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International Climate Change Assistance:
Budget Authority, FY2009-FY2019
The United States committed to providing financial
reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and
assistance to developing countries for climate-change-
land degradation.
related activities through the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The United
To this end, President Obama signed the Presidential Policy
States ratified the UNFCCC in 1992 with the advice and
Directive on Global Development (PPD-6), which called
consent of the Senate (U.S. Treaty Number: 102-38).
for the elevation of foreign development assistance as a
Among the obligations outlined in Article 4 of the
national priority and outlined an integrated approach to
UNFCCC, higher-income Parties (i.e., those listed in Annex
development, diplomacy, and national security. One of the
II of the Convention, which were members of the
three main pillars of the directive was the Global Climate
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Change Initiative (GCCI). (The other two pillars were Feed
in 1992) sought to provide unspecified amounts of
the Future and the Global Health Initiative.) The GCCI was
“financial resources, including for the transfer of
divided into three main programmatic initiatives or
technology, needed by developing countries to meet the
categories: (1) adaptation, (2) clean energy, and (3)
agreed full incremental costs of implementing measures” to
sustainable landscapes.
meet their general commitments under the UNFCCC.
Further, “the implementation of these commitments shall
The GCCI was funded primarily through programs at the
take into account the need for adequacy and predictability
State Department, the Department of the Treasury, and
in the flow of funds and the importance of appropriate
USAID. Funds for these programs were requested in the
burden sharing among the developed country Parties.”
President’s budget under the International Affairs Function
150 account for State, Foreign Operations, and Related
Over the past several decades, and to varying degrees, the
Programs. Many GCCI activities were funded at agency
United States has delivered financial and technical
subaccount levels, with allocations left to the discretion of
assistance for climate-change-related activities in the
the agencies under congressional consultation. Some
developing world through a variety of bilateral and
additional international assistance was funded at other
multilateral programs. (See Table 1 for assistance provided
federal agencies. The Obama-era GCCI budget authority
over the past decade.)
fluctuated between $900 million and $2 billion annually.
U.S.-sponsored bilateral assistance has come through
The Trump Administration
programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development
Under President Donald Trump, the Administration has
(USAID); the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the
ceased providing financial assistance to developing
Environmental Protection Agency; and the U.S.
countries for activities defined as related to climate change.
Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, and Energy,
The FY2018 Budget Blueprint, released on March 16,
among others.
2017, indicated that the administration would pursue a
policy that “[e]liminates the Global Climate Change
U.S.-sponsored multilateral assistance has come through
Initiative and fulfills the President’s pledge to cease
contributions by the U.S. Departments of State and the
payments to the United Nations’ (UN) climate change
Treasury to environmental funds at various international
programs by eliminating U.S. funding related to the Green
financial institutions and organizations such as the Global
Climate Fund and its two precursor Climate Investment
Environment Facility, the Green Climate Fund, the U.N.
Funds.” The Trump Administration has not requested
Development Program, the U.N. Environment Program, the
funding for these programs in subsequent budget requests.
UNFCCC’s Special Climate Change Fund, the UNFCCC’s
Least Developed Country Fund, the World Bank’s Climate
Issues for Congress
Investment Funds, and the World Bank’s Forest Carbon
Congress oversees U.S. government assistance to
Partnership Facility, among others. Each fund has its own
developing countries for climate-change-related initiatives.
mission and particular capacities.
Congressional committees of jurisdiction have included the
House Committees on Foreign Affairs, Financial Services,
The Obama Administration
and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Foreign
Under President Barack Obama, the Administration aimed
Relations and Appropriations.
to integrate climate change considerations into relevant
foreign assistance through a range of bilateral, multilateral,
Congress undertakes several activities in regard to
and private sector mechanisms to promote sustainable and
international climate change assistance, including (1)
resilient societies, foster low-carbon economic growth, and
authorizing federal agency programs and multilateral fund
contributions, (2) appropriating funds for those
https://crsreports.congress.gov
International Climate Change Assistance:
Budget Authority, FY2009-FY2019
authorizations, (3) providing guidance to the agencies on
authorized programs and appropriations, and (4) overseeing
U.S. interests in the programs.
Table 1. International Climate Change Assistance, Budget Authority, FY2009-FY2019
(Nominal US$ in millions; n/a indicates “not available” or not reported)
Agency/Account
2009
2010 2011
2012 2013
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2019
Department of State
55
199
125
133
126
127
147 1095
n/a
n/a
n/a
Diplomatic and Consular Affairs
2
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
n/a
n/a
n/a
Economic Support Fund
24
158
89
96
91
92
112 1059*
n/a
n/a
n/a
International Organizations and
29
39
36
37
35
36
36
36
n/a
n/a
n/a
Programs
USAID
222
383
398
349
335
351
331
305
n/a
n/a
n/a
Assistance for Europe, Eurasia,
15
26
-
15
-
-
-
16
n/a
n/a
n/a
and Central Asia
Development Assistance
113
313
368
322
308
296
272
268
n/a
n/a
n/a
Economic Support Fund
94
44
30
12
27
55
59
21
n/a
n/a
n/a
Department of the Treasury
46
421
296
377
380
356
346
331
n/a
n/a
n/a
Debt Restructuring
20
20
16
12
11
-
-
-
-
-
-
Global Environment Facility
26
26
45
60
62
72
82
101
35
34
29
Clean Technology Fund
-
300
185
230
196
210
201
171
-
-
-
Strategic Climate Fund
-
75
50
75
110
75
63
60
-
-
-
Millennium Challenge
0
2
25
41
0
103
352
219
n/a
n/a
n/a
Corporation
Other Agencies
50
75
85
59
76
77
76
78
n/a
n/a
n/a
Total
373
1080
929
959
917
1014 1252 2028
n/a
n/a
n/a
Source: CRS, from Office of Management and Budget, “Federal Expenditures on Science, Energy, and International Assistance Programs That
Advance the Federal Response to Climate Change, Fiscal Years, 2013-2016,” January 2017; U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Climate
Change: Analysis of Reported Federal Funding,” April 2018, GAO-18-223, and CRS correspondence with the Departments of State and the
Treasury.
Notes: Numbers in the table may not sum due to rounding. “Other agencies” includes the Environmental Protection Agency; National
Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Peace Corps; U.S. Trade and Development Agency; and Departments of
Agriculture, Commerce, and Energy.
*The Obama Administration made two contributions to the Green Climate Fund using FY2016 budget authority from the Economic Support
Fund. Those contributions were for $500 mil ion on March 8, 2016, and $500 mil ion on January 17, 2017.
Richard K. Lattanzio, Specialist in Environmental Policy
IF10397
https://crsreports.congress.gov
International Climate Change Assistance:
Budget Authority, FY2009-FY2019
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