Sec. 30601. Ensuring national security and economic priorities with the People’s Republic of China and other countries account for environmental issues and climate change
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Congress finds the following: The Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5°C, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on October 8, 2018, and the Fourth National Climate Assessment, first published by the United States Global Change Research Program in 2018, concluded that— the release of greenhouse gas emissions, most notably the combustion of fossil fuels and the degradation of natural resources that absorb atmospheric carbon from human activity, are the dominant causes of climate change during the past century; changes in the Earth’s climate are— causing sea levels to rise; increasing the global average temperature of the Earth; increasing the incidence and severity of wildfires; and intensifying the severity of extreme weather, including hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, flooding, droughts, and other disasters that threaten human life, healthy communities, and critical infrastructure.
An increase in the global average temperature of 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrialized levels would cause— the displacement, and the forced internal migration, of an estimated 143,000,000 people in Latin America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa by 2050 if insufficient action is taken (according to the World Bank); the displacement of an average of 17,800,000 people worldwide by floods every year (according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre) because of the exacerbating effects of climate change; more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual economic output in the United States (a 10 percent contraction from 2018 levels) by 2100 (according to the Fourth National Climate Assessment); an additional 100,000,000 people worldwide to be driven into poverty by 2030 (according to the World Bank); greater food insecurity and decreased agricultural production due to climate change’s effects on the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events; the proliferation of agricultural pests and crop diseases, loss of biodiversity, degrading ecosystems, and water scarcity; and more than 350,000,000 additional people worldwide to be exposed to deadly heat stress by 2050.
According to the International Energy Agency, the United States, China, India, and the European Union (including the United Kingdom) account for more than 58 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. China, which is the world’s top greenhouse gases emitter and has an outsized impact on the United States’ core interest in climate stability— is likely to achieve its carbon emissions mitigation pledge to the Paris Agreement, contained in its 2015 nationally determined contribution, to peak emissions around 2030 ahead of schedule; announced, on September 22, 2020, and restated on April 22, 2021, a pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060; announced on April 22, 2021, its intent to strictly control coal fired power generation projects, as well as strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th five year plan period and phase it down in the 15th five year plan period; and however, remains uncommitted to internationally recognized metrics for achieving these goals.
It is the sense of Congress that— to address the climate crisis, the United States must leverage the full weight of its diplomatic engagement and foreign assistance to promote our national security and economic interests related to climate change; in the absence of United States leadership on global issues driving international climate-related policymaking, it would lead to a substantial and harmful decline in the Nation’s global competitiveness; promoting international instruments on climate action and other relevant international standards and best practices, as such standards and practices develop, serve the interests of the American people and protect United States environmental resources and the planet; promoting the adoption and implementation of international climate-related agreements, standards, and practices by foreign states ensures a level playing field for United States businesses and other stakeholders; working with international allies and partners to promote environmental justice and climate justice serves the American people’s interests; finding common ground with the People’s Republic of China
(PRC)on climate action where possible is important, but the United States must also continue to hold the PRC accountable where its actions undermine the interests of the United States and its allies and partners; and in furtherance of the previous clauses, the United States should— explore opportunities for constructive cooperation on climate action initiatives with the PRC and other countries while ensuring the United States maintains its competitive advantage in climate-related fields of expertise and industry, including— support for international cooperative policies, measures, and technologies to decarbonize industry and power, including through circular economy, energy storage and grid reliability, carbon capture, and green hydrogen; and increased deployment of clean energy, including renewable and advanced nuclear power; green and climate resilient agriculture; energy efficient buildings; green, and low-carbon transportation; cooperate on addressing emissions of methane and other non-CO 2 greenhouse gases; cooperate on addressing emissions from international civil aviation and maritime activities; reduce emissions from coal, oil, and gas; implement the Paris Agreement that significantly advances global climate ambition on mitigation, adaptation, and support; coordinate among relevant Federal, State, and local departments and agencies on climate action related initiatives; provide resources, authorities and support for enhancing United States ambition and commitment to solving the climate crisis including climate action specific assistance and multilateral fund contributions; and integrate