[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3774 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3774
To address the disparate impact of climate change on women and support
the efforts of women globally to address climate change, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 8 (legislative day, March 7), 2022
Ms. Hirono (for herself, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Smith, Ms. Warren, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To address the disparate impact of climate change on women and support
the efforts of women globally to address climate change, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Women and Climate
Change Act of 2022''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Statement of policy.
TITLE I--STRATEGIES, POLICIES, AND PROGRAMS
Sec. 101. Federal Interagency Working Group on Women and Climate
Change.
Sec. 102. Development and implementation of strategy and policies to
prevent and respond to the effects of
climate change on women globally.
TITLE II--OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Sec. 201. Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change.
Sec. 202. Briefing and report.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Women in the United States and around the world are the
linchpin of families and communities and are often the first to
feel the immediate and adverse effects of social,
environmental, and economic stresses on their families and
communities.
(2) The United Nations has recognized, as one of the
central organizing principles for its work, that ``no enduring
solution to society's most threatening social, economic and
political problems can be found without the full participation,
and the full empowerment, of the world's women''.
(3) The United Nations Development Programme 2013 Human
Development Report has found that the number of people living
in extreme poverty could increase by up to 3,000,000,000 by
2050 unless environmental disasters are averted by coordinated
global action.
(4) Climate change is already forcing the most vulnerable
communities and populations in developing countries to face
unprecedented climate stress, including water scarcity and
drought, as well as severe weather events and floods, which can
lead to reduced agricultural productivity, food insecurity, and
increased disease.
(5) Climate change exacerbates issues of scarcity and lack
of accessibility to primary natural resources, forest
resources, and arable land for food production, thereby
contributing to increased conflict and instability, as well as
the workload and stresses on women farmers, who are estimated
to produce 60 to 80 percent of the food in most developing
countries.
(6) Women will disproportionately face harmful impacts from
climate change, particularly in poor and developing nations
where women regularly assume increased responsibility for
growing the family's food and collecting water, fuel, and other
resources.
(7) Epidemics, such as malaria and zika, are expected to
worsen and spread due to variations in climate, putting women
(especially pregnant mothers and women who hope to become
pregnant) and children without access to prevention and medical
services at risk.
(8) The direct and indirect effects of climate change have
a disproportionate impact on marginalized women, such as
environmental refugees and displaced persons, migrants,
religious, racial, or ethnic minorities, adolescent girls,
lesbian and trans women, women living in poverty, and women and
girls with disabilities and those who are living with HIV.
(9) Conflict has a disproportionate impact on the most
vulnerable communities and populations, including women, and is
fueled in the poorest regions of the world by harsher climates,
leading to migration, refugee crises, and conflicts over scarce
natural resources, including land and water.
(10) Displaced, refugee, and stateless women and girls face
extreme violence and threats, including--
(A) being forced to exchange sex for food and
humanitarian supplies;
(B) being at increased risk of rape, sexual
exploitation, and abuse; and
(C) being at increased risk for HIV, sexually
transmitted infections (STIs), unplanned pregnancy, and
poor reproductive health.
(11) It is predicted that climate change will lead to
increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather
conditions, precipitating the occurrence of natural disasters
around the globe.
(12) The relocation and death of women, and especially
mothers, as a result of climate-related disasters often has
devastating impacts on social support networks, family ties,
and the coping capacity of families and communities.
(13) The ability of women to adapt to climate change is
constrained by a lack of economic freedoms, property and
inheritance rights, and access to financial resources,
education, family planning and reproductive health, and new
tools, equipment, and technology.
(14) Despite having a unique capacity and knowledge to
promote and provide for adaptation to climate change, women
often have insufficient resources to undertake such adaptation.
(15) Women are shown to have a multiplier effect because
women use their income and resources, when given the necessary
tools, to increase the well-being of their children and
families, and thus play a critical role in reducing food
insecurity, poverty, and socioeconomic effects of climate
change.
(16) Women are often underrepresented in the development
and formulation of policy regarding mitigation and adaptation
to climate change, even though women are often in the best
position to provide and consult on adaptive strategies.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Climate change.--The term ``climate change'' means a
change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly
to--
(A) human activity; and
(B) altering the composition of the global
atmosphere.
