Targeting Environmental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2955 To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive efforts to limit global average temperature rise, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive efforts to limit global average temperature rise, 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 ‘‘Targeting Environ- 4 mental and Climate Recklessness Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2955 IS (1) There is strong global support for actions 1 that limit the severity of climate change. 2 (2) On September 18, 2019, more than 200 3 representatives of environmental groups, human 4 rights groups, indigenous peoples, workers, and aca- 5 demia adopted a declaration calling on governments 6 to urgently address environmental damage, including 7 by increasing the pressure on those most responsible 8 for climate change. 9 (3) The United States Government has devel- 10 oped and implements targeted measures to restrict 11 access to the United States financial system for spe- 12 cific individuals and entities involved in conduct in- 13 cluding malicious cyber-enabled activity, transnation- 14 al organized crime, narcotics trafficking, terrorism, 15 proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human 16 rights abuse, and corruption. Those conduct-based 17 measures apply globally and are not focused on any 18 specific country. 19 (4) As of the date of the enactment of this Act, 20 the United States Government seeks to apply exist- 21 ing sanctions authorities against individuals and en- 22 tities engaged in wildlife trafficking. On January 30, 23 2018, the Office of Foreign Assets Control des- 24 ignated an organization for engaging in illicit activi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2955 IS ties including the trafficking of endangered and vul- 1 nerable animals such as black bears, pangolins, ti- 2 gers, rhinoceroses, and elephants. 3 (5) Climate change has disproportionate impact 4 on poorer communities and individuals in less devel- 5 oped countries. Targeted measures against individ- 6 uals and entities most responsible for exacerbating 7 climate change could help ensure that efforts to ad- 8 dress climate change do not worsen global inequal- 9 ity. 10 (6) Development of carbon-intensive electrical 11 power plants is continuing across the developing 12 world through new foreign investments, despite 13 broad awareness of the dangers. 14 (7) The current investment plans of countries 15 likely to receive significant foreign energy invest- 16 ments may lead to an excess build-out of fossil fuel 17 assets and create carbon ‘‘lock-in’’ absent urgent ac- 18 tion. 19 (8) Governments that are investing in or direct- 20 ing foreign investment toward legacy fossil fuel en- 21 ergy generation often lack the incentive to formulate 22 more efficient or sustainable national energy policies. 23 Those governments are thus likely to default to es- 24 tablished but harmful forms of energy generation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2955 IS (9) Alternatives to carbon-intensive electrical 1 power generation are now available and technological 2 advancements continue to strengthen the economic 3 competitiveness of such alternatives. 4 (10) Corruption is especially harmful when indi- 5 viduals who abuse positions of influence for personal 6 gain can simultaneously cause great damage to the 7 global commons by facilitating significant increases 8 in the emission of, or decreases in the absorption of, 9 greenhouse gases. 10 (11) Deforestation is doubly damaging because 11 it undercuts the absorption of carbon dioxide, while 12 also raising greenhouse gas emissions. 13 (12) According to the Intergovernmental Panel 14 on Climate Change, most pathways to limit warming 15 to well below 2 degrees Celsius require reduced de- 16 forestation in concert with reforestation, afforesta- 17 tion, and bioenergy efforts. 18 (13) From 2013 to 2019, some of the largest 19 financial institutions in the world provided tens of 20 billions of dollars in financing to entities either di- 21 rectly or indirectly deforesting the largest rainforests 22 in the world. Most financial institutions have no in- 23 ternal policy covering dealings in key forest-risk 24 commodities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2955 IS (14) On September 22, 2019, 130 financial in- 1 stitutions worth $47,000,000,000,000 collectively, 2 representing 1⁄3 of the global industry, signed on to 3 the United Nations-backed Principles for Respon- 4 sible Banking, committing to strategically align their 5 businesses with the goals of the agreement of the 6 parties to the United Nations Framework Conven- 7 tion on Climate Change, done at Paris December 12, 8 2015, and entered into force November 4, 2016 (in 9 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Paris Climate Agree- 10 ment’’), and the Sustainable Development Goals 11 adopted by all United Nations member countries in 12 2015. 13 (15) Illegal deforestation causes environmental 14 harm while promoting criminal activity. In the Bra- 15 zilian Amazon, criminal networks with the capacity 16 to coordinate large-scale extraction, processing, and 17 sale of timber deploy armed personnel to protect 18 their interests. They regularly kill and threaten peo- 19 ple who stand in the way of criminal activity, includ- 20 ing members of indigenous communities and envi- 21 ronmental enforcement officials. Perpetrators of vio- 22 lence are rarely brought to justice. 23 (16) Between 2002 and 2017, 1,558 people in 24 50 countries were killed for defending their environ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2955 IS ments and lands. Environmental defenders currently 1 face a wave of violence that includes threats of phys- 2 ical harm, intimidation, and criminalization. 3 (17) Policies and measures to address climate 4 change must also promote human rights, thereby ad- 5 vancing equality, justice, and dignity for all, in line 6 with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 7 United Nations. 