considerations for climate change into broader United States foreign policy decision-making and the United States national security apparatus. The purpose of this section is to provide authorities, resources, policies, and recommended administrative actions— to restore United States global leadership on addressing the climate crisis and make United States climate action and climate diplomacy a more central tenet of United States foreign policy; to improve the United States commitment to taking more ambitious action to help mitigate global greenhouse gas emission and improve developing countries’ resilience and adaptation capacities to the effects of climate change; to ensure the United States maintains competitive advantage over global strategic competitors in diplomacy and new technological development; to encourage the pursuit of new bilateral cooperation agreements with other world powers on initiatives to advance global clean energy innovation and other measures to mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions and improve climate change adaptation capacities; to ensure that the United States national security apparatus integrates critically important data on the compounding effects that climate change is having on global security risks by enhancing our understanding of how, where, and when such effects are destabilizing countries and regions in ways that may motivate conflict, displacement, and other drivers of insecurity; and to authorize funding and programs to support a reaffirmation of the United States’ commitments to international cooperation and support for developing and vulnerable countries to take climate action. In this title: The term clean energy means— renewable energy and related systems; energy production processes that emit zero greenhouse gas emissions, including nuclear power; and systems and processes that capture and permanently store greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel production and electricity generation units. The term climate action means enhanced efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-induced impacts, including— climate-related hazards in all countries; integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning; and improving education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity with respect to climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning. The term climate crisis means the social, economic, health, safety, and security impacts on people, and the threats to biodiversity and natural ecosystem health, which are attributable to the wide-variety of effects on global environmental and atmospheric conditions as a result of disruptions to the Earth’s climate from anthropogenic activities that generate greenhouse gas emissions or reduce natural resource capacities to absorb and regulate atmospheric carbon. The term climate diplomacy means methods of influencing the decisions and behavior of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation, cooperation, and other peaceful measures on or about issues related to addressing global climate change, including— the mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions; discussion, analysis, and sharing of scientific data and information on the cause and effects of climate change; the security, social, economic, and political instability risks associated with the effects of climate change; economic cooperation efforts that are related to or associated with climate change and greenhouse gas mitigation from the global economy; building resilience capacities and adapting to the effects of change; sustainable land use and natural resource conservation; accounting for loss and damage attributed to the effects of climate change; just transition of carbon intense economies to low or zero carbon economies and accounting for laborers within affected economies; technological innovations that reduce or eliminate carbon emissions; and clean energy and energy systems. The term climate financing means the transfer of new and additional public funds from developed countries to developing countries for projects and programs that— reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions; enhance and restore natural carbon sequestration; and promote adaptation to climate change. The term climate security means the effects of climate change on— United States national security concerns and subnational, national, and regional political stability; and overseas security and conflict situations that are potentially exacerbated by dynamic environmental factors and events, including— the intensification and frequency of droughts, floods, wildfires, tropical storms, and other extreme weather events; changes in historical severe weather, drought, and wildfire patterns; the expansion of geographical ranges of droughts, floods, and wildfires into regions that had not regularly experienced such phenomena; global sea level rise patterns and the expansion of geographical ranges affected by drought; and changes in marine environments that effect critical geostrategic waterways, such as the Arctic Ocean, the South China Sea, the South Pacific Ocean, the Barents Sea, and the Beaufort Sea. The term Green Climate Fund means the independent, multilateral fund— established by parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; and adopted by decision as part of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 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. The term resilience means the ability of human made and natural systems (including their component parts) to anticipate, absorb, cope, accommodate, or recover from the effects of a hazardous event in a timely and efficient manner, including through ensuring the preservation, restoration, or improvement of its essential basic structures and functions. It is not preparedness or response. Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Department of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall provide a briefing to relevant Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate regarding the progress and efforts of the PRC to achieve the goals and commitments stated in subsection (a)(3).