Hill Heat

Hearing to consider the nominations of

• Enoh T. Ebong, of the District of Columbia, to be Director of the Trade and Development Agency
• Oren E. Whyche-Shaw, of Maryland, to be United States Director of the African Development Bank
• Leopoldo Martinez Nucete, of Virginia, to be United States Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank for a term of three years
• Maria Fabiana Jorge, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Alternate Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank
• Alice P. Albright, of the District of Columbia, to be Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
• Michele Taylor, of Georgia, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as United States Representative to the UN Human Rights Council
• Christopher R. Hill, of Rhode Island, to be Ambassador to Serbia
• Joe Donnelly, of Indiana, to be Ambassador to the Vatican

The USTDA runs the Global Partnership for Climate-Smart Infrastructure. USTDA also supports international fossil-fuel projects.

The African Development Bank is allocating 40 percent of project approvals to climate finance. It also finances fossil-fuel projects.

The Inter-American Development Bank has allocated limited funding in the past to climate finance, and finances both renewable and fossil-fuel projects.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation has recently announced plans to “commit more than 50 percent of our program funding to climate-related investments over the next five years.” The Corporation has financed several electricity modernization projects around the world.

President Biden invited 40 world leaders to the Leaders Summit on Climate he will host on April 22 and 23. The virtual Leaders Summit will be live streamed for public viewing.

Day 2 Schedule

8:00 a.m.–Session 4

Unleashing Climate Innovation

This session will highlight the critical role of technological innovation in achieving a net-zero, climate-resilient economy; the importance of accelerating public and private investment in climate innovation; and the enormous economic opportunities in building the industries of the future.

U.S. Participants:

• Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm
• Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo
• Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry

Leaders:

• Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Denmark
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel
• President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya
• Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norway
• Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore
• Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, United Arab Emirates

Speakers:

• Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency
• Anna Borg, President and CEO, Vattenfall
• Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Danielle Merfeld, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, GE Renewable Energy
• Audrey Zibelman, Vice President, X

9:15 a.m.–Session 5

The Economic Opportunities of Climate Action

This session will highlight the broad economic benefits of climate action, with a strong focus on job creation. It will explore the economic benefits of green recovery and long-term decarbonization and the importance of ensuring that all communities and workers benefit from the clean-energy transition.

U.S. Participants:

• Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg
• United States Trade Representative Katherine C. Tai
• National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy

Leaders:

• President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria
• President Andrzej Duda, Poland
• Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain
• President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnam

Speakers:

• Jack Allen, CEO, Proterra
• Roxanne Brown, International Vice President at Large, United Steelworkers
• Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union
• Brett Isaac, CEO, Navajo Power
• Erica Mackie, CEO, Grid Alternatives
• Nthabiseng Mosia, Co-Founder and CCO, Easy Solar
• George Oliver, Chairman and CEO, Johnson Controls International; Chair, Business Roundtable Energy and Environment Committee
• Lonnie R. Stephenson, President, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Day 2 Featured Speakers:

• Michael Bloomberg, U.N. Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions
• Bill Gates, Founder, Breakthrough Energy
• Brenda Mallory, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality
• Peggy Shepard, Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice; Co-Chair, White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council

President Biden invited 40 world leaders to the Leaders Summit on Climate he will host on April 22 and April 23. The virtual Leaders Summit will be live streamed for public viewing.

The Leaders Summit on Climate will underscore the urgency – and the economic benefits – of stronger climate action. It will be a key milestone on the road to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow.

In recent years, scientists have underscored the need to limit planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. A key goal of both the Leaders Summit and COP26 will be to catalyze efforts that keep that 1.5-degree goal within reach. The Summit will also highlight examples of how enhanced climate ambition will create good paying jobs, advance innovative technologies, and help vulnerable countries adapt to climate impacts.

By the time of the Summit, the United States will announce an ambitious 2030 emissions target as its new Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement. In his invitation, the President urged leaders to use the Summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries also will contribute to stronger climate ambition.

The Summit will reconvene the U.S.-led Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which brings together 17 countries responsible for approximately 80 percent of global emissions and global GDP. The President also invited the heads of other countries that are demonstrating strong climate leadership, are especially vulnerable to climate impacts, or are charting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy. A small number of business and civil society leaders will also participate in the Summit.

