Finland joins growing list of countries restricting international oil & gas finance

(Oil Change International, Washington, 12 October 2022) Finland has joined a growing list of countries making good on a key pledge from the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, by releasing a new policy ending almost all support for fossil fuels via Finnvera, the Finnish Government’s export credit agency, leaving Norway the only Nordic country not to do so. Finland joins the UK, France, Denmark, Sweden and Belgium in publishing policies restricting fossil fuel finance to deliver on the COP26 commitment, building momentum ahead of the COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt next month. Countries that have yet to deliver on their promise to end fossil fuel finance include the USA, Canada, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Analysis shows that if all Glasgow Statement signatories live up to their commitment this will directly shift USD 28 billion a year out of fossil fuels and into clean energy, which will help shift even larger sums of public and private finance. This would also help raise pressure on the countries that are lagging behind. Laggards include Japan ($10.9 bn/yr), Korea ($10.6 bn/yr), and China ($7.6 bn/yr), which are the largest providers of international public fossil fuel finance in the G20 and together account for 46% of G20 and MDB finance for fossil fuels. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), one of the biggest EU fossil fuel financiers, is also missing. Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) are the worst public finance actors on fossil fuels, with G20 ECAs having supported 11 times more in fossil fuels (USD 40.1 billion) than in renewable energy (USD 3.5 billion) from 2018-2020, effective leadership in aligning ECAs with climate goals is desperately needed. The E3F Transparency report outlines that from 2015-2020, E3F members supported almost 175 billion Euros in fossil fuels compared to only 20 billion Euros in renewables.