I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7738 

To require the integration of climate-resilience considerations into all 

development work of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 23, 2020 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. CASE, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 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 require the integration of climate-resilience considerations 

into all development work of the United States, 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-Resilient 

5 International Development Optimization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLIMATE-RESILIENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOP2 MENT. 

3 (a) INCORPORATING CLIMATE RESILIENCE INTO

4 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.— 

5 (1) DIRECT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

6 PROGRAMS AND INVESTMENTS.—The head of each 

7 agency with direct international development pro8 grams and investments shall carry out the following: 

9 (A) Incorporate climate resilience consider10 ations into agency decision making to— 

11 (i) assess and evaluate climate-related 

12 risks to and vulnerabilities in agency strat13 egies, planning, programs, projects, invest14 ments, overseas facilities, and related fund15 ing decisions, using best-available climate16 change data, tools, and information, in17 cluding such data, tools, and information 

18 identified or developed by the Working 

19 Group established under subsection (b)(1); 

20 and 

21 (ii) adjust strategies, planning, pro22 grams, projects, investments, and related 

23 funding decisions of the agency, including 

24 the planning for and management of over25 seas facilities, based on the assessments 

26 and evaluations referred to in clause (i). 


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1 (B) Collaborate with the heads of other 

2 agencies with direct international development 

3 programs and investments, as appropriate, to 

4 share knowledge, data, tools, information, 

5 frameworks, and lessons learned in incor6 porating climate-resilience considerations into 

7 agency strategy, planning, programs, projects, 

8 investments, and related funding decisions, in9 cluding the planning for and management of 

10 overseas facilities. 

11 (C) Work with other countries, as appro12 priate, to— 

13 (i) identify climate-related risks; 

14 (ii) incorporate climate-resilience con15 siderations into international development 

16 assistance efforts performed by the agency; 

17 and 

18 (iii) identify knowledge, practices, 

19 tools, and data of such other countries and 

20 multilateral organizations that can be used 

21 by the United States to improve the activi22 ties described in clauses (i) and (ii). 

23 (D) Support the efforts of countries that 

24 are recipients of international development as25 sistance, especially those vulnerable to climatic, 


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1 weather, and other forms of disruption caused 

2 by global climate change, to integrate climate3 resilience considerations regarding how to use 

4 resources (including the countries’ own national 

5 resources and those provided by the United 

6 States, other countries, and multilateral enti7 ties) into national, regional, and sectoral devel8 opment planning and action. 

9 (E) Support the efforts of multilateral en10 tities and other countries in developing and re11 ceiving access to knowledge, practices, tools, 

12 and data related to identifying climate-related 

13 risks and incorporating climate-resilience con14 siderations into development programs. 

15 (F) Monitor the implementation of sub16 paragraphs (A) through (E). 

17 (2) DEVELOPMENT THROUGH MULTILATERAL

18 ENTITY PARTICIPATION OR REPRESENTATION.—The 

19 head of each agency that participates in a multilat20 eral entity shall, as appropriate, carry out the fol21 lowing: 

22 (A) Encourage the multilateral entity to— 

23 (i) assess and evaluate climate-related 

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1 ments, and related funding decisions of the 

2 entity, using best-available climate-change 

3 data, tools, and information, including 

4 such data, tools, and information identified 

5 or developed by the Working Group; and 

6 (ii) adjust the strategies, planning, 

7 programs, projects, investments, and re8 lated funding decisions of the entity, as ap9 propriate, based on the assessments and 

10 evaluations referred to in clause (i). 

11 (B) Collaborate with the multilateral entity 

12 and share with the agencies represented on the 

13 Working Group under subsection (b)(3)(B) and 

14 other stakeholders the knowledge, data, tools, 

15 information, frameworks, and lessons learned 

16 from the entity in incorporating the climate-re17 silience considerations into strategies, planning, 

18 programs, projects, investments, and related 

19 funding decisions. 

20 (C) Encourage the multilateral entity— 

21 (i) to support the efforts of countries 

22 to integrate climate-resilience consider23 ations into national, regional, and sectoral 

24 development planning and actions; and 


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1 (ii) to promote the development of and 

2 access to knowledge, practices, tools, and 

3 data needed for such efforts. 

4 (D) Learn from the skills, practices, data, 

5 and tools of the multilateral entity and other 

6 countries and incorporate such lessons into 

7 United States-led development missions. 

8 (E) Monitor the implementation of sub9 paragraphs (A) through (D). 

