[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4185 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4185

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 18, 2024

 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 2024''.

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 $100,000,000,000 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 $387,000,000,000 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 fully honor this 
        commitment;
            (25) 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;
            (26) almost all major contributors doubled the amount of 
        their contribution from the initial resource mobilization phase 
        for the GCF-1 replenishment;
            (27) in December 2023, at the COP28 climate negotiations in 
        the United Arab Emirates, the United States announced its 
        intention to contribute an additional $3,000,000,000 for the 
        Green Climate Fund's second replenishment period (``GCF-2'');
            (28) as of February 2024, the United States has contributed 
        only $2,000,000,000 in total funding to the Green Climate Fund; 
        and
            (29) the Green Climate Fund is the world's largest and most 
        innovative multilateral climate fund, and is a fully 
        operational and proven institution supporting nearly 250 
        projects in 129 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 mitigation, adaptation, and the 
                treatment of loss and damage as essential aspects of 
                responding to climate change.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated for 
contributions to the Green Climate Fund $4,000,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
climate financing needed to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions 
reductions necessary to keep the planet at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius 
of global warming is 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;
                    (C) promote adaptation to climate change; and
                    (D) address climate change-induced losses and 
                damages.
            (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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