U.S. President Joe Biden is at risk of breaking a major climate promise to end international public finance for fossil fuels, with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) considering a USD 500 million guarantee to support the import of U.S. LNG in Poland. The transaction could be approved as early as DFC’s board meeting next week on June 7.
Just last month, the U.S. Export-Import Bank approved almost USD 100 million for the controversial Balikpapan oil refinery in Indonesia, the first known violation of Biden’s promise to end public finance for international fossil fuel projects by the end of 2022. While most of its peers — including Canada, the United Kingdom, and France — have published policies to uphold this commitment, the United States has refused to make its policy public.
Adding to this lack of transparency, the pending finance transaction was initially posted on DFC’s pending project list on May 23 [1]; as of May 30, it had been removed. The “public information summary” remains live, and DFC could still approve the transaction as soon as its upcoming board meeting next week.
In response to the proposed transaction, Collin Rees, United States Program Manager at Oil Change International, said:
“President Biden has cited his promise to end international public funding for fossil fuels as a sign of his ongoing commitment to climate leadership, even as he boosts fossil fuels and breaks many of his core climate promises at home. The Development Finance Corporation approving this dirty project would show once and for all these claims are nothing but empty words.
“Biden’s refusal to publish public guidance upholding the international fossil fuel pledge is enabling DFC to keep funding dirty fossil fuel expansion. In removing this massive handout to the U.S. LNG industry from its pending project list, DFC is following Biden’s lead and keeping ongoing fossil fuel support hidden from the public eye.
“If approved, this $500 million climate-wrecking handout would further threaten the air, land, and water of frontline communities in the United States and in Poland, making a mockery of Biden’s purported commitment to environmental justice. It would also prolong Europe’s fossil-fueled energy crisis. A rapid buildout of 100% renewable energy is the only pathway to global energy security.”
