# Plain Language Summary: Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy and Climate-Displaced Persons Bill

This bill creates a new U.S. government strategy to help countries around the world prepare for and adapt to climate change impacts like rising sea levels, extreme weather, and droughts. It also establishes a new immigration pathway for people who have been forced to leave their homes because of climate-related disasters and environmental changes. Essentially, the bill recognizes that climate change is creating a global crisis where some people can no longer safely live in their current locations and need international assistance and, in some cases, the ability to relocate to other countries including the United States.

The first major part of the bill directs the federal government to develop a comprehensive strategy for helping other nations build resilience against climate impacts. This means funding and supporting projects in vulnerable countries that help them adapt—like building better infrastructure to withstand storms, developing drought-resistant agriculture, or protecting coastal areas from rising oceans. The bill aims to position the U.S. as a leader in climate adaptation assistance globally, which could strengthen diplomatic relationships and demonstrate American commitment to addressing climate change internationally.

The second major part creates a new category of people who can be admitted to the United States as climate-displaced persons. Currently, U.S. immigration law doesn't have a specific category for people displaced by climate change. This bill would allow people whose homes have become uninhabitable due to climate-related events—such as island nations facing submersion from rising seas, or regions experiencing severe desertification—to potentially immigrate to the U.S. The bill would establish the process and criteria for determining who qualifies, though the specific numbers and detailed requirements would need to be worked out through implementation.

A bill to establish a Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy, to authorize the admission of climate-displaced persons, and for other purposes.

Markey, Edward J.

This bill generally addresses the adverse effects of climate change with a particular focus on immigration. Specifically, the bill establishes an immigration pathway to admit climate-displaced persons into the United States. These are individuals (1) who need durable resettlement because of an environmental change that adversely affects their living conditions, and (2) whose government cannot or will not provide a resettlement solution. Persons admitted to the United States under this pathway are entitled to the same resettlement assistance and benefits available to refugees. Additionally, the bill authorizes the President to provide foreign assistance for promoting resilience and reducing vulnerability among communities facing adverse effects of climate change. It also creates the position of Coordinator of Climate Change Resiliency in the Department of State. Moreover, the State Department must implement, and periodically report on, a strategy to mitigate the impact of climate change on displacement and humanitarian emergencies. The State Department must also provide (1) training on climate displacement to foreign service officers assigned to countries from which climate-displaced persons originated, and (2) guidance on the humanitarian impacts associated with climate change to all U.S. diplomatic missions. The bill also requires the President to report on displacement caused by climate change.