I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10117 

To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant actions 

that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive efforts to 

limit global average temperature rise, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2024 

Ms. ESCOBAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Accountability, and Ways and 

Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to 

significant actions that exacerbate climate change, to 

reinforce comprehensive efforts to limit global average 

temperature rise, 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 ‘‘Targeting Environ5 mental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Climate change is imposing significant dam4 age on communities in the United States and abroad 

5 in the form of severe weather events, wildfires, heat 

6 waves, droughts, flooding, ocean acidification, and 

7 other threats to public health and safety. Scientists 

8 expect these effects to grow in frequency and inten9 sity in the coming decades. Low-income commu10 nities, communities of color, and women bear a dis11 proportionate impact of climate-related damages. 

12 (2) Collectively, the international community 

13 needs to limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees 

14 Celsius above pre-industrial levels in order to avoid 

15 the most catastrophic effects of climate change. 

16 Under the current trajectory, the world will fail to 

17 meet this target and will experience warming that 

18 exceeds 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. 

19 In many regions of the world, warming of average 

20 temperatures has already surpassed 1.5 degrees Cel21 sius. 

22 (3) To limit global warming to under 1.5 de23 grees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the world 

24 needs to reach net-zero global emissions by 2050, 

25 which will require making drastic reforms to global 

26 economic systems to mitigate greenhouse gas emisVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Nov 13, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10117.IH H10117

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1 sions, reduce deforestation, reduce dependency on 

2 coal, oil, and gas, adapt to unavoidable changes in 

3 the climate, and ensure a just transition. 

4 (4) The goals articulated in the Paris Agree5 ment depend on collective action involving the entire 

6 international community. Progress made by one eco7 nomic actor can be reduced or cancelled out if an8 other economic actor emits significant greenhouse 

9 gas emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere or de10 stroys important carbon sinks. 

11 (5) Coal is one of the most carbon-intensive fuel 

12 sources. The International Energy Agency estimates 

that coal is responsible for nearly 1 13 ⁄3 of global warm14 ing. The United Nations Secretary General has re15 peatedly urged countries to stop financing coal and 

16 to pledge not to build new coal-fired power plants. 

17 Globally, oil and gas operations account for 15 per18 cent of total energy-related emissions. At the 28th 

19 United Nations Climate Change Conference (known 

20 as ‘‘COP28’’) in 2023, the outcome of the first glob21 al stocktake under the Paris Agreement called for a 

22 global effort to transition away from fossil fuels in 

23 energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable man24 ner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as 


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1 to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the 

2 science. 

3 (6) Subcritical coal-fired power plants continue 

4 to be developed, especially in Southeast Asia and as 

5 part of the Belt and Road Initiative of the People’s 

6 Republic of China, despite broad awareness of the 

7 dangers and the growing availability of economically 

8 superior alternatives. Additionally, coal mining is 

9 frequently associated with a wide range of abuses 

10 that impact the enjoyment of human rights, such as 

11 forced evictions and land grabbing, water and air 

12 pollution, and violations of the rights of Indigenous 

13 Peoples and workers. 

14 (7) Alternatives to carbon-intensive electrical 

15 power generation are now available and technological 

16 advancements continue to strengthen the economic 

17 competitiveness of such alternatives. 

18 (8) Internationally, several economic actors con19 tinue to pursue activities, such as development of 

20 new subcritical coal-fired power plants and deforest21 ation that contribute to dangerous levels of green22 house gas emissions. In addition to carrying a sig23 nificant climate risk, many of these activities are as24 sociated with serious human rights abuses, acts of 

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1 digenous communities, communities of color, and 

2 other communities that have historically faced 

3 marginalization and discrimination. 

4 (9) The United States Government has devel5 oped and implements targeted measures to restrict 

6 access to the United States financial system for spe7 cific individuals and entities whose actions threaten 

8 or run counter to United States national interests. 

9 While the United States has not yet used such meas10 ures for climate-related activities alone, the United 

11 States Government has deployed such measures in 

12 response to terrorism, proliferation of weapons of 

13 mass destruction, transnational organized crime, 

14 narcotics trafficking, malicious cyber-enabled activ15 ity, wildlife trafficking, serious human rights abuses, 

16 and acts of corruption. 

