I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3961 To authorize appropriations for climate financing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 9, 2023 Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Ms. BARRAGA´N) 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 2023’’. 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 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3961 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 2023 report of the Intergovernmental 4 Panel on Climate Change, entitled ‘‘AR6 Synthesis 5 Report: Climate Change 2023’’, found that current 6 global financial flows for climate adaptation are in- 7 sufficient for, and constrain implementation of, cli- 8 mate adaptation options, especially in developing 9 countries; 10 (4) the report of the United Nations Environ- 11 ment Programme entitled ‘‘Climate Change and the 12 Cost of Capital in Developing Countries’’, dated May 13 2018, found that, in the 10 years prior to the publi- 14 cation of the report, climate vulnerability had cost 15 the 20 nations most affected by catastrophes rooted 16 in climate change an additional $62,000,000,000 in 17 interest payments alone; 18 (5) individuals and families, particularly com- 19 munities of color, indigenous communities, and low- 20 income communities, that are on the frontlines of 21 climate change across the globe are often in close 22 proximity to environmental stressors or sources of 23 pollution; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3961 IH (6) the communities described in paragraph 1 (5)— 2 (A) are often the first exposed to the 3 causes and impacts of climate change; and 4 (B) have the fewest resources with which 5 to mitigate those impacts or to relocate; 6 (7) all efforts to adapt to and mitigate climate 7 change must include specific protections for and ac- 8 knowledgment of the harm of climate change to 9 communities of color, indigenous peoples, women, 10 and other frontline communities and marginalized 11 peoples around the world; 12 (8) in Paris, on December 12, 2015, the parties 13 to the United Nations Framework Convention on 14 Climate Change adopted the Paris Agreement, a 15 benchmark agreement— 16 (A) to combat climate change; and 17 (B) to accelerate and intensify the actions 18 and investments needed for a sustainable low 19 carbon future; 20 (9) the Paris Agreement, to which the United 21 States is a party, acknowledges, ‘‘Parties should, 22 when taking action to address climate change, re- 23 spect, promote and consider their respective obliga- 24 tions on human rights, the right to health, the rights 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3961 IH of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, 1 children, persons with disabilities and people in vul- 2 nerable situations and the right to development, as 3 well as gender equality, empowerment of women and 4 intergenerational equity’’; 5 (10) the Paris Agreement— 6 (A) notes the importance of ‘‘climate jus- 7 tice’’ when mitigating and adapting to climate 8 change; and 9 (B) recognizes ‘‘the need for an effective 10 and progressive response to the urgent threat of 11 climate change’’; 12 (11) it is imperative for all countries to under- 13 take mitigation activities to rapidly meet the goal of 14 limiting global warming to not more than 1.5 de- 15 grees Celsius; 16 (12) developed countries have the greatest ca- 17 pacity to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions, 18 while— 19 (A) developing countries have the least ca- 20 pacity to engage in mitigation activities; and 21 (B) the capacity of developing countries to 22 engage in mitigation activities is less than the 23 national mitigation potential of those developing 24 countries; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3961 IH (13) the determination for the fair share of 1 mitigation and adaptation activities for each country 2 must take into account— 3 (A) the historic greenhouse gas emissions 4 of each country; and 5 (B) the current capacity of each country to 6 both mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and 7 adapt to climate impacts; 8 (14) developed countries that have historically 9 emitted a disproportionately high share of green- 10 house gas emissions, and reaped the economic bene- 11 fits of those polluting activities, have a cor- 12 responding and disproportionately greater responsi- 13 bility to engage in global mitigation and adaptation 14 activities than less industrialized countries that have 15 historically polluted far less; 16 (15) the only realistic way for less industri- 17 alized countries to meet their full mitigation poten- 18 tial is through international climate financing by 19 more developed countries; 20 (16) in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, developed 21 countries committed to jointly mobilize, starting in 22 2020, $100,000,000,000 per year in public climate 23 financing (as well as private investments and other 24 alternative forms of finance) for developing coun- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3961 IH tries, a commitment reaffirmed in 2015 in Decision 1 1/CP.21 of the United Nations Framework Conven- 2 tion on Climate Change, Adoption of the Paris 3 Agreement; 4 (17) the $100,000,000, commitment described 5 in paragraph (16) was a political compromise that 6 falls short of the actual financing needs for climate 7 action in developing countries; 8 (18) Bloomberg New Energy Finance has esti- 9 mated that the transition to renewable energy 10 sources in developing countries will