II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1201 To restore the United States international leadership on climate change and clean energy, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 19, 2021 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. KAINE, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To restore the United States international leadership on climate change and clean energy, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘United States Climate Leadership in International Miti- 5 gation, Adaptation, and Technology Enhancement Act of 6 2021’’. 7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 8 this Act is as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1201 IS Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings; sense of Congress. Sec. 3. Purpose. Sec. 4. Definitions. TITLE I—CLIMATE AND NATIONAL SECURITY Sec. 101. Climate diplomacy. Sec. 102. Enhancing United States security considerations for global climate disruptions. Sec. 103. Arctic diplomacy. TITLE II—INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND CONVENTIONS Sec. 201. Sense of Congress in support of the United States returning to the Paris Agreement. Sec. 202. Enhanced United States commitment to the Paris Agreement. Sec. 203. Sense of Congress regarding ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. Sec. 204. Compliance with the carbon offset and reduction scheme for inter- national aviation. Sec. 205. Short-lived climate pollutants. Sec. 206. International cooperation regarding clean transportation and sustain- able land use and community development. Sec. 207. Sense of Congress on United States reengagement with the Group of Seven and the Group of Twenty on climate action. TITLE III—CLIMATE CHANGE DEVELOPMENT FINANCE AND SUPPORT Sec. 301. International Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation, and Security Program. Sec. 302. United States contributions to the Green Climate Fund. Sec. 303. Sense of Congress on United States engagements at the World Eco- nomic Forum. Sec. 304. Clean energy and the United States International Development Fi- nance Corporation. Sec. 305. Consistency in United States policy on development finance and cli- mate change. TITLE IV—CLEAN ENERGY DIPLOMACY AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Sec. 401. Energy diplomacy and security within the Department of State. Sec. 402. Department of State primacy for energy diplomacy. Sec. 403. Reports on United States participation in Mission Innovation and the Clean Energy Ministerial. Sec. 404. Reduced deforestation. TITLE V—BILATERAL AND REGIONAL MULTILATERAL CLIMATE DIPLOMACY AND COOPERATION Sec. 501. North American Strategy. Sec. 502. Accountability and cooperation with China. Sec. 503. United States and European Union cooperation on climate finance for developing countries. Sec. 504. Sense of Congress on clean energy cooperation with India. VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1201 IS Sec. 505. Power Africa. Sec. 506. Caribbean Energy Initiative. Sec. 507. Sense of Congress on conservation of the Amazon River basin. Sec. 508. Sense of Congress regarding renewable energy in Indonesia. TITLE VI—WOMEN AND CLIMATE CHANGE ACT Sec. 601. Short title. Sec. 602. Findings. Sec. 603. Definitions. Sec. 604. Statement of policy. Sec. 605. Federal Interagency Working Group on Women and Climate Change. Sec. 606. Development and implementation of strategy and policies to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change on women glob- ally. Sec. 607. Climate change within the Office of Global Women’s Issues. SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The Special Report: Global Warming of 3 1.5°C, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on 4 Climate Change on October 8, 2018, and the Fourth 5 National Climate Assessment, first published by the 6 United States Global Change Research Program in 7 2018, concluded that— 8 (A) the release of greenhouse gas emis- 9 sions, most notably the combustion of fossil 10 fuels and the degradation of natural resources 11 that absorb atmospheric carbon from human 12 activity, are the dominant causes of climate 13 change during the past century; and 14 (B) changes in the Earth’s climate are— 15 (i) causing sea levels to rise; 16 (ii) increasing the global average tem- 17 perature of the Earth; 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1201 IS (iii) increasing the incidence and se- 1 verity of wildfires; and 2 (iv) intensifying the severity of ex- 3 treme weather, including hurricanes, cy- 4 clones, typhoons, flooding, droughts, and 5 other disasters that threaten human life, 6 healthy communities, and critical infra- 7 structure. 8 (2) An increase in the global average tempera- 9 ture of 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industri- 10 alized levels would cause— 11 (A)(i) the displacement, and the forced in- 12 ternal migration, of an estimated 143,000,000 13 people in Latin America, South Asia, and Sub- 14 Saharan Africa by 2050 if insufficient action is 15 taken (according to the World Bank); and 16 (ii) the displacement of an average of 17 17,800,000 people worldwide by floods every 18 year (according to the Internal Displacement 19 Monitoring Centre) because of the exacerbating 20 effects of climate change; 21 (B)(i) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost 22 annual economic output in the United States (a 23 10 percent contraction from 2018 levels) by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1201 IS 2100 (according to the Fourth National Cli- 1 mate Assessment); and 2 (ii) an additional 100,000,000 people 3 worldwide to be driven into poverty by 2030 4 (according to the World Bank); 5 (C)(i) greater food insecurity and de- 6 creased agricultural production due to climate 7 change’s effects on the increased frequency and 8 intensity of extreme weather events; and 9 (ii) the proliferation of agricultural pests 10 and crop diseases, loss of biodiversity, degrad- 11 ing ecosystems, and water scarcity (according 12 to the United Nations Food and Agriculture 13 Organization); and 14 (D) more than 350,000,000 additional peo- 15 ple worldwide to be exposed to deadly heat 16 stress by 2050. 17 (3) According to the International Monetary 18 Fund, a persistent annual increase in average global 19 temperature of .04 degrees Celsius would reduce 20 global real gross domestic product per capita by 7.22 21 percent by 2100. 