The U.S. State Department has denied that providing funding to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) would violate U.S. law now that the body has recognized Palestinian statehood.
A group of 28 Republican senators, in an April 18 letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, called for a halt to all U.S. financial support to the UNFCCC and associated bodies subsequent to Palestine’s induction date into the convention — March 17, 2016. The lawmakers cited a 1994 law that prohibits providing U.S. taxpayer money to “any affiliated organization of the United Nations which grants full membership as a state to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.”
That includes Palestine, according to the Republicans. In a response to Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield reaffirmed the U.S. position regarding Palestinian statehood, which remains a no-go for Washington even with the Obama administration’s sometimes testy relationship with Israel.
“We are aware that the Palestinians have purportedly acceded to the UNFCCC. The United States does not believe Palestine qualifies as a sovereign State and does not recognize it as such,” Frifield stated. “The Department of State submitted an official objection to this purported accession, in which we indicated that we do not consider ourselves to be in a treaty relationship with the Palestinians under the Convention.”
The senators’ letter says the prohibition would cover the UNFCCC Secretariat, the Green Climate Fund, the Conference of the Parties, and and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. Frifield asserted, though, that the State Department does not believe the 1994 law applies in this case. “The UNFCCC is a treaty, and the Palestinians’ purported accession to it does not involve their becoming members of any UN specialized agency or, indeed any international organization,” she stated.
In a statement to GHG Daily Monitor, Barrasso called the State Department response “intentionally misleading.”
“The UNFCCC is clearly an international organization. It is even listed as such on the U.N. website where it is housed,” he said. “This administration is unwilling to follow the law. The verbal gymnastics they’re using to try and justify their unlawful actions should surprise no one.”
The Obama administration’s fiscal 2017 budget request includes $750 million for the Green Climate Fund, a multinational program that aims to help developing nations reduce carbon emissions and prepare for the effects of climate change. That followed a $500 million payment in March, part of a total $3 billion commitment.
The White House is also seeking $13 million for the UNFCCC, Barrasso said last week.
