Viewing cable 07WELLINGTON108, AS MCMURRAY'S VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND HIGHLIGHTS

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FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
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UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000108 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG NZ
SUBJECT: AS MCMURRAY'S VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND HIGHLIGHTS 
SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION 
 
REF: A. WELLINGTON 36 
 ¶B. 06 WELLINGTON 670 
 
(SBU) Summary: OES Assistant Secretary Claudia A. McMurray's 
January 17-19 meetings with New Zealand officials advanced 
US-NZ bilateral cooperation on a broad range of scientific 
and environmental issues, including climate change, 
sustainable fisheries, and whale conservation. On January 
16, A/S McMurray renewed a cooperative arrangement between 
the U.S. Geological Survey and New Zealand's National 
Institute of Water and Atmosphere (NIWA), drawing favorable 
local press coverage. Her talks with Energy Minister David 
Parker and other GNZ officials revealed that New Zealand and 
the United States face similar challenges in balancing 
energy, economic, and environmental demands, suggesting these 
could be useful areas to explore under our bilateral Climate 
Change Partnership. A/S McMurray also encouraged New Zealand 
to join the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT). 
End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) En route to Antarctica to commemorate 50 years of U.S. 
and New Zealand cooperation on the Southern continent, A/S 
McMurray met in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with 
Minister for Conservation Chris Carter, Minister for Climate 
Change David Parker, and officials from the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Ministry of Fisheries 
(MFish), Ministry for the Environment (MfE), the Department 
of Conservation (DOC) and the National Institute of Water and 
Atmosphere (NIWA). 
 
¶3. (U) In Wellington on January 16, A/S McMurray was briefed 
by officials at the at the National Institute of Water and 
Atmosphere (NIWA) on the many areas of U.S.-New Zealand 
cooperation, including atmosphere and climate science, 
energy, natural hazards, fresh water, aquatic biodiversity 
and security, fisheries and aquaculture, and biotechnology. 
The NIWA officials emphasized the value they derive from 
cooperative climate change science work with US officials, 
including measuring greenhouse gas levels in Pacific ocean 
and Antarctic ice core samples. The briefing was followed by 
a signing ceremony at which A/S McMurray joined Acting Chief 
Executive of NIWA Bryce Cooper to renew a cooperative 
arrangement between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and 
NIWA. The very positive New Zealand media reporting on the 
event highlighted A/S McMurray's observation that the United 
States views scientific and economic cooperation as the 
backbone of the US-New Zealand bilateral relationship. 
 
¶4. (SBU) During a discussion with MFAT and other GNZ 
officials on New Zealand's domestic fisheries management 
program, the Kiwis told A/S McMurray about New Zealand's 
problems with abalone poaching. While New Zealand's domestic 
abalone sector is licensed to catch about 1050 tons of 
abalone meat per year, an estimated additional 800 to 900 
tons of abalone is poached from New Zealand waters. 
According to the NZ Ministry of Fisheries, the poaching is 
mostly run by the same Asian gangs that traffick drugs in the 
region. While the GNZ takes aggressive steps to reduce 
poached abalone bound for Hong Kong and China, much still 
gets through and the Government has been forced to reduce the 
amount that can be caught legally in order to sustain 
domestic abalone stocks. A/S McMurray suggested New Zealand 
help address the poaching problem by joining the first 
ministerial of the Coalition against Wildlife Trafficking, to 
be held in Nairobi in early February. Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Deputy Secretary Caroline Forsyth, 
who led the discussions for the Kiwi side, said GNZ 
officials would try to attend the ministerial and would look 
into the possibility of New Zealand's signing up for the 
Coalition. (FYI: Forsyth has since told the Embassy that 
although New Zealand will unfortunately not be able to attend 
the Nairobi meeting, the GNZ is still considering whether to 
join the Coalition. End FYI.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) In a separate meeting that day, Dave Brash, General 
Manager, Ministry for the Environment, told A/S McMurray that 
formulating an effective New Zealand climate change policy is 
especially challenging because the country's 
agriculturally-based economy is both sensitive to the effects 
of climate change and the major contributor to New Zealand's 
emissions. Approximately 50 percent of emissions come from 
the country's farms, mostly from ruminant animals, their 
waste, and nitrogen fertilizers. In July 2006, the GNZ put 
forward an economy-wide climate change strategy that aims to 
coordinate the sometimes competitive policy interests of the 
energy, transport and land management sectors (ref B). 
During a January 17 lunch, Energy Minister Parker, who is 
also the country's Minister for Climate Change, provided A/S 
McMurray with one example of how it is difficult in practice 
for GNZ to find the balance between these competing 
priorities. Citing interest by ExxonMobil and Chevron in 
exploring hydrocarbon development off New Zealand's southern 
coast, Parker admitted that this would be at odds with the 
Government's stated preference for renewable resources. But, 
he added, New Zealand has to consider all options because it 
will face increasing energy supply and security challenges as 
the country's North Island natural gas reserves wane. 
 
¶6. (SBU) A/S McMurray also discussed whale conservation 
during a number of her meetings with GNZ officials. 
Referring to the upcoming May meeting of the International 
Whaling Commission (IWC) in Anchorage, Alaska, A/S McMurray 
noted the likely challenge to the aboriginal bowhead quota, 
particularly given that Japan will be Vice Chair. New 
Zealand expressed the view that like-minded countries should 
stay away from a Japanese reform meeting planned for 
February, expressing concerning over Japanese attempts to 
"knock out" conservation from the IWC. A/S McMurray welcomed 
New Zealand's offer to be helpful in Alaska. 
Keegan