Global Conservation Act of 2010 - Directs the President, through the Coordinator for Global Conservation, to establish the International Conservation Strategy to help combat global natural resource and biodiversity degradation in developing countries.
Directs the Coordinator to establish the Interagency Working Group on Global Conservation.
Directs the President to establish the President's Advisory Committee for Global Conservation.
Urges the President to work with the world's major foreign assistance donor countries to: (1) develop an international conservation assistance strategy; (2) identify multilateral coordinating mechanisms; and (3) promote existing multilateral initiatives designed to identify meaningful levels of interim funding for forest conservation in developing countries.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4959 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4959
To strengthen the capacity of the United States to lead the
international community in reversing the trends of renewable natural
resource degradation around the world that threaten to undermine global
prosperity and security and diminish the diversity of life on Earth.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 25, 2010
Mr. Carnahan (for himself, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. Reichert, Mr. Moran of
Virginia, Mr. Sires, Mr. Ehlers, Mrs. Biggert, Mrs. Maloney, and Mr.
Dicks) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To strengthen the capacity of the United States to lead the
international community in reversing the trends of renewable natural
resource degradation around the world that threaten to undermine global
prosperity and security and diminish the diversity of life on Earth.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Global Conservation Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Five hundred million people in developing countries
depend on fresh water from natural areas that are under threat
of degradation.
(2) Two billion people depend on rapidly diminishing fish
stocks for a significant source of their daily protein.
(3) Wild species provide more than $300,000,000,000 in
benefits to world agriculture from natural pest control and the
pollination of two-thirds of the crop species that feed the
world.
(4) Plant breeding programs involving genetic enhancements
from the wild relatives of agricultural crops have helped feed
billions of people around the world and are valued at
$115,000,000,000 per year.
(5) Human degradation of and encroachment into natural
ecosystems such as rainforests increases opportunities for the
outbreak and spread of animal-borne infectious diseases--
similar to AIDS, SARS, avian flu, malaria, schistosomiasis,
tuberculosis, and yellow fever--that could cause high levels of
mortality and affect major global industries including travel,
trade, tourism, food production, and finance.
(6) Forests prevent catastrophic flooding and severe
drought, and coral reefs and mangroves reduce the impact of
large storms on coastal populations saving $9,000,000,000 in
damages each year and reducing outlays for disaster assistance.
(7) The destruction of forests mostly in developing
countries releases more greenhouse gases than the entire world
transportation sector. As one of the most cost effective ways
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a global forest
conservation program could help reduce the cost to the United
States of efforts to reduce emissions.
(8) More than half of the most prescribed medicines in the
United States are derived directly from natural compounds or
patterned after them. Due to the loss of natural areas and
compounds from wild species, one marketable prescription drug
is estimated to be lost every two years.
(9) The U.S. National Intelligence Council expects
demographic trends and natural resource scarcities relating to
water, food, arable land, and energy sources to lead to
instabilities and conflict in the years ahead.
(10) Illegal logging, fishing, and mining in developing
countries flood the international market with low-cost products
that undercut the competitiveness of responsible companies in
the United States. In the absence of competition from illegal
producers, the United States would be able to increase wood
product exports by $460,000,000 a year.
(11) Sound natural resource management, healthy levels of
species diversity, and functioning natural ecosystems are vital
to alleviating poverty for many communities in developing
countries that depend on these resources for food, medicine,
housing material, and other necessities.
(12) Women are especially vulnerable to the threat of
natural resource degradation because they produce most of the
food and collect most of the firewood in many regions, comprise
a large portion of small landholders and small-scale producers,
face heightened food insecurity, and have less access to land,
other natural resources, credit and resource management
assistance.
(13) The initial stages of a major extinction crisis are
occurring now, and as many as two-thirds of all known species
could be near extinction by the end of this century. Three-
quarters of the world's terrestrial species are in developing
countries that are rapidly destroying their natural areas and
habitats.
(14) The United States does not have a strategy for
reversing any of the major renewable natural resource depletion
trends around the world and the threats they pose to the
nation's health, security, or economy.
(15) Several executive branch agencies are engaged in some
aspect of international conservation, yet their efforts are not
coordinated in a manner that maximizes the effectiveness of the
United States' international conservation efforts overall.
(16) Participation by the United States in multilateral
efforts to conserve natural resources, such as through the
World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility, leverages
financial commitments by other countries by a much as 14 to
one.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Developing countries; developing world.--The terms
``developing countries'' and ``developing world'' mean a
country or countries with a relatively low level of material
well being and considered ``developing'' by the World Bank's
2009 Country Classification System with 2008 Gross National
Income per capita below $11,905.
(2) Hotspot regions.--The term ``hotspot regions'' means
regions of the developing world that contain an unusually high
concentration of species found nowhere else and that have lost
at least 70 percent of their original extent.