17 (10) President Biden has indicated that com18 bating the climate crisis is a top domestic and for19 eign policy priority and has taken steps including 

20 the creation of a Special Presidential Envoy for Cli21 mate, collaborating with other countries to establish 

22 worldwide solutions and reduce the impact of climate 

23 change, striving to achieve a net-zero economy in the 

24 United States by 2050, producing a plan to end 

25 international financing for fossil fuel projects, and 


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1 emphasizing the need of pursuing an entirely clean 

2 energy economy. 

3 (11) President Biden has made it a priority to 

4 counter environmental injustices in the United 

5 States and abroad, and plans on implementing com6 munity-led approaches as well as Federal protections 

7 and regulations that will support those community 

8 members whose land and health have been negatively 

9 impacted by climate change. 

10 (12) The climate crisis has led to a surge of 

11 civic engagement, activism, and protests across the 

12 world. At the same time, reprisals against environ13 mental defenders are on the rise. Front Line De14 fenders reported that of the 196 human rights de15 fenders, including environmental defenders, were 

16 killed for their work in 2023. In 2024, Global Wit17 ness reported more than 2,100 defenders have been 

18 killed since 2012. Thousands of other environmental 

19 defenders are targeted each year with reprisals in 

20 the form of enforced disappearances, torture, sexual 

21 violence, criminalization, and smear campaigns. 

22 (13) Illegal deforestation is a significant driver 

23 of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Crimi24 nal networks with the capacity to coordinate large25 scale extraction, processing, and sale of timber deVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Nov 13, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10117.IH H10117

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1 ploy armed personnel to protect their interests. 

2 Those criminal networks regularly attack and 

3 threaten members of Indigenous communities, other 

4 environmental defenders, and enforcement officials. 

5 Perpetrators of such violence are rarely brought to 

6 justice. 

7 (14) Policies and measures to address climate 

8 change and deforestation should also promote 

9 human rights, thereby advancing equality, justice, 

10 and dignity for all, in line with the Sustainable De11 velopment Goals and the Guiding Principles on 

12 Business and Human Rights of the United Nations. 

13 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON A COMPREHENSIVE AP14 PROACH TO ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE. 

15 It is the sense of Congress that— 

16 (1) the targeted measures described in this Act 

17 are only one component of the comprehensive ap18 proach needed to address climate change and miti19 gate its effects; 

20 (2) the United States Government must ensure 

21 through law and regulation that entities in the 

22 United States are not engaged in or complicit in any 

23 of the egregious behaviors for which foreign persons 

24 may be targeted under this Act; 


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1 (3) the United States Government should con2 tinue to make progress towards scaling international 

3 climate finance to over $11,000,000,000 annually 

4 and promote international efforts to support climate 

5 change adaptation and mitigation; 

6 (4) the United States Government must work 

7 proactively with foreign governments, including by 

8 offering positive incentives, to address climate 

9 change and to promote economic development in 

10 ways that do not needlessly increase carbon emis11 sions, deforestation, or the risk of corruption; 

12 (5) the targeted measures described in this Act 

13 should be employed if engagement has failed to pre14 vent significant actions that exacerbate climate 

15 change and deforestation; and 

16 (6) given broad international support for coun17 tering climate change, the Secretary of State should 

18 encourage the governments of other countries to im19 plement targeted measures that are similar to the 

20 provisions of this Act, and the Secretary of the 

21 Treasury should support implementation of such 

22 measures, in order to increase the effectiveness of 

23 actions taken by the United States to combat signifi24 cant actions that exacerbate climate change, includ25 ing related corruption and human rights violations. 


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1 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON APPLICATION OF GLOB2 AL MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS TO ENVIRON3 MENT-LINKED CORRUPTION AND HUMAN 

4 RIGHTS ABUSES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the policy of the United 

6 States to use applicable authorities described in Executive 

7 Order 13818 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking 

8 the property of persons involved in serious human rights 

9 abuse or corruption) in relation to activities described in 

10 section 5(b), including for acts of corruption and serious 

11 human rights abuse against an individual described in 

12 subsection (b). 

13 (b) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An individual de14 scribed in this subsection is an individual who— 

15 (1) advocates for the protection of the environ16 ment, public health, Indigenous rights, or commu17 nity land rights; 

18 (2) investigates, exposes, or raises awareness of 

19 harm or corruption related to natural resource use; 

20 or 

21 (3) is obliged to leave the individual’s habitual 

22 home due, in whole or in part, to sudden or progres23 sive change in the environment— 

24 (A) caused by human activities or attrib25 utable to climate change; and 


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1 (B) that adversely affects the individual’s 

2 life or living conditions. 

