119-hr2997

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2997 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2997

 To authorize appropriations for climate financing, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 24, 2025

Mr. Espaillat 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Green Climate Fund Authorization Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds that--

    (1) climate change most severely impacts vulnerable and 
 disadvantaged communities in the United States and around the 
 world;

    (2) it is the responsibility of the United States 
 Government to work with its global partners to promote 
 environmental justice and climate justice;

    (3) the 2023 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on 
 Climate Change, entitled ``AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 
 2023'', found that current global financial flows for climate 
 adaptation are insufficient for, and constrain implementation 
 of, climate adaptation options, especially in developing 
 countries;

    (4) the report of the United Nations Environment Programme 
 entitled ``Climate Change and the Cost of Capital in Developing 
 Countries'', dated May 2018, found that, in the 10 years prior 
 to the publication of the report, climate vulnerability had 
 cost the 20 nations most affected by catastrophes rooted in 
 climate change an additional $62,000,000,000 in interest 
 payments alone;

    (5) individuals and families, particularly communities of 
 color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities, that 
 are on the frontlines of climate change across the globe are 
 often in close proximity to environmental stressors or sources 
 of pollution;

    (6) the communities described in paragraph

    (5) --
        (A) are often the first exposed to the causes and 
 impacts of climate change; and
        (B) have the fewest resources with which to 
 mitigate those impacts or to relocate;

    (7) all efforts to adapt to and mitigate climate change 
 must include specific protections for and acknowledgment of the 
 harm of climate change to communities of color, indigenous 
 peoples, women, and other frontline communities and 
 marginalized peoples around the world;

    (8) in Paris, on December 12, 2015, the parties to the 
 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted 
 the Paris Agreement, a benchmark agreement--
        (A) to combat climate change; and
        (B) to accelerate and intensify the actions and 
 investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future;

    (9) the Paris Agreement, to which the United States is a 
 party, acknowledges, ``Parties should, when taking action to 
 address climate change, respect, promote and consider their 
 respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, 
 the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, 
 children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable 
 situations and the right to development, as well as gender 
 equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity'';

    (10) the Paris Agreement--
        (A) notes the importance of ``climate justice'' 
 when mitigating and adapting to climate change; and
        (B) recognizes ``the need for an effective and 
 progressive response to the urgent threat of climate 
 change'';

    (11) it is imperative for all countries to undertake 
 mitigation activities to rapidly meet the goal of limiting 
 global warming to not more than 1.5 degrees Celsius;

    (12) developed countries have the greatest capacity to 
 mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions, while--
        (A) developing countries have the least capacity to 
 engage in mitigation activities; and
        (B) the capacity of developing countries to engage 
 in mitigation activities is less than the national 
 mitigation potential of those developing countries;

    (13) the determination for the fair share of mitigation and 
 adaptation activities for each country must take into account--
        (A) the historic greenhouse gas emissions of each 
 country; and
        (B) the current capacity of each country to both 
 mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate 
 impacts;

    (14) developed countries that have historically emitted a 
 disproportionately high share of greenhouse gas emissions, and 
 reaped the economic benefits of those polluting activities, 
 have a corresponding and disproportionately greater 
 responsibility to engage in global mitigation and adaptation 
 activities than less industrialized countries that have 
 historically polluted far less;

    (15) the only realistic way for less industrialized 
 countries to meet their full mitigation potential is through 
 international climate financing by more developed countries;

    (16) in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, developed countries 
 committed to jointly mobilize, starting in 2020, 
 $100,000,000,000 per year in public climate financing (as well 
 as private investments and other alternative forms of finance) 
 for developing countries, a commitment reaffirmed in 2015 in 
 Decision 1/CP.21 of the United Nations Framework Convention on 
 Climate Change, Adoption of the Paris Agreement;

    (17) the $100,000,000, commitment described in paragraph

    (16) was a political compromise that falls short of the actual 
 financing needs for climate action in developing countries;