10 (b) WORKING GROUP ON CLIMATE-RESILIENT

11 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

13 the Department of the Treasury a Working Group 

14 on Climate-Resilient International Development (in 

15 this section referred to as ‘‘Working Group’’). 

16 (2) MISSION AND DUTIES.—The Working 

17 Group shall carry out the following: 

18 (A) Support each agency with direct inter19 national development programs and investments 

20 by— 

21 (i) identifying, as appropriate, the 

22 need for new data, tools, and information 

23 from the data, tools, and information de24 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) to be de25 veloped by the agency working with a 


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1 science and security agency or entity to ad2 vance the development of such agency; 

3 (ii) identifying approaches for adjust4 ing strategies, planning, programs, 

5 projects, investments, and related funding 

6 decisions described in clause (ii) of sub7 section (a)(1)(A) in response to the find8 ings of climate-risk assessments described 

9 in clause (i) of such subsection; 

10 (iii) facilitating the exchange of 

11 knowledge, data, tools, information, frame12 works, and lessons learned in assessing cli13 mate risks to and incorporating climate-re14 silience considerations into strategies, plan15 ning, programs, projects, investments, and 

16 related funding decisions of the agency de17 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A); and 

18 (iv) developing methods for tracking 

19 and reporting on actions to institutionalize 

20 climate-resilient development approaches, 

21 including performance metrics and meth22 odologies for assessing climate-related risks 

23 and making cost-benefit analysis. 

24 (B) Support each agency with direct inter25 national development programs and investments 


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1 by identifying ways each such agency may work 

2 with multilateral entities and other countries to 

3 receive, share, and review best practices to fa4 cilitate advancement of climate-resilient devel5 opment policies. 

6 (C) Support each agency with direct inter7 national development programs and investments 

8 by identifying ways each such agency may share 

9 with multilateral entities and other countries, as 

10 appropriate, and make publicly available to the 

11 extent possible, data, tools, and information 

12 used pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A)(i). 

13 (D) Promote interagency collaboration, in14 cluding through joint training. 

15 (E) Identify and develop, as appropriate, 

16 guidelines for incorporating considerations of 

17 climate-change risks and climate resilience into 

18 agency strategies, plans, programs, projects, in19 vestments, and related funding decisions de20 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A). 

21 (F) Identify and assess, as appropriate, ex22 isting climate-change data, decision-support 

23 tools, and information described in subsection 

24 (a)(1)(A)(i) to— 


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1 (i) help the Working Group assess cli2 mate risks and make decisions that incor3 porate climate-resilience considerations, in4 cluding project screening; and 

5 (ii) allow the screening for and incor6 poration of considerations of climate7 change risks and vulnerabilities by the 

8 Working Group in strategies, plans, pro9 grams, projects, investments, and related 

10 funding decisions. 

11 (G) Coordinate efforts, including efforts 

12 pursuant to Executive Order 13653 (78 Fed. 

13 Reg. 66817) as in effect on November 1, 2013, 

14 between representatives of the Working Group 

15 with decision makers in multilateral entities, 

16 donor countries, and recipient countries to— 

17 (i) share data, tools, and information 

18 described in subparagraph (F); and 

19 (ii) increase information on climate20 change impacts for providers and users. 

21 (H) Work with the heads of agencies with 

22 direct international development programs and 

23 investments and the heads of agencies that par24 ticipate in a multilateral entities to provide, not 

25 later than 2 years after the date of the enactVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Aug 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7738.IH H7738

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1 ment of this Act, training for personnel of such 

2 agencies with respect to integrating climate-re3 silience considerations into international devel4 opment assistance efforts performed by such 

5 agencies (and the heads of such agencies shall 

6 cooperate with the Working Group in providing 

7 such training). 

8 (3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

9 (A) CO-CHAIRS.—The Working Group 

10 shall be co-chaired by the following: 

11 (i) The Secretary of the Treasury, or 

12 the Secretary’s designee. 

