Abstract

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is an innovative and independent U.S. foreign assistance agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty. Created by the U.S. Congress in January 2004 with strong bipartisan support, MCC delivers smart U.S. foreign assistance by focusing on good policies, country ownership, and results. MCC provides predictable, multi-year grants that promote economic growth, reduce poverty, and strengthen institutions. These investments not only support stability and prosperity in partner countries but also enhance American interests.

Climate change is inextricably tied to poverty and economic growth, and it poses the greatest risks to low and lower-middle income countries, like those where MCC works. These are precisely the countries whose people, economies, and institutions are least able to adapt to or afford its consequences and are generally least responsible for the problem. For example, the World Bank estimates that the effects of climate change could push an additional 100 million people below the poverty line by 2030, with extreme weather alone resulting in $520 billion in annual consumption losses each year. Other sources estimate that at least 300 million people will live in coastal areas threatened by dangerous flooding by 2050, and climate change has increased economic inequality between developed and developing nations by 25% since 1960.

Given this reality, MCC recognizes that addressing the impacts of climate change is central to achieving MCC’s mission and we must invest now to counter its dire consequences.

To meet this challenge, MCC has substantially increased its climate commitments. This Climate Action Plan (the Plan) and MCC’s newly developed Climate Change Strategy (the Strategy) memorialize how MCC will meet these commitments and adjust its approaches to expand and deepen work on climate change across the agency’s investment portfolio and business operations.

Specifically, MCC will continue to work with country partners to:

• Promote climate-smart development and sustainable infrastructure across all key sectors, including energy, roads, agriculture, and water
• Support nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in partner countries; urge important policy and institutional reforms that support a transition toward low carbon development
• Strengthen the integration of climate considerations into the agency’s policies, guidelines, analytical tools, and decision-making
• Focus on the needs of women and those most vulnerable to climate change, and of those living in climate vulnerable areas in designing and implementing our investments
• Collaborate with new partners and expand the use of blended finance tools to mobilize private capital into climate activities
• Align internal operations with the agency’s climate aspirations and seek innovative ways to reduce our own carbon footprint

Consistent with Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad and Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Implementing Instructions, this Plan presents MCC’s roadmap to meet the goals outlined in our Climate Strategy. This Plan builds from the previous Climate Action Plans and is focused on the impact climate change has on MCC’s critical mission, programs, and activities. This Plan follows the CEQ Instructions for Preparing Draft Climate Action Plans under E.O. 14008 and focuses on climate resilience across agency programs and the management of Federal procurement, real property, and financial programs.