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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3282 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3282
To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant
actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive
efforts to limit global average temperature rise, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 1, 2025
Mr. Markey (for himself and Ms. Warren) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant
actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive
efforts to limit global average temperature rise, 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 ``Targeting Environmental and Climate
Recklessness Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) 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 those effects to grow in
frequency and intensity in the coming decades, jeopardizing the
jobs, health, and safety of the people of the United States.
(2) 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. In 2024, average temperatures passed
the 1.5-degree threshold for the first time. With sustained
1.5-degree warming, scientists expect the United States to
experience a sharp rise in annual heat-related deaths, longer
and more destructive wildfire seasons, more frequent and severe
droughts, reduced crop yields, more multi-billion-dollar flood
disasters, increased high-tide flooding in coastal areas, more
days with unhealthy air quality, and longer tick and mosquito
seasons, among other effects. Low-income communities and
communities of color will experience the worst effects.
(3) The adverse impacts of climate change will increase
exponentially as warming continues. Under the current
trajectory, the world will experience warming that exceeds 3
degrees Celsius by the end of the century. At 3 degrees of
warming, scientists expect dangerous conditions in the United
States where outdoor work is unsafe for many months of the
year, farmers struggle to keep livestock and grow crops, power
grids become overloaded, water becomes scarce during summer
months, poor air quality leads to widespread health problems,
severe wildfires and droughts become more common, major
flooding events occur on a regular basis, mosquito- and tick-
borne illnesses spread further, and some coastal areas become
submerged.
(4) Climate change is also expected to pose a significant
challenge to the international community's shared vision of
fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
(5) To avert catastrophe, the United States and every
country on Earth will need to make drastic reforms to global
economic systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce
deforestation, and adapt to unavoidable changes in the climate.
(6) Internationally, economic actors continue to pursue
activities, such as development of new coal-fired power plants
and deforestation, that contribute to dangerous levels of
greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of carbon sinks.
In addition to carrying a significant climate risk, many of
those 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.
(7) 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. Numerous studies show
that transnational criminal organizations no longer limit
themselves only to drug trafficking but diversify their
operations to include natural resource crimes, among other
activities.
(8) 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.
(9) In 2025, President Donald J. Trump withdrew the United
States from the Paris Agreement and attacked climate change-
related activities across the Federal Government.
(10) President Trump's decision to ignore climate change
has provided the People's Republic of China with a strategic
opportunity to make significant competitive gains in preparing
for a new economic order in a world that has warmed by 1.5
degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
(11) During the first year of President Trump's second
term, the United States experienced one of its costliest years
on record for wildfires and storms, record-breaking heat waves,
and severe flooding--all disasters that were linked to climate
change.
(12) 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.
(13) The United States should take action to address the
urgency of the climate crisis and hold actors responsible for
environmental and climate harm.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ADDRESSING
CLIMATE CHANGE.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the targeted measures described in this Act are only
one component of the comprehensive approach needed to address
climate change and mitigate its effects;
(2) the United States Government must ensure through law
and regulation that entities in the United States are not
engaged in or complicit in any of the egregious behaviors for
which foreign persons may be targeted under this Act;
(3) the United States Government should continue to make
progress toward scaling international climate finance to more
than $11,000,000,000 annually and promote international efforts
to support climate change adaptation and mitigation;
(4) the United States Government must work proactively with
foreign governments, including by offering positive incentives,
to address climate change and to promote economic development
in ways that do not needlessly increase carbon emissions,
deforestation, or the risk of corruption;
(5) the targeted measures described in this Act should be
employed if engagement has failed to prevent significant
actions that exacerbate climate change and deforestation; and
(6) given broad international support for countering
climate change, the Secretary of State should encourage the
governments of other countries to implement targeted measures
that are similar to the provisions of this Act, and the
Secretary of the Treasury should support implementation of such
measures, in order to increase the effectiveness of actions
taken by the United States to combat significant actions that
exacerbate climate change, including related corruption and
human rights violations.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON APPLICATION OF GLOBAL MAGNITSKY
SANCTIONS TO ENVIRONMENT-LINKED CORRUPTION AND HUMAN
RIGHTS ABUSES.
(a) In General.--It is the policy of the United States to consider
use of applicable authorities described in Executive Order 13818 (50
U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking the property of persons involved
in serious human rights abuse or corruption) in relation to activities
described in section 5(b), including for acts of corruption and serious
human rights abuses against individuals described in subsection (b).
(b) Individuals Described.--An individual described in this
subsection is an individual who--
(1) advocates for the protection of the environment, public
health, Indigenous rights, or community land rights;
(2) investigates, exposes, or raises awareness of harm or
corruption related to natural resource use; or
(3) is obliged to leave the individual's habitual home due,
in whole or in part, to sudden or progressive change in the
environment--
(A) caused by human activities or attributable to
climate change; and
(B) that adversely affects the individual's life or
living conditions.
SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SIGNIFICANT ACTIONS
THAT EXACERBATE CLIMATE CHANGE, DEFORESTATION, OR HARM TO
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
President should employ the authorities provided by this section to
prioritize action against, and deterrence of, egregious behaviors
that--
(1) undermine efforts to limit the increase in global
average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial
levels;
(2) contribute to deforestation; or
(3) present specific harm to environmental defenders.
