The Foreign Service Journal, February 2008

36 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 8 FSJ: What was it like to work on climate change poli- cy at the end of the Clinton administration and the begin- ning of the Bush administration? NP: Both experiences had their highs and lows. My first climate change assignment began in January 1998, a month after the Kyoto negotiations ended. At that time, the Clinton administration’s immediate goal was to improve the treaty by securing the participation of devel- oping nations and by controlling costs more effectively. The administration hoped these changes would gain the support of the Senate. The approach was politically unre- alistic: fruitless discussions with developing nations and the administration’s inability to change the domestic pol- itics of climate change were frustrating. Yet President Clinton’s ambition to see the United States lead the world on climate change was inspiring, and the technical nego- tiations were fruitful. A strong and collegial U.S. intera- gency negotiating team was respected abroad and made a difference, particularly by introducing innovative mar- ket-oriented approaches to environmental action. The first months of the Bush administration were exciting and momentous, but ultimately far more disap- pointing. The new administration came into office with little knowledge of climate diplomacy, though Secretary Powell understood intuitively the political importance of the issue as well as the long-term economic and security risks of inaction. In his second week in office he approved a consensus recommendation to advocate with- in the administration for changing Kyoto rather than walking away from it. In the first week of February 2001, a few of us at the State Department gave separate briefings to five mem- bers of the president’s new Cabinet. For a short while, it seemed like the new administration might choose reform over disengagement, particularly when Treasury, EPA and the NSC rallied behind Sec. Powell, and Energy and Commerce acquiesced. The vice president, F O C U S O N C L I M AT E C H A N G E “I T ’ S N OT J UST AN I MAGE P ROBLEM ” A N INTERVIEW WITH N IGEL P URVIS , A SENIOR MEMBER OF THE U.S. CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATING TEAM FROM 1997 TO 2002. B Y S HAWN D ORMAN Nigel Purvis has a unique perspective on environmental diplomacy, having worked as a senior member of the U.S. climate change negotiating team in both the Clinton and Bush administrations. From 1998 to 2000, he was senior adviser to Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Frank E. Loy. Then, throughout 2001, he served as the acting assistant secretary of State for oceans, environment and science. Since leaving the State Department in 2002, he has been a scholar at the Brookings Institution, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and, most recently, vice president of The Nature Conservancy. He is now president of Green Pearl, a strategic consulting company specializing in cli- mate change and energy policy. Shawn Dorman is the Journal ’s associate editor. She conducted this interview via e-mail in December 2007.