This project approval comes on the heels of President Biden’s pause on domestic LNG export permit approvals while the administration studies the climate impact of fossil gas exports, which affect global fossil fuel emissions. EXIM is also considering funding a gas project in Guyana and liquefied natural gas in Papua New Guinea, over objections from climate activists.

Friends of the Earth United States and partners sent an open letter to EXIM last month, asking the bank to halt a financing agreement of $400 million to Trafigura, which was approved in July 2023. This letter questions EXIM’s due process in analyzing loan recipients and its method of reconsideration when climate assessments are inadequate, and when financing recipients are charged with corruption.

EXIM has approved many fossil fuel projects since 2020, despite receiving directives from the Biden administration to move toward renewable energy financing. In 2023 the institution funded nearly $1 billion for overseas oil and gas development, violating President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order.

Kate DeAngelis, Senior Program Manager of International Finance for Friends of the Earth, said this:

Time and again the Export-Import Bank proves itself to a be a loose cannon, blatantly disregarding White House climate guidance to funnel hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars toward fossil fuels. EXIM cannot be expected to make good decisions with public financing if it cannot justify the logic of its own decisions or be trusted by its own committees. We call on EXIM Director Reta Jo Lewis to immediately halt all fossil fuel financing.

Contact: Shaye Skiff, Friends of the Earth United States, kskiff@foe.org

The post Export-Import Bank Votes to Proceed with Bahrain Project Financing in Closed-Door Process appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

This week, Friends of the Earth United States and partners sent an open letter to EXIM, asking the bank to halt its payment of $400 million to Trafigura, a financing agreement that was approved in July 2023. This letter questions EXIM’s due process in analyzing funding recipients and its method of reconsideration when corruption is revealed. This comes on the heels of both the United States and Swiss governments launching investigations into the company’s affairs.

Despite this, EXIM last year gave Trafigura the massive financing of $400 million to purchase liquefied natural gas, a decision the groups charge was made based on flawed environmental damage assessments. EXIM is soon expected to approve $660 million for the Gas to Energy Project in Guyana, despite similar concerns from activists. In 2023 the institution funded nearly $1 billion for overseas oil and gas development, violating President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order.

Kate DeAngelis, Senior Program Manager of International Finance for Friends of the Earth, said this:

Companies like Trafigura continue to line their pockets with US taxpayer dollars, thanks to the US Export-Import Bank. EXIM should be embarrassed to be spending public funds on propping up companies who disregard the law and disrupt our planet, yet the institution shows no shame. We call on Chairwoman Reta Jo Lewis to live up to her climate pledges and drop this financing, and to invest in renewable energy projects that are better for people and the planet.

Contact: Shaye Skiff, Friends of the Earth United States, kskiff@foe.org

The post Amid Corruption Charges, Groups Demand EXIM Halt Payments to Trafigura appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

These include:

• Close to $100 million for an oil refinery in Indonesia
• $400 million for Trafigura to aid in US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports
• $240 million for a gas project in Iraq
• $71 million for an oil tank project in the Bahamas

Earlier this month, Friends of the Earth filed a legal complaint through the OECD to launch inquiries into EXIM’s climate rationale for advancing fossil fuels, which increases the climate footprint of the United States. Advocates had the following reactions to the EXIM decision: 

“It’s utterly galling that EXIM would even consider government support for a company owned by a billionaire who fails to employ enough workers to operate safely, destroys the climate, and literally exploded last year — which incidentally caused chaos in global gas markets,” said Jeffrey Jacoby, Deputy Director with Texas Campaign for the Environment.

“LNG exports harm America. Port towns in the Gulf South like Freeport, Texas are being inundated with methane gas projects that harm the ecosystem, displace residents, and deteriorate the quality of life,” said Kari Fulton, Senior Organizing Director with the Center for Oil and Gas Organizing. “Residents at the frontlines of Freeport LNG are pushing our federal government to stop the rush in LNG export authorizations. The Export-Import Bank should take heed and look at the long-term implications of investing in companies that are only here to ride a short-term market wave.” 

“EXIM’s logic in supporting this project is baffling — why would they want to double down on this disastrous project?” said Kate DeAngelis, Senior International Finance Program Manager with Friends of the Earth. “Shortly after EXIM’s first round of support to Freeport LNG, the finance group involved collapsed and the project exploded. Yet EXIM seems willing to fund any fossil fuel project no matter how financially ruinous or harmful to workers, local communities, and the planet.” 

“Two years ago, Joe Biden committed to end all public finance for fossil fuels. Instead, EXIM is doubling down and pouring millions more into an LNG facility that literally exploded last year,” said Collin Rees, United States Program Manager at Oil Change International. “EXIM’s funding for Freeport LNG comes just days after countries agreed at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels, further emphasizing the gap between rhetoric and reality in phasing out oil, gas, and coal. Communities and the climate can’t afford EXIM’s deadly business-as-usual.”

Contacts:
Shaye Skiff, Friends of the Earth US,  kskiff@foe.org
Collin Rees, Oil Change International, collin@priceofoil.org

The post Export-Import Bank Squeezes in Disastrous Freeport LNG Vote Before Close of 2023 appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

• Approving almost $100 million for an oil refinery in Indonesia
• Approving $400 million for Trafigura to aid in US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
• Approving $240 million for a gas project in Iraq.
• Potentially  backing Papua LNG in Papua New Guinea, oil and gas development in Bahrain, and oil and gas development in Guyana.

Last month at Climate Week events in New York, President Biden promised to use the whole of the U.S. government to address climate change, and then created a Climate Corps with the aim of creating new green jobs. In addition, President Biden has repeatedly committed to end overseas fossil fuel financing, both in an executive order in January 2021 and at the UNFCCC COP in Glasgow in December 2021. 

“President Biden cannot claim climate wins while his US Export-Import Bank is propping up a pollutive industry,” said Kate DeAngelis, Senior International Finance Program Manager for Friends of the Earth U.S. “EXIM spent the hottest months in history approving four major fossil fuel projects, demonstrating its disregard for the planet and all living beings. An institution that chooses polluters over people should not be trusted to follow President Biden’s climate commitments. ”

“EXIM bank’s continued support of fossil fuel infrastructure flies in the face of both climate science and the US’s commitments made almost two years ago, to end public finance for fossil fuels,” said Nina Pusic, Export Finance Climate Strategist at Oil Change International. “Ultimately, using American taxpayer dollars to finance oil and gas infrastructure is not only an irresponsible use of public money from a climate perspective, but also risks creating stranded assets, as many regions of the world quickly transition to cleaner energy sources.” 

As the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have made clear, any new oil and gas investment is incompatible with preventing global temperatures from exceeding 1.5ºC.

Communications contact: Shaye Skiff, kskiff@foe.org, 202-222-0723 

The post Export-Import Bank Is Set to Approve Estonia Oil Project appeared first on Friends of the Earth.