This act,  among other things, required the administration to (1) prepare and at least  every 3 years revise and submit to the Congress a national global change  research plan, including an estimate of federal funding for global change  research activities to be conducted under the plan; (2) in each annual  budget submission to the Congress, identify the items in each agency’s  budget that are elements of the United States Global Change Research  Program (USGCRP), an interagency long-term climate change science  research program; and (3) report annually on climate change  “expenditures required” for the USGCRP. The Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) is a multiagency  technology research and development coordinating structure similar to  CCSP. Reported Federal Climate Change Funding Increased for Three of the Four Funding Categories, but Data May Not Be Comparable Over Time

Federal climate change funding, as reported by OMB, increased from $2.35  billion in 1993 to $5.09 billion in 2004 (116 percent), or from $3.28 billion to  $5.09 billion (55 percent) after adjusting for inflation. Funding also  increased for technology, science, and international assistance between  1993 and 2004, as shown in table 1. However, changes in reporting  methods have limited the comparability of funding data over time;  therefore it is unclear whether funding increased as much as reported by  OMB. According to OMB officials, these changes in report structure and content  for technology funding, as well as similar changes in science and  international assistance funding, were the result of time constraints and  other factors. Second, OMB reported that it expanded the definitions of some accounts  to include more activities but did not specify how the definitions were  changed. Science funding by agency, as presented by OMB and CCSP from 1993  through 1997, differed in many cases, with the exception of funding for the  National Science Foundation (NSF), which was nearly identical over that  time period. From 1998 through 2004, OMB and CCSP data on funding by agency were  nearly identical. International assistance funding reported by OMB was generally  comparable over time, although some new accounts were added without  explanation. OMB officials said that they consistently reported proposed tax  expenditures where a key purpose was specifically to reduce greenhouse  gas emissions. Reported Funding for Most Agencies Increased, but Unexplained Changes in Report Content Limit the Comparability of Data Over Time

OMB reported that 12 of the 14 agencies that received funding for climate  change programs in 2004 received more funding in that year than they had  in 1993. However, it is unclear whether funding changed as much as  reported by OMB because unexplained modifications in the reports’  contents limit the comparability of agencies’ funding data. Adjusted for inflation, such funding increased from  $1.34 billion to $2.52 billion, for an increase of $1.18 billion (88 percent). The funding increases for these two  agencies accounted for 81 percent of the reported total increase in federal  climate change funding from 1993 through 2004. Table 5 shows OMB’s reports on  climate change funding by agency for selected years. Unexplained changes in the content of OMB reports make it difficult to  determine whether funding changed as much as was reported by OMB. Because agency funding totals are composed of individual accounts, the  changes in the reports’ contents discussed earlier, such as the unexplained  addition of accounts to the technology category, limit the comparability of  agencies’ funding data over time.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Congress has required annual reports on federal climate change spending. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports funding for: technology (to reduce greenhouse gas emissions), science (to better understand the climate), international assistance (to help developing countries), and tax expenditures (to encourage emissions reduction). The Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which coordinates many agencies' activities, also reports on science funding. This testimony is based on GAO's August 2005 report Climate Change: Federal Reports on Climate Change Should Be Clearer and More Complete (GAO-05-461). GAO examined federal climate change funding for 1993 through 2004, including (1) how total funding and funding by category changed and whether funding data are comparable over time and (2) how funding by individual agencies changed and whether funding data are comparable over time.

What GAO Found

According to OMB, from 1993 to 2004, federal funding for climate change increased from $3.3 billion to $5.1 billion (55 percent) after adjusting for inflation. During this period, reported inflation-adjusted funding increased for technology and science, but decreased for international assistance. However, it is unclear whether funding changed as much as reported because changes in the format and content of OMB and CCSP reports make it difficult to compare funding data over time. For example, over time, OMB expanded the definitions of some accounts to include more activities, but did not specify how it changed the definitions. OMB officials stated that it is not required to follow a consistent reporting format from year to year. Further, CCSP's science funding reports were difficult to compare over time because CCSP introduced new methods for categorizing funding without explaining how they related to previous methods. The Director of CCSP said that its reports changed as the program evolved. These and other limitations make it difficult to determine actual changes in climate change funding. Similarly, OMB reported that 12 of the 14 agencies that funded climate change programs in 2004 increased such funding between 1993 and 2004, but unexplained changes in the reports' contents limit the comparability of data on funding by agency. For example, reported funding for the Department of Energy (DOE), the agency with the most reported climate-related funding in 2004, increased from $1.34 billion to $2.52 billion (88 percent) after adjusting for inflation. DOE and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration accounted for 81 percent of the reported increase in funding from 1993 through 2004. However, because agency funding totals are composed of individual accounts, changes in the reports' contents, such as the unexplained addition of accounts to the technology category, make it difficult to compare agencies' funding data over time and, therefore, to determine if this is a real or a definitional increase. Furthermore, GAO found that OMB reported funding for certain agencies in some years but not in others, without explanation. OMB told GAO that it relied on agency budget offices to submit accurate data. These data and reporting limitations make determining agencies' actual levels of climate change funding difficult.