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 Com-
mittee 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Change Diplo-
macy and Development Act of 2020’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The planet risks increasingly catastrophic 
impacts unless global average temperatures are lim-
ited to no more than 2° C, aiming for 1.5° C above 
preindustrial levels. 
(2) According to the Intergovernmental Panel 
on Climate Change’s Special Report on 1.5° C, lim-
iting warming to no more than 1.5° C requires fast 
mitigation of both CO2 and non-CO2 climate pollut-
ants, as well as the protection and expansion of for-
ests and other sinks that remove and store CO2, 
along with other strategies for removing CO2 and 
other climate pollutants. 
(3) Forced displacement and forced migration 
are increasingly caused or exacerbated by environ-
mental changes and climate-induced disruptions. 
(4) The United National Human Rights Coun-
cil has recognized that climate change poses an exis-
tential threat that has already had a negative impact 
on the fulfillment of human rights. 
(5) To have a chance at limiting warming to 
1.5° C and avoiding increasingly severe impacts from 
climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-
mate Change (IPCC) concluded that global net an-
thropogenic carbon dioxide emissions must fall by 45 
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percent from global 2010 levels by 2030 and reach 
net-zero by 2050. 
(6) Failure to act on the climate crisis leads to 
higher levels of warming and exposes all regions of 
the world to potentially catastrophic insecurity and 
destabilization that could cause a breakdown of 
economies, social systems, and political institutions 
in ways that are likely irreversible. It is in the inter-
est of the United States to place a high priority on 
strengthening the global response to the threat of 
climate change. 
(7) United States leadership and ingenuity are 
central to solving the climate crisis. The United 
States must act urgently, guided by science, and in 
concert with the international community to signifi-
cantly reduce emissions, prepare for climate impacts, 
and drive progress through international negotia-
tions to maintain a livable climate for today and fu-
ture generations. 
(8) The United States can also build strong sci-
entific and security partnerships and reinforce the 
United States ability to lead on other key global pri-
orities through climate diplomacy. These efforts can 
foster climate security while creating new opportuni-
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ties for United States leadership, economic growth, 
and innovation. 
(9) The United States is a Party to the United 
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 
(referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Convention’’), as 
agreed to by the advice and consent of the Senate 
on October 7, 1992, and should remain actively en-
gaged in the Convention. 
(10) In Paris, on December 12, 2015, parties 
to the Convention reached a landmark agreement to 
strengthen the global response to the threat of cli-
mate change by keeping a global temperature rise 
well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial lev-
els and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature in-
crease even further to 1.5° C. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the United States should— 
(1) utilize multilateral and bilateral foreign as-
sistance to promote low-carbon, climate-resilient de-
velopment, including supporting greater participa-
tion of women in the development and implementa-
tion of climate policies that are gender-responsive; 
and 
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(2) advance clean energy and climate resilience 
through budgeting and operations of United States 
Government facilities abroad. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
ADAPTATION.—The 
term 
‘‘adaptation’’ 
means an adjustment in natural or human systems 
to a new or changing environment that exploits ben-
eficial opportunities or moderates negative effects. 
(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate. 
(3) CLEAN ENERGY.—The term ‘‘clean energy’’ 
means any electricity generation, transmission, stor-
age, heating, cooling, industrial process, or manufac-
turing project the primary purpose of which is the 
deployment, development, or production of an energy 
system or technology that avoids, significantly re-
duces, or sequesters emissions of greenhouse gas and 
other pollutants. 
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(4) CLIMATE
CHANGE.—The term ‘‘climate 
change’’ means anthropogenic changes in average 
weather conditions that persist over multiple decades 
or longer, and encompasses both increases and de-
creases in temperature, as well as shifts in precipita-
tion, changing risk of certain types of severe weather 
events, and changes to other features of the climate 
system. 
(5) CLIMATE
SECURITY.—The term ‘‘climate 
security’’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
tion 120 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 
U.S.C. 3060). 
(6) 
MITIGATION.—The 
term 
‘‘mitigation’’ 
means measures to reduce the amount or speed of 
future climate change, including by reducing emis-
sions of heat-trapping gases or removing carbon di-
oxide from the atmosphere. 
(7) RESILIENT.—The term ‘‘resilient’’ means 
the capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, 
or recover from significant multihazard threats with 
minimum damage to social well-being, health, the 
economy, or the environment. 
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SEC. 4. STRATEGY FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE DIPLO-
MACY AND DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) STRATEGY.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 
in coordination with the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development (USAID), 
shall— 
(1) develop, in consultation with the Secretary 
of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Office 
of the Director of National Intelligence, the heads of 
any other relevant Federal departments or agencies, 
and domestic and international civil society and or-
ganizations with experience researching or imple-
menting policies and programs dealing with the cli-
mate crisis a ‘‘Joint Department of State and 
USAID Strategy to Address the Global Climate 
Change Crisis’’ (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Strategy’’); 
(2) designate the Department of State’s Bureau 
for Oceans and International Environmental and 
Scientific Affairs to coordinate Department and 
USAID efforts to guide United States foreign policy 
related to global climate change in order to— 
(A) confront risks to United States na-
tional security, including geopolitical, commer-
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