Sec. 30611. Working with international partners to reduce deforestation
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Congress finds the following: The People’s Republic of China
(PRC)is having a substantial impact on the most important forest ecosystems in the world, and illegal logging and agricultural expansion have caused the massive forest loss. According to the World Resources Institute, the PRC has become the world’s leading importer and consumer of timber products, soybeans, and palm oil, as well as the largest manufacturing and export country of forest products. In 2016, the PRC imported logs from more than 100 countries in the world. According to a Global Witness report, between January 2013 and April 2020, Chinese financial institutions provided more than $22.5 billion to major companies that produce and trade commodities at high risk of driving deforestation. These commodities include beef, soy, palm oil, paper, pulp, rubber, and timber. Further, the growing international demand for such agricultural commodities causes the majority of deforestation emissions globally, and most of the associated land-clearing violates applicable national or local laws. According to a 2021 Forest Trends report, at least 69 percent of forest land converted to pasture or cropland was cleared illegally. The growing demand for timber and agricultural commodities has accelerated unsustainable—and often illegal—logging and the trade of timber products, which harms the countries in which it takes place by siphoning away government tax revenue, transforming the livelihoods of communities dependent on forests, and hurting legal businesses’ competitiveness. Further, illegal logging and illegal conversion of forest to agricultural land threatens biodiversity and accelerates deforestation and forest degradation in key timber supply countries, undermining United States and global climate goals. The United States should work with international partners to ensure that Chinese and other banks factor into lending practices the environmental and social impact of the companies they finance. This should include pressuring the PRC and other countries to revise regulations to require the banking sector not to finance companies linked to deforestation and include rigorous checks on the companies operating in sectors or regions where there is a high risk of deforestation to ensure they are not associated with deforestation. In this section: Except as otherwise expressly provided, the term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. The term deforestation means a change in land use from a forest (including peatlands) to any other land use. The term developing country means a country eligible to receive official development assistance according to the income guidelines of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The term emissions reductions means greenhouse gas emissions reductions achieved from reduced or avoided deforestation under this section. The term forest means a terrestrial ecosystem, including wetland forests, comprised of native tree species generated and maintained primarily through natural ecological and evolutionary processes. The term forest does not include plantations, such as crops of trees planted by humans primarily for the purposes of harvesting. The term forest degradation is any reduction in the carbon stock of a forest due to the effects of human land-use activities, including such land-use activities on peatlands. The term intact forest means an unbroken expanse of natural ecosystems within the global extent of forest cover that— covers an area of at least 500 square kilometers and is at least 10 kilometers in each direction; and contains forest and non-forest ecosystems minimally influenced by human economic activity and large enough that all native biodiversity, including viable populations of wide-ranging species, could be maintained. The term leakage means the unexpected loss of anticipated carbon benefits due to the displacement of activities in a project area to areas outside the project, resulting in carbon emissions. The term leakage prevention activities means activities in developing countries that are directed at preserving existing forest carbon stocks, including forested wetlands and peatlands that might, absent such activities, be lost through leakage. The term national deforestation reduction activities means activities in developing countries that reduce a quantity of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation that is calculated by measuring actual emissions against a national deforestation baseline established pursuant to subparagraphs
(B)and
(C)of subsection (d)(4). The term subnational deforestation and forest degradation reduction activities means activities in developing countries that reduce a quantity of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation that is calculated by measuring actual emissions using an appropriate baseline, or an alternative determined under subsection (d)(4)(B)(ii), established by the Administrator at the State or provincial level. The purposes of this section are to provide United States assistance to developing countries to develop, implement, and improve actions that reduce deforestation and forest degradation or conserve or restore forest ecosystems— to protect the value of forest ecosystems with respect to permanent carbon capture and sequestration in a manner in which such value is measurable, reportable, and verifiable; and in a manner that— is consistent with and enhances the implementation of complementary United States policies that support the good governance of forests, biodiversity conservation, and environmentally sustainable development; takes into consideration the views and participation of local communities and most vulnerable communities and populations, particularly forest-dependent communities; and incorporates the right to free prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with other appropriate agencies, shall establish a program to provide assistance to reduce deforestation in developing countries and its impacts, in accordance with this section. The objectives of the program established under paragraph
(1)shall be— to achieve— emissions reductions of at least 7,000,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025; cumulative emissions reductions of at least 11,000,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by December 31, 2030; and additional emissions reductions in subsequent years; to build capacity to reduce deforestation at a national level in developing countries experiencing deforestation, which may include— preparing developing countries to participate in international markets for international offset credits for reduced emissions from deforestation; supporting the development of overseas domestic policy frameworks to ensure effective, efficient, and equitable benefit-sharing of the proceeds of such credits issued by national and subnational governments; and promoting and expanding land titling initiatives and programs in other countries; to preserve forest carbon stocks in countries where such forest carbon may be vulnerable to leakage, particularly in developing countries with largely intact native forests; to build the scientific knowledge and institutional capacity to help developing countries— monitor the effects of climate change on their forests; develop and implement strategies to conserve their forests; and support forest-dependent communities adapt to climate change; to the extent practicable, to reduce deforestation in ways that reduce the vulnerability and increase the resilience to climate effects for forests and