Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 07PRETORIA4123, Disclosing Carbon Footprints, While Burning Coal

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #07PRETORIA4123.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07PRETORIA4123 2007-12-05 12:32 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Pretoria
VZCZCXRO4677
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #4123/01 3391232
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051232Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2884
INFO RUCPDC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0710
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0573
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0590
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0163
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1378
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0713
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0543
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1237
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 004123 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID 
STATE PLEASE PASS USGS 
DEPT FOR AF/S, ISN, EEB/ESC AND CBA 
DOE FOR T.SPERL, G.PERSON, A.BIENAWSKI, M.SCOTT, L.PARKER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG EPET SF
SUBJECT: Disclosing Carbon Footprints, While Burning Coal 
 
REF: Pretoria 3726 
 
PRETORIA 00004123  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1.  SUMMARY: A recent voluntary Carbon Disclosure Project showed 
that a few companies are responsible for the bulk of South Africa's 
greenhouse gas emissions, which ranks 14th in world for emissions. 
The top two emitters, state electricity supplier Eskom and 
coal-to-liquid (CTL) supplier Sasol, have ambitious plans to reduce 
their carbon footprints, but face tough challenges in implementing 
these plans.   Eskom is scrambling to meet growing electricity 
demand in the face of a supply shortfall and will increase 
combustion of dirty coal, before shifting reliance longer-term on 
alternatives, like nuclear.  Sasol's plans to reduce emissions are 
almost entirely based on carbon sequestration, but there are few 
suitable geological formations in South Africa where this can be 
done.  The SAG plans to engage business to fashion a long-term 
climate policy over the next two years.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Who'w the Dirtiest of Them All? Firms Disclose Carbon 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
2.  South Africa's first voluntary Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 
showed that the country's carbon emissions were dominated by a few 
major players.  State-owned power utility Eskom, which participated 
voluntarily in the project for Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed 
companies, emitted 208 million metric tons of methane and carbon 
dioxide in 2006, 40.5 per cent of South Africa's total and 2.8 times 
number two emitter Sasol (71 million tons emissions).  Sasol is the 
world's largest single-point emitter of greenhouse gases (Ref). 
Mining companies BHP Billiton and Anglo-American closely followed 
Sasol in the ranking.  South Africa's response rate for the CDP was 
75 percent, much higher than many other countries.  Telkom, Arcelor 
Mittal Steel SA, and Kumba Iron Ore were among companies that 
elected not to participate in the survey or project. 
 
-------------------- 
Pressure to Go Green 
-------------------- 
 
3.  Environmental Affairs & Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk 
announced: "Business can assume that government will increasingly 
assess, monitor, and regulate greenhouse gas emissions.  It can also 
assume that there will be a much stricter regulatory framework and a 
hefty price on carbon."  Van Schalkwyk made his comments on the eve 
of his departure to Bali for the UN Climate Change Conference 2007. 
Observers expect South Africa to come under some pressure to reduce 
its emissions - at more than 440 million tons of CO2 per year, it is 
the largest polluter in Africa and the 14th largest greenhouse gas 
emitter in the world.  South Africa is a signatory to the Kyoto 
Treaty, but faces no obligations as a developing country.  Van 
Schalkwyk briefed business leaders on the outcome of a study on 
long-term mitigation scenarios for climate change.  This aims to 
foster debate on the way forward between government and business and 
inform the preparation of a long-term climate policy in 2008/2009. 
 
4.  Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism Chief Director: 
Air Quality and Climate Change Peter Lukey stated that his Minister 
QAir Quality and Climate Change Peter Lukey stated that his Minister 
was committed to South Africa's taking real steps to mitigate 
climate change, noting that Africa will be a potential victim of 
climate change.  Lukey spoke at the November 28 South African 
Institute of International Affairs-sponsored conference entitled 
"The Second Scramble for Africa - Lifting the Resource Curse". 
Lukey underscored the messages from the United Nations 
Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): Measurable 
climate change is human-induced and will continue and we 
collectively have to take steps to mitigate climate change and adapt 
now.  He called for South Africa to take a leadership role in 
implementing new carbon-friendly, energy-efficient technologies, 
rather than waiting to follow the "north". 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Eskom Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place 
------------------------------------------- 
 
5.  Eskom faces pressure to quickly overcome a shortage in 
electricity supply for South Africa's booming economy.  In the short 
term, it will refurbish and build more coal-fired plants, increasing 
 
PRETORIA 00004123  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
its over-whelming reliance on coal.  In the longer term, the company 
aims to reduce its reliance on coal to 70 percent by 2025, by 
significantly expanding its number of nuclear power plants.  Taking 
advantage of lax environmental laws, and in the interest of saving 
time and money, Eskom will not be installing Flue Gas 
Desulphurization (FGD) to control harmful emissions at the Medupi 
Power Station, under construction in Limpopo.  Eskom defends itself 
by noting the lack of government regulation on SOX and citing the 
additional cost of using FGD technology. 
 
-------------------------- 
Sasol with Limited Options 
-------------------------- 
 
6.  Sasol has identified global climate change as a "principal 
strategic challenge" in its ability to deploy coal- and 
gas-to-liquid technologies globally, according to group environment 
expert Fred Goede (Sasol's representative on the IPCC).  His 
statement accompanied the release of Sasol's 2007 sustainable 
development report, accompanied by an "environmental road-map for 
the next 15 years, giving particular attention to greenhouse gas and 
water management.  Sasol is looking to increase its investment in 
CTL in South Africa, the United States, China, and elsewhere, but it 
is under pressure to implement carbon-capture technologies and 
suitable storage solutions.  Sasol executives underscored the 
company's commitment to researching and developing these 
technologies at a workshop it hosted at the U.S.-Africa Business 
Summit held in Cape Town November 14-16.  Sasol officers echo the 
corporate commitment, but admit that South Africa's geology does not 
lend itself to easy carbon capture solutions (Ref).  On the margins 
of the Cape Town Summit, Sasol executives told Assistant USTR Florie 
Liser that the company had voluntarily implemented process changes 
to reduce harmful emissions despite minimal government regulations. 
In recent press reports, environmentalist activists and some Sasol 
share-holders criticized Sasol for focusing only on carbon 
sequestration, setting the bar too low, and failing to achieve past 
targets. 
 
 
7.  COMMENT: Corporate and government responsibility for mitigating 
carbon footprints is being actively debated in the South African 
press and other fora.  In the lead up to the Bali Conference on 
Climate Change, the debate has been constructive in that it 
recognizes the need for a post-Kyoto multi-lateral arrangement that 
includes the U.S.  South Africa wants to maintain its economic 
growth and recognizes the environmental impact that growth has on 
climate change.  Moreover, environmentalists are criticizing South 
African companies like Eskom and Sasol for not doing much to 
mitigate other emissions like SOX and NOX, as well as criticizing 
the government for not establishing regulations and standards for 
these emissions.  Anyone driving through the Gauteng Province around 
Johannesburg and Pretoria will notice lots of Eskom smoke-stacks 
with little apparent effort to control the visible emissions. 
 
BOST