13 (ii) The Administrator of the United 

14 States Agency for International Develop15 ment, or the Administrator’s designee. 

16 (B) REPRESENTATIVES.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Working 

18 Group shall be composed of one represent19 ative from— 

20 (I) each agency that participates 

21 in a multilateral entity, including each 

22 agency or entity determined by the co23 chairs of the Working Group pursuant 

24 to subsection (f)(2)(C); 


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1 (II) each agency with direct 

2 international development programs 

3 and investments, including each agen4 cy or entity determined by the co5 chairs of the Working Group pursuant 

6 to subsection (f)(3)(H); 

7 (III) each science and security 

8 agency or entity, including each agen9 cy or entity determined by the co10 chairs of the Working Group pursuant 

11 to subsection (f)(7)(H); and 

12 (IV) the Council on Environ13 mental Quality or another agency or 

14 office in the Executive Office of the 

15 President, as determined by the Presi16 dent. 

17 (ii) AGENCIES WITH MULTIPLE

18 PLACEMENTS.—The head of any agency 

19 that is represented on the Working Group 

20 as described in more than one category 

21 listed in clause (i) may decide— 

22 (I) to be represented by a sepa23 rate representative for each such cat24 egory; or 


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1 (II) to be represented by a single 

2 representative for two or more such 

3 categories. 

4 (iii) QUALIFICATION AND APPOINT5 MENT.—Each representative of an agency 

6 or office under clause (i) shall be a senior 

7 official of such agency or office, to be ap8 pointed by the head of the agency or office. 

9 (c) IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORTING OF

10 PROGRESS.— 

11 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—To promote implemen12 tation by each agency or entity with representation 

13 in the Working Group, the Working Group shall 

14 carry out the following: 

15 (A) Establish a 2-year timeline to imple16 ment subsection (b)(2), including biannual ob17 jectives for each agency or entity. 

18 (B) Analyze, at least annually, the Work19 ing Group’s progress in implementing this sec20 tion and provide recommendations for priority 

21 areas for further implementation to the fol22 lowing: 

23 (i) The Office of Management and 

24 Budget. 

25 (ii) The National Security Council. 


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1 (iii) The Council on Environmental 

2 Quality. 

3 (iv) The Office of Science and Tech4 nology Policy. 

5 (v) Other agencies, offices, and enti6 ties, as the Working Group determines ap7 propriate. 

8 (2) REPORTING.— 

9 (A) AGENCY WITH DIRECT INTER10 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND IN11 VESTMENTS.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 

13 year after the date of the enactment of this 

14 Act, and annually thereafter, the head of 

15 each agency with direct international devel16 opment programs and investments shall 

17 submit to the Working Group a report that 

18 includes the following information: 

19 (I) The progress of the agency in 

20 achieving the requirements specified 

21 in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of 

22 subsection (a)(1). 

23 (II) The planned and accom24 plished biennial objectives referred to 

25 in paragraph (1)(A) for the agency 


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1 with direct international development 

2 programs and investments. 

3 (ii) METRICS.—Not later than 1 year 

4 after the date on which the Working Group 

5 develops methods as required by subsection 

6 (b)(2)(A)(iv), the head of each agency with 

7 direct international development programs 

8 and investments shall include in the report 

9 under clause (i) an estimate of the fol10 lowing: 

11 (I) The proportion of the direct 

12 international development programs 

13 and investments for which the agency 

14 conducted climate-risk assessments. 

15 (II) The proportion of the pro16 grams and investments for which cli17 mate risk was identified and acted 

18 upon. 

19 (III) Any other metrics the co20 chairs determine to be relevant. 

21 (B) AGENCY THAT PARTICIPATES IN A

22 MULTILATERAL ENTITY.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 

24 years after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act, and annually thereafter, and except as 


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1 provided in clause (ii), the head of each 

2 agency that participates in a multilateral 

3 entity shall submit to the Working Group 

4 a report on the progress of the agency 

5 achieving the requirements of subpara6 graphs (A) through (D) of subsection 

7 (a)(2). 

8 (ii) MULTIPLE AGENCIES.—In the 

9 case in which more than one agency par10 ticipates in a multilateral entity, the co11 chairs of the Working Group shall des12 ignate one agency to be responsible for 

13 submitting the report required by clause 

14 (i). 

15 (C) FEDERAL AGENCY PLANNING PROC16 ESS.—An agency described in subparagraphs 

17 (A) and (B) shall report through the Federal 

18 Agency Planning process under section 5 of Ex19 ecutive Order 13653 (78 Fed. Reg. 66817) as 

20 in effect on November 1, 2013. 