3 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SIG4 NIFICANT ACTIONS THAT EXACERBATE CLI5 MATE CHANGE, DEFORESTATION, OR HARM 

6 TO ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS. 

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that the President should employ the authorities 

9 provided by this section to prioritize action against, and 

10 deterrence of, egregious behaviors that— 

11 (1) undermine efforts to limit the increase in 

12 global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius 

13 above pre-industrial levels; 

14 (2) contribute to deforestation; or 

15 (3) present specific harm to environmental de16 fenders. 

17 (b) IN GENERAL.—The President may impose one or 

18 more of the sanctions described in subsection (c) with re19 spect to any foreign person the President determines, 

20 based on credible information— 

21 (1) knowingly, recklessly, or willfully engages in 

22 an activity in a foreign country that causes, or is 

23 likely to cause, greenhouse gas emissions that are 

24 not in line with scientifically established pathways to 

25 help avoid an increase in the Earth’s temperature of 


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1 more than 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial 

2 levels, as determined by the Secretary of State, in3 cluding any action that significantly undermines, as 

4 a result of timing, magnitude, or corruption, projects 

5 for the adoption in the country of high-efficiency, 

6 low-carbon, or renewable energy technology or infra7 structure, including the construction of low-efficiency 

8 fossil fuel power plants; 

9 (2) engages in an activity in a foreign country 

10 that causes, or is likely to cause, illegal deforestation 

11 or loss of natural carbon sinks, including— 

12 (A) establishment of incentives for, or pro13 motion of, knowingly conducting deforestation; 

14 or 

15 (B) engagement in, or failure to combat, il16 legal logging, mining, or ranching; 

17 (3) knowingly engages in an activity in a for18 eign country that misrepresents the environmental 

19 impact of a project, investment, or product, includ20 ing misrepresenting the amount of greenhouse gas 

21 emissions associated with the project, investment, or 

22 product, in the context of— 

23 (A) assessments conducted by multilateral 

24 organizations, national governments, or inves25 tors; or 


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1 (B) public efforts to gain market advan2 tage based on purported environmental advan3 tages of a product; 

4 (4) engages in an activity in a foreign country 

5 that causes, or is likely to cause, limitations on or 

6 circumvention of opposition to deforestation or 

7 projects described in paragraph (1) by individuals 

8 seeking to protect the environment, public health, or 

9 community land rights, including actions that en10 courage impunity for those perpetrating physical 

11 threats or violence against such individuals; 

12 (5) is otherwise responsible for or complicit in 

13 an activity described in any of paragraphs (1) 

14 through (4), including a government official who ap15 proves or implements policies or acts that serve to 

16 promote such an activity; 

17 (6) has acted or purported to act for or on be18 half of, directly or indirectly, any foreign person in 

19 a matter relating to an activity described in any of 

20 paragraphs (1) through (4), including for or on be21 half of a government official described in paragraph 

22 (5); 

23 (7) has materially assisted, sponsored, or pro24 vided financial, material, or technological support 

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1 tivity described in any of paragraphs (1) through 

2 (4); or 

3 (8) is owned or controlled by a foreign person 

4 that engages an activity described in any of para5 graphs (1) through (4) or is described in paragraph 

6 (5). 

7 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions that 

8 may be imposed with respect to a foreign person under 

9 subsection (b) are the following: 

10 (1) INADMISSIBILITY TO UNITED STATES.—In 

11 the case of a foreign person who is an individual— 

12 (A) ineligibility to receive a visa to travel 

13 to the United States or to be admitted to the 

14 United States; or 

15 (B) if the individual has been issued a visa 

16 or other documentation, revocation, in accord17 ance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and 

18 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa 

19 or other documentation. 

20 (2) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The blocking, in ac22 cordance with the International Emergency 

23 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 

24 of all transactions in all property and interests 

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1 erty and interests in property are in the United 

2 States, come within the United States, or are or 

3 come within the possession or control of a 

4 United States person. 

5 (B) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMER6 GENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of 

7 section 202 of the International Emergency 

8 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall 

9 not apply for purposes of this paragraph. 

