Climate-Resilient International Development Optimization Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2762 To require the integration of climate-resilience considerations into all development work of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. GIMENEZ, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. CASE, Mr. TRONE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MORELLE, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the integration of climate-resilience considerations into all development work of the United States, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate-Resilient 4 International Development Optimization Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2762 IH SEC. 2. CLIMATE-RESILIENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOP- 1 MENT. 2 (a) INCORPORATING CLIMATE RESILIENCE INTO 3 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.— 4 (1) DIRECT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 5 PROGRAMS AND INVESTMENTS.—The head of each 6 agency with direct international development pro- 7 grams and investments shall carry out the following: 8 (A) Incorporate climate resilience consider- 9 ations into agency decision making to— 10 (i) assess and evaluate climate-related 11 risks to and vulnerabilities in agency strat- 12 egies, planning, programs, projects, invest- 13 ments, overseas facilities, and related fund- 14 ing decisions, using best-available climate- 15 change data, tools, and information, in- 16 cluding such data, tools, and information 17 identified or developed by the Working 18 Group established under subsection (b)(1); 19 and 20 (ii) adjust strategies, planning, pro- 21 grams, projects, investments, and related 22 funding decisions of the agency, including 23 the planning for and management of over- 24 seas facilities, based on the assessments 25 and evaluations referred to in clause (i). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2762 IH (B) Collaborate with the heads of other 1 agencies with direct international development 2 programs and investments, as appropriate, to 3 share knowledge, data, tools, information, 4 frameworks, and lessons learned in incor- 5 porating climate-resilience considerations into 6 agency strategy, planning, programs, projects, 7 investments, and related funding decisions, in- 8 cluding the planning for and management of 9 overseas facilities. 10 (C) Work with other countries, as appro- 11 priate, to— 12 (i) identify climate-related risks; 13 (ii) incorporate climate-resilience con- 14 siderations into international development 15 assistance efforts performed by the agency; 16 and 17 (iii) identify knowledge, practices, 18 tools, and data of such other countries and 19 multilateral organizations that can be used 20 by the United States to improve the activi- 21 ties described in clauses (i) and (ii). 22 (D) Support the efforts of countries that 23 are recipients of international development as- 24 sistance, especially those vulnerable to climatic, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2762 IH weather, and other forms of disruption caused 1 by global climate change, to integrate climate- 2 resilience considerations regarding how to use 3 resources (including the countries’ own national 4 resources and those provided by the United 5 States, other countries, and multilateral enti- 6 ties) into national, regional, and sectoral devel- 7 opment planning and action. 8 (E) Support the efforts of multilateral en- 9 tities and other countries in developing and re- 10 ceiving access to knowledge, practices, tools, 11 and data related to identifying climate-related 12 risks and incorporating climate-resilience con- 13 siderations into development programs. 14 (F) Monitor the implementation of sub- 15 paragraphs (A) through (E). 16 (2) DEVELOPMENT THROUGH MULTILATERAL 17 ENTITY PARTICIPATION OR REPRESENTATION.—The 18 head of each agency that participates in a multilat- 19 eral entity shall, as appropriate, carry out the fol- 20 lowing: 21 (A) Encourage the multilateral entity to— 22 (i) assess and evaluate climate-related 23 risks to and vulnerabilities in the strate- 24 gies, planning, programs, projects, invest- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2762 IH ments, and related funding decisions of the 1 entity, using best-available climate-change 2 data, tools, and information, including 3 such data, tools, and information identified 4 or developed by the Working Group; and 5 (ii) adjust the strategies, planning, 6 programs, projects, investments, and re- 7 lated funding decisions of the entity, as ap- 8 propriate, based on the assessments and 9 evaluations referred to in clause (i). 10 (B) Collaborate with the multilateral entity 11 and share with the agencies represented on the 12 Working Group under subsection (b)(3)(B) and 13 other stakeholders the knowledge, data, tools, 14 information, frameworks, and lessons learned 15 from the entity in incorporating the climate-re- 16 silience considerations into strategies, planning, 17 programs, projects, investments, and related 18 funding decisions. 19 (C) Encourage the multilateral entity— 20 (i) to support the efforts of countries 21 to integrate climate-resilience consider- 22 ations into national, regional, and sectoral 23 development planning and actions; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2762 IH (ii) to promote the development of and 1 access to knowledge, practices, tools, and 2 data needed for such efforts. 3 (D) Learn from the skills, practices, data, 4 and tools of the multilateral entity and other 5 countries and incorporate such lessons into 6 United States-led development missions. 7 (E) Monitor the implementation of sub- 8 paragraphs (A) through (D). 9 (b) WORKING GROUP ON CLIMATE-RESILIENT 10 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.— 11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 12 the Department of the Treasury a Working Group 13 on Climate-Resilient International Development (in 14 this section referred to as ‘‘Working Group’’). 15 (2) MISSION AND DUTIES.