Italy’s SACE breaks climate promise with $500 million guarantee for Peru oil refinery

(Price of Oil, Washington, 11 July 2023) Italy’s export credit agency SACE has approved a $500 million guarantee in loans for the Talara oil refinery in Peru, once again breaking their commitment to end their international public finance for fossil fuels by the end of 2022. SACE is the biggest public financier of fossil fuels in Europe. Between 2016 and 2021, SACE supported EUR 13.7 billion in fossil fuels. A study by Oil Change International last year revealed that SACE is considering financing for international fossil fuel projects with emissions equivalent to more than 3 times Italy’s entire annual emissions. At the UN COP26 climate summit in 2021, 39 countries and financial institutions, including Italy, signed the Glasgow Statement, committing signatories to end their direct international public financing for fossil fuels by the end of 2022. Oil Change International’s Public Finance for Energy Database shows that G20 countries and the major multilateral development banks (MDBs) provided at least USD 63 billion per year in international public finance for oil, gas, and coal projects between 2018 and 2020. This is 2.5 more than their support for renewable energy.