I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4932 
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 
FEBRUARY 5, 2018 
Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. WIL-
SON of Florida, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. CLARK of Massachu-
setts, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. KIHUEN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCGOVERN, 
Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. WATSON 
COLEMAN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. ROYBAL- 
ALLARD, and Ms. MCCOLLUM) 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, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Women and Climate Change Act of 2018’’. 
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(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 finds the following: 
(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’’. 
(3) The United Nations Development Pro-
gramme 2013 Human Development Report has 
found that the number of people living in extreme 
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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 vulnerable 
communities in developing countries to face unprece-
dented climate stress, including water scarcity and 
drought, as well as severe weather events and floods, 
which can lead to reduced 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-
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 
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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 
marginalized women such as refugee and displaced 
persons, religious or ethnic minorities, adolescent 
girls, and women and girls with disabilities and 
those who are living with HIV. 
(9) Conflict has a disproportionate impact on 
the most vulnerable populations including women, 
and is fueled in the world’s poorest regions by 
harsher climate, 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— 
(A) being forced to exchange sex for food 
and humanitarian supplies; 
(B) being at increased risk of rape, sexual 
exploitation and abuse; and 
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(C) being at increased risk for HIV, 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, as well as ac-
cess to financial resources, education, family plan-
ning and reproductive health, and new tools, equip-
ment, and technology. 
(14) Despite a unique capacity and knowledge 
to promote and provide for adaptation to climate 
change, women often have insufficient resources to 
undertake such adaptation. 
(15) Women are shown to have a multiplier ef-
fect by using their income and resources, when given 
the necessary tools, to increase the well-being of 
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their children and families, and thus play a critical 
role in reducing food insecurity, poverty, and socio-
economic 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 they are often in the best position to provide 
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 Affairs and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate. 
(2) CLIMATE
CHANGE.—The term ‘‘climate 
change’’ means a change of climate that is attrib-
uted directly or indirectly to human activity and al-
tering the composition of the global atmosphere. 
(3) DEVELOPING COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘devel-
oping country’’ means those countries classified by 
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the World Bank as having a low-income or lower- 
middle-income economy. 
(4) DISPARATE IMPACT.—The term ‘‘disparate 
impact’’ refers to the historic 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-
cause of environmental causes, notably land loss and 
degradation, and natural disasters, who have left 
their community or country of origin. 
(7) EXTREME POVERTY.—The term ‘‘extreme 
poverty’’ means having an income level or living 
standard at a level of extreme deprivation based on 
living with income below 50 percent of the poverty 
line as established by the individual country at issue, 
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or below $1.90 per day as determined by the World 
Bank. 
(8) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme 
weather’’ means unexpected, unusual, unpredictable, 
severe, or unseasonal weather that is at the extremes 
of the historical distribution range that has been 
seen in the past. 
(9) FEDERAL
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 
agency’’ means any executive department, Govern-
ment corporation, Government-controlled corpora-
tion, or other establishment in the executive branch 
of the Government (including the Executive Office of 
the President), or any independent regulatory agen-
cy. 
(10) FOOD INSECURITY.—The term ‘‘food inse-
curity’’ means a lack of consistent access to food. 
(11) MOST
VULNERABLE
COMMUNITIES
AND 
POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘most vulnerable commu-
nities and populations’’ means communities and pop-
ulations, including women, impoverished commu-
nities, children, people with disabilities, and indige-
nous peoples, who are at risk of substantial adverse 
impacts of climate change and have limited capacity 
to respond to such impacts. 
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(12) POVERTY.—The term ‘‘poverty’’ means an 
income level and living standard insufficient to meet 
basic needs. 
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States, in partnership 
with affected countries, donor country governments, inter-
national financial institutions, international nongovern-
mental organizations, and civil society groups, especially 
those led by women, to combat the leading causes of cli-
mate change, mitigate the effects of climate change on 
women and girls, and elevate the participation of women 
in policy, program, and community decision-making proc-
esses with respect to climate change, by— 
(1) establishing the Federal Interagency Work-
ing Group on Women and Climate Change, mission 
of which is to prevent and respond to the effects of 
climate change on women globally; and 
(2) implementing a coordinated, integrated, evi-
dence-based, and comprehensive strategy on Women 
and Climate Change throughout United States poli-
cies in the future. 
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