Remarks: Robert F. Cekuta Speaking at the Board Plenary Session

Transparency has momentum.

There is a global momentum behind Transparency, what a famous Supreme Court Justice in the United States once referred to as "the strongest of all disinfectants."

There are about 1300 people signed up to participate in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative's Global Conference here in Sydney. The Initiative has grown to including 39 countries implementing EITI’s rules designed to bring transparency, accountability, and good governance to countries' mining, oil, gas, and other extractive sectors. As the Secretariat reports, over $1 trillion in transactions have been reviewed in line with the EITI's processes to build good government and sound investment and business climates in the countries implementing the EITI rules and standards.

Countries around the world are seeing the benefits of improved procedures, of better governance in their extractive industry sectors. There are numerous examples of cases where resources are associated with the word "curse," where the development of natural resources has been associated with corruption and lost opportunities for development. What we are seeing today is that these problems are not inevitable, that by implementing the EITI rules and processes the development of natural resources can be, indeed are, a blessing for the people of a country.

The United States is also engaged now in the process of becoming an EITI implementing country, not only a country that has supported EITI since its inception, but a country putting in place the EITI's procedures to strengthen the rules and processes already in place in one of the world's largest natural resource producers. As President Obama noted in announcing that the decision to pursue the status of an EITI implementing country, the EITI's principles, standards, and rules are applicable to all countries, at all levels of development.

As many of you may know, the United States has also passed a law, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Security and Exchange Commission recently put in place rules requiring certain companies that file annual reports to disclose certain of their payments to governments worldwide. Under the law and these new rules, companies will report certain payments at the project level, except when the obligation is at the entity level, for example with corporate income taxes. These requirements are significant steps increasing the accountability of companies and governments.

Others are following suit, transparency has momentum. We heard PM Cameron's announcement just now about the UK pursuing deeper engagement in the EITI. We have just learned France is doing so as well.

We in the United States are also pleased to see that the European Union has concluded its negotiations on a rule similar to that we have in place in the United States and that the European Parliament is likely to vote on this new EU rule this summer. The EU's disclosure rules will also help people all over the world understand what their governments are receiving and their impact will increased the extent to which other major financial jurisdictions implement similar requirements. To this end, it is important that the EITI has also agreed, as part of the new rules agreed here in Sydney, on a similar reporting standard to what is in place in the U.S. and coming into place in the EU. This will reduce the reporting burden for companies and will broaden the number of companies -- including state-owned companies -- that will report on a project-by-project basis.

Clare – it is a pleasure to be up here with my Board colleagues at what is such a key time for this organization and to note the great strides the EITI has made, how it has helped countries around the world make towards transparency, accountability, and improved governance and increased prosperity.

I think it’s fair to say the changes the EITI Members Association adopted yesterday are the most sweeping changes since the EITI’s inception 10 years ago – significantly broadening the scope, depth, disaggregation, and quality of reporting, and raising the standard required to achieve EITI compliant status. They are another sign of the momentum around the world behind transparency.

These changes represent a significant improvement to the EITI system. They will ensure EITI remains relevant and is more effective for the citizens of implementing countries to understand what is happening in the extractive industries sector in their countries, what is happening in their economies, and to be able to engage knowledgeably with their governments and to hold them accountable.

Let me focus for a moment on the contextual information that EITI reports will now require. The EITI reports will be required to include background and context information, including production volumes, applicable laws, and how the EITI process intersects with a country’s budget and spending processes (including reporting on any mandatory disbursements to subnational governments). This information will add significant value to the reports and is critical to citizens’ understanding of the sector and their ability to actually use the data generated from EITI reports to hold governments accountable.

Agreeing these rules was -- I think my colleagues concur-- a very challenging process, but a very robust one that produced a valuable result. And let us remember, these same discussions will occur again within in-country multi-stakeholder groups, ensuring real country ownership of the process.