forest-dependent communities; to prevent degradation and fragmentation of forests and other intact ecosystems, particularly in tropical countries, including by providing assistance or supporting policies to— conserve, protect, and restore the integrity of such ecosystems; and support the rights of Indigenous People and local communities and their ability to continue their effective stewardship of their intact traditional lands and territories; to build capacity to address illegal deforestation for agricultural commodities; and to remove subsidies that favor deforestation; Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Administrator may provide assistance under this section only with respect to a developing country that— the Administrator, in consultation with other appropriate agencies, determines— is experiencing deforestation or forest degradation; or has standing forest carbon stocks that may be at risk of deforestation or degradation; has the legal regimes, standards, and safeguards to ensure that the rights and interests of indigenous peoples and forest-dependent communities are protected in accordance with the standards established under paragraph (4); and has entered into a bilateral or multilateral agreement or arrangement with the United States, or is part of an international program supported by the United States to prevent deforestation, that establishes the conditions of participation by the country in the program established under this section, which shall include an agreement to meet the standards established under paragraph
(4)for the activities to which such standards apply. A developing country that does not meet the requirement described in paragraph (1)(A)(ii) may receive assistance under this section for the purpose of building capacity to meet such requirement. Subject to the requirements of this section, in providing assistance under this section, the Administrator may support activities to achieve the objectives described in subsection (c)(2), such as— national deforestation reduction activities; subnational deforestation and forest degradation reduction activities, including pilot activities, policies, and measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are subject to significant uncertainty; activities to measure, monitor, and verify deforestation, avoided deforestation, and rates of deforestation, including, if applicable, spatially explicit land use plans that identify intact and primary forest areas and managed forest areas; leakage prevention activities; the development and implementation of measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification capacities and governance structures, including legal regimes, standards, processes, and safeguards, as established under paragraph (4), to enable a country to quantify emissions reductions for purposes of purchasing or trading subnational emissions reduction credits in carbon markets; the identification of, and actions to address, the drivers of land use emissions; programs that would exclude from the United States illegally harvested timber or products made from illegally harvested timber, in accordance with and consistent with the objectives of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 ( 16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq. ); the development and strengthening of governance capacities to reduce deforestation and other land use emissions and to combat illegal logging and associated trade, including the development of systems for independent monitoring of the efficacy of forest law enforcement and increased enforcement cooperation, including joint efforts with Federal agencies, to enforce the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 ( 16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq. ); programs to help countries strengthen the necessary governance and technological capacity to trace and make publicly available the origin of agricultural commodities associated with tropical deforestation, such as beef, soy, palm oil, paper, pulp, cocoa, and rubber; the development and strengthening of governance capacities and associated implementation activities to combat illegal deforestation related to the production of agricultural commodities, such as those described in subparagraph (I); the provision of incentives for policy reforms to achieve the objectives described in subsection (c)(2); the development of pilot projects— to examine where mitigation and adaptation activities in forest ecosystems coincide; and to explore means for enhancing the resilience of forest ecosystems and forest-dependent communities; the promotion of mechanisms to deliver resources for local action and to address the needs, rights, interests, and participation of local and indigenous communities; the promotion of land tenure and titling programs, including legal recognition and effective protection of the land tenure, access and use rights of Indigenous People and local communities; and the monitoring and evaluation of the results of the activities conducted under this section. The Administrator shall apply the administrative authorities under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq. ), except to the extent inconsistent with the provisions of this section, to the same extent and in the same manner as such authorities apply to the implementation of such Act in order to support activities to achieve the objectives described in subsection (c)(2) by— developing and implementing programs and project-level activities that achieve such objectives; to the extent practicable, giving priority in any review process to activities under paragraph (2)(A); and as appropriate, considering multi-year funding arrangements in carrying out the purposes of this section. The Administrator, in consultation with other appropriate agencies, shall establish program standards that— ensure that emissions reductions achieved through supported activities— are additional, measurable, verifiable, and monitored; account for leakage, uncertainty, and permanence; and at a minimum, meet the standards established under the emissions unit criteria of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); require— the establishment of a national deforestation baseline for each country with national deforestation reduction activities that is used to account for reductions achieved from such activities; or if a developing country has established policies and taken measures to reduce emissions from disturbed peatlands, deforestation, or forest degradation, but has not established a national baseline, the provision of a credible, transparent, accurate, and conservative alternative for quantifying emissions; provide that each national deforestation baseline established under subparagraph (B)(i)— is national, or subnational on an interim basis, in scope; and is consistent with nationally appropriate mitigation commitments or actions with respect to deforestation, taking into consideration— the average annual historical deforestation rates of the country during a period of at least 5 years; and the applicable drivers of deforestation and other factors to ensure additionality; establishes a trajectory that would result in zero net deforestation by not later than 20 years after the date on which the baseline is established; is adjusted over time to account for changing national circumstances; and is designed to account for all significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in the country; with respect to assistance provided for activities described in subparagraph
(A)or
