The US Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank has adopted what it claims is the first comprehensive carbon policy for an export credit agency (ECA) and has set up a $250 million facility to back renewables exports. However, environmental NGOs said the policy lacks ambition – and merely reflects a legal settlement Ex-Im agreed earlier in the year.
The policy offers scant details, but promises to increase its support and add incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Ex-Im Bank also promises to “explore ways to further improve its transparency in the tracking and reporting of CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions from projects it supports”.
The US ECA has also promised to lobby the OECD for financing incentives aimed at low-carbon projects, a common methodology for taking account of the social cost of carbon in the projects ECAs support and disincentives for fossil fuel projects.
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