8 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON A COMPREHENSIVE AP- 9 PROACH TO ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE. 10 It is the sense of Congress that— 11 (1) the restrictive measures described in this 12 Act are only one component of the comprehensive 13 approach needed to address climate change and miti- 14 gate its effects; 15 (2) the United States Government must ensure 16 through law and regulation that United States enti- 17 ties are not engaged in any of the egregious behav- 18 iors for which foreign persons may be targeted 19 under this Act; 20 (3) the United States Government must recom- 21 mit to the Paris Climate Agreement and commit to 22 any successor agreement; 23 (4) the United States Government must fulfill 24 its pledges to the Green Climate Fund and promote 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2955 IS international efforts to support climate change adap- 1 tation and mitigation; 2 (5) the United States Government must work 3 proactively with foreign governments, including by 4 offering positive incentives, to address climate 5 change and to promote economic development in 6 ways that do not needlessly increase carbon emis- 7 sions or increase the risk of corruption; 8 (6) the restrictive measures described in this 9 Act should be employed if engagement has failed to 10 prevent significant actions that exacerbate climate 11 change; and 12 (7) given broad international support for coun- 13 tering climate change, the Secretary of State should 14 encourage the governments of other countries to im- 15 plement restrictive measures that are similar to the 16 provisions of this Act in order to increase the effec- 17 tiveness of actions taken by the United States to 18 combat significant actions that exacerbate climate 19 change, including related corruption and human 20 rights violations. 21 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENGAGEMENT WITH THE 22 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. 23 It is the sense of Congress that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2955 IS (1) the United States Government should en- 1 courage the People’s Republic of China to follow 2 through on its stated intentions to reduce the nega- 3 tive environmental impacts of Chinese foreign invest- 4 ment, including investments provided through the 5 Belt and Road Initiative; 6 (2) the United States Government should nego- 7 tiate a binding agreement to end fossil fuel subsidies 8 with major economies including the People’s Repub- 9 lic of China; 10 (3) the United States Government should build 11 on the successes of existing engagement with the 12 People’s Republic of China through the United 13 States-China Clean Energy Research Center and 14 other initiatives to launch new cooperative efforts; 15 (4) the United States Government should en- 16 gage in expanded dialogue with the People’s Repub- 17 lic of China to ensure that development finance in- 18 stitutions do not undermine global decarbonization 19 efforts; and 20 (5) the United States Government should work 21 with the People’s Republic of China to develop and 22 adopt safeguards to promote low-carbon, climate-re- 23 silient investments over high-carbon, climate risk-in- 24 ducing investments, particularly in emerging and de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2955 IS veloping economies in the Indo-Pacific, Africa, and 1 Latin America. 2 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON APPLICATION OF GLOB- 3 AL MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS TO CLIMATE- 4 LINKED CORRUPTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS 5 ABUSES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the policy of the United 7 States to consider— 8 (1) any act of corruption related to a covered 9 activity (as defined in section 6(h)) to be corruption, 10 as that term is used in Executive Order 13818 (50 11 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking the property 12 of persons involved in serious human rights abuse or 13 corruption); and 14 (2) any violation of internationally recognized 15 human rights committed against an individual de- 16 scribed in subsection (b) to be a serious human 17 rights abuse, as that term is used in that Executive 18 Order 13818. 19 (b) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An individual de- 20 scribed in this subsection is an individual— 21 (1) seeking to protect the environment, public 22 health, or community land rights; 23 (2) seeking to expose, or raise awareness of, en- 24 vironmental damage; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2955 IS (3) obliged to leave the individual’s habitual 1 home due, in whole or in part, to sudden or progres- 2 sive change in the environment that adversely affects 3 the individual’s life or living conditions. 4 SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SIG- 5 NIFICANT ACTIONS THAT EXACERBATE CLI- 6 MATE CHANGE. 7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 8 gress that the President should employ the authorities 9 provided by this section to prioritize action against, and 10 deterrence of, egregious behaviors that undermine efforts 11 to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 12 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. 13 (b) IN GENERAL.—The President may impose one or 14 more of the sanctions described in subsection (c) with re- 15 spect to any foreign person the President determines, 16 based on credible information— 17 (1) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to 18 have directly or indirectly engaged in, a covered ac- 19 tivity, including a government official who approves 20 or implements policies or acts that serve to promote 21 a covered activity; 22 (2) to have acted or purported to act for or on 23 behalf of, directly or indirectly, any foreign person in 24 a matter relating to a covered activity, including for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2955 IS or on behalf of a government official described in 1 paragraph (1); 2 (3) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or 3 provided financial, material, or technological support 4 for, or goods or services to or in support of, a cov- 5 ered activity; or 6 (4) to be owned or controlled by a foreign per- 7 son described in paragraph (1). 8 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions that 9 may be imposed with respect to a foreign person under 10 subsection (b) are the following: 11 (1) INADMISSIBILITY TO UNITED STATES.—In 12 the case of a foreign person who is an individual— 13 (A) ineligibility to receive a visa to enter 14 the United States or to be admitted to the 15 United States; or 16 (B) if the individual has been issued a visa 17 or other documentation, revocation, in accord- 18 ance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and 19 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa 20 or other documentation. 21 (2) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The blocking, in ac- 23 cordance with the International Emergency 24 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2955.IS S2955 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2955 IS of all transactions in all property and interests 1 in property of the foreign person if such prop- 2 erty and interests in property are in the United 3 States, [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]