Executive Order 13677-Climate-Resilient International Development
Issued 2014-09-23 by Barack Obama
Plain-English Overview
AI-generated summary explaining what this action does, who it affects, and why it matters
Executive Order 13677 directs federal agencies that run international development programs to consider climate change impacts when making decisions about aid projects and investments in other countries. The order requires these agencies to assess how climate-related problems like sea-level rise, extreme weather, droughts, and wildfires might affect their development work in vulnerable nations. The goal is to make sure U.S. foreign aid programs remain effective even as climate conditions change, rather than seeing decades of development progress reversed by environmental shifts.
This order affects federal agencies involved in international development assistance and the countries receiving U.S. aid. It requires government agencies to build climate resilience into their planning, strategies, and funding decisions for overseas programs and facilities. The United States also committed to promoting similar approaches in multilateral organizations where it participates.
The executive action matters because it aims to protect the long-term effectiveness of U.S. development investments abroad. By anticipating climate impacts upfront, the government seeks to avoid situations where aid projects fail or require repeated rebuilding due to environmental changes. The order frames this approach as improving decision-making, managing risks better, and helping partner countries incorporate climate considerations into their own development planning.
AI-generated summary for educational purposes
Constitutional Analysis
How this action fits (or doesn't) within Article II authority and existing law
Executive Order 13677 ("Executive Order 13677-Climate-Resilient International Development") directs energy or environmental policy. The President's stated rationale: "clean energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable land-use and forestry practices, as well as partnerships with more than two dozen countries to formulate and implement sustainable low-emissions development strategies." Executive orders in this domain typically direct agencies like the EPA, Department of Energy, and Interior Department on how to implement existing environmental statutes — the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and energy-related laws.
The constitutional question depends on whether the order directs implementation within statutory bounds (acceptable) or attempts to rewrite regulatory schemes in ways Congress did not authorize (overreaching). Both Democratic and Republican administrations have used executive orders to shift environmental policy, and courts have struck down orders that exceed agency statutory authority or ignore required rulemaking procedures.
Official Summary
Administration of Barack Obama, 2014 Executive Order 13677—Climate-Resilient International Development September 23, 2014 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to safeguard security and economic growth, protect the sustainability and long-term durability of U.S. development work in vulnerable countries, and promote sound decisionmaking and risk management, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1 . Policy . The world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the most dangerous consequences of climate change. Even with increased efforts to curb these emissions, we must prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The adverse impacts of climate change, including sea-level rise, increases in temperatures, more frequent extreme precipitation and heat events, more severe droughts, and increased wildfire activity, along with other impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, such as ocean acidification, threaten to roll back decades of progress in reducing poverty and improving economic growth in vulnerable countries, compromise the effectiveness and resilience of U.S. development assistance, degrade security, and risk intranational and international conflict over resources. Executive Order 1