II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5040 

To require the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a strategy of 

the Department of State and the United States Agency for International 

Development to address the global climate change crisis, improve the 

energy and resource efficiency of the Department, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. CARDIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of State to submit to Congress 

a strategy of the Department of State and the United 

States Agency for International Development to address 

the global climate change crisis, improve the energy and 

resource efficiency of the Department, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Change Diplo5 macy and Development Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) The planet risks increasingly catastrophic 

5 impacts unless global average temperatures are lim6 ited to no more than 2 °C, aiming for 1.5 °C above 

7 preindustrial levels. 

8 (2) According to the Intergovernmental Panel 

9 on Climate Change’s Special Report on 1.5 °C, lim10 iting warming to no more than 1.5 °C requires fast 

11 mitigation of both CO2 and non-CO2 climate pollut12 ants, as well as the protection and expansion of for13 ests and other sinks that remove and store CO2, 

14 along with other strategies for removing CO2 and 

15 other climate pollutants. 

16 (3) Forced displacement and forced migration 

17 are increasingly caused or exacerbated by environ18 mental changes and climate-induced disruptions. 

19 (4) The United National Human Rights Coun20 cil has recognized that climate change poses an exis21 tential threat that has already had a negative impact 

22 on the fulfillment of human rights. 

23 (5) To have a chance at limiting warming to 

24 1.5 °C and avoiding increasingly severe impacts 

25 from climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel 

26 on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that global net 


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1 anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions must fall by 

2 45 percent from global 2010 levels by 2030 and 

3 reach net-zero by 2050. 

4 (6) Failure to act on the climate crisis leads to 

5 higher levels of warming and exposes all regions of 

6 the world to potentially catastrophic insecurity and 

7 destabilization that could cause a breakdown of 

8 economies, social systems, and political institutions 

9 in ways that are likely irreversible. It is in the inter10 est of the United States to place a high priority on 

11 strengthening the global response to the threat of 

12 climate change. 

13 (7) United States leadership and ingenuity are 

14 central to solving the climate crisis. The United 

15 States must act urgently, guided by science, and in 

16 concert with the international community to signifi17 cantly reduce emissions, prepare for climate impacts, 

18 and drive progress through international negotia19 tions to maintain a livable climate for today and fu20 ture generations. 

21 (8) The United States can also build strong sci22 entific and security partnerships and reinforce the 

23 United States ability to lead on other key global pri24 orities through climate diplomacy. These efforts can 

25 foster climate security while creating new opportuniVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jan 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5040.IS S5040

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1 ties for United States leadership, economic growth, 

2 and innovation. 

3 (9) The United States is a Party to the United 

4 Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 

5 (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Convention’’), as 

6 agreed to by the advice and consent of the Senate 

7 on October 7, 1992, and should remain actively en8 gaged in the Convention. 

9 (10) In Paris, on December 12, 2015, parties 

10 to the Convention reached a landmark agreement to 

11 strengthen the global response to the threat of cli12 mate change by keeping a global temperature rise 

13 well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to 

14 pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even 

15 further to 1.5 °C. 

16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that the United States should— 

18 (1) utilize multilateral and bilateral foreign as19 sistance to promote low-carbon, climate-resilient de20 velopment, including supporting greater participa21 tion of women in the development and implementa22 tion of climate policies that are gender-responsive; 

23 and 


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1 (2) advance clean energy and climate resilience 

2 through budgeting and operations of United States 

3 Government facilities abroad. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ADAPTATION.—The term ‘‘adaptation’’ 

7 means an adjustment in natural or human systems 

8 to a new or changing environment that exploits ben9 eficial opportunities or moderates negative effects. 

10 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT11 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com12 mittees’’ means— 

13 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

14 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

15 Senate; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

17 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

18 of Representatives. 

19 (3) CLEAN ENERGY.—The term ‘‘clean energy’’ 

20 means any electricity generation, transmission, stor21 age, heating, cooling, industrial process, or manufac22 turing project the primary purpose of which is the 

23 deployment, development, or production of an energy 

24 system or technology that avoids, significantly reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jan 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5040.IS S5040

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1 duces, or sequesters emissions of greenhouse gas or 

2 other pollutants. 

3 (4) CLIMATE CHANGE.—The term ‘‘climate 

4 change’’ means anthropogenic changes in average 

5 weather conditions that persist over multiple decades 

6 or longer, and encompasses both increases and de7 creases in temperature, as well as shifts in precipita8 tion, changing risk of certain types of severe weather 

9 events, and changes to other features of the climate 

10 system. 

11 (5) CLIMATE SECURITY.—The term ‘‘climate 

12 security’’ has the meaning given such term in sec13 tion 120 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 

14 U.S.C. 3060). 

15 (6) MITIGATION.—The term ‘‘mitigation’’ 

16 means measures to reduce the amount or speed of 

17 future climate change, including by reducing emis18 sions of heat-trapping gases or removing carbon di19 oxide from the atmosphere. 

20 (7) RESILIENT.—The term ‘‘resilient’’ means 

21 the capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, 

22 or recover from significant multihazard threats with 

23 minimum damage to social well-being, health, the 

24 economy, or the environment. 


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1 SEC. 4. STRATEGY FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE DIPLO2 MACY AND DEVELOPMENT. 

