[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

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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 0.8C 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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