(3) Natural resources or renewable natural resources.--The
terms ``natural resources'' and ``renewable natural resources''
mean natural resources, including soils, forests, animal and
plant populations and products, coral reefs, and water but do
not include nonrenewable natural resources such as minerals,
oil, and other fossil fuels.
(4) Sustainable forest management certification system.--
The term ``sustainable forest management certification system''
means a system of forest monitoring and forest products
tracking designed to ensure that forest products are produced
using methods that take into account a variety of widely
accepted environmental, social, and economic criteria.
(5) Threatened species.--The term ``threatened species''
means, at a minimum, species identified by the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature and its constituent
networks of governments, specialist groups, and other
stakeholders as having a high probability of global extinction.
(6) Wilderness.--The term ``wilderness'' means areas of the
developing world larger than 2,500,000 acres and more than 70
percent intact.
SEC. 4. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to strengthen United States leadership
and the effectiveness of the United States response to the worldwide
natural resource and biodiversity depletion crisis under existing
statutory authority governing United States international assistance
for conservation by--
(1) establishing a comprehensive global natural resource
and biodiversity conservation assistance strategy for United
States Government activities assisting developing countries
that includes a plan for--
(A) addressing major natural resource degradation
trends relating to human well-being and environmental
sustainability such as loss of soils, watersheds,
wilderness, fish stocks, forests, species, and other
critical resources;
(B) identifying clear goals, priorities, and
benchmarks of success;
(C) the phased expansion of existing critical
programs where necessary;
(D) improved coordination among executive branch
agencies engaged in international conservation in order
to clarify roles, reduce duplication, and enhance
effectiveness; and
(E) improved integration of conservation goals
within the development, security, and other foreign
policy priorities of the United States;
(2) providing authorization for funding for United States
efforts to help address the major threats to natural resources,
species, and ecosystems in developing countries; and
(3) improving coordination among the United States, foreign
governments, and international organizations in effectively
delivering conservation assistance through governments,
multilateral organizations, private organizations, and local
communities and community partnerships.
TITLE I--POLICY PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION
SEC. 101. COMPREHENSIVE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION
STRATEGY.
(a) In General.--The President, acting through the Coordinator for
Global Conservation designated pursuant section 102, shall, not later
than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish a
comprehensive and integrated strategy (hereafter referred to as the
``International Conservation Strategy'') to help combat global natural
resource and biodiversity degradation in developing countries and that
builds on existing bilateral and multilateral programs and strengthens
the capacity of the United States to collaborate with developing
countries and other donor countries and the private sector and be an
effective leader of an international effort of such Strategy.
(b) Programmatic Approach.--The International Conservation Strategy
established pursuant to subsection (a) shall provide a comprehensive
Government-wide plan of action to address global natural resource and
biodiversity degradation that identifies specific and measurable goals,
benchmarks, and time frames, including--
(1) advancing conservation in the world's most ecologically
and economically important terrestrial wilderness areas and
marine ecosystems such that conservation or sustainable
development consistent with long-term conservation has been
achieved on an area of land exceeding 2,000,000 square miles
and an area of sea exceeding 6,000,000 square miles;
(2) protecting 34 discrete hotspot regions that provide a
high level of economic benefit to human communities as well as
a high concentration of genetic and other natural resources;
(3) helping developing countries address unlawful,
unreported, and unregulated fishing in ten developing countries
where fish stocks are severely depleted and regional fishing
economies threatened through increased surveillance and
enforcement;
(4) safeguarding natural areas providing fresh water to 12
major urban centers in developing countries or 50,000,000
people in developing countries;
(5) advancing enforcement efforts against unlawful wildlife
trafficking operations in ten centers of the unlawful global
wildlife trade;
(6) stabilizing or reversing renewable natural resource
scarcity trends in three regions that are vulnerable to
conflict, instability, or mass migration from natural resource
depletion; and
(7) expanding substantially the amount of economically and
ecologically significant forested land under a credible
sustainable forest management certification system.
(c) Coordination and Leverage.--The International Conservation
Strategy shall coordinate and leverage the participation of relevant
executive branch agencies, foreign governments, and the private sector
in ways that--
(1) clarify United States efforts to address the
conservation crisis within the broader United States
development, foreign policy, and security agendas;
(2) establish policy guidance to link investments in
specific conservation programs to the broader goals of
advancing economic development, alleviating poverty, improving
United States economic competitiveness, protecting global
public health, improving the access of women to natural
resources, and reducing resource scarcities that have the
potential to lead to civil instabilities, mass migrations, and
conflict;
(3) reflect Government-wide policy that encompasses the
programs of and reduces duplication among executive branch
agencies that influence or engage in international
conservation;
(4) provide a plan to identify and improve United States
policies that could be undermining the conservation of critical
natural resources and biodiversity abroad; and
(5) seek to encourage and leverage participation from the
private sector, other donor governments, governments of
developing countries, international financial institutions, and
other international organizations to implement such Strategy.
