The Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI): Budget Authority and Request, FY2008-FY2012

Richard K. Lattanzio
Analyst in Environmental Policy

The United States supports international financial assistance for global climate change initiatives in developing countries. Under the Obama Administration, this assistance has been articulated primarily as the Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI), a major strategic platform within the President’s 2010 Policy Directive on Global Development. The GCCI aims to integrate climate change considerations into relevant foreign assistance through a full range of bilateral, multilateral, and private sector mechanisms to foster low-carbon growth, promote sustainable and resilient societies, and reduce emissions from deforestation and land degradation. The GCCI is implemented through programs at the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and is funded through the Administration’s Executive Budget, Function 150 account, for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

Congress is responsible for several activities in regard to the GCCI, including (1) authorizing periodic appropriations for federal agency programs and multilateral fund contributions, (2) enacting those appropriations, (3) providing guidance to the agencies, and (4) overseeing U.S. interests in the programs and the multilateral funds. Recent budget authority for the GCCI was $323 million in FY2009 and $1,003 million in FY2010, and has been enacted through legislation including the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (H.R. 1105; P.L. 111-8); the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 3288/div.F; P.L. 111-117); the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 4899; P.L. 111-212); and the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (H.R. 1473; P.L. 112-10). The Administration’s GCCI FY2012 budget request is $1,328 million. Congressional committees of jurisdiction for the GCCI include the U.S. House of Representatives Committees on Foreign Affairs (various subcommittees); Financial Services, Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade; and Appropriations, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and the U.S. Senate Committees on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection; and Appropriations, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

As Congress considers potential authorizations and/or appropriations for initiatives administered through the GCCI, it may have questions concerning U.S. agency initiatives and current bilateral and multilateral programs that address global climate change. Some potential concerns may include cost, purpose, direction, efficiency, and effectiveness, as well as the GCCI’s relationship to industry, investment, humanitarian efforts, national security, and international leadership. This report serves as a brief overview of the GCCI, its structure, intents, and funding history. For a more detailed discussion of international financial assistance for climate change activities, see CRS Report R41808, International Climate Change Financing: Needs, Sources, and Delivery Methods, by Richard K. Lattanzio and Jane A. Leggett.


Date of Report: June 1, 2011
Number of Pages: 14
Order Number: R41845
Price: $29.95

Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports

Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.