# Plain Language Summary: AMAZON21 Act

The AMAZON21 Act creates a new international program where the U.S. government pays developing countries to protect and restore forests and other natural areas that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The basic idea is straightforward: instead of just talking about climate change, the U.S. puts money behind results. If a developing country successfully reduces deforestation, restores forests, or protects wetlands and mangroves, it gets paid based on how much carbon it actually removes or prevents from being released. The bill sets aside $9 billion for this program and creates a special fund to hold and distribute the money. The Secretary of State runs the main program, while the U.S. Agency for International Development handles the technical support side.

The payments work like a performance contract. The U.S. doesn't just hand over money upfront and hope for the best. Instead, it sets clear goals with each country, then only pays when independent verification confirms those goals were actually met. For example, if Brazil agrees to reduce deforestation in a specific region and successfully does so, it receives payment based on the verified results. The bill includes safeguards to prevent corruption, requires transparency so Americans can see where the money goes, and ensures that women and Indigenous communities have a real say in these projects since they often live in and depend on these forests.

Beyond direct payments, the bill also funds technical assistance to help developing countries build the systems they need to participate in carbon markets. This means helping countries set up the infrastructure to track and trade carbon credits, develop policies to monitor environmental results, and train people to manage these programs. The U.S. coordinates with multiple agencies—including NASA, NOAA, the Forest Service, and the EPA—to use satellite technology and scientific expertise to verify that the carbon reductions are real and not being double-counted.

For American taxpayers, this represents a significant investment in climate action through international cooperation. For developing countries, it creates financial incentives to protect their forests and natural areas rather than clear them for short-term profit. The bill essentially recognizes that protecting forests in other countries helps everyone by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, and it puts U.S. money where that recognition is.

AMAZON21 Act

Hoyer, Steny H.

America Mitigating and Achieving Zero-emissions Originating from Nature for the 21st Century Act or the AMAZON21 Act This bill establishes programs to support efforts in developing countries to address climate change. The Department of State must establish the International Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration Program to make results-based payments to eligible projects in developing countries that reduce emissions and enhance carbon sequestration from forests and other ecosystems. Eligible projects include those where the primary purpose is to (1) reduce deforestation and restore forests to support enhanced carbon sequestration; or (2) preserve other territorial ecosystems, such as wetlands, within the host country. The bill also imposes other requirements on project eligibility, including requirements relating to transparency pertaining to the use of the received payments and the host country's standards of governance and respect for the rule of law. The bill also requires the U.S. Agency for International Development to conduct a program to provide resources and technical assistance to developing countries to (1) conserve, manage, and restore carbon sinks, such as forests; and (2) support nature-based carbon sequestration. A project eligible for such assistance must be located in a country that meets certain criteria, such as a country that permits the sale of carbon credits to voluntary and carbon compliance markets.