(d) Revision.--Not later than five years after the International
Conservation Strategy is established, such Strategy shall be revised to
reflect--
(1) new information collected pursuant to the
implementation of such Strategy;
(2) advances in the understanding of biological diversity,
the economic and security impacts of renewable natural resource
degradation, and climate change; and
(3) the impacts of climate change on conservation,
biodiversity, and human needs.
SEC. 102. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) Coordinator.--The President shall designate an individual to
serve in the Executive Office of the President as the Coordinator for
Global Conservation (hereafter referred to as the ``Coordinator''). The
Coordinator shall--
(1) advise the President on international conservation-
related issues;
(2) oversee the development and implementation of the
International Conservation Strategy established pursuant to
section 101(a);
(3) enhance program and policy coordination among the
relevant executive branch agencies in implementing the
International Conservation Strategy by ensuring that each
relevant executive branch agency undertakes programs primarily
in those areas where each such agency has the greatest
expertise, technical capabilities, and potential for success
and ensuring that agencies avoid duplication of effort;
(4) evaluate the effectiveness of the international
conservation programs of the relevant executive branch agencies
in meeting the goals of the International Conservation Strategy
by developing and applying specific performance measurements;
(5) assess and certify the adequacy of the budgets for the
international conservation programs of the relevant executive
branch agencies in meeting the goals of the International
Conservation Strategy, and submit to the heads of the
departments and agencies with responsibilities under such
Strategy by July 1 of each year budget recommendations,
including requests for specific initiatives that are consistent
with the President's priorities under such Strategy;
(6) take such actions as are necessary to ensure that the
climate change, export and business development, trade, and
development and humanitarian assistance polices of the various
executive branch agencies advance the interests of the United
States in conserving critical global natural resources and
biodiversity;
(7) identify innovative pilot projects or underfunded
programs for early or immediate funding that are important for
demonstrating or further developing conservation methodologies
or approaches likely to be important to the success of the
International Conservation Strategy;
(8) identify innovative pilot projects or underfunded
programs that result in expanding the access of women to
sustainably managed natural resources and to techniques for
improved natural resource management;
(9) expand significantly the role of private sector
leveraging in United States bilateral global conservation
assistance by substantially expanding programs that leverage
private sector contributions, such as the Agency for
International Development's Global Development Alliance in the
conservation sector; and
(10) take such actions as are necessary to use diplomatic
mechanisms, relevant international institutions and agreements,
and other appropriate mechanisms to lead other countries toward
the goals and actions of the International Conservation
Strategy, together with commitments of increased funding for
meeting such goals.
(b) Interagency Working Group on Global Conservation.--
(1) Establishment.--The Coordinator shall establish in the
executive branch the Interagency Working Group on Global
Conservation (hereafter referred to as ``the interagency
group'').
(2) Duties.--The interagency group shall--
(A) advise the Coordinator on the development and
implementation of the International Conservation
Strategy;
(B) assist the Coordinator in discharging the
responsibilities of the Coordinator specified in
subsection (a);
(C) review policies that may be obstacles to
achieving the goals of the International Conservation
Strategy;
(D) oversee and report on the implementation of the
strategy within the relevant executive branch agencies;
(E) advise the Coordinator of measures to increase
appropriate agency participation in and interagency
coordination on conservation projects; and
(F) meet regularly to review progress on the
objectives described in subparagraphs (A) through (E).
(3) Membership.--The interagency group shall consist of
officials in relevant executive branch agencies responsible for
overseeing and implementing programs that conduct international
conservation activities or affect the ability of the United
States to achieve the goals of the International Conservation
Strategy, as well as officials capable of providing information
to the Coordinator that can aid in the development and
implementation of such Strategy.
SEC. 103. PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON GLOBAL CONSERVATION.
(a) Establishment.--The President shall establish the President's
Advisory Committee for Global Conservation (hereafter referred to as
``the Advisory Committee'') to ensure that the best scientific
expertise and the concerns of relevant public constituencies are
reflected in the international conservation policies of the United
States.
(b) Duties.--The Advisory Committee shall--
(1) advise the President on the development and
implementation of the International Conservation Strategy
established pursuant to section 101(a);
(2) assist the Coordinator in the implementation of the
Coordinator's responsibilities in accordance with section 102;
(3) review periodically the progress of such Strategy and
at least on an annual basis bring to the attention of the
Coordinator innovative pilot projects that further develop
conservation methodologies likely to be important to the
success of the International Conservation Strategy; and
(4) take steps to educate the public about the global
conservation programs of the United States.
