(Zawya, Dubai, 7 November 2022) Kuwait is planning to spend 13.3 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($44 billion) on oil production, exploration and other projects until 2025, a newspaper in the OPEC producer reported on Monday. The investments are part of a 5-year plan approved in 2021 and envisages total spending of 20.2 billion dinars ($66.6 billion) and borrowing 6 billion dinars ($19.8 billion) by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), which manages the emirate’s hydrocarbon sector, The spending plan takes into account “changes in the global oil and financial markets” the paper said, adding that capital spending accounts for nearly 65 percent of the total expenditure during the plan. Borrowings include nearly 29 percent in bank loans and 21% from export credit agencies in addition to 50 percent through short, medium and long terms bonds, the report noted.
ECAWatch Newsletter 11
Heads of G7 ECAs meet in Toronto
(UK Government, Toronto, 3 November 2022) The leaders of the official export credit agencies from the G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States of America – were hosted by Export Development Canada in Toronto, Canada to discuss a number of pressing geopolitical, economic and sustainability matters impacting exporters and global trade flows. Discussions examined how the G7 ECA Heads are moving their organizations forward on digitalization, climate change, inclusive trade, and how ECAs can serve as strategic accelerators for the growth of small- and medium-sized exporters. The G7 ECA Heads focused on the impacts of the Russia/Ukraine war on global supply chains, energy security, and how ECAs can support their exporters through turbulent times and how they can work together to support Ukraine as it rebuilds. The G7 ECA Heads are unified in their strong desire to heighten their relevance to their nations’ exporters and explored ways to accelerate collective efforts to modernize the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits. Acknowledging the themes expressed in the recent G7 Political Leaders’ Communique, the ECA Heads recognized the need for bold contributions to climate action and discussed alignment of shared climate policy obligations and ongoing efforts to support companies through the global energy transition. The next annual meeting of the ECA Heads will be held in Italy in 2023.
US Exim lags on climate despite Biden’s pledges
(Global Trade Review, London, 2 November 2022) The US Export-Import Bank (US Exim) has become the latest export finance institution to be labelled as unaligned with the Paris Agreement on combatting climate change, despite overall emissions from the projects it backs falling in recent years. US Exim is trailing many of its peers in other developed nations because of its large exposures to the fossil fuel and aviation sectors, has no target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions and is not transparent enough on how it is carrying out US government guidance on phasing out support for fossil fuels, according to a report by German think tank Perspectives Climate Group.
Gas is a false route to Australian energy security
(Yahoo News, Sydney, 1 November 2022) Australia is being urged to change course and end taxpayer-funded investment in fossil fuel projects. Ahead of climate talks in Cairo, campaigners are calling for the Albanese government to join a group of countries that last year pledged to end international public financing of coal, oil and gas development. Australia is one of the largest recipients of international public investment in fossil fuels, according to a report by Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth US. Public finance from Australia’s export credit agency was also heavily in favour of fossil fuels, the report found. Australia is also building what could be the world’s dirtiest offshore LNG project, the Barossa project, with the help of overseas public finance from South Korea and Japan
Korea to become ECA driven battery powerhouse by 2030
(Korea Times, Seoul, 29 November 2022) The government is aiming to make Korea-produced batteries account for at least 40 percent of global market share by 2030, as assisted by the establishment of an intergovernmental alliance to secure key battery materials, fostering a sustainable industrial ecosystem and expansion of tax credits, the trade ministry said Tuesday. The government will form and strengthen alliances with resource-rich countries, including Australia, Canada and Chile. Materials secured from the three countries will be refined there, or in nearby countries with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement. Up to 3 trillion Won in loans and guarantees will be provided over the next five years for industry players investing in refining and smelting projects, as mediated and overseen by Korea Trade Insurance Corp., an export credit agency and Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank), a state-run lender.
CSOs demand reduced OECD ECA support for oil and gas
(Price of Oil, Washington, November 2022) This document signed by 54 international civil society organizations outlines how the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits can align with the Paris Agreement warming target of 1.5°C by placing restrictions on export support for oil and gas projects and associated infrastructure. These restrictions build on the existing prohibition on coal-fired power, which came into effect 1 January 2022 and was preceded by the coal-fired power sector understanding (CFSU).
