§2952 International Discussions

Summary

The President should tell the Secretary of State, working with the Committee, to start talks with other countries to make international agreements that coordinate research on global change. The talks must cover who pays for research (especially big projects), how plans line up with groups like the International Council on Scientific Unions, the World Meteorological Organization, and the United Nations Environment Program, creating research centers and training for scientists from developing countries, new ways to manage and fund international research (including using existing intergovernmental groups or a small foundation), quickly making shared data formats and combining data so policymakers can use it, and setting up offices to share useful information about identifying, preventing, and adapting to possible effects of global change. The President should also tell the Secretary of State, with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Commerce, the U.S. Trade Representative, and other Committee members, to begin talks on an international research agreement for energy technologies that hurt the environment as little as possible. These talks should include creating cooperative programs to fund research on energy efficiency, solar and other renewables, and passively safe, diversion-resistant nuclear reactors; making low-cost energy technologies suited to developing countries; and exchanging information about safe energy technologies and practices.