22 (4) According to the United Nations Environ- 23 ment Programme, climate change is exacerbating 24 unusual regional weather conditions, which is driving 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1201 IS the current and prolonged desert locust outbreak 1 that is threatening food security across East Africa 2 and Southeast Asia. 3 (5) According to the Intergovernmental Science- 4 Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem 5 Services— 6 (A) an increase in the global average tem- 7 perature of between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius 8 will result in a significant reduction in the 9 worldwide number of land species; 10 (B) an increase in the global average tem- 11 perature of 2 degrees Celsius— 12 (i) will place 5 percent of world’s spe- 13 cies at risk of extinction; and 14 (ii) will result in the destruction of 15 more than 99 percent of all coral reefs 16 worldwide; and 17 (C) an increase in the global average tem- 18 perature of 4.3 degrees Celsius will place 16 19 percent of world’s terrestrial species at risk of 20 extinction. 21 (6) According to the International Energy 22 Agency, the United States, China, India, and the 23 European Union (including the United Kingdom) ac- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1201 IS count for more than 58 percent of global greenhouse 1 gas emissions. 2 (7) China, which is the world’s top greenhouse 3 gases emitter and has an outsized impact on the 4 United States core interest in climate stability— 5 (A) is likely to achieve its carbon emissions 6 mitigation pledge to the Paris Agreement, con- 7 tained in its 2015 nationally determined con- 8 tribution, to ‘‘peak’’ emissions around 2030 9 ahead of schedule; 10 (B) announced, on September 22, 2020, a 11 pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060; 12 and 13 (C) has yet to announce an updated na- 14 tionally determined contribution. 15 (8) On October 26, 2020, Japan, the world’s 16 third largest economy and fifth greatest carbon 17 emitter, announced a pledge to achieve carbon neu- 18 trality by 2050. Despite apprehension about growing 19 nuclear energy sources, Japan aims to increase its 20 share of renewable and nuclear energy following new 21 targets unveiled next year. 22 (9) India has met its growing energy demands 23 by becoming a global leader in renewable energy 24 generation. Despite significant investments in renew- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1201 IS able energy, and the implementation of strong na- 1 tional greenhouse gas mitigation policies, India con- 2 tinues to operate some of the world’s dirtiest fossil 3 fuel power plants and has high emissions generated 4 from its transportation sector. India is a critical 5 market for foreign investment and will be a major 6 competitor in international clean energy development 7 futures. 8 (10) India’s leadership within the Clean Energy 9 Ministerial, the Mission Innovation initiative, and 10 the International Solar Alliance has put India at the 11 forefront of renewable energy development and 12 helped India achieve a top 5 global rank among 13 clean energy producers. Installed electricity capacity 14 from renewables in India grew by 144 percent be- 15 tween 2014 and 2020. Approximately 16 $42,000,000,000 was invested into India’s renewable 17 energy sector between 2014 and 2019. 18 (11) The European Union demonstrated its 19 strong commitment to climate action by making the 20 ambitious pledge to reduce the collective greenhouse 21 gas emissions of its 27 member nations by at least 22 55 percent by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels) and 23 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The European 24 Parliament went even further, voting to reduce its 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1201 IS collective economy wide greenhouse gas emissions by 1 60 percent by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels). 2 These commitments represent substantial improve- 3 ments from the previous goal of a 40 percent reduc- 4 tion in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. 5 (12) The European Union’s member nations 6 have also provided the equivalent of approximately 7 $120,000,000,000 between 2014 and 2020 in sup- 8 port and financing to build climate change resilience 9 and develop low carbon energy capacity throughout 10 the developing world. 11 (13) The European Union has traditionally 12 been a steadfast partner with United States in the 13 United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate 14 Change by pushing for improved accountability, 15 transparency, and shared responsibility among par- 16 ties in mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions. 17 As the United States Government’s executive branch 18 has pulled away from climate action commitments, 19 the European Union has increased its cooperation 20 with coalitions of States through partnerships such 21 as the United States Climate Alliance. 22 (14) Among the world’s top greenhouse gas 23 emitters, the United States is the only country 24 that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1201 IS (A) has rescinded national policies to re- 1 duce greenhouse gas emissions; 2 (B) has advanced policies aimed at bol- 3 stering fossil fuel consumption and extraction, 4 including through the removal of Federal pro- 5 tections of public lands that are critical wilder- 6 ness areas vital to maintaining healthy natural 7 ecosystems; and 8 (C) has abstained or withdrawn itself from 9 several global cooperative efforts acknowledging 10 and addressing the climate crisis. 11 (15) United States leadership during delibera- 12 tions over the Paris Agreement— 13 (A) was exemplified by— 14 (i) its commitment to reduce national 15 emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 16 levels; 17 (ii) its leadership in the ‘‘Umbrella 18 Group’’ and its role as cofounder of the 19 ‘‘High Ambition Coalition’’; 20 (iii) its co-facilitation of the 21 UNFCCC; 22 (iv) its work with the Ad Hoc Work- 23 ing Group on the Paris Agreement on 24 agenda item 5: Modalities, procedures and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:16 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1201 IS guidelines for the transparency framework 1 for action; 2 (v) its support for the enhanced trans- 3 parency framework for action and support 4 referred to in Article 13 of the Paris 5 Agreement; 6 (vi) its pledge of $3,000,000,000 to 7 the Green Climate Fund (of which the 8 United States still owed $2,000,000,000) 9 in support of developing countries’ efforts 10 to adapt to climate change and to mitigate 11 greenhouse gas emissions; and 12 (vii) the development of critical bilat- 13 eral climate action cooperation initiatives 14 with China and India; and 15 (B) established the United States as essen- 16 tial to uniting the world in climate action co- 17 operation. 18 (16) The United States reversal on nearly all 19 climate action policies since 2017, including repeal- 20 ing the Clean Power Plan (announced by President 21 Obama in August 2015), canceling contributions to 22 the United Na [Text truncated for display. 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