About the Authors: Harold Varmus, M.D., co-recipient of a Nobel Prize for studies of the genetic basis of cancer, is the Director of the National Cancer Institute, and Robert Hormats, Ph.D., is the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment at the U.S. Department of State.

For many people, the term biodiversity might seem highly technical and irrelevant to their day to day concerns. If you think that, think again. It may just save your life.

Biological diversity… more »

About the Author: Krystle Norman serves as Economic/ Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic.

On a blazing hot day, eager exhibitors hurried across the fairgrounds, where they were adding the final touches to the myriad of booths and displays. Flocks of anxious kids arrived proudly swinging their bag of recyclables in one hand and dragging their parents with the other hand to an eye-catching van used by storm chasers. After surveying the crowd and the layout of the fair, I was overwhelmed with a sense of relief; three months of planning had paid off for us. With no rain in the forecast and everything in place, the Green Fair was ready to begin on the grounds of the National University of Pedro Henriquez Urena (UNPHU) in the Dominican Republic.

Last summer, U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo’s “Green Team” celebrated the third annual Green Fair, which attracted more than 850 adults and children and brought together the public and private sector to address eco-friendly… more »

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
November 20, 2012

Recognizing that energy and the environment are among the most pressing issues confronting our region, President Obama, in partnership with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and President of the Republic of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, today proposed the U.S.-Asia Pacific Comprehensive Partnership for a Sustainable Energy Future.  The Partnership will offer a framework for consolidating and expanding energy and environmental cooperation across existing regional forums to advance efforts to ensure affordable, secure, and cleaner energy supplies for the region.  Bilateral and multilateral energy and environmental initiatives are flourishing in the Asia Pacific, and the United States, in partnership with Brunei and Indonesia, will help coordinate and enhance these efforts, share best practices, and leverage existing initiatives across the various forums that undertake this work. 

The Partnership will build upon the existing energy initiatives in the region, including the ASEAN-United States Energy Cooperation Work Plan, the APEC Energy Working Group, the East Asia Summit Energy Ministers and other forums to expand practical cooperation across the region, promote greater energy connectivity and integration, and encourage collaborative work across these and other forums, including through joint capacity building efforts.  

The Partnership will drive investment and facilitate progress on four key regional priorities: renewables and cleaner energy; markets and interconnectivity; the emerging role of natural gas; and sustainable development.  We will engage with the private sector as well as partner countries in the region to determine specific projects within these four priority areas.  We will work closely with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to enhance their work in the region on these issues.  With an estimated $9 trillion needed in investment in electricity alone through 2035 to meet growing demand in the region, there is enormous potential for U.S. industry to play an important role in the region’s energy future. MORE

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On June 3, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Stockholm, Sweden, where she met with senior Swedish officials to discuss a range of issues, including green energy, Internet freedom, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. 

Following her meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Secretary Clinton said, “Sweden brings its diplomatic heft and its development expertise to nearly every corner of the globe. And at the Chicago Summit we were pleased to welcome Sweden as one of NATO’s strongest partners, standing…more »

About the Author: Robert D. Hormats serves as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment.

Since the beginning of 2012, over 250 elephants have been killed in Cameroon. Adults are being slaughtered for ivory to be used for jewelry, ornaments, and traditional medicine; young juveniles and infants are being killed indiscriminately or left orphaned to die without the protection of their mothers. Having lived in Kenya and Tanzania earlier in my life, I experienced firsthand the wonder of African elephants in their native habitats. That’s why I feel a personal sense of outrage at the senseless and immoral killing of wildlife. We should all feel outrage — even those who have not had the privilege to see elephants close up — because the conservation of our planet’s wildlife is an moral obligation we all share. The U.S. government has consistently been among the leaders in the efforts to protect elephants and other wildlife, but to be effective it’s vital that all governments… more »

About the Author: Katie G. Kirkpatrick is a program analyst in the Under Secretary of Management’s Office of Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation. She also serves as the events and outreach coordinator for the State Department’s Greening Council Working Group, which helped organize the exhibition.

The State Department’s Earth Day event, an exhibition titled “American Face of Green — Embassies Leading the Way,” demonstrated how our embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions are going green. The displays included information on embassy-led tree planting projects, programs dedicated to recycling, reducing energy usage, and more. The participants in the exhibition, a mix of the State Department’s regional and functional bureaus as well as Earth Day Network representatives and a local artist who creates sculptures purely from recycled materials, showed off the many projects that have been undertaken to demonstrate that America takes greening seriously.

American government agencies may not be the first institutions when one thinks of greening operations and practices. But, I would say that anyone who attended the exhibition would have to whole-heartedly reconsider.… more »

About the Author: Reta Jo Lewis serves as Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. In 2012, delegates from around the world will once again meet in Rio, this time for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. This conference, known as Rio+20, will be an opportunity to re-energize global sustainable development efforts, with an emphasis on strengthening linkages between economic, environmental, and social issues.

On Thursday, June 9, 2011, the Office of Global Intergovernmental Affairs in partnership with the Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental, and Scientific Affairs (OES)… more »

About the Author: Robert O. Blake serves as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

I recently had the pleasure to speak at the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which had gathered a group of individuals from across the private and public sector to discuss cooperative efforts between the United States and India on climate change and clean energy. The lively discussion highlighted how wide-ranging the U.S.-India partnership has become.

The list of our joint undertakings is impressive. Many of these worthy efforts don’t make headlines in either the United States or India, but they demonstrate how the strategic partnership can bring concrete benefits for Americans, Indians, and the world.

- The U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy, known as PACE, will improve energy access and promote low-carbon growth through the research and deployment of clean energy technologies. As we embark on this collaboration between our public… more »

About the Author: Kerri-Ann Jones serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

Today, I am traveling with Secretary Clinton to Nuuk, Greenland for the 7th Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council, founded in 1996, meets at the ministerial level every second year. Secretary Clinton today becomes the first U.S. Secretary of State to lead a U.S. Delegation to an Arctic Council meeting, a clear sign of the priority this Secretary and this Administration place on the Arctic.

I am excited to be returning to Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, located on the west coast. In 2010, the Inuit Circumpolar Council invited me to attend its quadrennial General Assembly where I learned first-hand through Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia about topics such as health, climate change, and governance issues affecting the Inuit, some of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic.

When I visited Greenland last… more »

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered remarks at the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships Signing Ceremony at the Department of State on May 10, 2011. She was joined by Chinese Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Minister Xie Zhenhua. Secretary Clinton underscored how the program will help us solve some of our most profound environmental challenges, while also creating new jobs in both the United States and China.

Secretary Clinton said, “We are very committed to this relationship, and we know it needs to expand beyond the government-to-government conversations. We need to harness the unique skills of both of our cities, our states, our universities, our private companies, our civil societies to find solutions to common problems. That is especially true when it comes to clean energy, energy security, environmental stability, and climate… more »