(3) Developing country.--The term ``developing country''
means a country classified by the World Bank as having a low-
income or lower-middle-income economy.
(4) Disparate impact.--The term ``disparate impact'' refers
to the historical and ongoing impacts of the pattern and
practice of discrimination in employment, education, housing,
banking, health, and nearly every other aspect of life in the
economy, society, or culture that have an adverse impact on
minorities, women, or other protected groups, regardless of
whether such practices were motivated by discriminatory intent.
(5) Environmental disasters.--The term ``environmental
disasters'' means specific events caused by human activity that
result in seriously negative effects on the environment.
(6) Environmental refugees.--The term ``environmental
refugees'' means people displaced because of environmental
causes, notably land loss and degradation, and natural
disasters, who have left their community or country of origin.
(7) Extreme poverty.--The term ``extreme poverty'' means
having an income level or living standard at a level of extreme
deprivation based on living with income below 50 percent of the
poverty line as established by the individual country at issue,
or below $1.90 per day as determined by the World Bank.
(8) Extreme weather.--The term ``extreme weather'' means
unexpected, unusual, unpredictable, severe, or unseasonal
weather that is at the extremes of the historical distribution
range that has been seen in the past.
(9) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means any
executive department, Government corporation, Government-
controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive
branch of the Government (including the Executive Office of the
President), or any independent regulatory agency.
(10) Food insecurity.--The term ``food insecurity'' means a
lack of consistent access to food.
(11) Most vulnerable communities and populations.--The term
``most vulnerable communities and populations'' means
communities and populations, including women, including lesbian
and trans women and women living in poverty, impoverished
communities, adolescent girls, people with disabilities,
including women and girls with disabilities, indigenous
peoples, refugees, displaced persons, migrants, religious,
racial, or ethnic minorities, and individuals who are living
with HIV, who are at risk of substantial adverse impacts of
climate change and have limited capacity to respond to such
impacts.
(12) Poverty.--The term ``poverty'' means an income level
and living standard insufficient to meet basic needs.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States, in partnership with affected
countries, donor country governments, international financial
institutions, international nongovernmental organizations, multilateral
organizations, and civil society groups, especially those led by women,
to combat the leading causes of climate change, mitigate the effects of
climate change on women and girls, and elevate the participation of
women in policy, program, and community decision-making processes with
respect to climate change, by--
(1) establishing the Federal Interagency Working Group on
Women and Climate Change, the mission of which is to prevent
and respond to the effects of climate change on women globally;
and
(2) implementing a coordinated, integrated, evidence-based,
and comprehensive strategy on women and climate change
throughout United States policies in the future.
TITLE I--STRATEGIES, POLICIES, AND PROGRAMS
SEC. 101. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON WOMEN AND CLIMATE
CHANGE.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of State
a Federal Interagency Working Group on Women and Climate Change (in
this Act referred to as the ``Working Group'').
(b) Chairperson.--The Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate
Change designated pursuant to section 201 shall serve as the
chairperson of the Working Group.
(c) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The Working Group shall be composed of one
senior-level representative from each of the Federal agencies
described in paragraph (2), as selected by the head of the
respective agency from the senior ranks of that agency.
(2) Agencies.--The agencies described in this paragraph are
the following:
(A) The Department of State, including--
(i) the Office of Global Women's Issues;
(ii) the Office of Civil Rights;
(iii) the Bureau of Oceans and
International Environmental and Scientific
Affairs;
(iv) the Bureau of Population, Refugees,
and Migration;
(v) the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights,
and Labor; and
(vi) the Bureau of International
Organization Affairs.
(B) The United States Agency for International
Development.
(C) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(D) The Environmental Protection Agency.
(E) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
(F) The National Institutes of Health.
(G) The National Science Foundation.
(H) The Council on Environmental Quality.
(I) Such other agencies as may be designated by the
Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change.