Maintaining a high standard and treating countries equitably, while at the same time ensuring this is a country-owned process, one engaging civil society as well as business and the government, will be an important focus for the incoming board, one which we welcome and support.

Let me emphasize this final point: the EITI is valuable as a process, because it is country-owned, and it creates a space for key dialogues with civil society and industry on management of the extractive sectors. Under the revised standard, EITI reports will cover a much wider scope of information than strictly payments to governments. EITI and mandatory reporting requirements, working in parallel, will help ensure a broader portion of the world’s people are armed with the tools to hold their governments responsible for transparent sector management.

In closing, let me thank and congratulate Clare Short, Jonas, the Secretariat, the Board, and the companies, civil society groups, and governments part of EITI for their hard and successful work and note that we in the United States look forward to working with you to capitalize on, to further this momentum towards transparency, accountability, and good governance in the extractive industries sector so that natural resources are better used for the prosperity and well- being in countries around the world.

Thank you.

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Department of State Announces the Publication of Comments Received on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline

On May 23, 2013, the Department of State posted the first set of approximately 100,000 comments, out of the more than 1.2 million received, on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to www.regulations.gov, a public website. This marks the first time the Department has made all individual comments on a Presidential Permit application available to the public. The Department decided to post these comments as part of its continued effort to maximize transparency in the federal Presidential Permit review process. The comments can be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=DOS-2013-0011.

The Department of State has received an unprecedented number of comments on the Keystone XL Draft SEIS from members of the public, federal and state agencies and representatives, Native American tribes, non-governmental organizations, and other parties. The Department plans to post subsequent sets of comments of a similar size weekly. All comments will be posted prior to completion of the Final SEIS. The Department is diligently and efficiently evaluating these comments to ensure that this input is taken into consideration as we prepare the Final SEIS. For more information, please contact Imani Esparza at EsparzaIJ@state.gov.

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Remarks at HRH Illegal Wildlife Trafficking Meeting

Your Royal Highness, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

I first want to thank Her Majesty’s Government and His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Cambridge, for their leadership in combating wildlife trafficking, and for bringing together a wide variety of perspectives in this forum. It is only through collective action that we can protect the world’s wildlife sanctuaries and help impacted communities achieve a secure and sustainable future.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a high-level event on the issue last November, which mobilized the international community in a call to action. She noted that wildlife trafficking, like other forms of illicit trade, relies on porous borders, corrupt officials, and organized criminal networks, all of which undermine our collective security and prosperity. Secretary of State John Kerry similarly supports robust action and partnerships to combat the illegal trade in wildlife and to strengthen law enforcement cooperation across borders against illicit networks engaged in this activity.

Trafficking in wildlife is not a benign activity. It is a criminal threat that requires a criminal justice response. Time is our enemy as we work to save endangered wildlife and our world heritage.

In many parts of the world, we are witnessing the involvement of dangerous criminals in what used to be considered a conservation issue. By some conservative estimates, the illegal trade in wildlife is worth $8-10 billion each year.

Traffickers are drawn to the high profit potential and low risk of detection and prosecution.

Park rangers are frequently outmatched by well-equipped poachers; in fact many park rangers have been killed while trying to protect their parks and the wildlife that roam freely in them.

We are committed to helping our partners fight back and prevent greater insecurity and destabilization.

We have taken a comprehensive approach to this issue; not only for the purpose of conservation, but also from a security perspective that requires a strengthened law enforcement and criminal justice response.

In April 2013, the UN Crime Commission adopted a resolution introduced by the United States and Peru entitled, “Crime prevention and criminal justice responses for illicit trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora.” This resolution advocates for a comprehensive approach to combat wildlife trafficking, notably by encouraging member states to designate wildlife trafficking as a “serious” crime, thereby unlocking the ability of governments to utilize the international cooperation tools contained within the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. We also applaud the UK as G8 host this year and welcome the efforts of the G8 Roma-Lyon Group to address wildlife trafficking.

