I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4732 To establish a Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy, to authorize the admission of climate-displaced persons, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 17, 2019 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, and Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 4 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4732 IH Sec. 8. Admission of climate-displaced persons. Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations. SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 (1) According to the Intergovernmental Panel 3 on Climate Change, the Earth’s climate is now 4 changing faster than at any point in history. 5 (2) The October 2018 report entitled ‘‘Special 6 Report on Global Warming of 1.5° C’’ by the Inter- 7 governmental Panel on Climate Change and the No- 8 vember 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment 9 report found that a changing climate is— 10 (A) causing sea levels to rise; 11 (B) contributing to an increase in wildfires 12 and temperature extremes in some parts of the 13 world; and 14 (C) contributing to an increase in heavy 15 precipitation in certain locations. 16 (3) Forced displacement and forced migration 17 are increasing in the context of environmental 18 changes and climate-induced disruptions, including 19 weather-related disasters, drought, famine, and ris- 20 ing sea levels. 21 (4) Climate-related events and disasters are 22 causing a person to be displaced from his or her 23 home every second. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4732 IH (5) The United Nations Human Rights Council 1 has recognized that climate change poses an existen- 2 tial threat that has already had a negative impact on 3 the fulfilment of human rights, specifically noting 4 that— 5 (A) parties should, when taking action to 6 address climate change, respect, promote, and 7 consider their respective obligations on human 8 rights; and 9 (B) the adverse effects of climate change 10 are felt most acutely by those segments of the 11 population that are already in vulnerable situa- 12 tions owing to factors such as geography, pov- 13 erty, gender, age, indigenous or minority status, 14 national or social origin, birth, or other status 15 and disability. 16 (6) The Office of the United Nations High 17 Commissioner for Human Rights has suggested that 18 a person who cannot be reasonably expected to re- 19 turn to his or her country of origin— 20 (A) should be considered a victim of forced 21 displacement; and 22 (B) should be granted at least a temporary 23 stay in the country where they have found ref- 24 uge. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4732 IH (7) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 1 Change affirms with high confidence that societal 2 adaptations in the near term can help reduce the 3 risks of climate change throughout the 21st century. 4 (8) Since 2013, typhoons and storms in the 5 Philippines have displaced nearly 15,000,000 people. 6 (9) Violence in Burma’s Rakhine State has 7 forced nearly 1,000,000 Rohingya refugees into 8 Bangladesh, where they are exposed to the country’s 9 vulnerability to the effects of extreme flooding and 10 landslides worsened by climate change. 11 (10) In 2019, extreme flooding in Northern and 12 Northeast India displaced at least 3,000,000 people, 13 including almost 2,000,000 people in the Northern 14 Indian state of Bihar and more than 1,700,000 peo- 15 ple in Northeastern Assam state. 16 (11) The small Pacific island Nation of Kiribati 17 is preparing for large swaths of the country to be 18 uninhabitable and for its people to migrate with the 19 skill to integrate into their new host nation. 20 (12) More than 150,000,000 people around the 21 world now live on land that will be below sea level 22 or regular flood levels by the end of the century un- 23 less adaptation measures are taken. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4732 IH (13) The effects of climate change also exacer- 1 bate social, economic, and political tensions within 2 and among nations. 3 (14) In 2014, the Department of Defense 4 Quadrennial Defense Review cited the effects of cli- 5 mate change as a ‘‘threat multiplier’’ that could ag- 6 gravate stressors abroad. 7 (15) In 2016, a memorandum from the Na- 8 tional Intelligence Counsel entitled ‘‘Implications for 9 U.S. National Security of Anticipated Climate 10 Change’’ highlighted how climate change could cre- 11 ate or inflame tensions between nations in already 12 disputed regions, such as the Arctic. 13 (16) Continued climate change will drive fur- 14 ther displacement. According to the International 15 Organization for Migration, by 2050, there could be 16 as many as 200,000,000 climate-displaced persons, 17 including those who are internally displaced. 18 (17) The United States has not systematically 19 acted to address climate displacement or to provide 20 appropriate durable solutions to those who are dis- 21 placed. 22 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 23 gress that the United States should— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4732 IH (1) reduce its domestic greenhouse gas emis- 1 sions on a scale and rate proportionate to its histor- 2 ical responsibility and the urgency of the threat of 3 climate change; 4 (2) welcome the shared responsibility of climate 5 change adaptation, global disaster risk reduction, re- 6 siliency building, and disaster response and recovery; 7 (3) assist in providing durable solutions for cli- 8 mate-displaced persons; 9 (4) aid other countries in their climate change 10 mitigation efforts; and 11 (5) work with the international community— 12 (A) to establish a framework to share such 13 responsibilities; and 14 (B) to ensure that the human rights of cli- 15 mate-displaced persons are acknowledged, re- 16 spected, protected, and fulfilled. