I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 260 
To address the disparate impact of climate change on women and support 
the efforts of women globally to address climate change, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 11, 2021 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. 
CONNOLLY, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. CLEAVER, 
Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. MENG, Ms. CLARKE of 
New York, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. WILD, Mr. 
MALINOWSKI, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 
SIRES, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. 
CASTOR of Florida, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 
BASS, Ms. SPEIER, and Ms. CHU) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To address the disparate impact of climate change on women 
and support the efforts of women globally to address 
climate change, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Women and Climate Change Act of 2021’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Statement of policy. 
TITLE I—STRATEGIES, POLICIES, AND PROGRAMS 
Sec. 101. Federal Interagency Working Group on Women and Climate Change. 
Sec. 102. Development and implementation of strategy and policies to prevent 
and respond to the effects of climate change on women glob-
ally. 
TITLE II—OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY 
Sec. 201. Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change. 
Sec. 202. Briefing and report. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Women in the United States and around 
the world are the linchpin of families and commu-
nities and are often the first to feel the immediate 
and adverse effects of social, environmental, and eco-
nomic stresses on their families and communities. 
(2) The United Nations has recognized, as one 
of the central organizing principles for its work, that 
‘‘no enduring solution to society’s most threatening 
social, economic and political problems can be found 
without the full participation, and the full empower-
ment, of the world’s women’’. 
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(3) The United Nations Development Pro-
gramme 2013 Human Development Report has 
found that the number of people living in extreme 
poverty could increase by up to 3,000,000,000 by 
2050 unless environmental disasters are averted by 
coordinated global action. 
(4) Climate change is already forcing the most 
vulnerable communities and populations in devel-
oping countries to face unprecedented climate stress, 
including water scarcity and drought, as well as se-
vere weather events and floods, which can lead to re-
duced agricultural productivity, food insecurity, and 
increased disease. 
(5) Climate change exacerbates issues of scar-
city and lack of accessibility to primary natural re-
sources, forest resources, and arable land for food 
production, thereby contributing to increased conflict 
and instability, as well as the workload and stresses 
on women farmers, who are estimated to produce 60 
to 80 percent of the food in most developing coun-
tries. 
(6) Women will disproportionately face harmful 
impacts from climate change, particularly in poor 
and developing nations where women regularly as-
sume increased responsibility for growing the fam-
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ily’s food and collecting water, fuel, and other re-
sources. 
(7) Epidemics, such as malaria and zika, are 
expected to worsen and spread due to variations in 
climate, putting women (especially pregnant mothers 
and women who hope to become pregnant) and chil-
dren without access to prevention and medical serv-
ices at risk. 
(8) The direct and indirect effects of climate 
change have a disproportionate impact on marginal-
ized women, such as environmental refugees and dis-
placed persons, migrants, religious, racial, or ethnic 
minorities, adolescent girls, lesbian and trans 
women, women living in poverty, and women and 
girls with disabilities and those who are living with 
HIV. 
(9) Conflict has a disproportionate impact on 
the most vulnerable communities and populations, 
including women, and is fueled in the poorest re-
gions of the world by harsher climates, leading to 
migration, refugee crises, and conflicts over scarce 
natural resources, including land and water. 
(10) Displaced, refugee, and stateless women 
and girls face extreme violence and threats, includ-
ing— 
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(A) being forced to exchange sex for food 
and humanitarian supplies; 
(B) being at increased risk of rape, sexual 
exploitation, and abuse; and 
(C) being at increased risk for HIV, sexu-
ally transmitted infections (STIs), unplanned 
pregnancy, and poor reproductive health. 
(11) It is predicted that climate change will 
lead to increasing frequency and intensity of extreme 
weather conditions, precipitating the occurrence of 
natural disasters around the globe. 
(12) The relocation and death of women, and 
especially mothers, as a result of climate-related dis-
asters often has devastating impacts on social sup-
port networks, family ties, and the coping capacity 
of families and communities. 
(13) The ability of women to adapt to climate 
change is constrained by a lack of economic free-
doms, property and inheritance rights, and access to 
financial resources, education, family planning and 
reproductive health, and new tools, equipment, and 
technology. 
(14) Despite having a unique capacity and 
knowledge to promote and provide for adaptation to 
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climate change, women often have insufficient re-
sources to undertake such adaptation. 
(15) Women are shown to have a multiplier ef-
fect because women use their income and resources, 
when given the necessary tools, to increase the well- 
being of their children and families, and thus play 
a critical role in reducing food insecurity, poverty, 
and socioeconomic effects of climate change. 
(16) Women are often underrepresented in the 
development and formulation of policy regarding 
mitigation and adaptation to climate change, even 
though women are often in the best position to pro-
vide and consult on adaptive strategies. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives. 
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(2) CLIMATE
CHANGE.—The term ‘‘climate 
change’’ means a change of climate that is attrib-
uted directly or indirectly to— 
(A) human activity; and 
(B) altering the composition of the global 
atmosphere. 
(3) DEVELOPING COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘devel-
oping country’’ means a country classified by the 
World Bank as having a low-income or lower-middle- 
income economy. 
(4) DISPARATE IMPACT.—The term ‘‘disparate 
impact’’ refers to the historical and ongoing impacts 
of the pattern and practice of discrimination in em-
ployment, education, housing, banking, health, and 
nearly every other aspect of life in the economy, so-
ciety, or culture that have an adverse impact on mi-
norities, women, or other protected groups, regard-
less of whether such practices were motivated by dis-
criminatory intent. 
(5) ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS.—The term 
‘‘environmental disasters’’ means specific events 
caused by human activity that result in seriously 
negative effects on the environment. 
(6) ENVIRONMENTAL
REFUGEES.—The term 
‘‘environmental refugees’’ means people displaced be-
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