The Department of State has been engaged on the diplomatic front to raise the profile of wildlife trafficking as a criminal concern in bilateral and multilateral fora including: APEC, ASEAN, East Asia Summit, U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement Cooperation, and the G8 Roma-Lyon Group. We are also developing innovative public-private cooperation through cooperative platforms at the OECD and the World Economic Forum to combat illicit trade including wildlife trafficking, human trafficking, counterfeit medicines, narcotics, and other emerging threats.

The Department of State has also provided regional law enforcement training targeting supply and demand regions for wildlife trafficking at the International Law Enforcement Academies in Gaborone and Bangkok.

By placing wildlife trafficking within the context of our broader goals of combating corruption, dismantling transnational organized criminal networks, and promoting the rule of law, we can leverage our respective political will and capabilities to enforce our laws, prosecute wildlife traffickers, and repel poachers before a slaughter, and punish illicit actors whose criminal intent is to pillage, profit from, and destroy our ecosystems, habitats, and communities.

We believe the experience of the regional Wildlife Enforcement Networks holds promise for a concerted effort to strengthen enforcement and prosecution. These networks – linking law enforcement and environment officials, prosecutors, and policy makers and supported by donors and NGOs – combat wildlife trafficking through training, capacity-building, and information exchange. USAID has invested $17 million since 2005 to support ASEAN-WEN’s and South Asia WEN’s efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking through the initial ASEAN-WEN Support Program, the current ARREST Program, and INTERPOL’s Project PREDATOR. The United States has provided more than $7 million since 2005 to support wildlife conservation in Central America and the Dominican Republic, including funding for the Central American Wildlife Enforcement Network (CAWEN). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides $10 million annually for wildlife protection throughout Africa and Asia targeting elephants, rhinos, great apes, and marine turtles. Funds are used to prevent poaching and to improve investigation and prosecution of wildlife crimes.

We continue to work to strengthen existing partnerships and build support for a global system of regional wildlife enforcement networks (WENs) to improve enforcement effectiveness, coordination, and cooperation. In March 2013, the Department of State sponsored the first meeting to convene all the existing WENs, plus countries that may create WENs in their regions, on the margins of the CITES Conference of Parties-16 held in Bangkok, Thailand. We have actively supported the development of new regional WENs in Central Africa and the Horn of Africa to share cross-border information and to conduct exchanges. Staying ahead of these illicit networks will take a global effort, with all of us working collaboratively across sectors, governments, and organizations.

The United States stands ready to work with our partners both bilaterally and multilaterally, with civil society and the private sector, to combat these threats. We must be bold, decisive, and fight networks with our own networks.

Through collective action and a multi-sector approach, we can constrict the global illegal economy, downgrade the threat posed by poachers, and help communities nurture transformative and sustainable markets, moving their economies into the investment frontiers of tomorrow and safeguarding their human capital, national assets, and natural resources.

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Joint Statement on Good Governance and Transparency in the Energy Sector

The text of the following statement was released by His Excellency Union Minister of Energy U Than Htay of Myanmar and Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Carlos Pascual.

Begin Text:

The energy sector plays a vital role in the economies of both our countries. If properly managed, oil and gas revenues can make an important contribution to economic development, and the sector can help supply the electricity needed to grow the economy, including to run businesses, schools, and hospitals.

Managing the energy sector transparently and in line with international best practices is an objective of both our governments. Transparency reduces the risk of corruption, and helps citizens to hold their governments accountable for spending natural resource revenues. Transparency also helps companies operate with the free, prior, and informed consent of affected communities, which can improve the operating environment for industry, and help reduce the risk of conflict associate with resource development.

Both our governments also strive to ensure international best practices are used in safety and environmental stewardship in the energy sector. Protecting our citizens and our countries’ natural environment are critically important priorities.

We recognize the expectation of our citizens that their governments operate accountably.

