H.R. 9449: Global Climate Resilience Act of 2026

This bill would direct the U.S. government to use debt relief and international financial institutions to help certain developing countries become more resilient to climate-related disasters.

What the bill does

• Creates a new part of U.S. foreign aid law focused on debt reduction for countries affected by extreme weather and slow-moving climate harms, such as sea-level rise, drought, desertification, rising temperatures, and ocean acidification.
• Lets the President reduce debt owed to the United States by an eligible country, if that country meets specified conditions and has a plan to use the savings for resilience-related purposes.
• Allows the U.S. to support debt-for-resilience swaps, where a country’s debt is reduced in exchange for committing resources to climate resilience, disaster preparation, recovery, or related activities.
• Allows the U.S. to support debt buybacks, where a country repurchases its own debt to free up money for resilience work.
• Directs U.S. representatives at international financial institutions to support policies that reduce or restructure debt for highly climate-vulnerable countries, including debt forgiveness, buybacks, and debt-for-resilience or debt-for-nature swaps.
• Directs U.S. representatives at the World Bank to advocate for a new international climate insurance program that would provide fast payments to eligible countries after natural disasters.

Who could qualify

To receive benefits, a country generally must be one of the following:

• A low-income, lower-middle-income, or upper-middle-income country, as classified by the World Bank; or
• A small island developing state, as recognized by the United Nations.

The country’s government must also be democratically elected, not engage in a consistent pattern of gross human rights violations, and have a plan for how the debt relief would be used.

How the money would be used

The bill says the country’s plan should use freed-up resources for things like:

• Resilience activities;
• Disaster risk reduction and prevention planning, including nature-based solutions; and
• Recovery from extreme weather events or slow-onset climate disasters.

When deciding which countries to help, the bill says priority should go to countries that involve local communities and Indigenous peoples, and that aim to reduce inequalities related to gender, income, and social status.

Reporting and oversight

• The President would have to notify Congress at least 15 days before formally deciding a country is eligible.
• The President would need to consult with Congress periodically about how the program is working and which countries qualify.
• An annual report to Congress would be required by April 15 each year, describing activities carried out under the law and any agreements made.

Relevant Companies

None found