto in the meantime. We take every appropriate opportunity to raise climate change with the US. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State discussed climate change in meetings with Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, on 1 November and in a meeting on 8 November in Marrakech, with Paula Dobriansky, the Under Secretary for Global Affairs, Department of State. We expect this dialogue with the US to continue.