U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke in front of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the national security and foreign policy priorities in the 2012 international affairs budget yesterday. As most of these budget hearings go, those who testify make the case to stop spending cuts to certain programs.
Under the GOP budget proposal, international climate policy would be limited. The 16 percent budget cut to the State Department that was passed in the House last month includes cuts to U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern’s already small department as well as the elimination of $21 million in adaptation funding for small island nations.
Amid all of these spending cuts, Clinton made a few points that are not usually discussed in typical diplomatic discussions. She said that by not investing in climate change policy, the U.S. is not only going to trail China in clean energy innovation, but that it also has the potential to lose strategic allies in the Pacific that side with the U.S. on negotiations elsewhere, weakening American diplomatic capacity.
“So I would strongly support [aiding island nations] on humanitarian, moral values-based grounds that we do the right thing and get credit for it, but I also look at this from a strategic perspective and it is essential,” said Clinton.
“We have a lot of support in the Pacific Ocean region,” she added. “A lot of those small countries voted with us in the United Nations. They are stalwart American allies. They embrace our values. They believe, contrary to what some might think, that they are sinking… and all they asked from us is some recognition, some help with their efforts to be more resilient when it comes to the effects of climate change.”
Looking at these small island nations, some are important allies to the U.S. in the UN, but overall, they don’t have tremendous international political clout. Still, they are important Pacific allies to the U.S. as developing countries garner more power in international climate negotiations.
As we stated earlier in the week, the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India, and China) are unhappy about the lack of fast-start financing that is being provided thus far. Failing to supply this funding could weaken U.S. diplomatic ties.
“Let’s put aside the moral humanitarian do good side of what we believe and lets just talk straight realpolitik. We are in competition with China… They have brought leaders of all of these small Pacific nations to Beijing wined them and dined them,” said Clinton.
One point that Clinton left out goes beyond the Pacific region. The U.S. inadequately participating in international climate negotiations and failing to provide assistance to small island nations isolates itself from other more powerful actors. It also increases the burden for other Annex-I actors as they will need to provide more financing for these smaller nations. So the State Department funding cuts that Clinton called a “grave mistake” may sound a bit hyperbolic, but they indeed have far-reaching diplomatic repercussions.
Lynann Butkiewicz is Managing Editor of Weathervane.
