Washington (November 5, 2021) –Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, will be traveling to the 2021 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow to meet with world leaders, negotiators, youth activists, and NGOs about how to best tackle the climate crisis and meet global emissions reduction goals. This week ahead of the conference, Senator Markey rolled out new legislation and oversight efforts focused on addressing climate displacement, climate financing, sanctions for foreign entities most responsible for fueling the climate crisis, and increasing our domestic fuel economic standards.

 

“The United States needs to recommit to the world that COP also stands for Climate’s Our Priority,” said Senator Markey, co-author of the Green New Deal resolution. “The United States has an enormous responsibility -- moral, economic, and scientific — as one of the world’s largest emitters to support meeting emissions reductions and financing goals and ensuring equity is central to our climate action efforts. I look forward to meeting with young people, international leaders, and key stakeholders to discuss efforts on ambition, implementation, and transparency as we work together to tackle the climate crisis.”

Ahead of his attendance at COP26, this week Senator Markey:

 

·       Sent a letter with Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07) to urge the Biden administration to respond to and provide aid to the increasing number of climate-displaced persons around the globe. Specifically, the lawmakers called on the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to use existing legal authorities, including the special humanitarian concern provisions of U.S. refugee laws, Temporary Protected Status, and Deferred Enforced Departure to help climate-displaced persons.

 

·       Introduced the Fossil Fuel Finance Act with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), which would require the Federal Reserve (Fed) to mandate major banks and other Systemically Important Financial Institutions to reduce and stop the financing of projects and activities that emit greenhouse gas emissions. This legislation specifically dictates that all bank-holding companies with more than $50 billion in assets and all nonbank SIFIs reduce financed emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and by 100 percent by 2050, which is in line with the reductions necessary to avoid the most dangerous levels of warming. 

 

·       Sent a letter with Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the Administration to enhance its global strategy to prevent and mitigate harm to the environment and restrict access to the U.S. financial system for foreign individuals and companies most responsible for exacerbating climate change. The letter urges the Administration to use its existing authority to apply Global Magnitsky sanctions to climate-related corruption and human rights abuses abroad, and also calls for the protection of environmental defenders and climate-displaced persons.

 

·       Called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Calif) to strengthen the new greenhouse gas emission vehicle standards and to adopt the most stringent of the proposed alternatives for the vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standard rulemaking for passenger cars and light trucks for Model Years 2023-2026.

 

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