Sec. 207. Climate resilient development in the Pacific Islands
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It is the sense of Congress that— the United States Government should leverage the full range of authorities and programs available to assist the Pacific Islands in achieving their development goals; United States development assistance should seek to build on existing public and private sector investments while creating new opportunities toward a favorable environment for additional such investments; and United States development efforts should be coordinated with and seek to build on existing efforts by like-minded partners and allies and regional and international multilateral organizations.
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation, shall develop and implement a strategy to— invest in and improve critical infrastructure, including transport connectivity, information and communications technology, food security, coastal zone management, marine and water resource management, and energy security and access to electricity in the Pacific Islands, with an emphasis on climate resiliency and sustainable development; provide technical assistance to assist local government and civil society leaders assess risks to local infrastructure, especially those posed by climate change, consider and implement risk mitigation efforts and policies to strengthen resilience, and evaluate proposed projects and solutions for their efficacy and sustainability; and support investment and improvement in ecosystem conservation and protection for the long-term sustainable use of ecosystem services, especially those that mitigate effects of climate change and those that support food security and livelihoods.
The strategy developed under this section shall be coordinated with like-minded partners and allies, regional and international multilateral organizations, and regional frameworks for development in the Pacific Islands. The Secretary of the Treasury shall direct the representatives of the United States to the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank to use the voice and vote of the United States to support climate resilient infrastructure projects in the Pacific Islands.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on foreign infrastructure developments in the Pacific Islands. The report required by paragraph
(1)shall include— a review of foreign infrastructure developments in the Pacific Islands by non-United States allies and partners; assessments of the environmental impact and sustainability of such developments; and an analysis of the financial sustainability of such developments and their impacts on the debt of host countries in the Pacific Islands. In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. There are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to carry out this section.