[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1552 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1552

Supporting a legally binding global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas 
  emissions and provide financial assistance to the poorest and most 
  vulnerable nations for adaptation and mitigation measures, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2010

Mr. Faleomavaega submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Supporting a legally binding global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas 
  emissions and provide financial assistance to the poorest and most 
  vulnerable nations for adaptation and mitigation measures, and for 
                            other purposes.

Whereas, on December 18, 2009, the Conference of the Party nations took note of 
        the Copenhagen Accord, a non-binding agreement on greenhouse gas 
        emissions reduction, during the 15th Session of the Conference of the 
        Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 
        (UNFCCC) convened in Copenhagen, Denmark;
Whereas a legally binding global agreement including mitigation and adaptation 
        financing for developing countries provided by developed nations is the 
        best approach to prevent impacts of climate change such as increased 
        frequency and intensity of droughts, floods, and heat waves;
Whereas the Department of Defense Quadrennial Defense Review 2010 states that 
        ``climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity, will 
        increase the spread of disease, and may spur or exacerbate mass 
        migration. While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may 
        act as an accelerant of instability or conflict, placing a burden to 
        respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world . . . 
        extreme weather events may lead to increased demands for defense support 
        to civil authorities for humanitarian assistance or disaster response 
        both within the United States and overseas'';
Whereas developed countries' pledges of financing for international mitigation 
        and adaptation measures for developing countries were crucial to 
        achieving the Copenhagen Accord and will be essential to a legally 
        binding global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
Whereas a 2 degree Celsius average global temperature rise above pre-industrial 
        levels, the upper limit of global temperature increase targeted by the 
        scientific world and the parties to the Copenhagen Accord, will 
        disproportionately affect the developing world according to the World 
        Bank, including 75 to 80 percent of the global cost of damages resulting 
        from climate change;
Whereas the World Bank and UNFCCC estimate that such a 2 degree Celsius warming 
        in average global temperatures could result in a 4 to 5 percent 
        permanent reduction in annual per capita income in Africa, a 12 to 50 
        percent decrease in agricultural productivity in South America by 2100, 
        and water shortages affecting 75,000,000 to 220,000,000 Africans and 
        7,000,000 to 77,000,000 Latin Americans by the 2020s;
Whereas adaptation is defined by the United Nations International Panel on 
        Climate Change (UNIPCC) as initiatives or measures to reduce the 
        vulnerability of natural and human systems to actual or expected climate 
        change effects, and mitigation is defined as implementation of policies 
        to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance removal of aerosols, 
        greenhouse gases, or their precursors from the atmosphere;
Whereas the United States, the European Union, Japan, Canada, and Australia 
        emitted approximately 42 percent of the world's greenhouse gases in 2006 
        while the least developed countries emitted 0.5 percent, according to 
        the World Resources Institute;
Whereas the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
        Change has estimated that by 2030 developing countries will require 
        $176,000,000,000 annually in additional investment and financial flows 
        for climate change mitigation and the World Bank estimates that 
        $75,000,000,000 to $100,000,000,000 is needed per year by 2050 for 
        adaptation in developing countries;
Whereas the Copenhagen Accord notes that financing for developing countries will 
        be based on the concept of additionality in which new public and 
        private, bilateral and multilateral, and alternative revenue streams 
        will be developed rather than reallocating existing and planned overseas 
        development assistance for adaptation and mitigation assistance;
Whereas the Copenhagen Accord calls for $30,000,000,000 in fast start funds and 
        $100,000,000,000 in ongoing annual funding from 2020, but does not 
        delineate the means of raising and disbursing those funds;
Whereas the High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing is examining 
        potential sources of revenue for mitigation and adaptation in developing 
        nations, and this Advisory Group has begun its work;
Whereas developing nations can engage in low-cost mitigation efforts through 
        changed agricultural practices, afforestation, reforestation, and the 
        reduction of deforestation, yet will likely require international 
        assistance for administration, enforcement, and social and institutional 
        adjustments, according to the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate 
        Change;
Whereas UNIPCC scientists estimate that an 18 to 58 centimeter rise in sea level 
        by the end of the century relative to levels from 1980 to 1999 would 
        force up to 94,000,000 people living in low-lying coastal areas to 
        migrate by 2100;
Whereas Southeast Asia, and South Pacific and Caribbean islands are vulnerable 
        to more frequent and intense tropical cyclones with loss of life and 
        property similar to Cyclone Nargis which killed 138,000 Burmese in May 
        2008 and Hurricane Mitch which destroyed 50 percent of Honduras' crops 
        in 1998;
Whereas according to some estimates, the area of the Tibetan plateau covered by 
        glaciers is decreasing at rates threatening to curtail the flow Asia's 
        10 major rivers fed by those glaciers, including the Yellow, Yangtze, 
        Mekong, Salween, Irrawaddy, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Amu Darya, and 
        Tarim, which supply the water for hundreds of millions of people;
Whereas mustering the political will to fund mitigation and adaption for the 
        most vulnerable will require sustained commitment and attention;
Whereas the global community possesses the knowledge and ingenuity needed to 
        maintain the dignity and meet the basic needs and rights of people 
        affected by the consequences of climate change;
Whereas the 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations 
        Framework Convention on Climate Change will take place from November 29, 
        2010, to December 10, 2010, in Cancun, Mexico; and
Whereas the United States must demonstrate leadership if the developed world is 
        to meet its pledges to provide adequate finance for climate change 
        adaptation and mitigation in developing nations: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the Copenhagen Accord as a meaningful step 
        toward achieving the goal of a binding global agreement to 
        reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
            (2) supports finance for developing countries consistent 
        with the Accord's goals;
            (3) calls for enactment of comprehensive energy and climate 
        change legislation, including provisions for international 
        finance;
            (4) commends the High-Level Advisory Group on Climate 
        Change Financing for its preliminary work in defining how 
        finance for developing countries will be raised and disbursed;
            (5) advises that an appropriate portion of funding be 
        allotted to develop the processes and organizations required to 
        manage the disbursement of funds efficiently and transparently; 
        and
            (6) encourages the international community to create a 
        legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as 
        soon as possible.
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