Global Climate Resilience Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Peter Welch
Introduced
Summary
Debt relief for climate-vulnerable countries would create a U.S. program to reduce or restructure loans and to enable debt-for-resilience swaps and buybacks so money freed from debt funds adaptation, disaster recovery, and nature-based solutions. The package also pushes U.S. officials at multilateral banks to advocate debt relief and to promote a World Bank parametric insurance program for quick payouts after disasters.
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- Eligible national governments could have U.S. loans reduced, exchanged, or canceled to support resilience work. Eligibility ties to World Bank income categories or U.N. small island status, democratic governance, human-rights standards, and a plan to use benefits for resilience or recovery.
- Plans that involve local communities and Indigenous peoples and that aim to reduce gender and income inequalities get preference when debt relief is approved. Freed resources must target resilience activities, preventative disaster risk reduction, recovery, or nature-based solutions.
- The bill would let the U.S. sell loans to eligible private purchasers or buy privately held debt up to 65 percent of face value to facilitate swaps and buybacks. It also directs U.S. representatives at international financial institutions to press for debt restructuring and a parametric international climate insurance program that can pay governments and small producers after disasters.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Push for debt relief and climate insurance
If enacted, the bill would direct U.S. Executive Directors at a set of international banks to use the U.S. voice and vote to push for debt forgiveness, buybacks, and debt-for-resilience or debt-for-nature swaps for countries vulnerable to climate disasters. It would also direct U.S. representatives at the World Bank to push for a parametric climate insurance program that makes rapid payouts after disasters, with eligibility rules aligned to the bill's debt-relief criteria and with the possibility of supporting regional facilities.
Who can get climate debt relief
If enacted, this bill would let World Bank low, lower-middle, or upper-middle income countries, and U.N. small island developing states, apply for debt reduction tools if they have democratically elected governments, no consistent pattern of gross human rights violations, and an approved plan to spend freed resources on resilience, disaster risk reduction, or recovery. The law would give preference to plans that involve local communities and Indigenous peoples and that reduce gender, income, and social inequalities. The President would have to notify relevant congressional committees at least 15 days before naming a country eligible, consult periodically with Congress, and send an annual report by April 15 describing activities and agreements.
Debt relief tools for climate-vulnerable countries
If enacted, this bill would create a Part VI program to reduce, restructure, buy, sell, or cancel certain foreign loans to help countries adapt to extreme weather and slow-onset climate disasters. The President would be allowed to buy privately held debt for up to 65 percent of face value and to exchange or cancel U.S. obligations while agencies make accounting adjustments. The law would say these debt reductions are not treated as other kinds of "assistance," and it would authorize "such sums as may be necessary" and specific account treatment for sale and purchase proceeds.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Peter Welch
VT • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 12/16/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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