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 19 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended— 20 (1) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(8) The term ‘climate-displaced person’ means any 23 person who, for reasons of sudden or progressive change 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4732 IH in the environment that adversely affects his or her life 1 or living conditions— 2 ‘‘(A) is obliged to leave his or her habitual 3 home, either within his or her country of nationality 4 or in another country; 5 ‘‘(B) is in need of a durable resettlement solu- 6 tion; and 7 ‘‘(C) whose government cannot or will not pro- 8 vide such durable resettlement solution.’’; and 9 (2) by amending paragraph (34) to read as fol- 10 lows: 11 ‘‘(34) The term ‘designated application center’ means 12 any United States embassy or consulate, or other facility 13 as the Secretary of State may delegate to accept applica- 14 tions for climate-displaced person status.’’. 15 SEC. 4. REQUIRED DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING. 16 (a) DATA COLLECTION.—The President, in coordina- 17 tion with the Department of Commerce, the Environ- 18 mental Protection Agency, the Department of State, the 19 Director of National Intelligence, the Department of De- 20 fense, and other relevant agencies, shall collect and main- 21 tain data on displacement caused by climate change, in- 22 cluding information from— 23 (1) the International Organization for Migra- 24 tion; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4732 IH (2) the United Nations High Commissioner for 1 Refugees; 2 (3) UNICEF; and 3 (4) other international organizations that are 4 collecting such data. 5 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 6 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there- 7 after, the President shall submit a report to the appro- 8 priate congressional committees that details the collection 9 and analysis of the data described in subsection (a). The 10 report required under this subsection shall be submitted 11 in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. 12 SEC. 5. GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE STRATEGY. 13 Section 117 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 14 (22 U.S.C. 2151p) is amended— 15 (1) in subsection (b)— 16 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and 17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(2)(A) The President is authorized to furnish assist- 19 ance to programs and initiatives that— 20 ‘‘(i) promote resilience among communities fac- 21 ing harmful impacts from climate change; and 22 ‘‘(ii) reduce the vulnerability of persons affected 23 by climate change. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4732 IH ‘‘(B) There shall be, in the Department of State, a 1 Coordinator of Climate Change Resilience, who shall co- 2 ordinate the assistance authorized under this paragraph.’’; 3 and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary of State, in coordination with 6 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter- 7 national Development, shall establish a comprehensive, in- 8 tegrated, 10-year strategy, which shall be referred to as 9 the ‘Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy’, to miti- 10 gate the impacts of climate change on displacement and 11 humanitarian emergencies. 12 ‘‘(2) The Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy 13 shall— 14 ‘‘(A) focus on addressing slow-onset and rapid- 15 onset effects of events caused by climate change; 16 ‘‘(B) consider the effects of events caused by 17 climate change; 18 ‘‘(C) describe the key features of successful 19 strategies to prevent such conditions; 20 ‘‘(D) include specific objectives and multisec- 21 toral approaches to the effects of events caused by 22 climate change; 23 ‘‘(E) describe approaches that ensure national 24 leadership, as appropriate, and substantively engage 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4732 IH with civil society, local partners, and the affected 1 communities, including marginalized populations and 2 underserved populations, in the design, implementa- 3 tion, and monitoring of climate change programs to 4 best safeguard the future of those subject to dis- 5 placement; 6 ‘‘(F) assign roles for relevant Federal agencies 7 to avoid duplication of efforts, while ensuring that— 8 ‘‘(i) the Department of State is responsible 9 for— 10 ‘‘(I) leading the Global Climate 11 Change Resilience Strategy; 12 ‘‘(II) establishing United States for- 13 eign policy; 14 ‘‘(III) advancing diplomatic and polit- 15 ical efforts; 16 ‘‘(IV) guiding security assistance and 17 related civilian security efforts to mitigate 18 climate change threats; and 19 ‘‘(V) providing overseas humanitarian 20 assistance to respond to international and 21 internal displacement caused by climate 22 change and to coordinate the pursuit of 23 durable solutions for climate-displaced per- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4732 IH sons, including resettlement into the 1 United States; 2 ‘‘(ii) the United States Agency for Inter- 3 national Development is— 4 ‘‘(I) responsible for overseeing pro- 5 grams to prevent the effects of events 6 caused by climate change; and 7 ‘‘(II) the lead implementing agency 8 for development and related nonsecurity 9 program policy related to building resil- 10 ience and achieving recovery; and 11 ‘‘(iii) other Federal agencies support the 12 activities of the Department of State and the 13 United States Agency for International Devel- 14 opment, as appropriate, with the concurrence of 15 the Secretary of State and the Administrator of 16 the United States Agency for International De- 17 velopment; 18 ‘‘(G) describe programs that agencies will un- 19 dertake to achieve the stated objectives, including 20 descriptions of existing programs and funding by fis- 21 cal year and account; 22 ‘‘(H) identify mechanisms to improve coordina- 23 tion between the United States, foreign govern- 24 ments, and international organizations, including the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4732.IH H4732 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4732 IH World Bank, the United Nations, regional organiza- 1 tions, and private sector organizations; 2 ‘‘(I) address efforts to expand public-private 3 partnerships and leverage private sector resources; 4 ‘‘(J) describe the criteria, metrics, and mecha- 5 nisms for monitoring and evaluation of programs 6 and objectives in the Global Climate Change Resil- 7 ience Strategy; and 8 ‘‘(K) describe how the Global Climate Change 9 Resilience Strategy will ensure that programs are 10 country-led and context-specific. 11 ‘‘(3) Not later than 270 days after the date of the 12 enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, [Text truncated for display. 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