§262p–4j Promotion of Lending for Environment

Summary

The Treasury Secretary must tell the U.S. Executive Director at the World Bank to begin talks with other directors and bank leaders and to propose a new project- and policy-based environmental lending program. The goal is to cut future demand for loans to reforest and restore damaged land. The program would be open to countries that show they are committed to conserving natural resources and could include loans with a portion used to reduce or restructure private debt. The program must be built on three things: the long-term economic value of sustainably using and protecting tropical forests (including their worth to indigenous people and science); the value of services like watershed management, soil erosion control, fisheries, industrial water supply, food, fuel, fodder, and local building materials, plus income from natural products in locally controlled protected areas and indigenous knowledge; and the long-term benefits of keeping biological diversity and stabilizing climate.