require hundreds 11 of billions of dollars annually; 12 (19) the United Nations Environment Pro- 13 gramme has estimated that adaptation needs relat- 14 ing to climate change in developing countries may be 15 as much as $300,000,000,000 annually by 2030; 16 (20) the Green Climate Fund was created in 17 2010 by 194 countries to serve as a crucial financ- 18 ing mechanism to help developing countries limit or 19 reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to cli- 20 mate change; 21 (21) in 2015, the United Nations Framework 22 Convention on Climate Change agreed that the 23 Green Climate Fund should serve the goals of the 24 Paris Agreement, which states that ‘‘developed coun- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3961 IH try Parties shall provide financial resources to assist 1 developing country Parties with respect to both miti- 2 gation and adaptation in continuation of their exist- 3 ing obligations under the Convention’’; 4 (22) the Green Climate Fund is an essential in- 5 stitution for climate financing, as the Green Climate 6 Fund ensures— 7 (A) balanced governance between developed 8 and developing countries; 9 (B) stakeholder engagement and discourse; 10 (C) a balanced approach between mitiga- 11 tion and adaptation; 12 (D) fair and equal labor and working con- 13 ditions; 14 (E) conservation of biodiversity and critical 15 habitats; and 16 (F) strong environmental, social, and gen- 17 der protections; 18 (23) the Green Climate Fund— 19 (A) promotes and protects human rights 20 and the rights of marginalized groups, including 21 indigenous peoples, women, children, and people 22 with disabilities; and 23 (B) continues to take steps to strengthen 24 protections for marginalized groups; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3961 IH (24) in 2014, the United States announced its 1 intention to contribute $3,000,000,000 of the first 2 $10,000,000,000 raised for the initial resource mobi- 3 lization period of the Green Climate Fund, but ulti- 4 mately failed to honor this commitment; 5 (25) as of June 2023, the United States has 6 contributed only $2,000,000,000 in total funding to 7 the Green Climate Fund; 8 (26) pledges for the first replenishment period 9 of the Green Climate Fund (‘‘GCF–1’’) totaled 10 $9,870,000,000, without any participation from the 11 United States; 12 (27) almost all major contributors doubled the 13 amount of their contribution from the initial re- 14 source mobilization phase for the GCF–1 replenish- 15 ment; and 16 (28) the Green Climate Fund is the world’s 17 largest and most innovative multilateral climate ad- 18 aptation fund, and is a fully operational and proven 19 institution supporting nearly 200 projects in 127 de- 20 veloping countries. 21 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 22 It is the policy of the United States to provide climate 23 financing— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3961 IH (1) as an essential part of the global effort to 1 combat climate change; and 2 (2) that— 3 (A) upholds the principles of environmental 4 justice and climate justice; 5 (B) supports programs and projects devel- 6 oped by recipient countries and communities; 7 (C) is designed and implemented with the 8 free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous 9 peoples and other impacted communities; 10 (D) promotes gender equality as essential 11 in all of the projects and programs supported 12 by climate financing; 13 (E) includes best practices for environ- 14 mental and social safeguards to ensure that 15 projects and programs supported by climate fi- 16 nancing respect fundamental human rights; and 17 (F) addresses both mitigation and adapta- 18 tion as essential aspects of responding to cli- 19 mate change. 20 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 22 priated for contributions to the Green Climate Fund 23 $4,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2024 and 24 2025. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3961 IH (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 1 gress that the climate financing needs to achieve the 2 greenhouse gas emissions reductions required to keep the 3 planet at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming 4 are significantly greater than the amount of funds author- 5 ized to be appropriated under subsection (a). 6 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) CLIMATE FINANCING.—The term ‘‘climate 9 financing’’ means the transfer of new and additional 10 public funds from developed countries to developing 11 countries for projects and programs that— 12 (A) reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas 13 emissions; 14 (B) enhance and restore natural carbon se- 15 questration; and 16 (C) promote adaptation to climate change. 17 (2) GREEN CLIMATE FUND.—The term ‘‘Green 18 Climate Fund’’ means the independent, multilateral 19 fund— 20 (A) established by parties to the United 21 Nations Framework Convention on Climate 22 Change; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3961 IH (B) adopted by decision as part of the fi- 1 nancial mechanism of the United Nations 2 Framework Convention on Climate Change. 3 (3) PARIS AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Paris 4 Agreement’’ means the annex to Decision 1/CP.21 5 adopted by the 21st Conference of Parties of the 6 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 7 Change in Paris, France, on December 12, 2015. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3961.IH H3961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS