HC Deb 22 July 2004 vol 424 c550W
John Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the US Department of State on sustainable energy consumption. [185361]

Mr. Rammell

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had any recent discussions with the US Department of St ate on Sustainable Energy.

Ministerial colleagues have had extensive discussions on sustainable energy with a range of US contacts including Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky. There are a host of on-going discussions with the US on sustainable energy. For example the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), through its Embassy in Washington, works closely with contacts in the US and Whitehall Departments on various US-led international technology partnerships. One example is the International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy. We are also working to engage with the US on sustainable energy through the Commission on Sustainable development (CSD).

The FCO has also, in co-operation with other government departments, secured US sign-up to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). I launched the REEEP in London in October 2003 with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry (Patricia Hewitt) and Environment (Margaret Beckett) and had a bilateral discussion with US Department of Energy Assistant Secretary David Garman. In April this year Paula Dobriansky (Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs) formally signed the US government up as a partner of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership and agreed to contribute $50,000 a year to help fund the REEEP's International Secretariat in Vienna. Larisa Dobriansky (US Department of Energy) is also a representative on the REEEP Governing Board.

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