(B)of paragraph (2), require emissions reductions to be achieved and verified before the provision of any assistance under this section; with respect to accounting for subnational deforestation and forest degradation reduction activities that lack the standardized or precise measurement and monitoring techniques needed for a full accounting of changes in emissions or baselines, or are subject to other sources of uncertainty, apply a conservative discount factor to reflect the uncertainty regarding the levels of reductions achieved; ensure that activities under this section are designed, carried out, and managed— using forest management practices that, in an open and transparent process— improve the livelihoods of forest communities in a manner that promotes the maintenance of intact forests, protects associated biodiversity, and restores native forest species and ecosystems while avoiding the introduction of invasive nonnative species; maintain natural biodiversity, resilience, and carbon storage capacity of forests; to the extent practicable, do not adversely affect the permanence of forest carbon stocks or emissions reductions; include broad stakeholder participation and the free prior and informed consent of affected indigenous peoples; and take into account the needs and interests of local communities, forest-dependent communities, indigenous peoples, and vulnerable social groups; in consultation with, and with the full and effective participation of, local communities, indigenous peoples, and forest-dependent communities in affected areas, as partners and primary stakeholders, before and during the design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of activities; and with equitable sharing of profits and benefits derived from the activities with local communities, indigenous peoples, and forest-dependent communities; and with respect to assistance for all activities under this section, seek to ensure the establishment and enforcement of legal regimes, standards, processes, and safeguards by the country in which the activities are conducted, as a condition of such assistance or as a proposed activity for which such assistance may be provided, which— protect the rights and interests of local communities, indigenous peoples, forest-dependent communities, human rights defenders, and vulnerable social groups; and promote consultations with local communities, indigenous peoples, and forest-dependent communities in affected areas, as partners and primary stakeholders, before and during the design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of activities under this section; and ensure equitable sharing of profits and benefits from incentives for emissions reductions or leakage prevention with local communities, indigenous peoples, and forest-dependent communities. The Administrator shall include reduced emissions from forest degradation and disturbance of peatlands within the scope of activities under this section. If the Administrator determines, in consultation with other appropriate agencies, that sufficient methodologies and technical capacities exist to measure, monitor, and account for the emissions referred to in subparagraph (A), the Administrator may expand the authorized activities under this section, as appropriate, to include reduced soil carbon-derived emissions associated with deforestation and degradation of forested wetlands and peatlands, consistent with a comprehensive approach to maintaining and enhancing forests, increasing climate resiliency, reducing emissions, and increasing removals of greenhouse gases. The Administrator shall use a publicly accessible registry to account for and register the emissions reductions achieved through assistance provided under this section each year, after appropriately discounting for uncertainty and other relevant factors as required by the standards established under paragraph (4). In furtherance of the objectives described in subsection (c)(2), the Administrator shall develop and implement a program that— addresses noncompletion or reversal with respect to any greenhouse gas emissions that were not, or are no longer, sequestered; and may include a mechanism to hold in reserve a portion of the amount allocated for projects to support the program. The Administrator may extend, for an additional 5 years, the period during which assistance is authorized for activities supported by assistance under this section, if the Administrator determines that— the country in which the activities are conducted is making substantial progress toward adopting and implementing a program to achieve reductions in deforestation measured against a national baseline; the greenhouse gas emissions reductions achieved as a result of the activities are not resulting in significant leakage; such greenhouse gas emissions reductions are being appropriately discounted to account for any leakage that is occurring; and such extension would further advance or ensure achievement of the objectives of the activities. If the Administrator extends the period during which assistance is authorized for activities under subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall determine, based on the criteria specified that subparagraph, whether such assistance should include assistance for subnational deforestation and forest degradation reduction activities. The Administrator may extend the period during which assistance is authorized for subnational deforestation and forest degradation reduction activities beyond the 5-year period described in subparagraph
(A)in order to further the objectives described in subparagraph
(B)or
(C)of subsection (c)(2). Subject to the direction of the President, the Administrator shall, to the extent practicable and consistent with the objectives described in subsection (c)(2), seek to align activities under this section with broader development, poverty alleviation, or natural resource management objectives and initiatives in countries receiving assistance under this section. The provision of assistance for activities under this section shall be used to supplement, and not to supplant, any other Federal, State, or local support available to carry out activities under this section. Of the funds made available to carry out this section in any fiscal year, not more than 7 percent may be used for the administrative expenses of the United States Agency for International Development in support of activities described in paragraph (2). Such amount shall be in addition to other amounts otherwise available for such purposes. Nothing in this section may be construed to supersede, limit, or otherwise affect any restriction imposed by Federal law (including regulations) on any interaction between an entity located in the United States and an entity located in a foreign country. Nothing in this section may be construed to affect the role of the Secretary of State or the responsibilities of the Secretary under section 622(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2382(c) ). The President shall direct the United States representatives to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other international financial institutions (as defined in section 1701(c) of the International Financial Institutions Act ( 22 U.S.C. 262r(c) ) to prioritize efforts to combat deforestation. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to Congress a report, with respect to activities under this section, on the implementation of measurable and sustainable development practices and an assessment of resources related to achieving carbon dioxide emission reduction targets for 2025 and 2030.
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Sec. 30611
Working with international partners to reduce deforestation
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