PLEA Network

7 September 2023, Climate Home News: Rich countries sink billions into oil and gas despite Cop26 pledge. The United States, Italy and Germany are among rich countries providing billions of dollars of public subsidies to fossil fuel projects abroad this year despite promises to end this support.  Export credit and development agencies from six developed nations have approved $4.4 billion in funding for oil and gas projects overseas since the start of 2023, research from campaigning group Oil Change International shows. More than half of the total financing has been provided by the United States ($1.5 billion) and Italy ($1.2 billion), followed by Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Claire O’Manique from Oil Change International said the countries are “going rogue by backtracking on their commitment to end international public finance for fossil fuels”.  “Public money that should be going to support a just transition to renewable energy is instead being pumped into more climate-wrecking fossil fuel projects”, she added. One pledge, many interpretations. Twenty countries signed up to the Glasgow Statement at Cop26 pledging to end new direct public finance for overseas fossil fuel projects by the end of 2022. However, the signatories have interpreted the promise in different ways. The Glasgow pledge allowed exceptions in “limited and clearly defined circumstances that are consistent with a 1.5C warming limit”. The International Energy Agency warned last year that investment in new coal, oil and gas production was incompatible with limiting global warming to 1.5C. Read more here