Sustainable Economic Systems

Sustainable Economic Systems

We aim to create a more environmentally sustainable and socially just world by transforming financial and economic systems. We work to redirect tax policies and public spending to make polluters pay for the costs of their pollution, and to drive the transition to a cleaner, low-carbon economy. At home and abroad, we advocate for policies that minimize environmental and social harm and fund a brighter future. In the United States, we strengthen regulations to encourage sustainability in financial markets and fight trade policies that allow companies to run roughshod over the environment and human rights. We also work with allies around the world to alter lending practices at financial institutions such as the World Bank, the U.S. Export-Import Bank and Wall Street banks that fund polluting activities and harm communities in developing countries.
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Latest News See All
Export-Import Bank Votes to Proceed with Bahrain Project Financing in Closed-Door Process

Today the board of directors at the United States Export-Import Bank voted to notify Congress about potential financing for fossil fuel expansion in Bahrain.

Amid Corruption Charges, Groups Demand EXIM Halt Payments to Trafigura

This week, Friends of the Earth United States and partners sent an open letter to EXIM, asking the bank to halt its loan of $400 million to Trafigura, a loan agreement that was approved in July 2023.

Export-Import Bank Squeezes in Disastrous Freeport LNG Vote Before Close of 2023

This week, the U.S. Export-Import Bank approved $90 million for marketing a Freeport liquified natural gas project in Texas.

Impact Stories See All
Holding Multinational Corporations Accountable
Holding Multinational Corporations Accountable

Getting six major multinationals to stand up and take action is no small thing, but there is still work to be done.

Fighting for Corporate Responsibility
Fighting for Corporate Responsibility

After years of pressure from environmental activists, Proctor & Gamble shareholders took a vital step towards protecting our forests.

Loosening Big Oil’s Stranglehold on Wall Street
Loosening Big Oil’s Stranglehold on Wall Street

Raymond exemplifies the fossil fuel industry’s decades of climate denial. His retreat under pressure from the climate movement in a historic win, showing that fossil oligarchs’ and climate deniers’ stranglehold on Wall Street is waning.

Latest Blog Posts See All
The Climate & Agriculture provisions of the IRA
The Climate & Agriculture provisions of the IRA

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is many things at once. The good and the bad all need to be considered together.

Celebrate the Earth, but don’t believe the corporate hype

Earth Day continues to be a moment when people come together to pick up trash, to learn and teach, and to take a moment to reflect. It is also a day when corporate America loves to broadcast its social responsibility and to spend public relations budgets on ever-increasing forays into…

The hidden flows of finance to fossil fuels: World Bank and IMF edition
The hidden flows of finance to fossil fuels: World Bank and IMF edition

The U.S. government has spent more than $44 billion on fossil fuel projects overseas over the last decade.

Resources See All
  • FOE Japan letter to House Financial Services Committee
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  • EXIM Trafigura Letter
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  • Why the U.S. Export-Import Bank Must End Financing for Fossil Fuels
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