Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Produce All Relevant Information to Safeguard Climate Act” or the “PARIS Climate Act”.
Produce All Relevant Information to Safeguard Climate Act
A BILL
To require the Secretary of State to publish a quarterly assessment regarding the Paris Agreement, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
the policy of the United States should reflect and respond to the findings of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, which states that “the warming trend observed over the past century can only be explained by the effects that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, have had on the climate”, that “the evidence of human-caused climate change is overwhelming”, that “climate-related threats to Americans’ physical, social, and economic well-being are rising”, and that “without substantial and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions … annual losses in some economic sectors are projected to reach hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century”, in some scenarios reducing gross domestic product by as much as 10 percent;
the President and Congress, in formulating a policy response to the findings of the National Climate Assessment, should fully address all of the threats contemplated in such Assessment, including the increasing frequency of heat waves, floods, wildfires, and other extreme weather events, increasing scarcity of water, expanded territory for certain infectious diseases, and diminishing air quality, and should be mindful of low-income communities, communities of color, or other vulnerable populations that are disproportionately impacted by climate change; and
in order to best minimize or prevent the harms of which the National Climate Assessment warns, the Federal Government must join with other governments in a concerted global effort to swiftly curtail greenhouse gas and meet the goals established by the Paris Agreement.
Sec. 3 Quarterly assessments regarding the Paris Agreement
In general— Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of State shall publish on a publicly available website of the Department of State and submit to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment that addresses each of the following matters regarding the Paris Agreement:
How many parties to the Paris Agreement have formally indicated an intent to withdraw from such Agreement.
Whether the Department has a reasonable expectation that any of the parties referred to in paragraph (1) may pursue withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in the next year, and if so, an identification of such parties and the motives for such withdrawal.
Whether the United States has established specific terms for re-engagement with the Paris Agreement, per stated Administration policy at the United Nations (C.N.464.2017.TREATIES–XXVII.7.d) on August 4, 2017.
Definitions— In this section:
Appropriate congressional committees— The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
in the House of Representatives—
the Committee on Foreign Affairs;
the Committee on Armed Services;
the Committee on Natural Resources;
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; and
the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and
in the Senate—
the Committee on Foreign Relations;
the Committee on Armed Services;
the Committee on the Environment and Public Works;
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Paris Agreement— The term “Paris Agreement” means the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 21st Conference of Parties in Paris, France, adopted December 12, 2015.