To establish a Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy, to authorize the admission of climate-displaced persons, and for other purposes.
Bill: H.R.2826 | Sponsor: Rep. Velazquez, Nydia M. (D-NY)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This bill generally addresses the adverse effects of climate change with a particular focus on immigration.
Specifically, the bill establishes an immigration pathway to admit climate-displaced persons into the United States. These are individuals (1) who need durable resettlement because of an environmental change that adversely affects their living conditions, and (2) whose government cannot or will not provide a resettlement solution. Persons admitted to the United States under this pathway are entitled to the same resettlement assistance and benefits available to refugees.
Additionally, the bill authorizes the President to provide foreign assistance for promoting resilience and reducing vulnerability among communities facing adverse effects of climate change. It also creates the position of Coordinator of Climate Change Resiliency in the Department of State.
Moreover, the State Department must implement, and periodically report on, a strategy to mitigate the impact of climate change on displacement and humanitarian emergencies. The State Department must also provide (1) training on climate displacement to foreign service officers assigned to countries from which climate-displaced persons originated, and (2) guidance on the humanitarian impacts associated with climate change to all U.S. diplomatic missions.
The bill also requires the President to report on displacement caused by climate change.

To establish a Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy, to authorize 
  the admission of climate-displaced persons, 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. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings; sense of Congress.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Required data collection and reporting.
Sec. 5. Global climate change resilience strategy.
Sec. 6. Training of foreign service officers in climate change 
                            resilience.
Sec. 7. Guidance on the humanitarian impacts of climate change.
Sec. 8. Admission of climate-displaced persons.
Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
        Change, the Earth's climate is now changing faster than at any 
        point in history.
            (2) The October 2018 report entitled ``Special Report on 
        Global Warming of 1.5\o\ C'' by the Intergovernmental Panel on 
        Climate Change and the November 2018 Fourth National Climate 
        Assessment report found that a changing climate is--
                    (A) causing sea levels to rise;
                    (B) contributing to an increase in wildfires and 
                temperature extremes in some parts of the world; and
                    (C) contributing to an increase in heavy 
                precipitation in certain locations.
            (3) Forced displacement and forced migration are increasing 
        in the context of environmental changes and climate-induced 
        disruptions, including weather-related disasters, drought, 
        famine, and rising sea levels.
            (4) A December 2019 Oxfam International report found that 
        climate-related events forced an estimated 20,000,000 people 
        from their homes every year during the previous decade.
            (5) The United Nations Human Rights Council has recognized 
        that climate change poses an existential threat that has 
        already negatively affected the fulfilment of human rights, 
        specifically noting that--
                    (A) parties should, when taking action to address 
                climate change, respect, promote and consider their 
                respective obligations on human rights; and
                    (B) the adverse effects of climate change are felt 
                most acutely by those segments of the population that 
                are already in vulnerable situations owing to factors 
                such as geography, poverty, gender, age, indigenous or 
                minority status, national or social origin, birth, or 
                other status and disability.
            (6) The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Human Rights has suggested that a person who cannot be 
        reasonably expected to return to his or her country of origin--
                    (A) should be considered a victim of forced 
                displacement; and
                    (B) should be granted at least a temporary stay in 
                the country where they have found refuge.
            (7) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change affirms 
        with high confidence that societal adaptations in the near term 
        can help reduce the risks of climate change throughout the 21st 
        century.
            (8) In 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the 
        Philippines, affecting nearly 15,000,000 people and displacing 
        more than 4,000,000 people.
            (9) Since 2017, violence in Burma's Rakhine State has 
        forced more than 740,000 Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, 
        where they remain exposed to the country's vulnerability to the 
        effects of extreme flooding and landslides worsened by climate 
        change.
