Joint Statement of United States of America and Italy on Climate Change Research Technology

Dr. Harlan Watson, Senior Climate Negotiator and Special Representative, U.S. Department of State, and Corrado Clini, Director General of the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, led the delegations from their respective countries.

The U.S. delegation included representatives from the Department of State, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and academia.

The Italian delegation included representatives from the Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italian Trade Commission, National Scientific Research Institutes (Euro Mediterranean Center for Climate Change -CMCC, CNR, INGV, Universities of la Tuscia, Venice, Udine, Fondazione Enrico Mattei) and important private enterprises (Eni, Enipower, ERG, ENEL, ENEL North America, FIAT Centro Ricerche, Ansaldo Ricerche, Ansaldo Fuel Cells, Nuvera Fuel Cells, Pirelli Ambiente, Robur Spa, Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi).

Public/private cooperation is of paramount importance in finding solutions to the global challenge of climate change. The bilateral meeting was greatly enhanced through the participation of representatives of the private sectors from both countries as well as representatives from the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility and the Inter American Development Bank, also in the view of access to funding for joint US Italy projects in third countries.

The meeting also highlighted the key role academic research and education play to improve understanding and to find solutions for climate change. The initiatives supported by Italy in cooperation with Harvard University, also through the "Giorgio Ruffolo Fellowships" in Sustainable Development, are an important contribution towards the achievement of this goal.

Italian and American representatives considered areas of past and future cooperation in climate change science and technology. Specifically, representatives discussed ways to enhance collaboration on:

• renewable energy,
• hydrogen technologies and fuel cells,
• climate change adaptation, vulnerability, and mitigation,
• climate change modeling and prediction,
• the carbon cycle; and
• increased exchanges of researchers, students and practitioners through fellowships and joint graduate programs.

The strong bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Italy on climate change reinforces our respective commitments to the ultimate goal of the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention. This meeting serves to help meet that goal by advancing our understanding of the climate system and helping to bring to the marketplace low-carbon energy technologies necessary to address climate change. We also look forward to working collaboratively in implementing the climate change agenda as agreed to by our leaders at the G8 Heiligendamm Summit.

U.S.-Italian climate change research and technology cooperation is also helping to advance important regional and multilateral efforts, such as the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, the Earth Observation initiative, the Methane to Markets Partnership, and the Global Bioenergy Partnership.

Italian and U.S. delegates reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring continued close cooperation in addressing climate change both bilaterally and through multilateral partnerships and fora.

In this regard, the two delegations decided to present joint activities to the upcoming Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC 2008).

Washington DC, June 18^th