    (18) Bloomberg New Energy Finance has estimated that the 
 transition to renewable energy sources in developing countries 
 will require hundreds of billions of dollars annually;

    (19) the United Nations Environment Programme has estimated 
 that adaptation needs relating to climate change in developing 
 countries may be as much as $300,000,000,000 annually by 2030;

    (20) the Green Climate Fund was created in 2010 by 194 
 countries to serve as a crucial financing mechanism to help 
 developing countries limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions 
 and adapt to climate change;

    (21) in 2015, the United Nations Framework Convention on 
 Climate Change agreed that the Green Climate Fund should serve 
 the goals of the Paris Agreement, which states that ``developed 
 country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist 
 developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and 
 adaptation in continuation of their existing obligations under 
 the Convention'';

    (22) the Green Climate Fund is an essential institution for 
 climate financing, as the Green Climate Fund ensures--
        (A) balanced governance between developed and 
 developing countries;
        (B) stakeholder engagement and discourse;
            (C) a balanced approach between mitigation and 
 adaptation;
            (D) fair and equal labor and working conditions;
        (E) conservation of biodiversity and critical 
 habitats; and
        (F) strong environmental, social, and gender 
 protections;

    (23) the Green Climate Fund--
        (A) promotes and protects human rights and the 
 rights of marginalized groups, including indigenous 
 peoples, women, children, and people with disabilities; 
 and
        (B) continues to take steps to strengthen 
 protections for marginalized groups;

    (24) in 2014, the United States announced its intention to 
 contribute $3,000,000,000 of the first $10,000,000,000 raised 
 for the initial resource mobilization period of the Green 
 Climate Fund, but ultimately failed to honor this commitment;

    (25) as of June 2023, the United States has contributed 
 only $2,000,000,000 in total funding to the Green Climate Fund;

    (26) pledges for the first replenishment period of the 
 Green Climate Fund (``GCF-1'') totaled $9,870,000,000, without 
 any participation from the United States;

    (27) almost all major contributors doubled the amount of 
 their contribution from the initial resource mobilization phase 
 for the GCF-1 replenishment; and

    (28) the Green Climate Fund is the world's largest and most 
 innovative multilateral climate adaptation fund, and is a fully 
 operational and proven institution supporting nearly 200 
 projects in 127 developing countries.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

 It is the policy of the United States to provide climate 
financing--

    (1) as an essential part of the global effort to combat 
 climate change; and

    (2) that--
        (A) upholds the principles of environmental justice 
 and climate justice;
        (B) supports programs and projects developed by 
 recipient countries and communities;
            (C) is designed and implemented with the free, 
 prior, and informed consent of indigenous peoples and 
 other impacted communities;
            (D) promotes gender equality as essential in all of 
 the projects and programs supported by climate 
 financing;
        (E) includes best practices for environmental and 
 social safeguards to ensure that projects and programs 
 supported by climate financing respect fundamental 
 human rights; and
        (F) addresses both mitigation and adaptation as 
 essential aspects of responding to climate change.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for 
contributions to the Green Climate Fund $4,000,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
climate financing needs to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions 
reductions required to keep the planet at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius 
of global warming are significantly greater than the amount of funds 
authorized to be appropriated under subsection

    (a) .

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Climate financing.--The term ``climate financing'' 
 means the transfer of new and additional public funds from 
 developed countries to developing countries for projects and 
 programs that--
        (A) reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions;
        (B) enhance and restore natural carbon 
 sequestration; and
            (C) promote adaptation to climate change.

    (2) Green climate fund.--The term ``Green Climate Fund'' 
 means the independent, multilateral fund--
        (A) established by parties to the United Nations 
 Framework Convention on Climate Change; and
        (B) adopted by decision as part of the financial 
 mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on 
 Climate Change.

    (3) Paris agreement.--The term ``Paris Agreement'' means 
 the annex to Decision 1/CP.21 adopted by the 21st Conference of 
 Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
 Change in Paris, France, on December 12, 2015.
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