            (10) In 2020, extreme rainfall and flooding in Northeast 
        India's Assam State displaced more than 3,300,000 people.
            (11) The small Pacific island Nation of Kiribati is 
        preparing for large swaths of the country to be uninhabitable 
        and for its people to migrate with the skill to integrate into 
        their new host nation.
            (12) More than 150,000,000 people around the world now live 
        on land that may be below sea level or regular flood levels by 
        the end of the century unless adaptation measures are taken.
            (13) The effects of climate change also exacerbate social, 
        economic, and political tensions within and among nations.
            (14) A 2020 CARE report, ``Evicted by Climate Change: 
        Confronting the Gendered Impacts of Climate-Induced 
        Displacement'', notes that--
                    (A) the climate crisis exacerbates gender 
                inequality and makes it harder to achieve gender 
                justice;
                    (B) more than half of the 41,000,000 people 
                internally displaced in 2018 were women;
                    (C) poor women and children are up to 14 times more 
                likely to be killed than men by a climate-fueled 
                disaster, such as a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone, or 
                flood; and
                    (D) women who are displaced by climate change 
                related impacts often have less access to relief 
                resources.
            (15) In 2014, the Department of Defense Quadrennial Defense 
        Review cited the effects of climate change as a ``threat 
        multiplier'' that could lead to violence abroad.
            (16) In 2016, a memorandum from the National Intelligence 
        Counsel entitled ``Implications for U.S. National Security of 
        Anticipated Climate Change'' highlighted how climate change 
        could create or aggravate tensions between nations in already 
        disputed regions, such as the Arctic.
            (17) The 2020 Ecological Threat Register published by the 
        Institute for Economics and Peace projects that climate-related 
        threats will continue to cause significant displacement 
        worldwide over the coming decades. Nineteen countries, with a 
        combined population of 2,100,000,000 people, are noted to be 
        most at risk given population growth, water stress, food 
        insecurity, droughts, floods, cyclones and rising temperature 
        and sea levels.
            (18) In February 2021, President Biden signaled his 
        intention to raise the United States refugee resettlement goal.
            (19) In January 2021, President Biden issued Executive 
        Order 14008 on tackling the climate crisis domestically and 
        abroad. The order affirmed climate considerations essential to 
        United States foreign and defense policy, reaffirmed the role 
        of the Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry, created a national 
        climate task force, and set timelines to produce strategies and 
        implementation plans for integrating climate considerations 
        into foreign policy efforts.
            (20) Previous presidential administrations have not 
        systematically and specifically acted to address climate 
        displacement or to provide appropriate durable solutions to 
        those who are displaced.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should--
            (1) reduce its domestic greenhouse gas emissions on a scale 
        and rate proportionate to its historical responsibility and the 
        urgency of the threat of climate change;
            (2) welcome the shared responsibility of climate change 
        adaptation, global disaster risk reduction, resiliency 
        building, and disaster response and recovery;
            (3) assist in providing durable solutions for climate-
        displaced persons;
            (4) aid other countries in their climate change mitigation 
        efforts; and
            (5) work with the international community--
                    (A) to establish a framework to share such 
                responsibilities; and
                    (B) to ensure that the human rights of climate-
                displaced persons are acknowledged, respected, 
                protected, and fulfilled.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)) is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (8) to read as follows:
    ``(8) The term `climate-displaced person' means any person who, for 
reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment that 
adversely affects his or her life or living conditions--
            ``(A) is obliged to leave his or her habitual home, either 
        within his or her country of nationality or in another country;
            ``(B) is in need of a durable resettlement solution; and
            ``(C) whose government cannot or will not provide such 
        durable resettlement solution.''; and
            (2) by amending paragraph (34) to read as follows:
    ``(34) The term `designated application center' means any United 
States embassy or consulate, or other facility as the Secretary of 
State may delegate to accept applications for climate-displaced person 
status.''.

SEC. 4. REQUIRED DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.

    (a) Data Collection.--The President, in coordination with the 
Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
Department of State, the United States Agency for International 
Development, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the 
Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and other 
relevant agencies, shall collect and maintain data on displacement 
caused by climate change, including information from--
            (1) the International Organization for Migration;
            (2) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
            (3) UNICEF; and
            (4) other international organizations that are collecting 
        such data.
    (b) Annual Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the President shall 
submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House a report that details the 
collection and analysis of the data described in subsection (a). Each 
report required under this subsection shall be submitted in 
unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

SEC. 5. GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE STRATEGY.

    Section 117 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151p) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2)(A) The President is authorized to furnish assistance 
        to programs and initiatives that--
                    ``(i) promote resilience among communities facing 
                harmful impacts from climate change; and
                    ``(ii) reduce the vulnerability of persons affected 
                by climate change.
            ``(B) There shall be, in the Department of State, a 
        Coordinator of Climate Change Resilience, who shall coordinate 
        the assistance authorized under this paragraph.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d)(1) The Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development 
and the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, shall establish a 
comprehensive, integrated, 10-year strategy, which shall be referred to 
as the `Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy', to mitigate the 
impacts of climate change on displacement and humanitarian emergencies.
    ``(2) The Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy shall--
            ``(A) focus on addressing slow-onset and rapid-onset 
        effects of events caused by climate change;
            ``(B) consider the effects of events caused by climate 
        change;
            ``(C) describe the key features of successful strategies to 
        prevent such conditions;
            ``(D) include specific objectives and multisectoral 
        approaches to the effects of events caused by climate change;
            ``(E) describe approaches that ensure national leadership, 
        as appropriate, and substantively engage with civil society, 
        local partners, and the affected communities, including 
        marginalized populations and underserved populations, in the 
        design, implementation, and monitoring of climate change 
        programs to best safeguard the future of those subject to 
        displacement;
            ``(F) assign roles for relevant Federal agencies to avoid 
        duplication of efforts, while ensuring that--
                    ``(i) the Department of State is responsible for--
                            ``(I) leading the Global Climate Change 
                        Resilience Strategy;
                            ``(II) establishing United States foreign 
                        policy;
                            ``(III) advancing diplomatic and political 
                        efforts;
                            ``(IV) guiding security assistance and 
                        related civilian security efforts to mitigate 
                        climate change threats; and
                            ``(V) providing overseas humanitarian 
                        assistance to respond to international 
                        displacement caused by climate change and to 
                        coordinate the pursuit of protection and 
                        durable solutions for climate-displaced 
                        persons, including resettlement into the United 
                        States;
                    ``(ii) the United States Agency for International 
                Development is--
                            ``(I) responsible for overseeing programs 
                        to prevent the effects of events caused by 
                        climate change; and
                            ``(II) the lead implementing agency for 
                        providing overseas humanitarian assistance to 
                        respond to internal displacement and food 
                        insecurity caused by climate change, and for 
                        development and related nonsecurity program 
                        policy related to building resilience and 
                        achieving recovery; and
                    ``(iii) other Federal agencies support the 
                activities of the Department of State and the United 
                States Agency for International Development, as 
                appropriate, with the concurrence of the Secretary of 
                State and the Administrator of the United States Agency 
                for International Development;
            ``(G) describe programs that agencies will undertake to 
        achieve the stated objectives, including descriptions of 
        existing programs and funding by fiscal year and account;
            ``(H) identify mechanisms to improve coordination between 
        the United States, foreign governments, and international 
        organizations, including the World Bank, the United Nations, 
        regional organizations, and private sector organizations;
            ``(I) address efforts to expand public-private partnerships 
        and leverage private sector resources;
            ``(J) describe the criteria, metrics, and mechanisms for 
        monitoring and evaluation of programs and objectives in the 
        Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy; and
            ``(K) describe how the Global Climate Change Resilience 
        Strategy will ensure that programs are country-led and context-
        specific.
    ``(3) Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of 
this subsection, and annually thereafter, the President shall submit a 
report to Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, based in 
part on the information collected pursuant to this section, that 
details the Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy. The report shall 
be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex, 
if necessary.
    ``(4) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this subsection, the Secretary of State and the Coordinator of Global 
Climate Change Resilience shall brief the House Foreign Affairs 
Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on administration 
progress towards the Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy.
    ``(5)(A) Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of 
this subsection, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of 
the United States, in cooperation and consultation with the Secretary 
of State, shall produce a report evaluating the progress that the 
Federal Government has made toward incorporating climate change into 
department and agency policies, including the resources that have been 
allocated for such purpose.
    ``(B) The report required under subparagraph (A) shall assess--
            ``(i) the degree to which the Department of State and the 
        United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 
        are--
                    ``(I) developing climate change risk assessments; 
                and
                    ``(II) providing guidance to missions on how to 
                include climate change risks in their integrated 
                country strategies;
            ``(ii) whether the Department of State and USAID have 
        sufficient resources to fulfill the requirements described in 
        paragraph (2); and
            ``(iii) any areas in which the Department of State and 
        USAID may lack sufficient resources to fulfill such 
        requirements.''.

SEC. 6. TRAINING OF FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS IN CLIMATE CHANGE 
              RESILIENCE.

    Section 708(a)(1) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
4028(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) for Foreign Service Officers who will be 
                assigned to a country from which climate-displaced 
                persons (as defined in section 101(a)(8) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act) have been displaced, 
                instruction on climate displacement, including the 
                Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy established 
                under section 117(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
                1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151p(d)).''.

SEC. 7. GUIDANCE ON THE HUMANITARIAN IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

    The Secretary of State shall provide guidance to each United States 
diplomatic mission, in accordance with Executive Order 13677 (79 Fed. 
Reg. 58229), addressing the humanitarian impacts associated with 
climate change.

SEC. 8. ADMISSION OF CLIMATE-DISPLACED PERSONS.

    (a) Admission of Climate-Displaced Persons.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) is amended by 
        adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 244A. CLIMATE-DISPLACED PERSONS.

    ``(a) Admission Goal.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 207, the number 
        of climate-displaced persons who may be admitted under this 
        section in any fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 2021) 
        shall be not fewer than the greater of--
                    ``(A) 50,000; or
                    ``(B) the number that the President determines, 
                before the beginning of the fiscal year and after 
                appropriate consultation with Congress, is justified by 
                humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national 
                interest.
            ``(2) Effect of numerical adjustment.--If the President 
        determines that the number of climate-displaced persons who may 
        be admitted in a fiscal year based on humanitarian concerns or 
        the national interest is greater than the number set forth in 
        paragraph (1)(A), the President shall--
                    ``(A) set the admissions level for climate-
                displaced persons at the same time as the President 
                determines the number of refugees who may be admitted 
                in such fiscal year under section 207; and
                    ``(B) follow all of the procedures relating to 
                refugee admissions under section 207, including the 
                requirement to engage in an appropriate consultation 
                with Congress.
    ``(b) Admissibility; Applications.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Admissibility.--Subject to the numerical 
                limitation under subsection (a), the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security, pursuant to such regulations as the 
                Secretary may prescribe, may admit any climate-
                displaced person under this section who--
                            ``(i) is admissible;
                            ``(ii) is not described in section 
                        208(b)(2); and
                            ``(iii) is not described in paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Applications.--Any noncitizen described in 
                subparagraph (A), regardless of such noncitizen's 
                immigration status, may apply for admission as a 
                climate-displaced person if the noncitizen--
                            ``(i) is physically present in the United 
                        States;
                            ``(ii) arrives in the United States 
                        (whether or not at a designated port of arrival 
                        and including a noncitizen who is brought to 
                        the United States after having been interdicted 
                        in international or United States waters); or
                            ``(iii) applies at a designated application 
                        center.
            ``(2) Limitations.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), a 
        noncitizen may not apply for status as a climate-displaced 
        person if--
                    ``(A) the Secretary of Homeland Security determines 
                that the noncitizen may be removed, pursuant to a 
                bilateral or multilateral agreement, to a country 
                (other than the country of the noncitizen's nationality 
                or, in the case of a noncitizen having no nationality, 
                the country of the noncitizen's last habitual 
                residence) that is outside of the zone in which the 
                sudden or progressive change in the environment obliged 
                the noncitizen to leave his or her residence, provided 
                that such determination does not violate our Nation's 
                human rights obligations;