The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar have both committed to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), including working closely with civil society and industry. We view EITI as a valuable tool to support increased sector good governance and multi-stakeholder engagement in sector decision-making.

Therefore:

The United States and Myanmar reaffirm their shared objectives to manage their natural resources, including oil and gas, and the revenues they generate, transparently and for the benefit of all their citizens.

The Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar expresses its intention to continue to reform its energy sector, and to participate in the G8’s Partnership for extractives transparency in conjunction with the United States – an initiative that seeks to demonstrate how G8 members and partner countries, companies, and civil society are working together to advance greater transparency in extractives industry management. To that end, the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar intends to participate in the G8 Transparency launch event in London on June 15.

The United States intends, subject to available resources, to support Myanmar as it continues its economic reform efforts. Through the Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative (EGCI), the United States intends to provide technical assistance in support of the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar’s implementation of international best practices in oil and gas sector management and oversight, financial accountability, and safety and environmental stewardship. The EGCI plans to support technical capacity-building to facilitate successful long-term sector management, updates to the legal, regulatory, fiscal, and operating environment to attract qualified and responsible investors, and strong institutional governance and transparency with respect to oil and gas sector revenue management. The EGCI also plans to reinforce the Ministry of Energy’s efforts to support Myanmar’s implementation of EITI.

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Under Secretary Hormats' Remarks at the Roundtable on Wildlife Trafficking at the University of Pretoria

As Prepared 

Thank you for the kind introduction. I would also like to thank the University of Pretoria Center for Wildlife Management and the Mammal Research Institute for hosting us today. I am honored to share this panel with Mr. Fundesile Mketeni from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Dr. Mike Knight of the IUCN, both experts in the field and deeply involved in fighting the horrible scourge of rhino poaching happening in South Africa. And, I welcome Julian Rademeyer as our moderator. His knowledge of the situation and criminal networks will guide us in a meaningful discussion today.

The U.S. Department of State has long considered wildlife trafficking to be a critical conservation issue. However, wildlife trafficking and poaching have exploded in the past several years into a large-scale, commercial illicit enterprise with increasing involvement by transnational criminal groups. This trend has made wildlife crime a particularly high priority for me. Moreover, ending wildlife trafficking is a high priority for me personally because I lived in East Africa for a year. I spent several months as an assistant game guide in the region’s majestic parks. I also visited Kruger National Park in South Africa and Etosha National Park in Namibia. I saw many of Africa’s animals up close and personal and came to love and admire them.

During my visit to southern Africa last year with Secretary Clinton, we heard firsthand of the devastation the brutal poachers are causing for the populations of these majestic animals, and the communities which depend on them. Communities suffer when their wildlife is slaughtered and stolen, both economically and personally. From the rising numbers of rangers and eco-guards murdered from Kenya to Cameroon, and across the continent, we see that the toll of poaching and trafficking is not counted in the horrible slaughter of animal lives alone. The insecurity spread by lawless, armed poachers—criminal syndicates and gangs—crossing national borders with impunity adds risk to daily life and prevents these communities from developing sustainable means of economic prosperity. Very few companies are willing to invest in a place where physical security is virtually non-existent, and tourists that would otherwise come and pay to view wildlife roaming freely likewise will spend their money in safer places.

Reducing demand is central to stopping the illegal trade in wildlife.

Our governments and citizens cannot afford to stand idle while poachers and wildlife traffickers hunt and slaughter elephants, rhinos, tigers, bears, or any species often to extinction. The Department of State has elevated our efforts to combat wildlife trafficking. I have made this a top priority of my job. Former Secretary Hillary Clinton hosted an event at the State Department last fall – a Call to Action from governments, businesses, NGOs, and citizens to enhance their efforts to combat wildlife trafficking. She also called for an intelligence assessment to help us understand the networks involved and identify how these products and associate financial flows are moving across borders. We are doing a lot to increase action to combat wildlife trafficking. Over the last year, I have hosted roundtable discussions with Ambassadors in Washington, D.C. to discuss how wildlife demand and supply countries can work together.