—The Working 16 Group shall carry out the following: 17 (A) Support each agency with direct inter- 18 national development programs and investments 19 by— 20 (i) identifying, as appropriate, the 21 need for new data, tools, and information 22 from the data, tools, and information de- 23 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i) to be de- 24 veloped by the agency working with a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2762 IH science and security agency or entity to ad- 1 vance the development of such agency; 2 (ii) identifying approaches for adjust- 3 ing strategies, planning, programs, 4 projects, investments, and related funding 5 decisions described in clause (ii) of sub- 6 section (a)(1)(A) in response to the find- 7 ings of climate-risk assessments described 8 in clause (i) of such subsection; 9 (iii) facilitating the exchange of 10 knowledge, data, tools, information, frame- 11 works, and lessons learned in assessing cli- 12 mate risks to and incorporating climate-re- 13 silience considerations into strategies, plan- 14 ning, programs, projects, investments, and 15 related funding decisions of the agency de- 16 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A); and 17 (iv) developing methods for tracking 18 and reporting on actions to institutionalize 19 climate-resilient development approaches, 20 including performance metrics and meth- 21 odologies for assessing climate-related risks 22 and making cost-benefit analysis. 23 (B) Support each agency with direct inter- 24 national development programs and investments 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2762 IH by identifying ways each such agency may work 1 with multilateral entities and other countries to 2 receive, share, and review best practices to fa- 3 cilitate advancement of climate-resilient devel- 4 opment policies. 5 (C) Support each agency with direct inter- 6 national development programs and investments 7 by identifying ways each such agency may share 8 with multilateral entities and other countries, as 9 appropriate, and make publicly available to the 10 extent possible, data, tools, and information 11 used pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A)(i). 12 (D) Promote interagency collaboration, in- 13 cluding through joint training. 14 (E) Identify and develop, as appropriate, 15 guidelines for incorporating considerations of 16 climate-change risks and climate resilience into 17 agency strategies, plans, programs, projects, in- 18 vestments, and related funding decisions de- 19 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A). 20 (F) Identify and assess, as appropriate, ex- 21 isting climate-change data, decision-support 22 tools, and information described in subsection 23 (a)(1)(A)(i) to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2762 IH (i) help the Working Group assess cli- 1 mate risks and make decisions that incor- 2 porate climate-resilience considerations, in- 3 cluding project screening; and 4 (ii) allow the screening for and incor- 5 poration of considerations of climate- 6 change risks and vulnerabilities by the 7 Working Group in strategies, plans, pro- 8 grams, projects, investments, and related 9 funding decisions. 10 (G) Coordinate efforts, including efforts 11 pursuant to Executive Order 13653 (78 Fed. 12 Reg. 66817) as in effect on November 1, 2013, 13 between representatives of the Working Group 14 with decision makers in multilateral entities, 15 donor countries, and recipient countries to— 16 (i) share data, tools, and information 17 described in subparagraph (F); and 18 (ii) increase information on climate- 19 change impacts for providers and users. 20 (H) Work with the heads of agencies with 21 direct international development programs and 22 investments and the heads of agencies that par- 23 ticipate in a multilateral entities to provide, not 24 later than 2 years after the date of the enact- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2762 IH ment of this Act, training for personnel of such 1 agencies with respect to integrating climate-re- 2 silience considerations into international devel- 3 opment assistance efforts performed by such 4 agencies (and the heads of such agencies shall 5 cooperate with the Working Group in providing 6 such training). 7 (3) MEMBERSHIP.— 8 (A) CO-CHAIRS.—The Working Group 9 shall be co-chaired by the following: 10 (i) The Secretary of the Treasury, or 11 the Secretary’s designee. 12 (ii) The Administrator of the United 13 States Agency for International Develop- 14 ment, or the Administrator’s designee. 15 (B) REPRESENTATIVES.— 16 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Working 17 Group shall be composed of one represent- 18 ative from— 19 (I) each agency that participates 20 in a multilateral entity, including each 21 agency or entity determined by the co- 22 chairs of the Working Group pursuant 23 to subsection (f)(2)(C); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2762 IH (II) each agency with direct 1 international development programs 2 and investments, including each agen- 3 cy or entity determined by the co- 4 chairs of the Working Group pursuant 5 to subsection (f)(3)(H); 6 (III) each science and security 7 agency or entity, including each agen- 8 cy or entity determined by the co- 9 chairs of the Working Group pursuant 10 to subsection (f)(7)(H); and 11 (IV) the Council on Environ- 12 mental Quality or another agency or 13 office in the Executive Office of the 14 President, as determined by the Presi- 15 dent. 16 (ii) AGENCIES WITH MULTIPLE 17 PLACEMENTS.—The head of any agency 18 that is represented on the Working Group 19 as described in more than one category 20 listed in clause (i) may decide— 21 (I) to be represented by a sepa- 22 rate representative for each such cat- 23 egory; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2762 IH (II) to be represented by a single 1 representative for two or more such 2 categories. 3 (iii) QUALIFICATION AND APPOINT- 4 MENT.—Each representative of an agency 5 or office under clause (i) shall be a senior 6 official of such agency or office, to be ap- 7 pointed by the head of the agency or office. 8 (c) IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORTING OF 9 PROGRESS.— 10 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—To promote implemen- 11 tation by each agency or entity with representation 12 in the Working Group, the Working Group shall 13 carry out the following: 14 (A) Establish a 2-year timeline to imple- 15 ment subsection (b)(2), including biannual ob- 16 jectives for each agency or entity. 17 (B) Analyze, at least annually, the Work- 18 ing Group’s progress in implementing this sec- 19 tion and provide recommendations for priority 20 areas for further implementation to the fol- 21 lowing: 22 (i) The Office of Management and 23 Budget. 24 (ii) The National Security Council. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2762.IH H2762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2762 IH (iii) The Council on Environmental 1 Quality. 2 (iv) The Office of Science and Tech- 3 nology Policy. 4 (v) Other agencies, offices, and enti- 5 ties, as the Working Group determines ap- 6 propriate. 7 (2) REPORTING.— 8 (A) AGENCY WITH DIRECT INTER- 9 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND IN- 10 VESTMENTS [Text truncated for display. 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