[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2997 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2997
To authorize appropriations for climate financing, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2025
Mr. Espaillat introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
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 2025''.
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, 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 $300,000,000,000 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 honor this commitment;
(25) as of June 2023, the United States has contributed
only $2,000,000,000 in total funding to the Green Climate Fund;
(26) 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;
(27) almost all major contributors doubled the amount of
their contribution from the initial resource mobilization phase
for the GCF-1 replenishment; and
(28) the Green Climate Fund is the world's largest and most
innovative multilateral climate adaptation fund, and is a fully
operational and proven institution supporting nearly 200
projects in 127 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 both mitigation and adaptation as
essential aspects of responding to climate change.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for
contributions to the Green Climate Fund $4,000,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
climate financing needs to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions
reductions required to keep the planet at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius
of global warming are 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; and
(C) promote adaptation to climate change.
(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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