America Mitigating and Achieving Zero-emissions Originating from Nature for the 21st Century Act or the AMAZON21 Act
This bill establishes programs to support efforts in developing countries to address climate change.
The Department of State must establish the International Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration Program to make results-based payments to eligible projects in developing countries that reduce emissions and enhance carbon sequestration from forests and other ecosystems. Eligible projects include those where the primary purpose is to (1) reduce deforestation and restore forests to support enhanced carbon sequestration; or (2) preserve other territorial ecosystems, such as wetlands, within the host country. The bill also imposes other requirements on project eligibility, including requirements relating to transparency pertaining to the use of the received payments and the host country's standards of governance and respect for the rule of law.
The bill also requires the U.S. Agency for International Development to conduct a program to provide resources and technical assistance to developing countries to (1) conserve, manage, and restore carbon sinks, such as forests; and (2) support nature-based carbon sequestration. A project eligible for such assistance must be located in a country that meets certain criteria, such as a country that permits the sale of carbon credits to voluntary and carbon compliance markets.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5830 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5830
To establish an international terrestrial carbon sequestration program
and provide international technical assistance for carbon market
development, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 3, 2021
Mr. Hoyer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an international terrestrial carbon sequestration program
and provide international technical assistance for carbon market
development, and for other purposes.
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 ``America Mitigating and Achieving
Zero-emissions Originating from Nature for the 21st Century Act'' or
the ``AMAZON21 Act''.
SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL TERRESTRIAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall establish a program,
to be known as the ``International Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration
Program'', to provide results-based payments for eligible projects in
developing countries that reduce emissions and enhance carbon
sequestration from forests and other terrestrial and coastal
ecosystems.
(b) Goals.--In carrying out the program established pursuant to
subsection (a), the Secretary shall work with developing countries and
appropriate local partners in developing countries to identify,
develop, and implement projects that--
(1) will help the developing country meet the emission
reductions goals corresponding to that country's nationally
determined contribution to the Paris Agreement; and
(2) have the potential to avoid dangerous global climate
change by limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees
Celsius and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius
(compared to pre-industrial levels).
(c) Eligible Projects.--
(1) In general.--A project shall be eligible for results-
based payments under the program established pursuant to
subsection (a) if--
(A) the project is identified by the Secretary as a
project whose primary purpose is to--
(i) reduce deforestation and forest
degradation and restore forests to support
enhanced carbon sequestration within the host
country, at the national or subnational level;
or
(ii) preserve, including through integrated
land-use programs, other terrestrial ecosystems
within the host developing country, such as
wetlands, mangroves, or grasslands;
(B) in the determination of the Secretary, the host
developing country or local partner will be able to
fulfill its obligations under any agreement with
respect to the funding of such project through the
program established pursuant to subsection (a),
including (as applicable) with respect to--
(i) host country standards of governance
and respect for rule of law;
(ii) environmental and social safeguards;
and
(iii) potential for corruption or misuse of
payments made by the Secretary;
(C) the project is appropriately designed to use
results-based payments; and
(D) the host developing country or local partner,
as applicable, agrees to--
(i) transparency requirements with respect
to the use of amounts received under the
program established pursuant to subsection (a);
(ii) measuring, reporting, and verification
requirements, including third-party
verification, necessary to provide results-
based payments;
(iii) share any emissions reductions
achieved under this program, linking such
reductions to reporting requirements under the
Paris Climate Agreement; and
(iv) ensure that women, Indigenous
Communities, and other local stakeholders are
empowered and enabled to meaningfully
participate in these processes.
(2) Additional forms of eligibility.--A project may also be
determined to be eligible under this subsection if--
(A) the project includes a combination or
aggregation of existing terrestrial carbon mitigation
projects in the host country; or
(B) the project is recognized under a national or
sub-national terrestrial carbon mitigation program in
the host country, without regard to whether the project
is below the sub-national level or scale.
(d) Grants.--
(1) In general.--Upon determining that a project is an
eligible project, the Secretary is authorized to enter into
multi-year agreements to provide results-based payments to a
host developing country or appropriate local partners in the
host developing country, including in the form of grants from
the International Forestry Carbon Mitigation Fund established
in subsection (f), to carry out such eligible project. Such
agreements may also include terms that leverage funding from
non-profits, businesses, other developed countries, and
multilateral financing and development agencies.
(2) Reciprocal commitment.--The Secretary shall take such
steps as may be necessary to ensure that the host developing
country or appropriate local partners in the host developing
country, as applicable, reciprocates the commitments to
achieving the goals of the section.
