Global Trade Review, London, 22 November 2023) Premiums for trade credit insurance hit US$13.9bn in 2022, a small proportion [0.19%] of the US$7tn in insured shipments where trade credit insurance could have been used, the International Credit Insurance and Surety Association (ICISA) says. Only 13.2% of covered shipments worldwide were protected by trade credit insurance, with the private sector providing more than two-thirds of the cover [vs one-third from official OECD ECAs which supposedly monitor the environmental and ethical elements of international trade?], ICISA says. It estimates world trade to have totalled US$100.6tn last year. In a report released last month, global reinsurer Swiss Re says it expects trade credit insurance premiums to grow to US$14.8bn in 2024 [i.e. .015% of the value of goods traded] despite a slowdown in global trade, which it puts down to rate increases.
ECAWatch Newsletter 11
Joint letter from 125 international CSOs to global leaders at COP28 calling for transformative public finance for a globally just energy transition
(ECA-Watch, 1 December 2023) As climate disasters intensify and as more people than ever are forced to choose between heating and eating, or transport and shelter, we called on the leaders of our governments and public finance institutions to work together at COP28 to end the fossil fuel era and build in its place a 100% renewable economy that works for everyone. There is no shortage of public money available to do this, it is just poorly distributed, flowing to fossil fuels and the super-rich instead of shared priorities. Some ECAs and insurers have dialled back their involvement in traditional energy sector projects in recent years, but renewable energy still only accounts for about 5% of total new longer-tenor commitments. Such support is less than the US$12bn provided to the natural resources industry – which includes the exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons – and the US$18bn supplied to traditional energy projects. This is because a handful of Global North governments and corporations hold outsized control over global monetary, trade, tax, and debt rules as well as our international financial institutions (IFIs). At COP28, public finance finds itself at a crossroads. IFIs and the Global North governments who largely control them must stop their over reliance on the private sector as the vehicle to fund climate solutions — an approach that has consistently under delivered and often caused great harm. We urgently need public finance policy, priorities, and governance to push instead towards a 1.5C-aligned just energy transition rooted in collective wellbeing and global and local equity. To do this, we will need to transform public finance institutions to be equitable, democratic, rights-upholding, feminist, sustainable, and transparent. We will also need to write new financial architecture rules that will ensure Global North governments and corporations pay their fair share for the crises we face, and also prioritize channeling finance for a just transition though institutions which are democratically accountable to Global South countries and peoples. We have enough money to have a full, fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phase out and build a fair and 100% renewable economy in its place, what is lacking is political courage. For the sake of people and planet, COP28 must mark a turning point in your approach to public finance. Organizations wishing to add their support for this call may add their signatures to the letter after release through this link
Offshore wind firm secures £370 million government-backing to expand UK business
(Insider, Glascow, 16 November 2023) UK Export Finance (UKEF) has issued a loan guarantee so that Seaway7 can access a £370m funding package under its Export Development Guarantee so that the offshore wind company can invest in its UK operations. The guarantee covers 80% of the total loan, which has been coordinated by HSBC, with Citibank, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, DNB and ING as mandated lead arrangers. UKEF’s backing is expected to help the firm win and service engineering, procurement construction and installation contracts for fixed offshore wind projects which will generate UK export revenue. Zero offshore wind projects were secured by the UK Government in the country’s latest clean power auction early today – dealing “a major blow” to Scotland and the UK’s renewable energy ambitions.
EU, UK, and Canada move to phase out fossil fuel finance at OECD
(Price of Oil, Washington, 8 November 2023) This week in Paris, some of the world’s wealthiest countries met at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) headquarters to discuss how Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) – the world’s largest public financiers for fossil fuels – can be aligned with climate goals. The UK, Canada and the EU put forward proposals to extend coal restrictions to oil and gas. The United States – a key influencer in the OECD process – did not take position on the proposal yet, despite President Biden’s multiple promises at the G7 and at the 2021 COP26 UN climate talks to end public finance for fossil fuels. Japan and South Korea, two of the world’s biggest financiers of international fossil fuel projects, also failed to come out in support of the proposal, despite both countries signing of the Paris climate agreement and Japan’s G7 commitment to end its international public finance for fossil fuels.
Small nuclear reactor, funded by JBIC, is cancelled
(Friends of the Earth Japan, 13 November 2023) NuScale Power, a U.S.-based company, has announced the cancellation of its plan to build a small nuclear reactor in Idaho, U.S. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), had invested in NuScale in April last year, together with JGC Holdings Corp. and IHI Corporation. JBIC’s investment in NuScale was $110 million. At the time of JBIC’s investment, we pointed out that even under their new guise of “small modular reactors,” SMRs are no different from conventional nuclear power plants in that they have problems such as radioactive contamination over their life cycle, nuclear waste, accident risk, and the risk of becoming targets of terrorism and war. We also pointed out that SMRs, which are touted for their economic efficiency, actually increase the cost per unit of electricity generated, and argued that investors should not invest in high-risk SMRs.
