Alignment of US EXIM with US climate and development policy objectives

(Oxfam America, Boston, 16 October 2023) This 51 page study assesses the alignment of the United States Export-Import Bank (EXIM) — the official export credit agency (ECA) of the US — with the country’s climate and development policy objectives derived from relevant Executive Orders (EOs), acts, guidance, and strategic policy documents. Export credit agencies (ECAs) like the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) are government-backed private or public agencies with a mandate to promote national exports through loans, guarantees, and insurance to domestic companies or foreign buyers. EXIM exerts great leverage by reducing the risk of private investments and, consequently, supports the expansion of specific industry sectors such as aircraft, manufacturing, and oil and gas. In developing countries, ECAs often finance large-scale energy infrastructure projects with significant lifetimes that disproportionately benefit carbon-intensive industries, increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (OECD n.d.). In fact, ECAs are the largest category of public finance institutions (PFIs) supporting fossil fuel investments. Between 2019 and 2021, G20 ECAs facilitated transactions amounting to $34 billion per year for fossil fuels, over 90 percent of which were for oil and gas. The share of clean energy transactions in ECA portfolios was considerably lower, with only $4.7 billion per year over the same period.