                    ``(B) the application is not filed within 1 year 
                after the date of the noncitizen's arrival in the 
                United States; or
                    ``(C) an earlier application by the noncitizen for 
                climate-displaced person status has been denied.
            ``(3) Exceptions.--
                    ``(A) Unaccompanied noncitizen children.--Paragraph 
                (2) shall not apply to unaccompanied noncitizen 
                children (as defined in section 462(g) of the Homeland 
                Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g))).
                    ``(B) Changed circumstances.--Subparagraphs (B) and 
                (C) of paragraph (2) shall not apply if the noncitizen 
                demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security that--
                            ``(i) extraordinary circumstances prevented 
                        the noncitizen from filing an application 
                        within the period specified in paragraph 
                        (2)(B); or
                            ``(ii) changed circumstances materially 
                        affect the applicant's eligibility for climate-
                        displaced person status.
                    ``(C) Referrals authorized.--The Secretary of State 
                may also accept applications submitted on behalf of 
                eligible applicants for climate-displaced person status 
                by qualified international agencies.
            ``(4) Contents.--Applications submitted under this 
        subsection shall contain such information as the Secretary of 
        State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        determines to be necessary to determine whether the applicant 
        is eligible for admission as a climate-displaced person.
            ``(5) Fees.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), an applicant for climate-displaced 
                person status shall not be charged a fee.
                    ``(B) Exception.--If a noncitizen has applied for, 
                and been denied, climate-displaced person status on 2 
                or more previous occasions, the Secretary may charge a 
                reasonable fee for any subsequent applications, which 
                shall set at a level equal to the average cost of 
                adjudicating such applications.
    ``(c) Treatment of Climate-Displaced Persons.--
            ``(1) In general.--A noncitizen who qualifies for climate-
        displaced person status under this section shall be eligible 
        for resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and other 
        benefits available to refugees admitted under section 207.
            ``(2) Treatment of children and spouse.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A spouse or a child (as defined 
                in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 
                101(b)(1)) of a noncitizen who is granted climate-
                displaced person status under this section may, if not 
                otherwise eligible for such status, be granted the same 
                status as the climate-displaced person if accompanying, 
                or following to join, such noncitizen.
                    ``(B) Treatment of children.--An unmarried 
                noncitizen who seeks to accompany, or follow to join, a 
                parent granted climate-displaced person status under 
                this section, and who was younger than 21 years of age 
                on the date on which such parent applied for such 
                status, shall continue to be classified as a child for 
                purposes of this subsection and section 209(b)(3), if 
                the noncitizen attains 21 years of age while such 
                application is pending.
    ``(d) Grounds for Ineligibility.--A noncitizen may not be admitted 
as a climate-displaced person under this section if the noncitizen is 
described in section 208(b)(2).
    ``(e) Defined Term.--In this section, the term `noncitizen' means 
any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents for the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended 
        by inserting after the item relating to section 244 the 
        following:

``Sec. 244A. Climate-displaced persons.''.
    (b) Adjustment of Status.--Section 209(a)(1) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1159(a)) is amended by inserting ``or 244A'' 
before the em dash immediately preceding subparagraph (A).
    (c) Savings Provision.--
            (1) In general.--Nothing in section 244A of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act, as added by subsection (a)(1), may be 
        construed to affect the United States commitment to the United 
        States Refugee Admissions Program.
            (2) Additional protections.--The protections described in 
        such section 244A are in addition to the refugee admissions 
        goal established by the Presidential determination described in 
        subsection (a)(1)(B) of such section.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.
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