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**ADD YOUR BOSS HERE**
Deadline: COB Monday, March 9
Supporting Organizations: Oxfam America, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Friends Committee on National Legislation, World Wildlife
Fund (WWF), Union of Concerned Scientists, MercyCorps, Ceres, and the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Dear Colleague:
Please join us in supporting climate, energy, and conservation investments in the FY21 State & Foreign Operations appropriations bill.
The fight against climate change doesn’t stop at our borders, and that’s why it is vital that we fund essential U.S. programming overseas to help reduce emissions and build resilience.
This past December, we were part of the congressional delegation to the COP25 international summit in Madrid, Spain, where we made it clear that most Americans strongly oppose President
Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. We were also reminded of how important it is for the U.S. to remain engaged when it comes to aiding our allies in making smart climate investments.
We hope you will join us in signing this letter supporting climate, energy, and conservation investments in the FY21 State & Foreign Operations appropriations bill. Thanks to strong
leadership from the House, we made real gains in these accounts in the FY20 bill, and we want to ensure that those gains are enhanced and protected in FY21.
To sign on, add your boss
HERE
by COB on Monday, March 9, 2020. If you have any questions, please contact David Schutt (Brownley) at
David.Schutt@mail.house.gov,
Calli Shapiro (Casten) at Calli.Shapiro@mail.house.gov,
Timothy Huebner (Dingell) at Timothy.Huebner@mail.house.gov,
Anais Borja (Peters) at Anais.Borja@mail.house.gov,
or Jonathan Gilbert (Levin) at Jonathan.Gilbert@mail.house.gov.
Sincerely,
Julia Brownley Sean Casten Debbie Dingell
MEMBER OF CONGRESS MEMBER OF CONGRESS MEMBER OF CONGRESS
Scott Peters Mike Levin
MEMBER OF CONGRESS MEMBER OF CONGRESS
Letter Text:
Dear Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Rogers:
As you work to assemble final State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations legislation for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021), we hope you will consider full funding for a
handful of important international energy, environment, and conservation accounts.
As those of us who attended the COP25 international summit in Madrid this past December can attest, U.S. leadership on climate is needed more than ever -- and has never been in shorter
supply. That is why it is essential to protect and expand these core U.S. contributions and programming.
The programs enable poor and developing countries to care for our shared global ecosystem while strengthening American alliances, preventing conflicts, and bolstering our national security.
In many cases, these programs have benefitted from years of bipartisan support under both Republican and Democratic administrations alike.
As such, we would strongly urge you to include these funding levels in your legislation:
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$140 million for international Sustainable Landscapes programs; [Bilateral Economic Assistance]
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$194 million for Renewable Energy programs; [Bilateral Economic Assistance]
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$192 million for Adaptation programs; [Bilateral Economic Assistance]
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$10 million for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); [International Organizations and Programs]
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$500 million for the Green Climate Fund (GCF). [Multilateral Assistance]
These programs have produced real measurable benefits, while also leveraging substantial sums in co-financing from other donors. Thanks to USAID adaptation programs, 5.3 million people
globally gained access to cutting-edge satellite weather data, allowing them to save lives and better respond to extreme weather events. Sustainable Landscapes programs incentivize developing countries to curb deforestation while addressing rural poverty and
improving the way lands are managed and harvested – leveraging U.S. funding dollars with up to 39 times more funding from other donors. Clean energy programs like the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative (ACEF) have mobilized more than $30 for every
$1 spent by the program. Indeed, investment in developing country energy infrastructure is expected to exceed $30 trillion over the next 25 years -- a small investment of U.S. funds can help shape that enormous market for decades to come. Finally, the GCF
has attracted more than $10 billion in co-financing for projects thus far, and is doing groundbreaking work in tandem with the private sector to mobilize funding for both adaptation and mitigation projects.
These programs represent a small fraction of our foreign aid budget but provide outsize benefits to the U.S. by maintaining our role as a global leader in smart, sustainable development.
We appreciate your consideration of this important request.
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