There’s no time to waste — public capital is a key conduit to a just transition
(Atlantic Council, Washington, 8 November 2022) It is abundantly clear that achieving net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century is necessary to avoid the worst climate outcomes. However, the path to decarbonizing the energy sector is not “one-size-fits-all” between developed and developing markets.Looking at the future energy mix globally, new renewables capacity will dominate with developing countries representing more than half of new capacity investment, driven primarily by China and India. Public capital plays an essential role in accelerating energy infrastructure projects in both developed and developing markets. Governmental organizations such as export credit agencies (ECAs) and development finance institutions (DFIs) provide essential liquidity tools, risk management expertise, and credit support that enables meaningful private sector investment.
UKEF to offer ECA support for most vulnerable climate change countries
(Reuters, London, 8 November 2022) Britain plans to offer new loans to support countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including the option to defer debt repayments in the event of catastrophes, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. The country’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF), will provide such loans to low-income countries and small island developing states. Details of the plans will be given at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The proposals would allow vulnerable countries to defer debt repayments to free up resources to fund disaster relief, the ministry said. Reuters has noted that promises by companies, banks and cities to achieve net-zero emissions often amount to little more than greenwashing according to the UN as it set out proposed new standards to harden net-zero claims. With the world in the midst of the first global energy crisis – triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2022 (WEO) provides indispensable analysis and insights on the implications of this profound and ongoing shock across the globe.
Canada 2nd in the G20 for fossil fuel subsidies
(The Saxon, Salisbury, ? November 2022) Canada continues to heavily subsidize fossil fuels despite its international commitments, according to a report by Oil Change International. The nonprofit estimates that Canada has, on average, given up to US$8.5 billion annually to projects related to this type of energy between 2019 and 2021. Among G20 countries, Canada is the second most publicly funded fossil fuel project. Only Japan spends more, with an annual average of US$10.6 billion. South Korea and China complete the front runners with US$7.3 billion and US$6.7 billion respectively in subsidies to the fossil fuel sector. France, Brazil and Germany lead the G20 in green energy subsidies, with US$2.8 billion, US$2.5 billion and US$2.2 billion, respectively. Canada, meanwhile, spends about US$800 million.
European countries back weakened ECA fossil fuel financing pledge
(Financial Management Magazine, Durham, 4 November 2022) As noted in our October What’s New, ten European countries had agreed to spell out this year how they will limit export finance support for overseas fossil fuel projects. But they shelved a draft pledge to explicitly end it after pushback from Italy. The final statement was weaker than a previous draft seen by Reuters. At the UN COP26 climate summit in November 2021, 39 countries and financial institutions, including the Netherlands, signed the Glasgow Statement on International Public Support for the Clean Energy Transition, committing signatories to end their direct international public financing for fossil fuels by the end of 2022, except in exceptional circumstances, and fully prioritize their public finance for clean energy transition. If all signatories followed through on their pledges with integrity, this could directly shift US$28 billion a year from fossil fuels to clean energy and help shift even larger sums of public and private money away from investments in climate-harming fossil fuels. International and Dutch NGOs now argue that the new policy published by the Dutch Government on restricting finance for fossil fuels has such significant loopholes, that it essentially means the Netherlands has reneged on its promise. The Dutch government said it intends to stop giving companies and banks credit insurance for exports in the fossil fuel sector as of Jan. 1, following through on a pledge made at the COP-26 climate conference in Glasgow. When the pledge was announced in 2021, the Cabinet said it did so knowing it would put Dutch exporters at a competitive disadvantage to exporters in countries that do still offer such insurance and the Finance Ministry said the Netherlands might reconsider the policy if other countries fail to adhere to their COP-26 pledges. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), petroleum and petroleum products made up 9.3% of Dutch exports in 2021, with a trade value of 54.7 billion euros. Around 20 countries including Germany, the United States, Britain and Canada made similar commitments, but only a few including France have so far implemented them into policy. On the other hand, Australia chose not to sign the Glasgow Statement at a public event held at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.