During my recent trip to China, I had very useful and concrete discussions with Chinese leaders on improving enforcement efforts and reducing demand for illegal wildlife products in both of our countries. In recent months our Embassies and consulates around the world have stepped up their efforts to support governments that are seeking to stop wildlife slaughter and trafficking. Our missions are actively highlighting the issue through public outreach efforts, such as roundtable discussions, film screenings, and web chats.

Internationally, we recently were able to elevate wildlife trafficking as a “serious crime” through a resolution passed at the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which the United States and Peru co-sponsored. Under UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, “serious crimes” receive minimum sentences of four years in prison. In many instances wildlife smugglers are released after paying fines significantly lower than the value of the illegal goods, so for them the risk is well worth the reward. To them, fines are simply the cost of doing business, not a punishment or deterrent.

We also support law enforcement training through our International Law Enforcement Academies (ILEAs) programs in Gaborone and Bangkok. These centers provide law enforcement training to strengthen wildlife crime investigations. Since 2005 we have worked with other governments and international partners, the CITES Secretariat, Interpol, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization, to establish regional Wildlife Enforcement Networks or WENs. We were pleased to sponsor the first global meeting of the WENs During the CITES Conference of the Parties in Bangkok this past March, we called for the creation of a global system of regional wildlife enforcement networks.

We believe that increasing communication and coordination across the numerous existing and emerging regional wildlife enforcement networks will increase their own success while enhancing the global efforts to confront the transnational aspects of wildlife trafficking. We welcome the interest of other regions to establish WENs or similar cooperative arrangements. We must work together to stem the tide of destruction before it is too late. Stopping wildlife crime is an urgent matter. It is a major challenge and something we must do for our children, our grandchildren, and generations to come.

Thank you again for your participation today and for your interest in and commitment to protecting our planet’s wildlife.

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Remarks with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Arctic Council Ministerial Session

[Kiruna Declaration Signing takes place.]

So please, if there is questions.

QUESTION: If I could ask Secretary Kerry and Minister Lavrov, you’ve spent a lot of time in the last few weeks and months working together on a variety of issues from Syria to the Arctic issues that you’ve discussed in the last two days. And yesterday, you had an American official from the Embassy in Moscow who was detained by the Russians and accused of espionage. Is that constructive to the kind of work, collaborative work, that you’re trying to do now? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: (Off mike.) Testing – one, two, three, four, five. So for all of you who didn’t hear that answer, I have nothing to add with respect to the situation regarding an Embassy official in Moscow.

And I’m grateful to my friend Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Russia, for a very productive meeting yesterday in which we did the large business of our countries, which was facing first of all the challenge of Syria. We met at length. We both agreed that there is much work to be done. We understand what each of us has to do in the next days. We’re very optimistic that we can get that work done. We’ve both been in touch with the United Nations, with Ban Ki-moon, with other participants. Each of us has agreed to work very hard with respect to the flow of people that we are in touch with, the foreign ministers, the opposition, the Assad regime, others, in order to bring the parties to the table. And I think it’s fair to say that both of us are confident about the direction that we’re moving in and very, very hopeful that within in a short period of time the pieces will have come together fully so that the world, hopefully, will have an opportunity to be given an alternative to the violence and destruction that is taking place in Syria at this moment.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you. I can confirm that we had a very productive meeting yesterday. We did not discuss the incident to which you refer. Everything we should have to say – we, the Russian side – on that particular incident was stated yesterday by the spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry. I have nothing to add.

As to the substance of our cooperative meeting yesterday, I would share the assessments just presented by John. We have a very clear initiative on the table. The Russian-American proposal to convene a conference to start implementing the Geneva communique of June last year – it’s self explanatory and what we need now is to mobilize support for this initiative on the basis of what was, I believe, in Geneva and what was proposed by Washington and Moscow – to mobilize support first of all by all the Syrian groups, the regime and all opposition groups; and second by those outside actors who have influence on either one or the other Syrian group.

