Calling Upon the United States Congress to Restore Climate Funding

WHEREAS, on March 20, 2018 the United States Congress passed its $1.3 trillion omnibus spending package for the Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 18), which kept the government funded from October 2017 through September 20, 2018, thus avoiding a potential government shutdown; and

WHEREAS, the FY18 Budget passed the United States Representatives by a vote of 256-167 and passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 65-32, with bipartisan support in both Houses; and

WHEREAS, President Donald Trump signed the bill despite his fierce criticisms of the bill and his previous threats of a veto of the funding package, as a result of his perception that there was a failure to address the immigration issues which he continues to champion; and  

WHEREAS, the FY18 spending bill eliminated allocation for funding for the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); and

WHEREAS, the GCF is the largest and newest international climate fund which the Obama Administration pledged $3 billion in 2014 and made two installments totaling $800 million, which left the United States with a balance due to the fund of $2.2 billion, which is roughly 20% of the fund's $10.3 billion in total pledges; and

WHEREAS, Congress' refusal to honor our country's pledge of support to the Green Climate Fund not only damages the United States' credibility and prominence in international negotiations and influence over the fund's direction, but also undermines the 76 GCF approved projects which will avoid 1.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and bolster the resilience of over 217 million people to climate impacts; and

WHEREAS, the IPCC and the UNFCCC are the chief international entities responsible for integrating state of the art climate science with climate diplomacy; and

WHEREAS, after funding was completely eliminated in the FY17 budget, a number of European countries voluntarily moved to increase their funding, and Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged $15 million to make up for the deficiency created by the United States in not honoring this vital international covenant.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP urges the United States Congress to maintain the international prominence and probity of our nation by restoring much needed funding of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and restore our country's leadership in global climate diplomacy.