Obama Pledges $15M in Tax Dollars For Global 'Climate Transparency'

Brittany M. Hughes | April 27, 2016
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President Obama’s State Department just announced it will be shucking out $15 million in tax dollars to fund the three-year “Capacity-Building Initiative for Transparency,” a joint partnership to “ensure that all countries will be prepared to meet the new, robust transparency requirements” for the newly agreed-to global carbon emissions goal.

In a nutshell, American taxpayers are about to foot a $15 million bill to make sure other countries are making good on their promise to cut carbon emissions and save the planet from the calamity of global warming, including building them a high-tech system so they can track and report their progress.

From the State Department:

The enhanced transparency framework agreed to in Paris contains requirements that are critical to ensuring that countries are implementing the Agreement, including the emission reduction targets that they put forward last year. Countries are to provide regular updates on their progress towards reducing emissions, and on their support for others to address climate change. Countries are also encouraged to report on adaptation and climate impacts.

To meet the new reporting requirements, many developing countries will need technical and institutional capacity-building support.

CBIT was designed to address these needs, and to help developing countries begin to build over time the institutional and technical capacity they will need to prepare transparent, accurate, and timely reports. In particular, the initiative will help countries develop better quality greenhouse gas emissions tracking and other technical measurement activities.

In its announcement, the State Department admits the $15 million pledge is “subject to appropriations,” reiterating that Congress – which is currently controlled by the GOP in both the Senate and the House – could refuse to fund the initiative in its spending bill.

This certainly isn't the first time the federal government has coughed up millions in U.S. tax dollars to fund global climate change initiatives for other countries. The Obama administration in December pledged a $30 million contribution for “climate risk insurance" designed to help developing countries mitigate the damage from natural disasters allegedly caused by climate change. The contribution is part of a $3 billion pledge Obama make to the Green Climate Fund, a global initiative to help underdeveloped countries fight climate change.

The program carries an overall global budget of $100 billion.

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