(Friends of the Earth, Washington, 21 November 2024) Today at the conclusion of the OECD Export Credit Group negotiations, participating nations failed to reach an agreement on fossil fuel finance, despite scientists’ repeated calls for urgent climate action. While no formal conclusion has been announced from the talks, the United States appears to have failed to secure an agreement. The proposal has already been championed by the European Union, UK, Canada, Norway and most recently, Australia. It would have potentially restricted financing for the entire fossil fuel value chain. Up to $40 billion per year could be shifted away from fossil fuels to renewable energy projects. This would have paved the way for the agreement to be presented as part of a climate finance package at COP29. Unlike the Paris Agreement, it would have been difficult for the Trump Administration to remove itself from just one piece of the arrangement.
Norway
ECAs support €1.08 billion green loans for Cadeler
(The Asset, Hong Kong, 3 January 2024) Oslo-listed offshore wind turbine installation company Cadeler has raised €1.075 billion (US$1.19 billion) via two syndicated green financing facilities with backing from export credit agencies (ECAs). The revolving facilities will be used to refinance Cadeler and Eneti’s existing debt, as well as finance merger-related costs. Ancillary lines have been set up to support the project-related letter of credit (LC) needs of the company, and term facilities will finance the upgrade of cranes on two of Cadeler’s O-Class offshore installation vessels. The financing for the crane upgrades has ECA backing from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (Eifo). A facility amounting to €425 million, which is backed by the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure), will be used to finance the acquisition of two new X-Class wind turbine installation vessels currently under construction in China.
Norway joins 40-signatory partnership to end international public finance for fossil fuels
(Oil Change International, Washington, 2 December 2023) Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced today that Norway has joined the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP, sometimes called the Glasgow Statement) at the UN COP28 climate summit in Dubai. Boost for CETP which now boasts 40 signatories (including US, Canada, and many EU countries), shifting billions per year out of fossil fuels to clean energy. Norway – as a major oil & gas producing nation – boosts the initiative by joining, building momentum at the OECD level to create new rules to end international fossil finance across the OECD. This move from Norway bolsters an international campaign to adopt new rules at the OECD (the group of the world’s wealthiest countries) to end export finance support for fossil fuels. OECD countries supported fossil fuel exports by an average of USD 41 billion from 2018 to 2020, almost five times more than clean energy exports. The EU, Canada, and UK have tabled a proposal to end this finance. Having signed onto the CETP, Norway is now expected to deliver on the CETP’s commitment to “driving multilateral commitments in international bodies” by aligning with the UK, EU, and Canada in the push for oil and gas restrictions at the OECD.
Norway’s Eksfin accused of ‘climate hypocrisy’ for financing Turkish gas field
(Enviro News, Lagos, 9 June 2023) The Norwegian government has been accused of climate hypocrisy after it emerged that the government export credit agency, Eksfin, has approved finance for the Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea. The Sakarya gas field project, owned by Turkish Petroleum, a Turkish state-owned enterprise, is considered to contain “the largest gas reserves discovered in the Turkish Exclusive Economic Zone as well as in the Black Sea.” The field is set to continue production “until the field reaches its economic limit in 2057.” Norway has previously been criticised for being the last country in north-west Europe to not sign the Glasgow Statement, an agreement at the COP26 climate conference that commits signatories to end government-backed finance for international fossil fuel projects. Previous analysis of the Sakarya gas field by Oil Change International shows that the project will emit at least 140 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in its first phase. Norway’s annual emissions of 48.9 million tonnes (as of 2022) mean this project will emit nearly three times the annual emissions of the entire country. Campaigners are accusing the Norwegian government of inconsistency and hypocrisy. While Norway is a major donor to aid projects that help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change, it is also financing fossil fuel projects that make climate change worse.
Export Credit Norway (ECN) covers 85% of Hungarian missile system purchase
(Daily News, Budapest, 22 April 2023) Hungary buys high-tech Norwegian missile system A 21st-century high-tech Norwegian missile system, NASAMS, Hungary is getting from Kongsberg, Norway’s premier supplier of defence and aerospace-related systems, will reinforce the country’s air defence from this year, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said in Kongsberg. The NASAMS system is expected to be inaugurated in Hungary in August, the ministry said. Hungary signed the contract on the NASAMS system in November 2020. In March 2021, the country signed a financing agreement with Export Credit Norway (ECN) and the Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency (GIEK) that will cover 85 percent of the 410 million euros cost of the NASAMS. The NASAMS, used widely among NATO members, will replace Hungary’s more than 40-year-old Soviet missile system, MTI wrote.
Norwegian ECA to provide €400m in guarantees and loans toward €1.6bn Arctic battery gigafactory
(Global Construction, London, 1 July 2022) Norwegian battery-maker Freyr expects the plant to be one of the biggest and most efficient in Europe, with 50% lower capital spending per GWh of capacity and more than 200% higher production per employee than conventional lithium-ion facilities. The Giga Arctic project, which will be Freyr’s first, was announced on Wednesday by Jan Christian Vestre, Norway’s minister for trade and industry.
Norwegian ECA supports North Pole cruising in style
(AME Info, Dubai, 7 November 2021) A Swedish aviation company, OceanSky Cruises, announced that it will start cruises to the North Pole aboard luxury airships starting from 2024. The aviation industry made up 2.5% of the total CO2 emissions in 2018 alone, or double the amounts since the mid-1980s. Now, a Swedish aviation company, OceanSky Cruises, announced it will start cruises to the North Pole aboard luxury airships starting from 2024. Norwegian export credit agency Eksfin is playing a major role in accelerating the ‘green shift’ at sea, providing loan guarantees approaching €1 billion ($1.16 bn) for the construction of 35 eco-friendly vessels over the last four years, including ‘Le Commandant Charcot’.
New Norwegian ECA, Eksfin, begins operations
(ShipInsight, Oslo, 2 July 2021) Oslo-headquartered Export Finance Norway (Eksfin.no), the result of a merger between former government agencies GIEK and Export Credit Norway, has opened its doors and is fully operational from 1 July 2021. The merger of the two predecessor agencies forms part of a larger redesign by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries of the government apparatus around export promotion and export credit financing to make the system easier to navigate for end users.
Hungarian Armed Forces Get EUR 349 Million ECA support
Hungary Today, Budapest, 17 March 2021) Norway is providing Hungary with 348.5 million euros of financing with a view to strengthening Hungary’s combat defence capabilities through Export Credit Norway (ECN) and the Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency (GIEK), the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. The credit is tied to the 410 million euro NASAMS contract concluded by Hungary and Norwegian supplier Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace AS last November.
Norwegian Air secures court protection over €4.1bn debts
(Irish Times, Dublin, 7 December 2020) Norwegian Air Shuttle secured a crucial lifeline on Monday when the High Court granted the embattled carrier and five Irish subsidiaries protection from creditors. Norwegian owes creditors, mainly aircraft lessors and banks, more than $5 billion (€4.1 billion) in total, while it faces running out of cash early next year. Its 140 aircraft are held by companies based in Ireland. US aircraft lessor Aviation Capital Group recently got a judgement in the English High Court for $6.3 million for rent due on Boeing 737s. The Export Import Bank of the United States, which has given export credit guarantees to Boeing, is owed $46 million, while the carrier’s potential liability could run into the hundreds of millions, tied to ten 737s and three 787s.