21 (3) WORKING GROUP REPORTING.—Not later 

22 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act, and annually thereafter, the Working Group 

24 shall submit to Congress and make publicly available 

25 a report on its mission and duties under subsection 


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1 (b)(2) and which includes a summary and analysis 

2 of all reports submitted to the Working Group under 

3 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2). 

4 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This Act shall be im5 plemented consistent with the obligations of the United 

6 States under international agreements and applicable 

7 United States law. 

8 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such 

10 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2021 

11 to 2030. 

12 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ADAPTATION.—The term ‘‘adaption’’ means 

14 an adjustment in natural or human systems in an15 ticipation of or response to a changing environment 

16 in a way that effectively uses beneficial opportunities 

17 or reduces negative effects. 

18 (2) AGENCY THAT PARTICIPATES IN A MULTI19 LATERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘agency that partici20 pates in a multilateral entity’’ means— 

21 (A) the Department of State; 

22 (B) the Department of the Treasury; and 

23 (C) any other Federal agency or entity 

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1 termined by the co-chairs of the Working 

2 Group. 

3 (3) AGENCY WITH DIRECT INTERNATIONAL DE4 VELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND INVESTMENTS.—The 

5 term ‘‘agency with direct international development 

6 programs and investments’’ means— 

7 (A) the Department of Agriculture; 

8 (B) the Department of the Interior; 

9 (C) the Department of State; 

10 (D) the Millennium Challenge Corporation; 

11 (E) the United States International Devel12 opment Finance Corporation, or any successor 

13 thereto; 

14 (F) the United States Agency for Inter15 national Development; 

16 (G) the United States Trade and Develop17 ment Agency; and 

18 (H) any other agency or entity with direct 

19 international development programs and invest20 ments, as determined by the co-chairs of the 

21 Working Group. 

22 (4) CLIMATE RESILIENCE.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘climate re24 silience’’, ‘‘climate-resilience’’, and ‘‘climate-re25 silient’’ refer to policies that promote the resilVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Aug 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7738.IH H7738

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1 ience of a community to the sudden and grad2 ual impacts associated with climate change that 

3 can reasonably be anticipated, using the best 

4 available science, to be at risk of occurring over 

5 the life of the project or program, including 

6 physical and social effects and also direct and 

7 compound effects of climate change. 

8 (B) RESILIENCE.—In subparagraph (A), 

9 the term ‘‘resilience’’ means the ability to an10 ticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing 

11 conditions and withstand, respond to, and re12 cover rapidly from disruptions. 

13 (C) LIFE OF THE PROJECT OR PRO14 GRAM.—In subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘life of 

15 the project or program’’ means, with respect to 

16 any project or program for construction or re17 pair of infrastructure, the expected life of such 

18 infrastructure. 

19 (5) DIRECT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

20 PROGRAMS AND INVESTMENTS.—The term ‘‘direct 

21 international development programs and invest22 ments’’ means— 

23 (A) bilateral, regional, and multilateral 

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1 grammatic and financial management respon2 sibilities; or 

3 (B) the bilateral extension of official fi4 nancing by an agency to private sector investors 

5 to support international development. 

6 (6) MULTILATERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘multi7 lateral entity’’ means— 

8 (A) the World Bank Group; 

9 (B) the Inter-American Development Bank 

10 Group; 

11 (C) the Asian Development Bank; 

12 (D) the African Development Bank; 

13 (E) the European Bank for Reconstruction 

14 and Development; 

15 (F) the Green Climate Fund; 

16 (G) the Global Environmental Facility; 

17 (H) the International Fund for Agricul18 tural Development; or 

19 (I) any other— 

20 (i) multilateral development bank; 

21 (ii) United Nations organization; or 

22 (iii) multilateral development or cli23 mate entity, as determined by the co-chairs 

24 of the Working Group. 


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1 (7) SCIENCE AND SECURITY AGENCY OR ENTI2 TY.—The term ‘‘science and security agency or enti3 ty’’ means— 

4 (A) the Department of Energy; 

5 (B) the Department of the Interior; 

6 (C) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

7 Administration; 

8 (D) the National Aeronautics and Space 

9 Administration; 

10 (E) the Office of the Director of National 

11 Intelligence; 

12 (F) the Office of Science and Technology 

13 Policy; 

14 (G) the United States Global Change Re15 search Program; and 

16 (H) any other relevant agency and entity, 

17 as determined by the co-chairs of the Working 

18 Group. 

Æ 


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