On Thursday the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill that would grant $10 million in funding to the United Nation’s climate change body.
Introduced by Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, the bill passed 16-14 with bipartisan support.
Merkley took to Twitter to voice pleasure over the passage of his bill.
BIG VICTORY: Senate Appropriations Committee just passed my amendment to restore funding for UN climate change panel. #ActOnClimate
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) September 7, 2017
This passage comes despite the President’s earlier budget proposal calling for the elimination of all funds supporting climate change projects in developing countries or by other organizations.
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The $10 million allocation came as an amendment to a $51 billion spending bill that outlined funding for the State Department and foreign operations. This money will go to the body that oversees the Paris Climate Agreement, which in turn provides resources to the U.N Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In April, President Trump announced his intention to remove the US from the 2015 Paris climate accord. In the wake of this action, American political and economic leaders took their own actions to signify their continued commitment to combatting climate change.
Governor of California and Global Citizen Jerry Brown worked in partnership with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to organize a response on behalf of cities and business leaders across the US who pledged to meet the emissions standard laid out in the climate agreement.
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Additionally, a group called the “Climate Mayors” was formed, representing the mayors of 375 cities across the US who are committed to upholding the standards of the climate agreement. Altogether, their constituents represent almost 70 million Americans.
Though a relatively small amount in the context of the $51 billion bill, by voting to allocate $10 million to the UN’s climate change body, the Senate Appropriations Committee joined other leaders in signalling that the US is not altogether out of the global fight against climate change.
Global Citizen campaigns on the Global Goals, and climate action is number 13. To take action on this issue, click here.