AMAZON21 Act
Bill: H.R.5830 | Sponsor: Rep. Hoyer, Steny H. (D-MD)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
America Mitigating and Achieving Zero-emissions Originating from Nature for the 21st Century Act or the AMAZON21 Act
This bill establishes programs to support efforts in developing countries to address climate change.
The Department of State must establish the International Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration Program to make results-based payments to eligible projects in developing countries that reduce emissions and enhance carbon sequestration from forests and other ecosystems. Eligible projects include those where the primary purpose is to (1) reduce deforestation and restore forests to support enhanced carbon sequestration; or (2) preserve other territorial ecosystems, such as wetlands, within the host country. The bill also imposes other requirements on project eligibility, including requirements relating to transparency pertaining to the use of the received payments and the host country's standards of governance and respect for the rule of law.
The bill also requires the U.S. Agency for International Development to conduct a program to provide resources and technical assistance to developing countries to (1) conserve, manage, and restore carbon sinks, such as forests; and (2) support nature-based carbon sequestration. A project eligible for such assistance must be located in a country that meets certain criteria, such as a country that permits the sale of carbon credits to voluntary and carbon compliance markets.

To establish an international terrestrial carbon sequestration program 
   and provide international technical assistance for carbon market 
                  development, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``America Mitigating and Achieving 
Zero-emissions Originating from Nature for the 21st Century Act'' or 
the ``AMAZON21 Act''.

SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL TERRESTRIAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall establish a program, 
to be known as the ``International Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration 
Program'', to provide results-based payments for eligible projects in 
developing countries that reduce emissions and enhance carbon 
sequestration from forests and other terrestrial and coastal 
ecosystems.
    (b) Goals.--In carrying out the program established pursuant to 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall work with developing countries and 
appropriate local partners in developing countries to identify, 
develop, and implement projects that--
            (1) will help the developing country meet the emission 
        reductions goals corresponding to that country's nationally 
        determined contribution to the Paris Agreement; and
            (2) have the potential to avoid dangerous global climate 
        change by limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees 
        Celsius and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius 
        (compared to pre-industrial levels).
    (c) Eligible Projects.--
            (1) In general.--A project shall be eligible for results-
        based payments under the program established pursuant to 
        subsection (a) if--
                    (A) the project is identified by the Secretary as a 
                project whose primary purpose is to--
                            (i) reduce deforestation and forest 
                        degradation and restore forests to support 
                        enhanced carbon sequestration within the host 
                        country, at the national or subnational level; 
                        or
                            (ii) preserve, including through integrated 
                        land-use programs, other terrestrial ecosystems 
                        within the host developing country, such as 
                        wetlands, mangroves, or grasslands;
                    (B) in the determination of the Secretary, the host 
                developing country or local partner will be able to 
                fulfill its obligations under any agreement with 
                respect to the funding of such project through the 
                program established pursuant to subsection (a), 
                including (as applicable) with respect to--
                            (i) host country standards of governance 
                        and respect for rule of law;
                            (ii) environmental and social safeguards; 
                        and
                            (iii) potential for corruption or misuse of 
                        payments made by the Secretary;
                    (C) the project is appropriately designed to use 
                results-based payments; and
                    (D) the host developing country or local partner, 
                as applicable, agrees to--
                            (i) transparency requirements with respect 
                        to the use of amounts received under the 
                        program established pursuant to subsection (a);
                            (ii) measuring, reporting, and verification 
                        requirements, including third-party 
                        verification, necessary to provide results-
                        based payments;
                            (iii) share any emissions reductions 
                        achieved under this program, linking such 
                        reductions to reporting requirements under the 
                        Paris Climate Agreement; and
                            (iv) ensure that women, Indigenous 
                        Communities, and other local stakeholders are 
                        empowered and enabled to meaningfully 
                        participate in these processes.
            (2) Additional forms of eligibility.--A project may also be 
        determined to be eligible under this subsection if--
                    (A) the project includes a combination or 
                aggregation of existing terrestrial carbon mitigation 
                projects in the host country; or
                    (B) the project is recognized under a national or 
                sub-national terrestrial carbon mitigation program in 
                the host country, without regard to whether the project 
                is below the sub-national level or scale.
    (d) Grants.--
            (1) In general.--Upon determining that a project is an 
        eligible project, the Secretary is authorized to enter into 
        multi-year agreements to provide results-based payments to a 
        host developing country or appropriate local partners in the 
        host developing country, including in the form of grants from 
        the International Forestry Carbon Mitigation Fund established 
        in subsection (f), to carry out such eligible project. Such 
        agreements may also include terms that leverage funding from 
        non-profits, businesses, other developed countries, and 
        multilateral financing and development agencies.
            (2) Reciprocal commitment.--The Secretary shall take such 
        steps as may be necessary to ensure that the host developing 
        country or appropriate local partners in the host developing 
        country, as applicable, reciprocates the commitments to 
        achieving the goals of the section.
            (3) Termination.--An agreement under this subsection may be 
        unilaterally terminated by the Secretary if the Secretary 
        determines that the host developing country or a local partner 
        is failing or has failed to uphold the terms and conditions 
        established for the project.
            (4) Double counting of payments.--The Secretary shall take 
        such steps as may be necessary to prevent the double counting 
        of, or double payment for, emissions reduction or carbon 
        sequestration results.
    (e) Transparency.--The Secretary shall make publicly available a 
list of each grant made available to developing countries and local 
partners under the program established by subsection (a) and shall 
update on an annual basis the progress or any lack of progress in the 
implementation of the corresponding eligible projects and the 
achievement of their goals.
    (f) Agency Coordination.--In carrying out the program under this 
section, the Secretary shall consult as appropriate with the heads of 
other relevant Federal departments and agencies, including--
            (1) with respect to terrestrial carbon sequestration, the 
        Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, the 
        Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration, the Chief Forester of the Forest Service, and 
        the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and
            (2) with respect to project monitoring, reporting and 
        verification, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration, the Administrator of the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Administrator of the 
        United States Agency for International Development, the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
        Secretary of Agriculture, and the Chief Forester of the Forest 
        Service.
    (g) Trust Fund.--There is established in the Treasury the 
``International Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration Fund'', which shall 
consist of--
            (1) amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization in 
        subsection (h)(1) to carry out this section; and
            (2) such gifts, bequests, or devises of property for the 
        benefit of, or in connection with carrying out this section as 
        the Secretary may accept in the form of donations by 
        individuals or entities, including private entities, non-profit 
        entities, and multinational entities.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        $9,000,000,000 to carry out this section.
            (2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated to carry out this 
        section are authorized to remain available until expended and 
        shall be used solely for the purposes of this section.
            (3) Salaries and expenses.--Of the amounts made available 
        for any fiscal year pursuant to the authorization under 
        paragraph (1), not more than $10,000,000 is authorized to be 
        made available for the salaries and expenses of employees of 
        the Department of State to carry out this section.
    (i) Results-Based Payments Defined.--The term ``results-based 
payments'' means a mechanism for the provision of United States 
assistance in which--
            (1) a developing country, or appropriate local partners in 
        a developing country, assumes responsibility for achieving 
        measurable results in the reduction of emissions through a 
        project;
            (2) such measurable results are defined in advance of the 
        obligation of assistance by the United States for the project; 
        and
            (3) such assistance is expended in the form of payments to 
        such developing countries or partners only upon independent 
        verification of such pre-defined results.

SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR CARBON MARKET 
              DEVELOPMENT AND PARTICIPATION.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 
shall conduct a program to provide resources and technical assistance 
to developing countries to conserve, manage, and restore forests and 
other terrestrial and coastal carbon sinks, to support nature-based 
carbon sequestration as a means to addressing global climate change, 
including by providing such resources and assistance with respect to 
projects for the goals described in section 2(b). Projects under such 
program shall be directed in countries meeting each of the following 
criteria:
            (1) The country contains globally important forests or 
        other terrestrial or coastal terrestrial carbon sinks that are 
        threatened with destruction or fragmentation or where the 
        degradation of wetlands, peatlands, or agricultural land 
        impairs development and significantly drives greenhouse gas 
        emissions.
            (2) Legitimate land owners or use rights' holders in the 
        country are permitted to sell carbon credits to voluntary and 
        carbon compliance markets.
            (3) The country has developed, or is in the process of 
        developing, comprehensive policies to monitor, report, and 
        verify the environmental, social, and financial integrity of 
        any such projects, including, if applicable, policies to ensure 
        that the host country avoids double-counting the resulting 
        reductions greenhouse gas emissions.
            (4) The country presently contains large reserves of 
        terrestrial carbon that cannot be recuperated once lost.
    (b) Technical Support Prioritization.--In conducting the program 
described in subsection (a), the Administrator shall prioritize 
technical support for and investment in the following activities:
            (1) Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, 
        fragmentation, and forest degradation.
            (2) Enhancing sequestration through carbon sinks by 
        restoring natural forests and other terrestrial and coastal 
        carbon sinks as well as building resilience.
            (3) Monitoring, reporting, and verification of the 
        environmental, social, and financial integrity of the project 
        as an important component of the work.
            (4) Assisting governments, willing, legitimate land owners, 
        and willing use rights' holders in developing projects to 
        engage in emissions trading through--
                    (A) carbon credits sold in existing carbon 
                compliance markets or to voluntary buyers; or
                    (B) projects providing results-based payments.
            (5) Developing the administrative and legal capacity and 
        technical infrastructure necessary to implement carbon-pricing 
        initiatives in recipient countries that drive investment in 
        nature-based solutions to climate change.
            (6) Developing domestic infrastructure for creating and 
        tracking carbon credits, such as registries, and preparing 
        countries to implement nature-based solution initiatives.
            (7) Ensuring that women, Indigenous Communities, and other 
        local stakeholders are empowered and enabled to meaningful 
        participation in all such activities.
    (c) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated such 
sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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