Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696590631733.pdf (United States)
I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3961 To authorize appropriations for climate financing, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 9, 2023 Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Ms. BARRAGA´N) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To authorize appropriations for climate financing, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1.

SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Green Climate Fund Authorization Act of 2023’’.

SEC.

2.

FINDINGS.
Congress finds that— (1) climate change most severely impacts vul- nerable and disadvantaged communities in the 10 United States and around the world (2) it is the responsibility of the United States Government to work with its global partners to pro- mote environmental justice and climate justice; (3) the 2023 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, entitled ‘‘AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023’’, found that current global financial flows for climate adaptation are in- sufficient for, and constrain implementation of, cli- mate adaptation options, especially in developing countries; (4) the report of the United Nations Environ- ment Programme entitled ‘‘Climate Change and the Cost of Capital in Developing Countries’’, dated May 2018, found that, in the 10 years prior to the publi- cation of the report, climate vulnerability had cost the 20 nations most affected by catastrophes rooted in climate change an additional $62,000,000,000 in interest payments alone; (5) individuals and families, particularly com- munities of color, indigenous communities, and low- income communities, that are on the frontlines of climate change across the globe are often in close proximity to environmental stressors or sources of pollution; •HR 3961 IH (6) the communities described in paragraph (5)— (A) are often the first exposed to the causes and impacts of climate change; and (B) have the fewest resources with which to mitigate those impacts or to relocate; (7) all efforts to adapt to and mitigate climate change must include specific protections for and ac- knowledgment of the harm of climate
 change to communities of color, indigenous peoples, women, and other frontline communities and marginalized peoples around the world; (8) in Paris, on December 12, 2015, the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted the Paris Agreement, a benchmark agreement— (A) to combat climate change; and (B) to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future; (9) the Paris Agreement, to which the United States is a party, acknowledges, ‘‘Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, re- spect, promote and consider their respective obliga- tions on human rights, the right to health, the rights •HR 3961 IH of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vul- nerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity’’; (10) the Paris Agreement— (A) notes the importance of ‘‘climate jus- tice’’ when mitigating and adapting to climate change; and (B) recognizes ‘‘the need for an effective and progressive response to the urgent threat of climate change’’; (11) it is imperative for all countries to under- take mitigation activities to rapidly meet the goal of limiting global warming to not more than 1.5 de- grees Celsius; (12) developed countries have the greatest ca- pacity to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions, while— (A) developing countries have the least ca- pacity to engage in mitigation activities; and (B) the capacity of developing countries to engage in mitigation activities is less than the national mitigation potential of those developing
 countries; •HR 3961 IH (13) the determination for the fair share of mitigation and adaptation activities for each country must take into account— (A) the historic greenhouse gas emissions of each country; and (B) the current capacity of each country to both mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate impacts; (14) developed countries that have historically emitted a disproportionately high share of green- house gas emissions, and reaped the economic bene- fits of those polluting activities, have a cor- responding and disproportionately greater responsi- bility to engage in global mitigation and adaptation activities than less industrialized countries that have historically polluted far less; (15) the only realistic way for less industri- alized countries to meet their full mitigation poten- tial is through international climate financing by more developed countries; (16) in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, developed countries committed to jointly mobilize, starting in 2020, $100,000,000,000 per year in public climate financing (as well as private investments and other alternative forms of finance) for developing coun- •HR 3961 IH tries, a commitment reaffirmed in 2015 in Decision 1/CP.21 of the United Nations Framework Conven- tion on Climate Change, Adoption of the Paris Agreement; (17) the $100,000,000, commitment described in paragraph (16) was a political compromise that falls short of the actual financing needs for climate action in developing countries; (18) Bloomberg New Energy Finance has esti- mated that the transition to
 renewable energy sources in developing countries will require hundreds of billions of dollars annually; (19) the United Nations Environment Pro- gramme has estimated that adaptation needs relat- ing to climate change in developing countries may be as much as $300,000,000,000 annually by 2030; (20) the Green Climate Fund was created in 2010 by 194 countries to serve as a crucial financ- ing mechanism to help developing countries limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to cli- mate change; (21) in 2015, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed that the Green Climate Fund should serve the goals of the Paris Agreement, which states that ‘‘developed coun- •HR 3961 IH try Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both miti- gation and adaptation in continuation of their exist- ing obligations under the Convention’’; (22) the Green Climate Fund is an essential in- stitution for climate financing, as the Green Climate Fund ensures— (A) balanced governance between developed and developing countries; (B) stakeholder engagement and discourse; (C) a balanced approach between mitiga- tion and adaptation; (D) fair and equal labor and working con- ditions; (E) conservation of biodiversity and critical habitats; and (F) strong environmental, social, and gen- der protections; (23) the Green Climate Fund— (A) promotes and protects human rights and the rights of marginalized groups, including indigenous peoples, women, children, and people with disabilities; and (B) continues to take steps to strengthen protections for marginalized groups; VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO
 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 •HR 3961 IH (24) in 2014, the United States announced its intention to contribute $3,000,000,000 of the first $10,000,000,000 raised for the initial resource mobi- lization period of the Green Climate Fund, but ulti- mately failed to honor this commitment; (25) as of June 2023, the United States has contributed only $2,000,000,000 in total funding to the Green Climate Fund; (26) pledges for the first replenishment period of the Green Climate Fund (‘‘GCF–1’’) totaled $9,870,000,000, without any participation from the United States; (27) almost all major contributors doubled the amount of their contribution from the initial re- source mobilization phase for the GCF–1 replenish- ment; and (28) the Green Climate Fund is the world’s largest and most innovative multilateral climate ad- aptation fund, and is a fully operational and proven institution supporting nearly 200 projects in 127 de- veloping countries.
SEC.

3.

STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to provide climate financing— •HR 3961 IH (1) as an essential part of the global effort to combat climate change; and (2) that— (A) upholds the principles of environmental justice and climate justice; (B) supports programs and projects devel- oped by recipient countries and communities; (C) is designed and implemented with the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous peoples and other impacted communities; (D) promotes gender equality as essential in all of the projects and programs supported by climate financing; (E) includes best practices for environ- mental and social safeguards to ensure that projects and programs supported by climate fi- nancing respect fundamental human rights; and (F) addresses both mitigation and adapta- tion as essential aspects of responding to cli- mate change.
SEC.

4.

AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- priated for contributions to the Green Climate Fund $4,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
•HR 3961 IH 10 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- gress that the climate financing needs to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions reductions required to keep the planet at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming are significantly greater than the amount of funds author- ized to be appropriated under subsection (a).
SEC.

5.

DEFINITIONS.

In this Act: (1) CLIMATE FINANCING.—The term ‘‘climate financing’’ means the transfer of new and additional public funds from developed countries to developing countries for projects and programs that— (A) reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions; (B) enhance and restore natural carbon se- questration; and (C) promote adaptation to climate change.
(2) GREEN CLIMATE FUND.—The term ‘‘Green Climate Fund’’ means the independent, multilateral fund— (A) established by parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; and •HR 3961 IH (B) adopted by decision as part of the fi- nancial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
(3) PARIS AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Paris Agreement’’ means the annex to Decision 1/CP.21 adopted by the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, France, on December 12, 2015 •HR 3961 IH