I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9003 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. DEUTCH (for himself, Mr. KEATING, Mr. PETERS, and Ms. CASTOR of 

Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

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 finds the following: 

3 (1) The planet risks increasingly catastrophic 

4 impacts unless global average temperatures are lim5 ited to no more than 2° C, aiming for 1.5° C above 

6 preindustrial levels. 

7 (2) According to the Intergovernmental Panel 

8 on Climate Change’s Special Report on 1.5° C, lim9 iting warming to no more than 1.5° C requires fast 

10 mitigation of both CO2 and non-CO2 climate pollut11 ants, as well as the protection and expansion of for12 ests and other sinks that remove and store CO2, 

13 along with other strategies for removing CO2 and 

14 other climate pollutants. 

15 (3) Forced displacement and forced migration 

16 are increasingly caused or exacerbated by environ17 mental changes and climate-induced disruptions. 

18 (4) The United National Human Rights Coun19 cil has recognized that climate change poses an exis20 tential threat that has already had a negative impact 

21 on the fulfillment of human rights. 

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

23 1.5° C and avoiding increasingly severe impacts from 

24 climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli25 mate Change (IPCC) concluded that global net an26 thropogenic carbon dioxide emissions must fall by 45 


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1 percent from global 2010 levels by 2030 and reach 

2 net-zero by 2050. 

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

4 higher levels of warming and exposes all regions of 

5 the world to potentially catastrophic insecurity and 

6 destabilization that could cause a breakdown of 

7 economies, social systems, and political institutions 

8 in ways that are likely irreversible. It is in the inter9 est of the United States to place a high priority on 

10 strengthening the global response to the threat of 

11 climate change. 

12 (7) United States leadership and ingenuity are 

13 central to solving the climate crisis. The United 

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

15 concert with the international community to signifi16 cantly reduce emissions, prepare for climate impacts, 

17 and drive progress through international negotia18 tions to maintain a livable climate for today and fu19 ture generations. 

20 (8) The United States can also build strong sci21 entific and security partnerships and reinforce the 

22 United States ability to lead on other key global pri23 orities through climate diplomacy. These efforts can 

24 foster climate security while creating new opportuniVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9003.IH H9003

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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 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial lev14 els and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature in15 crease even 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 the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

13 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

14 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 

15 Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of 

16 the Senate. 

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

18 means any electricity generation, transmission, stor19 age, heating, cooling, industrial process, or manufac20 turing project the primary purpose of which is the 

21 deployment, development, or production of an energy 

22 system or technology that avoids, significantly re23 duces, or sequesters emissions of greenhouse gas and 

24 other pollutants. 


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

2 change’’ means anthropogenic changes in average 

3 weather conditions that persist over multiple decades 

4 or longer, and encompasses both increases and de5 creases in temperature, as well as shifts in precipita6 tion, changing risk of certain types of severe weather 

7 events, and changes to other features of the climate 

8 system. 

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

10 security’’ has the meaning given such term in sec11 tion 120 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 

12 U.S.C. 3060). 

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

14 means measures to reduce the amount or speed of 

15 future climate change, including by reducing emis16 sions of heat-trapping gases or removing carbon di17 oxide from the atmosphere. 

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

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

20 or recover from significant multihazard threats with 

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

22 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 the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Office 

10 of 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 for Oceans and International Environmental and 

21 Scientific Affairs to coordinate Department and 

22 USAID efforts to guide United States foreign policy 

23 related to global climate change in order to— 

24 (A) confront risks to United States na25 tional security, including geopolitical, commerVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9003.IH H9003

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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 20:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9003.IH H9003

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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 an 

8 unclassified form, but may include a classified annex, if 

9 appropriate. 

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

11 after the submission of the Strategy, the Secretary of 

12 State and Administrator of USAID shall begin imple13 menting the Strategy. 

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

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

16 than annually thereafter, the Secretary of State and Ad17 ministrator of USAID shall jointly consult with the appro18 priate congressional committees regarding the develop19 ment and implementation of the strategy. 

20 (f) CLIMATE CHANGE DIPLOMACY REPORTING RE21 QUIREMENT.— 

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

23 after the submission of the Strategy and annually 

24 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 

25 appropriate congressional committees a report that 


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1 outlines progress that the Department of State and 

2 USAID have made regarding implementation of the 

3 Strategy. 

4 (2) FORM.—The reports required under para5 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

6 but may include a classified annex, if appropriate. 

7 SEC. 5. CLIMATE-CONSCIOUS BUDGETING AND OPER8 ATIONS OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND 

9 UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTER10 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 

11 The Secretary of State shall include in the annual 

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

13 of title 31, United States Code— 

14 (1) a dedicated budget line item for adaptation 

15 to, and mitigation of, climate-related risks to De16 partment of State assets and capabilities; 

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

18 sustainability and climate resilience of the Depart19 ment’s global operations, including reducing the De20 partment’s carbon footprint through enhanced en21 ergy efficiency and water efficiency, as well as utili22 zation of clean energy sources; and 

23 (3) an estimate of the anticipated adverse im24 pacts to the readiness of the Department and 

25 USAID and the financial costs to the Department 


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1 and USAID during the year covered by the budget 

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

3 capabilities as a result of climate change. 

Æ 


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