(d) Functions.--The Working Group shall--
(1) coordinate and integrate the development of all
policies and activities of the Federal Government across all
agencies relating to--
(A) combating the effects of climate change on
women in the national and international sphere; and
(B) improving the response and strategy of the
Federal Government to fight climate change for the
security of the United States and the international
community;
(2) allow each member of the Working Group to act as a
representative for the Working Group within the Federal agency
of such member to facilitate implementation of the Working
Group policies within such Federal agency;
(3) ensure that all relevant Federal agencies comply with
appropriate guidelines, policies, and directives from the
Working Group, the Department of State, and other Federal
agencies with responsibilities relating to climate change;
(4) ensure that Federal agencies, State governments, and
relevant congressional committees, in consultation with
nongovernmental organizations and policy experts in the field
and State and local government officials who administer or
direct policy for programs relating to climate change and
women--
(A) have access to, receive, and appropriately
disseminate best practices in the administration of
such programs;
(B) have adequate resources to maximize the public
awareness of such programs;
(C) increase the reach of such programs;
(D) share relevant data; and
(E) issue relevant guidance; and
(5) identify and disseminate best practices for improved
collection on the part of each Federal agency of data relevant
to the disparate impact of climate change on women, including
in--
(A) unpaid care work;
(B) community advocacy, activism, and
representation;
(C) women's and girls' access to education;
(D) access to comprehensive health care, including
reproductive health and rights;
(E) desertification and food insecurity;
(F) community infrastructure, multilevel Government
adaptability, and climate resilience;
(G) climate and weather-related crisis response,
including safety from gender-based violence; and
(H) women's involvement and leadership in the
development of frameworks and policies for climate
resilience.
(e) Consultation.--The Working Group may consult and obtain
recommendations from such independent nongovernmental policy experts,
State and local government officials, independent groups and
organizations, or other groups or organizations as the Senior
Coordinator for Women and Climate Change determines will assist in
carrying out the mission of the Working Group.
(f) Frequency of Meetings.--The Working Group shall--
(1) meet not less frequently than once each quarter to
discuss and develop policies, projects, and programs; and
(2) meet with the Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate
Change not less frequently than once each month to report on
and discuss implementation of such policies, projects, and
programs.
SEC. 102. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGY AND POLICIES TO
PREVENT AND RESPOND TO THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON
WOMEN GLOBALLY.
(a) Initial Strategy Required.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Senior Coordinator for Women and
Climate Change designated pursuant to section 201 and the Ambassador-
at-Large for the Office of Global Women's Issues of the Department of
State, in consultation with the Working Group, shall develop and submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a United States National
and International Strategy to prevent and respond to the effects of
climate change on women.
(b) Contents.--The strategy submitted under subsection (a) shall
include--
(1) recognizing the disparate impacts of climate change on
women and the efforts of women globally to address climate
change;
(2) taking effective action--
(A) to prevent and respond to climate change and
mitigate the effects of climate change on women around
the world; and
(B) to promote gender equality, economic growth,
public health, racial justice, and human rights;
(3) implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals listed in subsection (e), through and beyond 2030, as
part of the strategy to prevent and respond to the effects of
climate change on women globally;
(4) implementing balanced gender participation to avoid
reinforcing binary roles, especially among individuals from the
communities most impacted, in climate change adaptation and
mitigation efforts, including in governance and diplomatic
positions within the United States Government;
(5) working at the local, national, and international
levels, including with individuals, families, and communities,
to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change on
women;
(6) systematically integrating and coordinating efforts to
prevent and respond to the effects of climate change on women
internationally into United States foreign policy and foreign
assistance programs;
(7) investing in research on climate change through
appropriate Federal agencies and funding of university and
independent research groups on the various causes and effects
of climate change;
(8) developing and implementing gender-sensitive frameworks
in policies to address climate change that account for the
specific impacts of climate change on women;
(9) developing policies to support women who are
particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change to
prepare for, build their resilience to, and adapt to such
impacts, including a commitment to increase education and
training opportunities for women to develop local resilience
plans to address the effects of climate change;
(10) developing and investing in programs for the education
and empowerment of women and girls in the United States and
across the global community, including to gather information on
how climate change is affecting their lives and for guidance on
the needs of their families and communities in the face of
climate change, in coordination with the diplomatic missions of
other countries;
(11) consulting with representatives of civil society,
including nongovernmental organizations, community and faith-
based organizations, multilateral organizations, local and
international civil society groups, and local climate change
organizations and their beneficiaries, that have demonstrated
experience in preventing and responding to the effects of
climate change on women;
(12) supporting and building local capacity in developing
countries, including with respect to governments at all levels
and nongovernmental organizations (especially women-led), to
prevent and respond to the effects of climate change on women;
(13) developing programs to empower women in communities to
have a voice in the planning, design, implementation, and
evaluation of strategies to address climate change so that
their roles and resources are taken into account;
(14) including women in economic development planning,
policies, and practices that directly improve conditions that
result from climate change;
(15) integrating a gender approach in all policies and
programs in the United States that are globally related to
climate change; and
(16) ensuring that such policies and programs support women
globally to prepare for, build resilience for, and adapt to,
climate change.
