House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, has raised concerns over the Biden administration’s decision to transfer $28 million to the United Nations Green Climate Fund.
GOP Lawmakers Criticize Biden Administration for $28 Million Transfer to UN Climate Fund, Citing Oversight Concerns and Funding to China
McCaul argues that the transfer lacks oversight and notes that the money is going to China, a major contributor to air pollution. President Biden had pledged a total of $1 billion for the fund.
In a recent letter to President Biden, McCaul and Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman Brian Mast, a Florida Republican, expressed their concerns about the fund’s lack of oversight and the absence of reports demonstrating the impact of climate efforts. They also highlighted that the fund had already disbursed $28 million to the Shandong Green Development Fund in China, with millions of dollars remaining to be distributed until 2042.
The lawmakers pointed out that China, as the largest producer of coal and methane emissions from coal mines, had experienced an increase in carbon emissions in 2021
Additionally, a report from CarbonBrief.org indicated that China‘s emissions reached a record high in 2023. McCaul and Mast firmly believe that providing taxpayer money to the fund is inappropriate, given China’s track record of increasing carbon emissions. They also cited China’s environmental record as one of the reasons behind the GOP-led House’s unanimous passage of the PRC Is Not a Developing Country Act on March 27.
However, the bill is still awaiting approval in the Democratic-led Senate. It is worth noting that the Obama administration had previously contributed $500 million to the fund, but former President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord in 2017 and ceased further contributions.
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