10 (3) OTHER SANCTIONS OPTIONS.—Any of the 

11 sanctions described in section 235 of the Countering 

12 America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 

13 U.S.C. 9529). 

14 (d) CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION IN

15 IMPOSING SANCTIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In determining whether to 

17 impose sanctions under subsection (b), the President 

18 shall consider— 

19 (A) information provided jointly by the 

20 chairperson and ranking member of each of the 

21 appropriate congressional committees; and 

22 (B) credible information obtained by other 

23 countries and nongovernmental organizations 

24 that monitor environmental harm or violations 

25 of human rights. 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENT.—A request under para2 graph (1) with respect to whether a foreign person 

3 has engaged in an action described in subsection (b) 

4 shall be submitted to the President in writing jointly 

5 by the chairperson and ranking member of one of 

6 the appropriate congressional committees. 

7 (e) EXCEPTIONS.— 

8 (1) INTELLIGENCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

9 ACTIVITIES.—Sanctions under this section shall not 

10 apply with respect to— 

11 (A) any activity subject to the reporting 

12 requirements under title V of the National Se13 curity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.); or 

14 (B) any authorized intelligence or law en15 forcement activities of the United States. 

16 (2) COMPLIANCE WITH UNITED NATIONS HEAD17 QUARTERS AGREEMENT.—This section shall not 

18 apply with respect to the admission of an individual 

19 to the United States if the admission of the indi20 vidual is necessary to comply with United States ob21 ligations under the Agreement between the United 

22 Nations and the United States of America regarding 

23 the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at 

24 Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 

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1 sular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and 

2 entered into force March 19, 1967, or under other 

3 international obligations of the United States. 

4 (3) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

5 GOODS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The authority to block 

7 and prohibit all transactions in all property and 

8 interests in property under this section shall not 

9 include the authority to impose sanctions on the 

10 importation of goods. 

11 (B) GOOD DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 

12 the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or 

13 man-made substance, material, supply or manu14 factured product, including inspection and test 

15 equipment, and excluding technical data. 

16 (f) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 

17 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex18 ercise all authorities provided under sections 203 

19 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 

20 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out 

21 this section. 

22 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at23 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

24 violation of this section or any regulation, license, or 

25 order issued to carry out this section shall be subject 


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1 to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) 

2 of section 206 of the International Emergency Eco3 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex4 tent as a person that commits an unlawful act de5 scribed in subsection (a) of that section. 

6 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT8 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com9 mittees’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Environment and 

11 Public Works and the Committee on Foreign 

12 Relations of the Senate; and 

13 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com14 merce and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

15 the House of Representatives. 

16 (2) CARBON SINK.—The term ‘‘carbon sink’’ 

17 means a feature or process that absorbs more car18 bon from the atmosphere than it releases. 

19 (3) DEFORESTATION.—The term ‘‘deforest20 ation’’ means the conversion of forest to other land 

21 use, whether human-induced or not, that results 

22 in— 

23 (A) permanent reduction of the tree can24 opy below a minimum 10 percent threshold; and 


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1 (B) the conversion of areas of forest to ag2 riculture, pasture, water reservoirs, mining, or 

3 urban areas. 

4 (4) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

5 respect to conduct, means— 

6 (A) a person has actual knowledge of the 

7 facts; or 

8 (B) a reasonable person acting in the cir9 cumstances and exercising reasonable care 

10 would have that knowledge. 

11 (5) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per12 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 

13 person. 

14 (6) RECKLESSLY.—The term ‘‘recklessly’’, with 

15 respect to conduct, means that a person displays a 

16 deliberate indifference or conscious disregard to the 

17 consequences of the conduct. 

18 (7) SUBCRITICAL COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT.— 

19 The term ‘‘subcritical coal-fired power plant’’ means 

20 a coal-fired power plant with carbon intensity equal 

21 to or greater than 880 kilograms of carbon dioxide 

22 per megawatt-hour. 

23 (8) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

24 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 


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1 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law2 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

3 United States; or 

4 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

5 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

6 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

7 such an entity. 

8 (9) WILLFULLY.—The term ‘‘willfully’’, with 

9 respect to conduct, means a person has knowledge— 

10 (A) of the facts; and 

11 (B) that the conduct was subject to sanc12 tions under this section. 

13 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE OFFICE OF FOR14 EIGN ASSETS CONTROL. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec16 retary of the Treasury such sums as may be necessary 

17 to support the targeting by the Office of Foreign Assets 

18 Control of persons under this Act and to enhance the abil19 ity of that Office to target persons for the imposition of 

20 sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Ac21 countability Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.). 

Æ 


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