3 (a) STRATEGY.—Not later than one year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

5 in coordination with the Administrator of the United 

6 States Agency for International Development (USAID), 

7 shall— 

8 (1) develop, in consultation with the Secretary 

9 of Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Office of 

10 the Director of National Intelligence, the heads of 

11 any other relevant Federal departments or agencies, 

12 and domestic and international civil society and or13 ganizations with experience researching or imple14 menting policies and programs dealing with the cli15 mate crisis, a ‘‘Joint Department of State and 

16 USAID Strategy to Address the Global Climate 

17 Change Crisis’’ (in this section referred to as the 

18 ‘‘Strategy’’); 

19 (2) designate the Department of State’s Bureau 

20 of Oceans and International Environmental and Sci21 entific Affairs to coordinate Department of State 

22 and USAID efforts to guide United States foreign 

23 policy related to global climate change in order to— 

24 (A) confront risks to United States na25 tional security, including geopolitical, commerVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jan 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5040.IS S5040

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1 cial, economic, environmental, financial, and 

2 health interests; 

3 (B) advance United States prosperity; and 

4 (C) restore United States leadership 

5 through climate change diplomacy; and 

6 (3) submit to the appropriate congressional 

7 committees the Strategy. 

8 (b) ELEMENTS.—The Strategy developed pursuant to 

9 subsection (a) shall at a minimum— 

10 (1) include an assessment of the global threat 

11 of climate change, including geographic or country 

12 prioritization based on the assessed threat to the 

13 United States and its allies; 

14 (2) identify Department of State and USAID 

15 goals, objectives, and priorities for United States 

16 policy on climate change to protect United States 

17 national security (including the interests specified in 

18 subsection (a)(2)(A)), including— 

19 (A) examining how the United States will 

20 engage diplomatically and utilize foreign assist21 ance to ensure parties to the United Nations 

22 Framework Convention on Climate Change col23 lectively move toward a pathway consistent with 

24 holding the increase in the global average tem25 perature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial 


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1 levels and pursuing efforts to limit the tempera2 ture increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial lev3 els, taking into account each country’s domestic 

4 circumstances and capabilities; 

5 (B) outlining an approach to utilize multi6 lateral and bilateral foreign assistance to pro7 mote low-carbon, climate-resilient development; 

8 (C) integrating into diplomatic fora and 

9 development programs issues related to gender 

10 and the impacts of climate change on the most 

11 vulnerable countries and communities; 

12 (D) articulating guidelines for inter13 national finance flows consistent with a path14 way toward low greenhouse gas emissions and 

15 climate-resilient development; 

16 (E) mobilizing public and private sector fi17 nance to support low-carbon, climate-resilient 

18 development, including through the Green Cli19 mate Fund; and 

20 (F) reflecting the input of other executive 

21 branch agencies, as appropriate; 

22 (3) describe the coordination mechanisms with23 in the Department of State and USAID, including 

24 diplomatic missions, for developing and imple25 menting efforts to advance United States global cliVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jan 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5040.IS S5040

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1 mate change foreign policy, including with regard to 

2 climate security policy, conflict mitigation, economic 

3 policy, and geographic policy parameters; 

4 (4) describe how the Department of State plans 

5 to build on any existing frameworks, policies, or pro6 grams to— 

7 (A) adapt or expand existing Department 

8 programs, projects, activities, or policy instru9 ments based on existing authorities for the spe10 cific purpose of addressing or mitigating the ef11 fects of global climate change; 

12 (B) consider how compliance with inter13 national climate agreements affects the global 

14 economy, including in terms of employment, 

15 trade, and investment; and 

16 (C) identify the need for any new Depart17 ment programs, projects, activities, or policy in18 struments for the specific purpose of addressing 

19 or mitigating the effects of global climate 

20 change and describe the steps and resources 

21 necessary to establish such programs, projects, 

22 activities, or instruments, noting whether such 

23 steps or resources would require new statutory 

24 authorities; and 


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1 (5) demonstrate how the President’s Budget for 

2 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs 

3 (SFOPs) allocates resources in support of the Strat4 egy, including for Department of State and USAID 

5 operations and foreign assistance programs, includ6 ing security assistance. 

7 (c) FORM.—The Strategy shall be submitted in un8 classified form, but may include a classified annex as ap9 propriate. 

10 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than three months 

11 after the submission of the Strategy, the Secretary of 

12 State and the Administrator of the United States Agency 

13 for International Development shall begin implementing 

14 the Strategy. 

15 (e) CONSULTATION.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act and not less often 

17 than annually thereafter, the Secretary of State and Ad18 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 

19 Development shall jointly consult with the appropriate 

20 congressional committees regarding the development and 

21 implementation of the Strategy. 

22 (f) CLIMATE CHANGE DIPLOMACY REPORTING RE23 QUIREMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days 

25 after the submission of the Strategy, and annually 


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1 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 

2 appropriate congressional committees a report that 

3 outlines progress that the Department of State and 

4 USAID have made regarding implementation of the 

5 Strategy. 

6 (2) FORM.—The reports required under para7 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

8 but may include a classified annex as appropriate. 

9 SEC. 5. CLIMATE-CONSCIOUS BUDGETING AND OPER10 ATIONS OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND 

11 UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTER12 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 

13 The Secretary of State shall include in the annual 

14 budget submission of the President under section 1105(a) 

15 of title 31, United States Code— 

16 (1) a dedicated budget line item for adaptation 

17 to, and mitigation of, climate-related risks to De18 partment of State assets and capabilities; 

19 (2) a dedicated budget line item to improve the 

20 sustainability and climate resilience of the Depart21 ment’s global operations, including reducing the De22 partment’s carbon footprint through enhanced en23 ergy efficiency and water efficiency, as well as utili24 zation of clean energy sources; and 


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1 (3) an estimate of the anticipated adverse im2 pacts to the readiness of the Department and 

3 USAID and the financial costs to the Department 

4 and USAID during the year covered by the budget 

5 of the loss of, or damage to, Department assets and 

6 capabilities as a result of climate change. 

Æ 


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