Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress makes the following findings: Climate change is imposing significant damage on communities in the United States and abroad in the form of severe weather events, wildfires, heat waves, droughts, flooding, ocean acidification, and other threats to public health and safety. Scientists expect these effects to grow in frequency and intensity in the coming decades. Low-income communities, communities of color, and women bear a disproportionate impact of climate-related damages.

Collectively, the international community needs to limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in order to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. Under the current trajectory, the world will fail to meet this target and will experience warming that exceeds 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. In many regions of the world, warming of average temperatures has already surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius. To limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the world needs to reach net-zero global emissions by 2050, which will require making drastic reforms to global economic systems to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, reduce deforestation, reduce dependency on coal, oil, and gas, adapt to unavoidable changes in the climate, and ensure a just transition.

The goals articulated in the Paris Agreement depend on collective action involving the entire international community. Progress made by one economic actor can be reduced or cancelled out if another economic actor emits significant greenhouse gas emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere or destroys important carbon sinks. Coal is one of the most carbon-intensive fuel sources. The International Energy Agency estimates that coal is responsible for nearly 1/3 of global warming. The United Nations Secretary General has repeatedly urged countries to stop financing coal and to pledge not to build new coal-fired power plants.

Globally, oil and gas operations account for 15 percent of total energy-related emissions. At the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (commonly known as COP28 ) in 2023, the outcome of the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement called for a global effort to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net-zero global emissions by 2050 in keeping with the science.

Subcritical coal-fired power plants continue to be developed, especially in Southeast Asia and as part of the Belt and Road Initiative of the People's Republic of China, despite broad awareness of the dangers and the growing availability of economically superior alternatives. Additionally, coal mining is frequently associated with a wide range of abuses that impact the enjoyment of human rights, such as forced evictions and land grabbing, water and air pollution, and violations of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and workers.

Alternatives to carbon-intensive electrical power generation are now available and technological advancements continue to strengthen the economic competitiveness of such alternatives. Internationally, several economic actors continue to pursue activities, such as development of new subcritical coal-fired power plants and deforestation that contribute to dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to carrying a significant climate risk, many of these activities are associated with serious human rights abuses, acts of corruption, and environmental injustice against Indigenous communities, communities of color, and other communities that have historically faced marginalization and discrimination.

The United States Government has developed and implements targeted measures to restrict access to the United States financial system for specific individuals and entities whose actions threaten or run counter to United States national interests. While the United States has not yet used such measures for climate-related activities alone, the United States Government has deployed such measures in response to terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, transnational organized crime, narcotics trafficking, malicious cyber-enabled activity, wildlife trafficking, serious human rights abuses, and acts of corruption.

President Biden has indicated that combating the climate crisis is a top domestic and foreign policy priority and has taken steps including the creation of a Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, collaborating with other countries to establish worldwide solutions and reduce the impact of climate change, striving to achieve a net-zero economy in the United States by 2050, producing a plan to end international financing for fossil fuel projects, and emphasizing the need of pursuing an entirely clean energy economy.

President Biden has made it a priority to counter environmental injustices in the United States and abroad, and plans on implementing community-led approaches as well as Federal protections and regulations that will support those community members whose land and health have been negatively impacted by climate change. The climate crisis has led to a surge of civic engagement, activism, and protests across the world. At the same time, reprisals against environmental defenders are on the rise.

Front Line Defenders reported that of the 196 human rights defenders, including environmental defenders, were killed for their work in 2023. In 2024, Global Witness reported more than 2,100 defenders have been killed since 2012. Thousands of other environmental defenders are targeted each year with reprisals in the form of enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence, criminalization, and smear campaigns. Illegal deforestation is a significant driver of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Criminal networks with the capacity to coordinate large-scale extraction, processing, and sale of timber deploy armed personnel to protect their interests. Those criminal networks regularly attack and threaten members of Indigenous communities, other environmental defenders, and enforcement officials. Perpetrators of such violence are rarely brought to justice. Policies and measures to address climate change and deforestation should also promote human rights, thereby advancing equality, justice, and dignity for all, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights of the United Nations.