Key themes of the Summit will include:

• Galvanizing efforts by the world’s major economies to reduce emissions during this critical decade to keep a limit to warming of 1.5 degree Celsius within reach. Mobilizing public and private sector finance to drive the net-zero transition and to help vulnerable countries cope with climate impacts.
• The economic benefits of climate action, with a strong emphasis on job creation, and the importance of ensuring all communities and workers benefit from the transition to a new clean energy economy.
• Spurring transformational technologies that can help reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, while also creating enormous new economic opportunities and building the industries of the future.
• Showcasing subnational and non-state actors that are committed to green recovery and an equitable vision for limiting warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, and are working closely with national governments to advance ambition and resilience.
• Discussing opportunities to strengthen capacity to protect lives and livelihoods from the impacts of climate change, address the global security challenges posed by climate change and the impact on readiness, and address the role of nature-based solutions in achieving net zero by 2050 goals.
• Further details on the Summit agenda, additional participants, media access, and public viewing will be provided in the coming weeks.

The President invited the following leaders to participate in the Summit:

• Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda
• President Alberto Fernandez, Argentina
• Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia
• Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh
• Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Bhutan
• President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada
• President Sebastián Piñera, Chile
• President Xi Jinping, People’s Republic of China
• President Iván Duque Márquez, Colombia
• President Félix Tshisekedi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Denmark
• President Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission
• President Charles Michel, European Council
• President Emmanuel Macron, France
• President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Gabon
• Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India
• President Joko Widodo, Indonesia
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel
• Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Italy
• Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Jamaica
• Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Japan
• President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya
• President David Kabua, Republic of the Marshall Islands
• President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico
• Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
• President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria
• Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norway
• President Andrzej Duda, Poland
• President Moon Jae-in, Republic of Korea
• President Vladimir Putin, The Russian Federation
• King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore
• President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa
• Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain
• President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey
• President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson, United Kingdom
• President Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Vietnam

Day 1 Schedule:

8:00 a.m.–Session 1

Raising Our Climate Ambition

President Biden and Vice President Harris will open the inaugural session of the Summit. This session will underscore the urgent need for the world’s major economies to strengthen their climate ambition by the time of COP 26 to keep the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach. It will provide an opportunity for leaders to highlight the climate-related challenges their countries face and the efforts they are undertaking, and to announce new steps to strengthen climate ambition.

U.S. Participants:

• Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken
• Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry Leaders:
• United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres
• Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda
• President Alberto Fernandez, Argentina
• Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia
• Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh
• Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Bhutan
• President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada
• President Sebastián Piñera, Chile
• President Xi Jinping, People’s Republic of China
• President Iván Duque Márquez, Colombia
• President Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission
• President Emmanuel Macron, France
• President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Gabon
• Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India
• President Joko Widodo, Indonesia
• Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Italy
• Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Japan
• President David Kabua, Republic of the Marshall Islands
• President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico
• President Moon Jae-in, Republic of Korea
• President Vladimir Putin, The Russian Federation
• King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa
• President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson, United Kingdom

11:45 a.m.–Session 2

Investing in Climate Solutions

This session will highlight the urgent need to scale up climate finance; efforts to increase public finance for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries; and efforts to shift trillions of dollars of private investment to finance the transition to net zero by 2050.

U.S. Participants:

• Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen
• Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry
• National Economic Council Director Brian Deese

Leaders:

• President Félix Tshisekedi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• President Charles Michel, European Council
• Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Jamaica
• Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand

Speakers:

• Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank
• Oliver Bäte, CEO, Allianz
• Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup
• Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
• Marcie Frost, CEO, CalPERS
• David Malpass, Group President, World Bank Group
• Brian Moynihan, Chairman and CEO, Bank of America; Chair, International Business Council; Co-Chair, Sustainable Markets Initiative

Day 1 Featured Speakers:

• Pope Francis
• Carolina Schmidt, Environment Minister, Chile; President, 25th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25)
• Alok Sharma MP, United Kingdom; President, 26th United Nations United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26)
• Xiye Bastida, Fridays for Future

12:45 p.m.–Session 3

(Breakout Sessions, Round 1)

Adaptation and Resilience

This session will highlight the climate adaptation and resilience challenges faced by all countries, especially those most vulnerable to climate impacts, and cutting-edge approaches to strengthening resilience in the face of climate change and climate variability.

U.S. Participants:

• Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
• Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas

Speakers:

• Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Public Enterprises, Civil Service, Communications, Fiji
• Eamon Ryan, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport, Ireland
• Aziz Rabbah, Minister of Energy, Mines and Environment, Morocco
• Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands
• Malik Amin Aslam, Federal Minister of Climate Change, Pakistan
• João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Portugal
• Abdullah Subai, Minister of Municipality and Environment, Qatar
• Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, Minister of Environment, Rwanda
• Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand

Climate Action at All Levels

This session will highlight the critical efforts of subnational and non-state actors (cities, states/regions, and indigenous groups) that are contributing to green recovery and working closely with national governments to advance climate ambition and resilience on the ground.