(b) In General.--The President may impose one or more of the
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to any foreign
person the President determines, based on credible information--
(1) knowingly, recklessly, or willfully engages in an
activity in a foreign country that causes, or is likely to
cause, greenhouse gas emissions that are not in line with
scientifically established pathways to help avoid a sustained
increase in the Earth's temperature of more than 1.5 degrees
Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as determined by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including any action
that significantly undermines, as a result of timing,
magnitude, or corruption, projects for the adoption in the
country of high-efficiency, low-carbon, or renewable energy
technology or infrastructure, including the construction of
low-efficiency fossil fuel power plants;
(2) engages in an activity in a foreign country that
causes, or is likely to cause, illegal deforestation or loss of
natural carbon sinks, including--
(A) establishment of incentives for, or promotion
of, knowingly conducting deforestation; or
(B) engagement in, or failure to combat, illegal
logging, mining, or ranching;
(3) knowingly engages in an activity in a foreign country
that misrepresents the environmental impact of a project,
investment, or product, including misrepresenting the amount of
greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project,
investment, or product, in the context of--
(A) assessments conducted by multilateral
organizations, national governments, or investors; or
(B) public efforts to gain market advantage based
on purported environmental advantages of a product;
(4) engages in an activity in a foreign country that
causes, or is likely to cause, limitations on or circumvention
of opposition to deforestation or projects described in
paragraph (1) by individuals seeking to protect the
environment, public health, or community land rights, including
actions that encourage impunity for those perpetrating physical
threats or violence against such individuals;
(5) is otherwise responsible for or complicit in an
activity described in any of paragraphs (1) through (4),
including a government official who approves or implements
policies or acts that serve to promote such an activity;
(6) has acted or purported to act for or on behalf of,
directly or indirectly, any foreign person in a matter relating
to an activity described in any of paragraphs (1) through (4),
including for or on behalf of a government official described
in paragraph (5);
(7) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided
financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or
services to or in support of, an activity described in any of
paragraphs (1) through (4); or
(8) is owned or controlled by a foreign person that engages
in an activity described in any of paragraphs (1) through (4)
or is described in paragraph (5).
(c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions that may be imposed with
respect to a foreign person under subsection (b) are the following:
(1) Inadmissibility to united states.--In the case of a
foreign person who is an individual--
(A) ineligibility to receive a visa to travel to
the United States or to be admitted to the United
States; or
(B) if the individual has been issued a visa or
other documentation, revocation, in accordance with
section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa or other documentation.
(2) Blocking of property.--
(A) In general.--The blocking, in accordance with
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all
property and interests in property of the foreign
person if such property and interests in property are
in the United States, come within the United States, or
are or come within the possession or control of a
United States person.
(B) Inapplicability of national emergency
requirement.--The requirements of section 202 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
1701) shall not apply for purposes of this paragraph.
(3) Other sanctions options.--Any of the sanctions
described in section 235 of the Countering America's
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9529).
(d) Consideration of Certain Information in Imposing Sanctions.--In
determining whether to impose sanctions under subsection (b), the
President shall consider--
(1) information provided jointly by the chairperson and
ranking member of each of the appropriate congressional
committees; and
(2) credible information obtained by other countries and
nongovernmental organizations that monitor environmental harm
or violations of human rights.
(e) Exceptions.--
(1) Intelligence and law enforcement activities.--Sanctions
under this section shall not apply with respect to--
(A) any activity subject to the reporting
requirements under title V of the National Security Act
of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.); or
(B) any authorized intelligence or law enforcement
activities of the United States.
(2) Compliance with united nations headquarters
agreement.--This section shall not apply with respect to the
admission of an individual to the United States if the
admission of the individual is necessary to comply with United
States obligations under the Agreement between the United
Nations and the United States of America regarding the
Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June
26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, under the
Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24,
1963, and entered into force March 19, 1967, or under other
international obligations of the United States.
(3) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(A) In general.--The authority to block and
prohibit all transactions in all property and interests
in property under this section shall not include the
authority to impose sanctions on the importation of
goods.
(B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term
``good'' means any article, natural or man-made
substance, material, supply or manufactured product,
including inspection and test equipment, and excluding
technical data.
(f) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and
1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this
section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry
out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in
subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same
extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in
subsection (a) of that section.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Environment and Public Works
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
and
(B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Carbon sink.--The term ``carbon sink'' means a feature
or process that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it
releases.
(3) Deforestation.--The term ``deforestation'' means the
conversion of forest to other land use, whether human-induced
or not, that results in--
(A) permanent reduction of the tree canopy to less
than a minimum 10 percent threshold; and
(B) the conversion of areas of forest to
agriculture, pasture, water reservoirs, mining, or
urban areas.
(4) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to
conduct, means--
(A) a person has actual knowledge of the facts; or
(B) a reasonable person acting in the circumstances
and exercising reasonable care would have that
knowledge.
(5) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a
person that is not a United States person.
(6) Recklessly.--The term ``recklessly'', with respect to
conduct, means that a person displays a deliberate indifference
or conscious disregard to the consequences of the conduct.
(7) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the
United States or of any jurisdiction within the United
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
(8) Willfully.--The term ``willfully'', with respect to
conduct, means a person has knowledge--
(A) of the facts; and
(B) that the conduct was subject to sanctions under
this section.
SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the
Treasury such sums as may be necessary to support the targeting by the
Office of Foreign Assets Control of persons under this Act and to
enhance the ability of that Office to target persons for the imposition
of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
(22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.).
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
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