Green Climate Fund Authorization Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4986 To authorize appropriations for climate financing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 5, 2019 Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To authorize appropriations for climate financing, 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 ‘‘Green Climate Fund 4 Authorization Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) climate change most severely impacts vul- 8 nerable and disadvantaged communities in the 9 United States and around the world; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4986 IH (2) it is the responsibility of the United States 1 Government to work with its global partners to pro- 2 mote environmental justice and climate justice; 3 (3) the report of the United Nations Environ- 4 ment Programme entitled ‘‘Climate Change and the 5 Cost of Capital in Developing Countries’’, dated May 6 2018, found that, in the 10 years prior to the publi- 7 cation of the report, climate vulnerability has cost 8 the 20 nations most affected by catastrophes rooted 9 in climate change an additional $62,000,000,000 in 10 interest payments alone; 11 (4) individuals and families, particularly com- 12 munities of color, indigenous communities, and low- 13 income communities, that are on the frontlines of 14 climate change across the globe are often in close 15 proximity to environmental stressors or sources of 16 pollution; 17 (5) the communities described in paragraph 18 (4)— 19 (A) are often the first exposed to the 20 causes and impacts of climate change; and 21 (B) have the fewest resources with which 22 to mitigate those impacts or to relocate; 23 (6) all efforts to adapt to and mitigate climate 24 change must include specific protections for and ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4986 IH knowledgment of the harm of climate change to 1 communities of color, indigenous peoples, women, 2 and other frontline communities and marginalized 3 peoples around the world; 4 (7) in Paris, on December 12, 2015, the parties 5 to the United Nations Framework Convention on 6 Climate Change adopted the Paris Agreement, a 7 benchmark agreement— 8 (A) to combat climate change; and 9 (B) to accelerate and intensify the actions 10 and investments needed for a sustainable low 11 carbon future; 12 (8) the Paris Agreement, to which the United 13 States is a party, acknowledges, ‘‘Parties should, 14 when taking action to address climate change, re- 15 spect, promote and consider their respective obliga- 16 tions on human rights, the right to health, the rights 17 of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, 18 children, persons with disabilities and people in vul- 19 nerable situations and the right to development, as 20 well as gender equality, empowerment of women and 21 intergenerational equity’’; 22 (9) the Paris Agreement— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4986 IH (A) notes the importance of ‘‘climate jus- 1 tice’’ when mitigating and adapting to climate 2 change; and 3 (B) recognizes ‘‘the need for an effective 4 and progressive response to the urgent threat of 5 climate change’’; 6 (10) it is imperative for all countries to under- 7 take mitigation activities to rapidly meet the goal of 8 limiting global warming to not more than 1.5 de- 9 grees Celsius; 10 (11) developed countries have the greatest ca- 11 pacity to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions, 12 while— 13 (A) developing countries have the least ca- 14 pacity to engage in mitigation activities; and 15 (B) the capacity of developing countries to 16 engage in mitigation activities is less than the 17 national mitigation potential of those developing 18 countries; 19 (12) the determination for the fair share of 20 mitigation and adaptation activities for each country 21 must take into account— 22 (A) the historic greenhouse gas emissions 23 of each country; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4986 IH (B) the current capacity of each country to 1 both mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and 2 adapt to climate impacts; 3 (13) developed countries that have historically 4 emitted a disproportionately high share of green- 5 house gas emissions, and reaped the economic bene- 6 fits of those polluting activities, have a cor- 7 responding disproportionately greater responsibility 8 to engage in global mitigation and adaptation activi- 9 ties, as compared to less industrialized countries 10 that have historically polluted far less; 11 (14) the only realistic way for less industri- 12 alized countries to meet their full mitigation poten- 13 tial is through international climate financing by 14 more developed countries; 15 (15) in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, developed 16 countries committed to jointly mobilize, starting in 17 2020, $100,000,000,000 per year in public climate 18 financing (as well as private investment and other 19 alternative forms of finance), for developing coun- 20 tries, a commitment reaffirmed in 2015 in Decision 21 1/CP.21 of the United Nations Framework Conven- 22 tion on Climate Change, Adoption of the Paris 23 Agreement; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4986 IH (16) the $100,000,000,000 commitment de- 1 scribed in paragraph (15) was a political com- 2 promise that falls short of the actual financing needs 3 for climate action in developing countries; 4 (17) Bloomberg New Energy Finance has esti- 5 mated that the transition to renewable energy 6 sources in developing countries will require hundreds 7 of billions of dollars annually; 8 (18) the United Nations Environment Pro- 9 gramme has estimated that adaptation needs relat- 10 ing to climate change in developing countries may be 11 as much as $300,000,000,000 annually by 2030; 12 (19) the Green Climate Fund was created in 13 2010 by 194 countries to serve as a crucial financ- 14 ing mechanism to help developing countries limit or 15 reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to cli- 16 mate change; 17 (20) in 2015, the United Nations Framework 18 Convention on Climate Change agreed that the 19 Green Climate Fund should serve the goals of the 20 Paris Agreement, which states that ‘‘developed coun- 21 try Parties shall provide financial resources to assist 22 developing country Parties with respect to both miti- 23 gation and adaptation in continuation of their exist- 24 ing obligations under the Convention’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4986 IH (21) the Green Climate Fund is an essential in- 1 stitution for climate financing, as the Green Climate 2 Fund ensures— 3 (A) balanced governance between developed 4 and developing countries; 5 (B) stakeholder engagement and discourse; 6 (C) a balanced approach between mitiga- 7 tion and adaptation; 8 (D) fair and equal labor and working con- 9 ditions; 10 (E) conservation of biodiversity and critical 11 habitats; and 12 (F) strong environmental, social, and gen- 13 der protections; 14 (22) the Green Climate Fund— 15 (A) promotes and protects human rights 16 and the rights of marginalized groups, including 17 indigenous peoples, women, children, and people 18 with disabilities; and 19 (B) continues to take steps to strengthen 20 protection for marginalized groups; 21 (23) the United States committed 22 $3,000,000,000 of the first $10,000,000,000 raised 23 for the initial resource mobilization period of the 24 Green Climate Fund, though only 1⁄3 of this pledge 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4986 IH was fulfilled, leaving the United States the only 1 country to fall substantially short of a commitment 2 of a country to the Green Climate Fund; and 3 (24) the Green Climate Fund is a fully oper- 4 ational and proven institution supporting well over 5 100 projects and programs in developing countries 6 around the world. 7 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 8 It is the policy of the United States to provide climate 9 financing— 10 (1) as an essential part of the global effort to 11 combat climate change; and 12 (2) that— 13 (A) upholds the principles of environmental 14 justice and climate justice; 15 (B) supports programs and projects devel- 16 oped by recipient countries and communities; 17 (C) is designed and implemented with the 18 free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous 19 peoples and other impacted communities; 20 (D) promotes gender equality as essential 21 in all of the projects and programs supported 22 by climate financing; 23 (E) includes best practices for environ- 24 mental and social safeguards to ensure that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4986 IH projects and programs supported by climate fi- 1 nancing respect fundamental human rights; and 2 (F) addresses both mitigation and adapta- 3 tion as essential aspects of responding to cli- 4 mate change. 5 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 7 priated for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter 8 such sums as may be necessary for contributions to the 9 Green Climate Fund— 10 (1) to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions re- 11 ductions required to keep the planet at or below 1.5 12 degrees Celsius of global warming, consistent with 13 the goals of the Paris Agreement; and 14 (2) to exceed the commitment by developed 15 countries to jointly mobilize, starting in 2020, 16 $100,000,000,000 for climate financing each year, 17 as committed to in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord 18 and reaffirmed in 2015 in Decision 1/CP.21 of the 19 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 20 Change, Adoption of the Paris Agreement. 21 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 22 gress that climate financing needs are significantly greater 23 than those described in subsection (a)(2). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4986 IH SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) CLIMATE FINANCING.—The term ‘‘climate 3 financing’’ means the transfer of new and additional 4 public funds from developed countries to developing 5 countries for projects and programs that— 6 (A) reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas 7 emissions; 8 (B) enhance and restore natural carbon se- 9 questration; and 10 (C) promote adaptation to climate change. 11 (2) GREEN CLIMATE FUND.—The term ‘‘Green 12 Climate Fund’’ means the independent, multilateral 13 fund— 14 (A) established by parties to the United 15 Nations Framework Convention on Climate 16 Change; and 17 (B) adopted by decision as part of the fi- 18 nancial mechanism of the United Nations 19 Framework Convention on Climate Change. 20 (3) PARIS AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Paris 21 Agreement’’ means the annex to Decision 1/CP.21 22 adopted by the 21st Conference of Parties of the 23 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 24 Change in Paris, France, on December 12, 2015. 25 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4986.IH H4986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS