H.R. 6185

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6185 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6185

To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant 
actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive 
efforts to limit global average temperature rise, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 20, 2025

Ms. Escobar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the 
Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and 
Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to significant 
actions that exacerbate climate change, to reinforce comprehensive 
efforts to limit global average temperature rise, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Targeting Environmental and Climate 
Recklessness Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Climate change is imposing significant damage on 
communities in the United States and abroad in the form of 
severe weather events, wildfires, heat waves, droughts, 
flooding, ocean acidification, and other threats to public 
health and safety. Scientists expect those effects to grow in 
frequency and intensity in the coming decades, jeopardizing the 
jobs, health, and safety of the people of the United States.
(2) Collectively, the international community needs to 
limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-
industrial levels in order to avoid the most catastrophic 
effects of climate change. In 2024, average temperatures passed 
the 1.5-degree threshold for the first time. With sustained 
1.5-degree warming, scientists expect the United States to 
experience a sharp rise in annual heat-related deaths, longer 
and more destructive wildfire seasons, more frequent and severe 
droughts, reduced crop yields, more multibillion-dollar flood 
disasters, increased high-tide flooding in coastal areas, more 
days with unhealthy air quality, and longer tick and mosquito 
seasons, among other effects. Low-income communities and 
communities of color will experience the worst effects.
(3) The adverse impacts of climate change will increase 
exponentially as warming continues. Under the current 
trajectory, the world will experience warming that exceeds 3 
degrees Celsius by the end of the century. At 3 degrees of 
warming, scientists expect dangerous conditions in the United 
States where outdoor work is unsafe for many months of the 
year, farmers struggle to keep livestock and grow crops, power 
grids become overloaded, water becomes scarce during summer 
months, poor air quality leads to widespread health problems, 
severe wildfires and droughts become more common, major 
flooding events occur on a regular basis, mosquito- and tick-
borne illnesses spread further, and some coastal areas become 
submerged.
(4) Climate change is also expected to pose a significant 
challenge to the international community's shared vision of 
fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
(5) To avert catastrophe, the United States and every 
country on Earth will need to make drastic reforms to global 
economic systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce 
deforestation, and adapt to unavoidable changes in the climate.
(6) Internationally, economic actors continue to pursue 
activities, such as development of new coal-fired power plants 
and deforestation, that contribute to dangerous levels of 
greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of carbon sinks. 
In addition to carrying a significant climate risk, many of 
those activities are associated with serious human rights 
abuses, acts of corruption, and environmental injustice against 
Indigenous communities, communities of color, and other 
communities that have historically faced marginalization and 
discrimination.
(7) Illegal deforestation is a significant driver of the 
destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Criminal networks with 
the capacity to coordinate large-scale extraction, processing, 
and sale of timber deploy armed personnel to protect their 
interests. Those criminal networks regularly attack and 
threaten members of Indigenous communities, other environmental 
defenders, and enforcement officials. Perpetrators of such 
violence are rarely brought to justice. Numerous studies show 
that transnational criminal organizations no longer limit 
themselves only to drug trafficking but diversify their 
operations to include natural resource crimes, among other 
activities.
(8) The goals articulated in the Paris Agreement depend on 
collective action involving the entire international community. 
Progress made by one economic actor can be reduced or cancelled 
out if another economic actor emits significant greenhouse gas 
emissions into the Earth's atmosphere or destroys important 
carbon sinks.
(9) In 2025, President Donald J. Trump withdrew the United 
States from the Paris Agreement and attacked climate change-
related activities across the Federal Government.
(10) President Trump's decision to ignore climate change 
has provided the People's Republic of China with a strategic 
opportunity to make significant competitive gains in preparing 
for a new economic order in a world that has warmed by 1.5 
degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
(11) During the first year of President Trump's second 
term, the United States experienced one of its costliest years 
on record for wildfires and storms, record-breaking heat waves, 
and severe flooding--all disasters that were linked to climate 
change.
(12) The United States Government has developed and 
implements targeted measures to restrict access to the United 
States financial system for specific individuals and entities 
whose actions threaten or run counter to United States national 
interests. While the United States has not yet used such 
measures for climate-related activities alone, the United 
States Government has deployed such measures in response to 
terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, 
transnational organized crime, narcotics trafficking, malicious 
cyber-enabled activity, wildlife trafficking, serious human 
rights abuses, and acts of corruption.
(13) The United States should take action to address the 
urgency of the climate crisis and hold actors responsible for 
environmental and climate harm.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ADDRESSING 
CLIMATE CHANGE.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the targeted measures described in this Act are only 
one component of the comprehensive approach needed to address 
climate change and mitigate its effects;
(2) the United States Government must ensure through law 
and regulation that entities in the United States are not 
engaged in or complicit in any of the egregious behaviors for 
which foreign persons may be targeted under this Act;
(3) the United States Government should continue to make 
progress toward scaling international climate finance to more 
than $11,000,000,000 annually and promote international efforts 
to support climate change adaptation and mitigation;
(4) the United States Government must work proactively with 
foreign governments, including by offering positive incentives, 
to address climate change and to promote economic development 
in ways that do not needlessly increase carbon emissions, 
deforestation, or the risk of corruption;
(5) the targeted measures described in this Act should be 
employed if engagement has failed to prevent significant 
actions that exacerbate climate change and deforestation; and
(6) given broad international support for countering 
climate change, the Secretary of State should encourage the 
governments of other countries to implement targeted measures 
that are similar to the provisions of this Act, and the 
Secretary of the Treasury should support implementation of such 
measures, in order to increase the effectiveness of actions 
taken by the United States to combat significant actions that 
exacerbate climate change, including related corruption and 
human rights violations.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON APPLICATION OF GLOBAL MAGNITSKY 
SANCTIONS TO ENVIRONMENT-LINKED CORRUPTION AND HUMAN 
RIGHTS ABUSES.

(a) In General.--It is the policy of the United States to consider 
use of applicable authorities described in Executive Order 13818 (50 
U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking the property of persons involved 
in serious human rights abuse or corruption) in relation to activities 
described in section 5(b), including for acts of corruption and serious 
human rights abuses against individuals described in subsection (b).
(b) Individuals Described.--An individual described in this 
subsection is an individual who--
(1) advocates for the protection of the environment, public 
health, Indigenous rights, or community land rights;
(2) investigates, exposes, or raises awareness of harm or 
corruption related to natural resource use; or
(3) is obliged to leave the individual's habitual home due, 
in whole or in part, to sudden or progressive change in the 
environment--
(A) caused by human activities or attributable to 
climate change; and
(B) that adversely affects the individual's life or 
living conditions.

SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SIGNIFICANT ACTIONS 
THAT EXACERBATE CLIMATE CHANGE, DEFORESTATION, OR HARM TO 
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS.

(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
President should employ the authorities provided by this section to 
prioritize action against, and deterrence of, egregious behaviors 
that--
(1) undermine efforts to limit the increase in global 
average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial 
levels;
(2) contribute to deforestation; or
(3) present specific harm to environmental defenders.
(b) In General.--The President may impose one or more of the 
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to any foreign 
person the President determines, based on credible information--
(1) knowingly, recklessly, or willfully engages in an 
activity in a foreign country that causes, or is likely to 
cause, greenhouse gas emissions that are not in line with 
scientifically established pathways to help avoid a sustained 
increase in the Earth's temperature of more than 1.5 degrees 
Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as determined by the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including any action 
that significantly undermines, as a result of timing, 
magnitude, or corruption, projects for the adoption in the 
country of high-efficiency, low-carbon, or renewable energy 
technology or infrastructure, including the construction of 
low-efficiency fossil fuel power plants;
(2) engages in an activity in a foreign country that 
causes, or is likely to cause, illegal deforestation or loss of 
natural carbon sinks, including--
(A) establishment of incentives for, or promotion 
of, knowingly conducting deforestation; or
(B) engagement in, or failure to combat, illegal 
logging, mining, or ranching;
(3) knowingly engages in an activity in a foreign country 
that misrepresents the environmental impact of a project, 
investment, or product, including misrepresenting the amount of 
greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project, 
investment, or product, in the context of--
(A) assessments conducted by multilateral 
organizations, national governments, or investors; or
(B) public efforts to gain market advantage based 
on purported environmental advantages of a product;
(4) engages in an activity in a foreign country that 
causes, or is likely to cause, limitations on or circumvention 
of opposition to deforestation or projects described in 
paragraph (1) by individuals seeking to protect the 
environment, public health, or community land rights, including 
actions that encourage impunity for those perpetrating physical 
threats or violence against such individuals;
(5) is otherwise responsible for or complicit in an 
activity described in any of paragraphs (1) through (4), 
including a government official who approves or implements 
policies or acts that serve to promote such an activity;
(6) has acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, 
directly or indirectly, any foreign person in a matter relating 
to an activity described in any of paragraphs (1) through (4), 
including for or on behalf of a government official described 
in paragraph (5);
(7) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or 
services to or in support of, an activity described in any of 
paragraphs (1) through (4); or
(8) is owned or controlled by a foreign person that engages 
an activity described in any of paragraphs (1) through (4) or 
is described in paragraph (5).
(c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions that may be imposed with 
respect to a foreign person under subsection (b) are the following:
(1) Inadmissibility to united states.--In the case of a 
foreign person who is an individual--
(A) ineligibility to receive a visa to travel to 
the United States or to be admitted to the United 
States; or
(B) if the individual has been issued a visa or 
other documentation, revocation, in accordance with 
section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa or other documentation.
(2) Blocking of property.--
(A) In general.--The blocking, in accordance with 
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all 
property and interests in property of the foreign 
person if such property and interests in property are 
in the United States, come within the United States, or 
are or come within the possession or control of a 
United States person.
(B) Inapplicability of national emergency 
requirement.--The requirements of section 202 of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
1701) shall not apply for purposes of this paragraph.
(3) Other sanctions options.--Any of the sanctions 
described in section 235 of the Countering America's 
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9529).
(d) Consideration of Certain Information in Imposing Sanctions.--In 
determining whether to impose sanctions under subsection (b), the 
President shall consider--
(1) information provided jointly by the chairperson and 
ranking member of each of the appropriate congressional 
committees; and
(2) credible information obtained by other countries and 
nongovernmental organizations that monitor environmental harm 
or violations of human rights.
(e) Exceptions.--
(1) Intelligence and law enforcement activities.--Sanctions 
under this section shall not apply with respect to--
(A) any activity subject to the reporting 
requirements under title V of the National Security Act 
of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.); or
(B) any authorized intelligence or law enforcement 
activities of the United States.
(2) Compliance with united nations headquarters 
agreement.--This section shall not apply with respect to the 
admission of an individual to the United States if the 
admission of the individual is necessary to comply with United 
States obligations under the Agreement between the United 
Nations and the United States of America regarding the 
Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 
26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, under the 
Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 
1963, and entered into force March 19, 1967, or under other 
international obligations of the United States.
(3) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(A) In general.--The authority to block and 
prohibit all transactions in all property and interests 
in property under this section shall not include the 
authority to impose sanctions on the importation of 
goods.
(B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term 
``good'' means any article, natural or man-made 
substance, material, supply or manufactured product, 
including inspection and test equipment, and excluding 
technical data.
(f) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all 
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 
1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this 
section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 
out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in 
subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same 
extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in 
subsection (a) of that section.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Environment and Public Works 
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; 
and
(B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives.
(2) Carbon sink.--The term ``carbon sink'' means a feature 
or process that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it 
releases.
(3) Deforestation.--The term ``deforestation'' means the 
conversion of forest to other land use, whether human-induced 
or not, that results in--
(A) permanent reduction of the tree canopy to less 
than a minimum 10 percent threshold; and
(B) the conversion of areas of forest to 
agriculture, pasture, water reservoirs, mining, or 
urban areas.
(4) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to 
conduct, means--
(A) a person has actual knowledge of the facts; or
(B) a reasonable person acting in the circumstances 
and exercising reasonable care would have that 
knowledge.
(5) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a 
person that is not a United States person.
(6) Recklessly.--The term ``recklessly'', with respect to 
conduct, means that a person displays a deliberate indifference 
or conscious disregard to the consequences of the conduct.
(7) United states person.--The term ``United States 
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
(8) Willfully.--The term ``willfully'', with respect to 
conduct, means a person has knowledge--
(A) of the facts; and
(B) that the conduct was subject to sanctions under 
this section.

SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 
Treasury such sums as may be necessary to support the targeting by the 
Office of Foreign Assets Control of persons under this Act and to 
enhance the ability of that Office to target persons for the imposition 
of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
(22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.).
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