On the day that the Trump administration formally notified the United Nations of its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, ActionAid USA lauds Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) for charting a different course for the United States. Rep. Espaillat’s “Green Climate Fund Authorization Act” would authorize significant funding from the U.S. to the Green Climate Fund, the primary channel for financial support for climate action in poorer countries around the world.
Earlier this year, House Democrats unanimously passed H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which hold the U.S. to the commitments it made in the Paris Agreement. The Green Climate Fund Authorization Act is a logical follow-up – in order to truly solve the climate crisis, it is not enough for the U.S. to merely meet its commitments; we must well exceed them, and support poorer countries to do the same.Brandon Wu, ActionAid USA’s Director of Policy and Campaigns and a former elected civil society representative to the Green Climate Fund Board, said:
“If we’re to have any hope of surviving the climate crisis, every country in the world has to take action to clean up its economy and protect its people. But most of the world’s poorer countries lack the resources they need to address this problem that they had little role in causing. As one of the richest countries in the world and by far the world’s biggest climate polluter, the U.S. has a moral and legal responsibility to support these poorer countries. But providing this support is also in our own best interests, because if we fail to do so, we’re essentially surrendering all hope of stopping climate change and its impacts.
“We’re excited by Rep. Espaillat’s leadership on this issue, and his commitment to environmental and climate justice. We look forward to working with other policymakers who are taking the climate crisis seriously and are willing to talk about real solutions – including providing much-needed support for developing countries and frontline communities through the Green Climate Fund.”