I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2887 

To provide for certain Department of State actions relating to global climate 

change, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2021 

Mr. KEATING (for himself and Ms. KAPTUR) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for certain Department of State actions relating 

to global climate change, 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 ‘‘Global Climate Change 

5 Diplomacy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACTIONS RELATING TO 

7 GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE. 

8 (a) CLIMATE CHANGE OFFICERS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

10 establish and staff Climate Change Officer positions. 


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1 Such Officers shall serve under the supervision of 

2 the appropriate chief of mission or the Under Sec3 retary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Envi4 ronment of the Department of State, as the case 

5 may be. The Secretary shall ensure each embassy, 

6 consulate, and diplomatic mission to which such Of7 ficers are assigned pursuant to paragraph (2) has 

8 sufficient additional and appropriate staff to support 

9 such Officers. 

10 (2) ASSIGNMENT.—Climate Change Officers 

11 shall be assigned to the following posts: 

12 (A) United States embassies, or, if appro13 priate, consulates. 

14 (B) United States diplomatic missions to, 

15 or liaisons with, regional and multilateral orga16 nizations, including the United States diplo17 matic missions to the European Union, African 

18 Union, Organization of American States, Arctic 

19 Council, and any other appropriate regional or20 ganization, and the United Nations and its rel21 evant specialized agencies. 

22 (C) Other posts as designated by the Sec23 retary. 

24 (3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each Climate Change 

25 Officer shall— 


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1 (A) provide expertise on effective ap2 proaches to— 

3 (i) mitigate the emission of gases 

4 which contribute to global climate change 

5 and formulate national and global plans 

6 for reducing such gross and net emissions; 

7 and 

8 (ii) reduce the detrimental impacts at9 tributable to global climate change, and 

10 adapt to such impacts; 

11 (B) engage and convene, in a manner that 

12 is equitable, inclusive, and just, with individuals 

13 and organizations which represent a govern14 ment office, a nongovernmental organization, a 

15 social or political movement, a private sector 

16 entity, an educational or scientific institution, 

17 or any other entity concerned with— 

18 (i) global climate change; the emission 

19 of gases which contribute to global climate 

20 change; or 

21 (ii) reducing the detrimental impacts 

22 attributable to global climate change; 

23 (C) facilitate engagement by United States 

24 entities in bilateral and multilateral cooperation 

25 on climate change; and 


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1 (D) carry out such other responsibilities as 

2 the Secretary may assign. 

3 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF UNDER SECRETARY.—The 

4 Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the 

5 Environment of the Department of State shall, including 

6 by acting through the Bureau of Oceans and International 

7 Environmental and Scientific Affairs of the Department 

8 of State— 

9 (1) provide policy guidance to Climate Change 

10 Officers established under subsection (a); 

11 (2) develop relations with, consult with, and 

12 provide assistance to relevant individuals and organi13 zations concerned with studying, mitigating, and 

14 adapting to global climate change, or reducing the 

15 emission of gases which contribute to global climate 

16 change; and 

17 (3) assist officers and employees of regional bu18 reaus of the Department of State to develop strate19 gies and programs to promote studying, mitigating, 

20 and adapting to global climate change, or reducing 

21 the emission of gases which contribute to global cli22 mate change. 

23 (c) ACTIONS BY CHIEFS OF MISSION.—Each chief of 

24 mission in a foreign country shall— 


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1 (1) develop, as part of annual joint strategic 

2 plans or equivalent program and policy planning, a 

3 strategy to promote actions to improve and increase 

4 studying, mitigating, and adapting to global climate 

5 change, or reducing the emission of gases which con6 tribute to global climate change by— 

7 (A) consulting and coordinating with and 

8 providing support to relevant individuals and 

9 organizations, including experts and other pro10 fessionals and stakeholders on issues related to 

11 climate change; and 

12 (B) holding periodic meetings with such 

13 relevant individuals and organizations relating 

14 to such strategy; 

15 (2) hold ongoing discussions with the officials 

16 and leaders of such country regarding progress to 

17 improve and increase studying, mitigating, and 

18 adapting to global climate change, or reducing the 

19 emission of gases which contribute to global climate 

20 change in a manner that is equitable, inclusive, and 

21 just in such country; and 

22 (3) certify annually to the Secretary of State 

23 that to the maximum extent practicable, consider24 ations related to climate change adaptation and 

25 mitigation, sustainability, and the environment were 


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1 incorporated in activities, management, and oper2 ations of the United States embassy or other diplo3 matic post under the director of the chief of mission. 

4 (d) TRAINING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

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

6 shall establish curriculum at the Department of State’s 

7 Foreign Service Institute that supplements political and 

8 economic reporting tradecraft courses in order to provide 

9 employees of the Department with specialized training 

10 with respect to studying, mitigating, and adapting to glob11 al climate change, or reducing the emission of gases which 

12 contribute to global climate change. Such training shall 

13 include the following: 

14 (1) Awareness of the full range of national and 

15 subnational agencies, offices, personnel, statutory 

16 authorities, funds, and programs involved in the 

17 international commitments of the United States re18 garding global climate change and the emission of 

19 gases which contribute to global climate change, the 

20 science of global climate change, and methods for 

21 mitigating and adapting to global climate change. 

22 (2) Awareness of methods for mitigating and 

23 adapting to global climate change and reducing the 

24 emission of gases which contribute to global climate 

25 change that are equitable, inclusive, and just. 


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1 (3) Familiarity with United States agencies, 

2 multilateral agencies, international financial institu3 tions, and the network of donors providing assist4 ance to mitigate and adapt to global climate change. 

5 (4) Awareness of the most frequently an6 nounced goals and methods of the entities specified 

7 in subsection (a)(3)(B). 

8 (e) CONTRACTING.—Contracting and agreements of9 ficers of the Department of State, and other United States 

10 embassy personnel responsible for contracts, grants, or ac11 quisitions, shall receive training on evaluating proposals, 

12 solicitations, and bids, for considerations related to sus13 tainability and adapting to or mitigating impacts from cli14 mate change. 

15 (f) REPORTING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, 

17 the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on 

18 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 

19 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 

20 that includes a detailed breakdown of posts at which staff 

21 are assigned the role of Climate Change Officer, the re22 sponsibilities to which they have been assigned, and the 

23 strategies developed by the chief of mission, as applicable. 

24 (g) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con25 gress that climate diplomacy tools, including the establishVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:19 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2887.IH H2887

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1 ment of Climate Change Officers and supporting staff 

2 under this section, are critical for demonstrating the com3 mitment to include climate changes issues as core tenets 

4 of foreign policy priorities, as well as preserving the 

5 United States role as a global leader on climate change 

6 action. 

Æ 


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