Rethinking Technology Transfer to Support the Climate Agenda
(SDG/IISD, Winnipeg, 8 November 2023) 2022 was a milestone in global power energy markets. For the first time, total investment in renewable power generation and related products matched or slightly exceeded investment in fossil fuel production. By some estimates, global investment in clean energy could reach USD 1.7 trillion in 2023, led by solar, wind, and electric vehicles (EVs). But the projected growth in low-carbon technologies remains concentrated in a handful of countries or regions – mainly those with the size and fiscal space to promote the green industrial policies that are re-shaping global trade in low-carbon technologies. Overall investment in renewable energy in the majority of emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) remains low. We need to ensure trade finance plays a bigger role in renewable energy trade. Although estimates vary, roughly 85 national export credit agencies (ECAs) together provide over USD 200 billion, most by offering export credit guarantees, insurance, hedging, and other instruments that together leverage as much as USD 1.5 trillion. The OECD Common Approaches, first adopted a decade ago and revised in 2021, are now lagging behind widening targets and practices, and need to be updated to align with the Paris Agreement.
EDC uses environmental review directives on less than 1% of transactions
(Globe & Mail, Toronto, 3 November 2023) Canada’s export financing agency applies its own flagship environmental and social review process in less than 1% of the transactions it supports, the Auditor-General of Canada’s office has found. An audit report released to Parliament Thursday determined that of nearly 7,800 loans EDC supported between May, 2019, and March, 2023, just 33 (or 0.4%) were reviewed under EDC’s Environmental and Social Review Directive. The report recommended that EDC apply the directive more broadly and warned that when it does not, it’s at elevated risk of financing projects that increase greenhouse gas emissions, harm biodiversity and violate human rights, and operating at cross-purposes to the federal government’s own commitments.
Russian export credit claims soar
(Global Trade Review, London, 7 September 2023) The export credit insurance market saw claims jump by more than 700% in Russia last year, as the industry grappled with the fallout of the Ukraine crisis and western sanctions, Berne Union research shows. Short-term export credit claims involving obligors in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region increased by US$229mn from a year earlier, the union’s State of the Industry report for 2022 finds. Payouts in Europe also rose by US$118mn year-on-year as businesses felt the indirect impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion, which disrupted supply chains for critical inputs and drove up commodities prices. The data reveals how export credit agencies (ECAs) and trade credit insurers were stung by the Ukraine war, despite efforts to swiftly cut cover for Russian firms in the early weeks of the crisis due to financial and reputational risks. The analysis by the Berne Union, a global association representing ECAs and private insurers, shows new short-term export credit business in Russia and CIS fell from US$34bn to US$16bn – by more than 70% – as insurers pulled back. Arrears – or overdue payments by borrowers in the medium to long-term segment – rose by 11% or nearly US$8bn. On a brighter note for the industry, overall claims paid out by ECAs and insurers on their policies fell to US$7.7bn – a decline of about US$1bn – following a 33% drop in claims in the transportation sector, the data shows.
Spillover effects of the Ukraine crisis: political risk insurance in times of brinkmanship
(Berne Union, London, 7 September 2023) A Berne Union report investigates how political risk insurance can be approached amid the ongoing effects of the pandemic, geopolitics and the evolving Russia/Ukraine crisis. The search for new, diversified suppliers of strategic materials to support the energy and technological transition may result in fresh investment flows for countries with both limited stability and little capacity in order to handle the amount of investment and operations required. Apart from China and Russia, several of the sovereigns that are likely to emerge as incremental suppliers were rated B or lower, even before the current crisis, and/or possess a country risk category that could make the cost of financing excessive or further complicate their fiscal position in the short- to medium-term.
World’s largest car theft and the Swedish ECA
(The Times of India, Delhi, 9 November 2023) According to the Swedish Export Credit Agency, the interest and unpaid penalties on 1,000 Volvo cars, have racked up a breathtaking USD 322 million still owed. The 1974 order for the batch of 1000 Volvo 144 sedans to be used as taxis was given by Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung. Later, the Swedish government paid Volvo in full from public funds but is still waiting to retrieve the money from North Korea. The batch of vehicles, a significant component of a 1974 agreement, is now at the centre of what is considered to be the ‘biggest car heist’ in history.