(c) Updates.--The Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change
shall--
(1) consult with the Working Group to collect information
and feedback; and
(2) update the strategy and programs to prevent and respond
to the effects of climate change on women globally, as the
Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change considers
appropriate.
(d) Implementation Plan and Budget Required.--Not later than 60
days after the date of the submittal of the strategy under subsection
(a), the Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees an implementation plan and
budget for the strategy.
(e) United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Through and Beyond
2030.--The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals listed in this
subsection are the following:
(1) Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere.
(2) Ending hunger, achieving food security and improved
nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture.
(3) Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all
and at all ages.
(4) Ensuring inclusive, equitable, and quality education
and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
(5) Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and
girls.
(6) Ensuring the availability and sustainable management of
water and sanitation for all.
(7) Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable,
and modern energy for all.
(8) Promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable
economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent
work for all.
(9) Building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive
and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation.
(10) Reducing inequality within and among countries.
(11) Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient, and sustainable.
(12) Ensuring sustainable consumption and production
patterns.
(13) Taking urgent action to combat climate change and its
impacts.
(14) Conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas, and
marine resources for sustainable development.
(15) Protecting, restoring, and promoting sustainable use
of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests,
combating desertification, and halting and reversing land
degradation and biodiversity loss.
(16) Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for
sustainable development, providing access to justice for all,
and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions
at all levels.
(17) Strengthening the means of policy implementation and
revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable
development.
TITLE II--OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
SEC. 201. SENIOR COORDINATOR FOR WOMEN AND CLIMATE CHANGE.
(a) Establishment.--The Ambassador-at-Large of the Office of Global
Women's Issues of the Department of State shall designate an individual
to serve as a Senior Advisor, or equivalent role, who shall serve
concurrently as the Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change.
(b) Duties.--The Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change
shall--
(1) assist and provide consultation to the Secretary of
State in preventing and responding to the effects of climate
change on women globally;
(2) direct the activities, policies, programs, and funding
of the Department of State relating to the effects of climate
change on women, including with respect to efforts to prevent
and respond to those effects;
(3) advise the Secretary of State, the relevant heads of
other Federal departments and independent agencies, and other
entities within the Executive Office of the President,
regarding the establishment of--
(A) policies, goals, objectives, and priorities for
addressing and combating the effects of climate change
on women; and
(B) mechanisms to improve the effectiveness,
coordination, impact, and outcomes of programs relating
to addressing and combating the effects of climate
change on women, in coordination with experts in the
field, nongovernmental organizations, and foreign
governments; and
(4) identify and assist in the resolution of any disputes
that arise between Federal agencies relating to policies and
programs to address and combat the effects of climate change on
women or other matters within the responsibility of the Office
of Global Women's Issues.
(c) Reporting.--The Senior Coordinator for Women and Climate Change
shall report to the Ambassador-at-Large for the Office of Global
Women's Issues and the Secretary of State.
SEC. 202. BRIEFING AND REPORT.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter, the Ambassador-at-Large of the Office of
Global Women's Issues of the Department of State and the Senior
Coordinator for Women and Climate Change designated pursuant to section
201 shall jointly--
(1) brief the appropriate congressional committees on--
(A) the effects of climate change on women; and
(B) the prevention and response strategies,
programming, and associated outcomes with respect to
climate change; and
(2) submit to the appropriate congressional committees an
assessment of the human and financial resources necessary to
fulfill the purposes of and carry out this Act.
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