(c) Membership.--The Advisory Committee shall consist of at least
25 members, of whom--
(1) not fewer than four shall be selected from
representatives of United States universities or
nongovernmental organizations and have an expertise in
international conservation;
(2) not fewer than two shall be selected from
representatives of United States universities or
nongovernmental organizations and have an expertise in the
relationship among natural resources, biodiversity, economic
development, and poverty alleviation;
(3) not fewer than two shall be selected from
representatives of United States private businesses or trade
associations and have an expertise in the relationship between
global natural resource conservation and the competitiveness of
the United States economy or key industries;
(4) not fewer than two shall be former members of Congress
or former high level officials in the executive branch;
(5) not fewer than two shall represent religious
institutions or communities of faith;
(6) not fewer than one shall be an expert on the effects of
natural resource degradation on women's lives and livelihoods;
(7) not fewer than one shall be selected from a zoological
institution with expertise in in situ and ex situ conservation;
(8) not fewer than one shall be selected from
representatives of United States universities or
nongovernmental organizations and have an expertise in global
freshwater water supply;
(9) not fewer than one shall be selected from
representatives of United States universities or
nongovernmental organizations and have an expertise in the
relationship between natural resource conservation and food
security;
(10) not fewer than one shall be selected from
representatives of United States universities or
nongovernmental organizations and have an expertise in the
effects of climate change on natural resources and biological
diversity;
(11) not fewer than one shall be a former member of the
United States Armed Forces and have an expertise in natural
resource scarcity and conflict and security issues;
(12) not fewer than one shall be selected from
representatives of United States universities or
nongovernmental organizations and have an expertise in
infectious diseases that can be shared between animal and human
populations; and
(13) not fewer than one shall be selected from the arts or
the media.
(d) Period of Appointment.--Each member of the Advisory Committee
shall be appointed for a term of three years except that of the initial
members of the committee in which one-third of the members shall be
appointed for a term of two years, one-third shall be appointed for a
term of three years, and one-third shall be appointed for a term of
four years.
(e) Meetings.--The Advisory Committee shall convene at the request
of the chairperson who shall be selected by the Coordinator or, at the
discretion of the Coordinator, selected by a majority vote of the
members of the Advisory Committee.
(f) Reporting.--The Advisory Committee shall report to the
Coordinator on its deliberations, conclusions, and recommendations.
(g) Expenses.--The members of the Advisory Committee shall be
allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at
rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of
chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes
or regular places of business in performance of services for the
committee.
(h) Exemption.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.)
shall not apply to the work process and recommendations of the Advisory
Committee.
SEC. 104. REPORTING.
(a) Annual Reports, Including Best Practices Reports.--Not later
than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually
thereafter, the President shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate a report on the development and implementation
of the International Conservation Strategy established pursuant to
section 101(a) assessing progress made during the preceding year and
highlighting the programs receiving financial assistance from the
United States that have the potential for replication or adaptation,
particularly at low cost, across international conservation programs.
(b) Program Review.--Not later than four years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the
committees referred to in subsection (a) a report assessing progress
made during the preceding four years and evaluating the effectiveness
of United States global conservation programs in achieving the
International Conservation Strategy.
(c) Publication of Reports.--The Coordinator shall ensure that all
reports required by this section are published on the White House Web
site or another appropriate Web site.
SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this title.
TITLE II--MULTILATERAL PROGRAMS
SEC. 201. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this title is to leverage significantly United
States financial commitments to global natural resources conservation
by encouraging other countries to make substantial commitments of
funding and other forms of assistance to a comprehensive and
coordinated international natural resource and biodiversity
conservation assistance strategy in order to promote economic
development, human health, food and water security, environmental
sustainability, the protection of biodiversity, and local and regional
security.
SEC. 202. DIPLOMATIC GOALS AND VENUES.
(a) Goals.--Congress urges the President to work with the world's
major foreign assistance donor countries to--
(1) develop a comprehensive and coordinated international
conservation assistance strategy consistent with the priorities
identified in the United States International Conservation
Strategy established pursuant to section 101(a);
(2) identify innovative and efficient multilateral
mechanisms that can be used to coordinate international action
by all participating donor countries, identify and reduce
duplication of efforts among such donors, achieve the most cost
effective investments, and leverage international foreign
assistance with meaningful financial and other commitments in
recipient countries;
(3) agree on funding requirements and funding goals from
all participating donor countries;
(4) negotiate a timetable for achieving such Strategy's
goals; and
(5) promote existing multilateral initiatives designed to
identify meaningful levels of interim funding for forest
conservation in developing countries in advance of the
implementation of any international program to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions from forest destruction and
degradation.
(b) Venues.--Congress urges the President to explore opportunities
for achieving the goals identified in this section within the context
of United States bilateral diplomacy with other important international
donor countries, bilateral diplomacy with newly emerging donor
countries, and all appropriate multilateral venues.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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