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President Joe Biden is once again urging Congress to fund the Green Climate Fund, as detailed in his fiscal year 2025 budget blueprint.
The request, which would take four years to implement, would honor commitments the United States made at last year’s United Nations climate change talks in the United Arab Emirates. It would also help fulfill Mr. Biden’s pledge to provide $11 billion annually in international climate finance by 2024.
In total, the White House is seeking $500 million in fiscal year 2025, $750 million in each of the next two years, and $1 billion in fiscal year 2028.
By mandating spending, rather than just requesting the money, Biden wants to protect it from the ever-changing balance of power in Congress.
According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, Biden is presenting the plan as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience, which aims to “help more than 500 million people in the developing world cope with climate change.” “to help people adapt to and cope with the impacts of .
“Together with GCF reform, this funding will strengthen energy security by diversifying energy sources, help countries reduce emissions, and help the most vulnerable people adapt to climate change,” the State Department said in a statement. , it will free up private capital that will strengthen energy security.” and the resilience of our economy and critical infrastructure. ”
The $500 million request for fiscal year 2025 is less than a third of the $1.6 billion Biden had called for in his 2024 budget. Congress is currently working on a final State Department foreign operations bill.
Biden committed $1 billion to the Green Climate Fund last year. This brings the total U.S. contribution to $2 billion, $1 billion short of the $3 billion originally pledged by the United States under President Barack Obama’s administration.
The US payments have been controversial since the international community established the fund in 2010 to help low-income countries transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change.
Republicans typically aim to pass legal language to block them, but former President Donald Trump has not contributed in any way.
House Republicans last year passed a 2024 State Department funding bill that would block funding for the Green Climate Fund. The Senate bill would not prevent Mr. Biden from sending money to the fund, but it would not set aside money specifically for that purpose.
Biden is also seeking a $100 million contribution to the Amazon Fund to halt deforestation in Brazil, the planet’s main carbon sink.
Contributed by Sara Schonhardt.
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