U.S. Participants:

• Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan

Speakers:

• Sinéia B. do Vale, Member, Indigenous Council of Roraima, Brazil
• Mayor LaToya Cantrell, New Orleans
• Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris, France
• Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad
• Governor Yuriko Koike, Tokyo, Japan
• Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico
• Fawn Sharp, President, National Congress of American Indians
• Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City, Mexico

2:00 p.m.–Session 3

(Breakout Sessions, Round 2)

Climate Security

This session will highlight the global security challenges posed by climate change, the impact on the military and readiness, and efforts underway to address the threat multipliers to energy, economic, and national security.

U.S. Participants:

• Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III
• Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines
• Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations

Speakers:

• Ben Wallace MP, Secretary of State for Defense, United Kingdom
• Kishi Nobuo, Minister of Defense, Japan
• Monica Juma, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Defense, Kenya
• Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General, NATO
• Carlos G. Dominguez III, Secretary of Finance, The Philippines
• Jumaah Enad, Minister of Defense, Iraq
• Margarita Robles Fernández, Minister of Defense, Spain

Nature-based Solutions

This session will highlight the critical role of nature-based solutions in reducing emissions and strengthening climate resilience, including efforts to reduce deforestation and the loss of wetlands, restore marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and promote sustainable agricultural practices.

U.S. Participants:

• Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland Speakers:
• Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Canada
• Andrea Meza, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica
• Lee White, Minister of Water, Forests, the Seas, and Environment, Gabon
• Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Indonesia
• Gabriel Quijandría, Minister of the Environment, Peru
• Flavien P. Joubert, Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Seychelles
• Tuntiak Katan, General Coordinator, Global Alliance of Territorial Communities
• Archana Soreng, Member, Youth Advisory Group on Climate to the U.N. Secretary General; Kharia Tribe, Sundergarh, India

The summit continues on April 23.

At the United Nations Climate Summit on Tuesday, president Hu Jintao announced China would make “notable” reductions in carbon intensity while generating 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. E&E News asked senators for their responses.

Evan Bayh (D-IN)

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) said he had not yet seen the details. “But that’s a step in the right direction,” he said. “Clearly, the major economies are going to need to do this in concert. And it’ll be difficult for us to act unless the Chinese and the Indians are willing to make commitments that will actually solve this problem. So it’s a good sign. I’ll be interested to know the magnitude of it and whether it suggests further progress or whether it’s just symbolic.”

Kit Bond (R-MO)

“I want to see what the details are. It’s a target. Is it enforceable? . . . These are ministers, vice ministers and the commerce and environmental protection agency. They said they’re not going to do anything that’s going to stifle the growth of the economy—that they need to put all the people back to work.”

Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

“The more that other countries pledge to cut their carbon and to protect their own people from pollution, it helps us greatly.”

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

“That’s encouraging. That will help us make decisions on our emission problems.”

Ted Kaufman (D-DE)

Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), a member of Kerry’s Foreign Relations Committee, said China’s decision was a clear signal to U.S. businesses. “The difference here is, they’ve figured out it’s in their economic interest to be involved in this,” Kaufman said. “This is one pledge that they’re going to deliver on.”

Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

The Hill Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who is working with McCain and other centrist senators to find broad support for a climate change bill, said that Hu’s commitment to targets was “a very significant and encouraging step.” “No question there’s a certain amount of people here who will not take on the responsibility that we have to take on to do things to deal with climate change unless China also does,” said Lieberman, whose bipartisan group is looking at ways to increase U.S. nuclear power.

John Kerry (D-MA)

“I think anything China does, if it’s constructive and fixed and measurable, and ascertainable, it’ll be very helpful, absolutely.”

John McCain (R-AZ)

“We’ll see the details. They’ve made similar commitments in the past but haven’t kept them.”

From the Wonk Room.

In Bonn, White House climate negotiator Jonathan Pershing said Obama’s plan to lower greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020 is in the overlap of pragmatism and science.

Calling on developed nations to cut greenhouse emissions by “at least 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2020,” small island states say current targets are “going to destroy their countries.”

On Wednesday, 15 Democrats joined every Republican senator to preserve the filibuster against green economy legislation, even if “the Senate finds that public health, the economy and national security of the United States are jeopardized by inaction on global warming.”

From the Wonk Room.

