Public Energy Financing Overseas
The U.S. government has spent more than $44 billion on fossil fuel projects overseas over the last decade. From fracking projects in Argentina to liquified natural gas development in Mozambique, this finance has not only resulted in pollution and environmental degradation, but displacement, violent conflict and human rights abuses.
Public finance flows through several different types of institutions like multilateral development banks, bilateral development banks, export credit agencies. These are all organizations that collect, invest, and distribute our public funds (aka tax dollars).
As part of our international sustainable finance campaign, we track government-backed institutions that fund energy projects overseas. Our campaign works to end public financing of fossil fuels, to give a voice to affected communities, and to push institutions to responsibly invest public money in renewable energy.
There are legal procedures and processes in place to ensure the U.S. Export-Import Bank does not waste taxpayer dollars on risky projects plagued by violent insurgencies.
Friends of the Earth U.S. and partners marked Ajay Banga’s first year as president of the World Bank Group by exposing the Wall Street ties that are stymieing climate action at the financial institution.
The United States and a handful of other bad actors are blocking a just transition to renewable energy with continued and outsized financial support for fossil fuels.
Fossil fuel financing from those signers is falling drastically, and most signatories have either eliminated or considerably reduced fossil fuel financing.
Americans have made it clear: We want a cleaner future. This means investing in sustainable and efficient renewable energy at home and abroad.
The World Bank Group (WBG) plays a massive role in directing global economic development, and has the potential to support climate mitigation and adaptation by strategically using public funds. Unfortunately, it continues to invest in profitable, polluting companies under the guise of green development. Over the past year, the…
The World Bank Group's mission is to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity on a livable planet.
Serious financial, social, environmental, and climate risks aside, the development of LNG in Mozambique has also been tangled up in a corruption scandal of international scale, and a devastating militarized conflict impacting over a million people.