[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 192 (Thursday, December 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E3049-E3050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CALLING FOR A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN ASSISTANCE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
   IN FINAL LEGISLATION ON GLOBAL WARMING TO HELP THEM ADJUST TO THE 
                     CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. ENI F. H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 16, 2009

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues 
to support a doubling of assistance by developed countries for 
developing nations in helping them adjust to the impacts of global 
warming. Increased commitments are essential if we are to achieve a 
successful international climate change agreement, one that will 
prevent the most devastating effects of global warming.
  Ironically, the poorest and most vulnerable countries are the ones 
that will suffer the most from rising sea levels, severe weather events 
and other consequences of climate change--despite the fact that those 
nations have contributed only negligibly to the problem. U.S. 
leadership is vital if we are to prod other developed countries to step 
up to the plate and provide appropriate levels of assistance. And in 
the aftermath of House passage of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade 
legislation earlier this year, the Senate must now act.

[[Page E3050]]

  That is why my colleagues--Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, 
Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Pete Stark, Rep. Dennis Moore, Del. Donna 
Christensen and Rep. Michael Honda--sent a letter today to Sen. John 
Kerry, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and leader on 
climate change legislation in the Senate, urging him to double 
assistance for developing countries in legislation the Senator is 
currently drafting. As our letter states, ``the amount of funding 
developed countries are currently promising to developed countries is 
grossly insufficient to meet the need. . . . Given the magnitude of the 
problem developing countries face, and given the responsibility of 
developed countries for the majority of historic greenhouse gas 
emissions, we believe that U.S. climate change legislation should 
double the emissions allowances currently dedicated in the House bill 
to international adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.''
  Madam Speaker, for the Record, I include a full copy of the letter to 
Senator Kerry.

                                    Congress of the United States,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                Washington, DC, December 15, 2009.
     Hon. John F. Kerry,
     Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Dirksen 
         Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: We want to commend you for your valuable 
     contributions toward enacting climate change legislation. We 
     particularly appreciate your introduction of S. 2835, which 
     focuses on the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of 
     global warming. We sincerely hope that with that measure as 
     well as the recent pledges by China and India to curb their 
     emissions relative to economic growth, and President Obama's 
     support for mobilizing developed countries to contribute $10 
     billion a year by 2012 and implementing longer-term 
     mechanisms to assist developing countries with adaptation and 
     mitigation, Copenhagen makes substantial progress toward 
     completion of a binding agreement to limit climate change.
       The bill you are working on with the Senators Graham and 
     Lieberman offers a crucial opportunity to advance that 
     agreement. We urge you to include an adequate commitment of 
     resources for the nations and peoples most vulnerable to the 
     consequences of global warming in that legislation.
       The needs of developing countries are manifest. As noted by 
     the recent World Development Report 2010, even if average 
     global temperatures rise only 2 degrees Celsius above pre-
     industrial levels, ``Between 100 million and 400 million more 
     people could be at risk of hunger. And 1 billion to 2 billion 
     more people may no longer have enough water to meet their 
     needs . . . It is estimated that developing countries will 
     bear most of the costs of the damages--some 75-80 percent.'' 
     As the Stern Review made clear, even if greenhouse emissions 
     ceased today, the world would still face at least two decades 
     of increasing global temperatures.
       In the very near future, higher temperatures will lead to 
     economic and political instability, refugee crises and 
     conflicts over ever-scarcer natural resources in developing 
     nations, all of which will have direct, negative implications 
     for developing and developed countries alike. That is why the 
     United Nations negotiating blocs of Least Developed Countries 
     and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)--which 
     together represent 80 countries least responsible for 
     climate change but most severely affected by it--have 
     recently called for a minimum 45 percent reduction of 
     greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2020. They 
     are further requesting that there be no more than a 1.5 
     global temperature rise from pre-industrial levels, and 
     that atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations return to 
     below 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent.
  As AOSIS has pointed out, `` Serious adverse impacts are already 
being felt by island states at the current 0.8C of warming, including 
coastal erosion, flooding, coral bleaching and more frequent and 
intense extreme weather events. The U.N.'s lead agency on refugees has 
already warned that some particularly low-lying island states are `very 
likely to become entirely uninhabitable'.''
  Estimates vary on the level of funding needed by the developing world 
to lessen the destabilizing impacts of climate change that will likely 
occur regardless of the adoption of an international agreement. 
However, the UN's latest Human Development Report estimates that 
additional adaptation finance needs alone will amount to $86 billion 
annually by 2015. And last week in Copenhagen, Yvo de Boer, Executive 
Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 
said that developed countries should expect to contribute $100 billion 
annually to developing nations.
  Yet the amount of funding developed countries are currently promising 
to developed countries is grossly insufficient to meet the need. The 
United States must demonstrate leadership if the developed world is to 
meet its obligation to provide appropriate sums. The Congressional 
Research Service's calculation of the funding produced by H.R. 2454 for 
developing countries--based on the current percentage of emissions 
allowances dedicated to international adaptation and international 
clean technology deployment and the allowance prices used in the EPA/
IGEM Model--suggests that less than $1 billion per year would be 
available in 2012, rising to less than $1.6 billion by 2020.
  Given the magnitude of the problem developing countries face, and 
given the responsibility of developed countries for the majority of 
historic greenhouse gas emissions, we believe that U.S. climate change 
legislation should double the emissions allowances currently dedicated 
in the House bill to international adaptation and mitigation in 
developing countries.
  While such enhanced allocations would amount to substantial sums of 
money, we believe they will more than pay for themselves over time when 
compared to American commitments of troops and resources that would 
likely be required to address adverse impacts in developing countries 
affecting vital U.S. interests. As retired Marine Corps General Anthony 
Zinni, former commander of U.S. Central Command, has noted, ``We will 
pay now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions . . . or we will pay the 
price later.''
  Again, we applaud your efforts at addressing the enormous challenge 
of climate change. As legislation moves toward passage in the Senate, 
we sincerely hope that it provides increased commitments to the 
countries and peoples most vulnerable to the consequences of global 
warming.
           Sincerely,
     Eni F.H. Faleomavaega,
       Member of Congress.
     Raul M. Grijalva,
       Member of Congress.
     Emanuel Cleaver,
       Member of Congress.
     Maxine Waters,
       Member of Congress.
     Pete Stark,
       Member of Congress.
     Dennis Moore,
       Member of Congress.
     Donna M. Christensen,
       Member of Congress.
     Michael M. Honda,
       Member of Congress.

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