Dan Kammen, the director of the Renewable & Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley and a top adviser to President-elect Barack Obama (D-IL), has told E&E News that Obama may conduct a nationwide “listening tour” to allow his team to hit the ground running for a green recovery:

The incoming Obama team is considering a “listening tour” around the country on energy and environmental issues before Inauguration Day in an attempt to build momentum for its policies and legislative plans.

Last month, Obama told Time’s Joe Klein that an “Apollo project” for a “new energy economy” is his top priority:

That’s going to be my No. 1 priority when I get into office.

In Tuesday’s victory speech before a crowd of 125,000 in Chicago’s Grant Park, Obama indicated that listening to all people of this nation will be central to his administration:

There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way its been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

In the 75 days before Obama takes office, he will also have to weigh in on major events already on the calendar:

Green Stimulus. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) today announced she hopes to work with the lame-duck Senate and White House to pass a green recovery stimulus bill before the end of the year, including funding for infrastructure projects “in a way that reduces our dependence on foreign oil, creates good green jobs in America.” On the campaign trail, Obama proposed a $190 billion stimulus package that includes green infrastructure and jobs.

International Action. From December 1 to 12, the next round of international climate negotiations takes place in Poznań, Poland. Obama has pledged to send a team of representatives, in what may be his first major act as President-elect on the international stage.

SAIS German Club and Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America: Reinhard Bütifoker, chairman and spokesperson of the German Green Party, will discuss this topic. Refreshments will be served.

Johns Hopkins University Room 812 Rome Building 1619 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C.

For more information and to RSVP, contact sais.germanclub@gmail.com.

Join us for this public event where women Nobel Peace Laureates and co-founders of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, Wangari Maathai and Jody Williams, will discuss their vision of ‘climate justice’ – an approach to climate change that recognizes differential responsibilities for developed and developing countries, and puts the rights of people, especially women, at the center of the climate debate. Pat Mitchell, President of The Paley Center for Media and the former President and CEO of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), will moderate.

• Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
• Jody Williams, founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, was awarded the Prize in 1997 for her work in creating an international treaty to ban landmines.

RSVP for this event.

Location: Carnegie Institution of Washington
1530 P ST. NW
Washington, D.C. 20035

How other nations adapt to the impacts of climate change will affect critical U.S. security, economic, humanitarian, and environmental interests.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, developing countries face water scarcity, severe weather events, declining agricultural productivity, and increased disease. The consequences will undermine international stability and security as migration and refugee crises, conflicts linked to natural resource scarcity, and economic destabilization all increase.

In order to protect vital U.S. interests, and to promote global economic development, many advocates and governments are urging that the United States and other developed countries assist developing countries so they can adapt to the climate challenge. These issues have recently risen to the forefront both in international negotiations and in Congressional legislation.

Oxfam America and the UN Foundation invite you to a roundtable discussion with foreign policy experts, economists, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and Congressional staff to discuss these critical issues.

Presenters

• Nigel Purvis (moderator), Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment & Science and senior U.S. climate change negotiator; Visiting scholar at Resources for the Future and non-resident scholar at The Brookings Institution
• Dr. Saleem Huq, Director of the Climate Change Group, International Institute for Environment and Development; Coordinating Lead Author of the Adaptation and Mitigation chapter in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• Ambassador Angus Friday, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations; Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States
• Dr. William Cline, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development and the Institute for International Economics
• Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, Associate Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

This event is in cooperation with the office of Congressman Donald Payne.

Please RSVP to Mike Helms at Oxfam America at (202) 471-3050 or mhelms@oxfamamerica.org

or Erica Fabo at the UN Foundation at 202-887-9040.

The Washington Conference will take place over two days. The first day will be an intensive expert workshop focusing on emissions from transport and biofuels use; this reflects concerns over the lack of action to address emissions from transport, rising concerns about expanded use of biofuels and pressure from some to include aviation, marine transport and road transport within cap and trade systems.

Day two will be a larger event designed to inform civil society more broadly about the differences and similarities between action in the EU and US, discuss best practice domestic solutions, demystify key policies such as the EU ETS etc. Discussions will predominantly focus on cap and trade, and the differing perceptions of actors on both sides of the Atlantic.

IEEP will be taking experts from the EU over to Washington for the event. European experts would take part in the workshop on day one, and potentially present ideas and concepts from a European perspective on day two.

If you would like to find out more about the conference please contact Sirini Withana (IEEP) or Melanie Nakagawa (NRDC).

For more information and background papers from previous T-PAGE discussions, visit the T-PAGE project website.

Location: 1616 P Street, NW, 1st Floor Conference Room
Resources for the Future building
Washington, DC 20036