That’s what we discussed. That’s what we will be doing in our conference with all outside players and with the Syrian, but especially in the expectation of the two events, which the opposition is holding one, a meeting by National Coalition in Istanbul. And about the same time there is – there will be a meeting in (inaudible) convened by the internal opposition, in particular by the National Coordinating Committee. It is very important that the participants of both meetings express their clear support for the Russian-American initiative to start implementing the Geneva communique. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: If I could just add, I want to emphasize the degree to which we both believe Russia and the United States share a belief that is extremely constructive and positive that we are working together cooperatively in an effort to try to implement a peaceful resolution based on Geneva I, which recognizes the need for a transition government with full executive authority by mutual consent. That’s what we’re working towards, and I don't think it’s insignificant that at this moment in time we are finding this common ground and working closer together.

FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: Next question over there.

QUESTION: Hello. Yelena Chernenko, Kommerserant Daily Newspaper. As far as I understand, your ministers, all of the requests from the countries to become observer members have been accepted today. The question is, does such a high number of observers not make the Arctic Council less effective and is there a limit of how many observers in the future there might be in the Council, or it can it grow forever, the number of observers? Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: That’s why we have also adopted (inaudible) the about the recent procedure earlier with some procedures, so there’s a very clear what observers are and what observers aren’t. That’s been the very purpose of that work that’s been done.

As to your question, I would say it demonstrates the broad international acceptance of the role of the Arctic Council, because by being observer, these organizations and states, they accept the principles and the sovereignty of the Arctic Council on Arctic issues. So I think it – as a matter of fact, it strengthens the position of the Arctic Council on the global scene. That is why this is, that we hope that the remaining issues that are indicated concerning (inaudible) is that that will be sorted out fairly quickly, and I trust that will be the case.

One there before we --

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what will be your priority when it comes to Arctic issues in the future?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I think it’s premature for me, prior to assuming the chairmanship, with my Canadian friend standing to the left of me, to start laying out the agenda. But as I said in my statement, the Arctic is a precious treasure for all of the world. And the United States recognizes that we are one of the two major contributors to global emissions. More than 50 percent of the world’s emissions come from two countries, China and the United States. And then there are 17 to 20 major emitters, as we know, some of whom are standing here and others are not, who are responsible for well over 90 percent. So you have small nations who are hugely impacted by the long-time development practices of other nations.

President Obama has twice now this year at significant events embraced the importance of dealing with climate change, once in his Inaugural Address, and second time in his State of the Union message. And we are looking at every single option available to us to act responsibly. But no one nation can solve this. The United States of America today is below Kyoto levels in emissions. People don’t know that. The United States today is actually below the Waxman-Markey legislation mandates that didn’t pass. So we’re doing things – automobile efficiency, standards, efficiencies, building codes, fleet purchase, all kinds of things, but not enough. No one is doing enough.

The problem is that everything that we do or everything one other nation does is going to be wiped out by China or another nation if they continue with coal firepower at the rate that we are proceeding. So the warning signals are all there, and I can assure that when our chairmanship time comes around we will pick up on Leona’s appropriate concern for indigenous populations and we will build on that with respect to the needs for all of us to do things that recognize the global impact on the ecosystem of what is happening in the Arctic.

FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: Thanks and just two final remarks from my side. First that I do wish, on the issue that was mentioned earlier, that spirit of cooperation, of true Arctic cooperation of these few days, will continue to inspire U.S. to leading members of the UN Security Council when you proceed on your – on the enormously important issue of Syria.

Secondly, let me just on behalf of all us thank the city of Kiruna for having the your neighbors occupy this beautiful city hall and thank also the people of Kiruna and for your understanding that we might have messed up your town for a couple of days, but I hope that you accept that we’ve come here for not only one but for a couple of valuable purposes. Thanks very much. (Applause.)

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