(3) Termination.--An agreement under this subsection may be
unilaterally terminated by the Secretary if the Secretary
determines that the host developing country or a local partner
is failing or has failed to uphold the terms and conditions
established for the project.
(4) Double counting of payments.--The Secretary shall take
such steps as may be necessary to prevent the double counting
of, or double payment for, emissions reduction or carbon
sequestration results.
(e) Transparency.--The Secretary shall make publicly available a
list of each grant made available to developing countries and local
partners under the program established by subsection (a) and shall
update on an annual basis the progress or any lack of progress in the
implementation of the corresponding eligible projects and the
achievement of their goals.
(f) Agency Coordination.--In carrying out the program under this
section, the Secretary shall consult as appropriate with the heads of
other relevant Federal departments and agencies, including--
(1) with respect to terrestrial carbon sequestration, the
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the Chief Forester of the Forest Service, and
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and
(2) with respect to project monitoring, reporting and
verification, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development, the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Secretary of Agriculture, and the Chief Forester of the Forest
Service.
(g) Trust Fund.--There is established in the Treasury the
``International Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration Fund'', which shall
consist of--
(1) amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization in
subsection (h)(1) to carry out this section; and
(2) such gifts, bequests, or devises of property for the
benefit of, or in connection with carrying out this section as
the Secretary may accept in the form of donations by
individuals or entities, including private entities, non-profit
entities, and multinational entities.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated
$9,000,000,000 to carry out this section.
(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated to carry out this
section are authorized to remain available until expended and
shall be used solely for the purposes of this section.
(3) Salaries and expenses.--Of the amounts made available
for any fiscal year pursuant to the authorization under
paragraph (1), not more than $10,000,000 is authorized to be
made available for the salaries and expenses of employees of
the Department of State to carry out this section.
(i) Results-Based Payments Defined.--The term ``results-based
payments'' means a mechanism for the provision of United States
assistance in which--
(1) a developing country, or appropriate local partners in
a developing country, assumes responsibility for achieving
measurable results in the reduction of emissions through a
project;
(2) such measurable results are defined in advance of the
obligation of assistance by the United States for the project;
and
(3) such assistance is expended in the form of payments to
such developing countries or partners only upon independent
verification of such pre-defined results.
SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR CARBON MARKET
DEVELOPMENT AND PARTICIPATION.
(a) In General.--The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, in consultation with the Secretary of State,
shall conduct a program to provide resources and technical assistance
to developing countries to conserve, manage, and restore forests and
other terrestrial and coastal carbon sinks, to support nature-based
carbon sequestration as a means to addressing global climate change,
including by providing such resources and assistance with respect to
projects for the goals described in section 2(b). Projects under such
program shall be directed in countries meeting each of the following
criteria:
(1) The country contains globally important forests or
other terrestrial or coastal terrestrial carbon sinks that are
threatened with destruction or fragmentation or where the
degradation of wetlands, peatlands, or agricultural land
impairs development and significantly drives greenhouse gas
emissions.
(2) Legitimate land owners or use rights' holders in the
country are permitted to sell carbon credits to voluntary and
carbon compliance markets.
(3) The country has developed, or is in the process of
developing, comprehensive policies to monitor, report, and
verify the environmental, social, and financial integrity of
any such projects, including, if applicable, policies to ensure
that the host country avoids double-counting the resulting
reductions greenhouse gas emissions.
(4) The country presently contains large reserves of
terrestrial carbon that cannot be recuperated once lost.
(b) Technical Support Prioritization.--In conducting the program
described in subsection (a), the Administrator shall prioritize
technical support for and investment in the following activities:
(1) Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation,
fragmentation, and forest degradation.
(2) Enhancing sequestration through carbon sinks by
restoring natural forests and other terrestrial and coastal
carbon sinks as well as building resilience.
(3) Monitoring, reporting, and verification of the
environmental, social, and financial integrity of the project
as an important component of the work.
(4) Assisting governments, willing, legitimate land owners,
and willing use rights' holders in developing projects to
engage in emissions trading through--
(A) carbon credits sold in existing carbon
compliance markets or to voluntary buyers; or
(B) projects providing results-based payments.
(5) Developing the administrative and legal capacity and
technical infrastructure necessary to implement carbon-pricing
initiatives in recipient countries that drive investment in
nature-based solutions to climate change.
(6) Developing domestic infrastructure for creating and
tracking carbon credits, such as registries, and preparing
countries to implement nature-based solution initiatives.
(7) Ensuring that women, Indigenous Communities, and other
local stakeholders are empowered and enabled to meaningful
participation in all such activities.
(c) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated such
sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line