US joins vow to block flow of tax funds to fossil fuel projects abroad

The United States was among 20 countries that announced an agreement to end funding for fossil fuel development abroad at the COP26 climate conference on Thursday.

In an agreement announced on Thursday, nations like Great Britain, Switzerland and Italy announced that they would end any new public financial support for the fossil fuel sector by the end of 2022. The agreement makes an exception for “limited and well-defined circumstances that are consistent”. with a warming limit of 1.5 ° C and the goals of the Paris Agreement.

“[I]Investing in undiminished fossil fuel projects increasingly poses both social and economic risks, particularly in the form of stranded assets, and has a resulting negative impact on government revenues, local employment, taxpayers, electricity payers and public health, ”the announcement said.

The parties “will encourage other governments, their official export credit agencies and public financial institutions to implement similar commitments in COP27 and beyond,” the statement said.

Several African and island nations have also signed on as conference attendees have warned that these regions are at the forefront of the crisis and require immediate action. Mali, Fiji, Ethiopia and the Marshall Islands have acceded to the agreement.

Several major emitters are not listed as signatories to the agreement, including China, the world’s largest emitter, India as the third largest emitter, and Russia as the fourth largest emitter. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced earlier this year that Beijing would end international support for new coal projects.

US officials, including climate ambassadors John kerryJohn KerryEquilibrium / Sustainability – Presented by Delta – Louisiana Governor Visits Giant Wood Incineration Plant Least Developed Countries Urge Big Emitters to Step Up Biden Rallies To Reduce Methane Emissions MORE, have repeatedly stressed the need for India and China to work together to achieve meaningful emissions reductions. Indian and Chinese leaders, meanwhile, have pointed to their relatively recent industrialization compared to Western powers like Britain and the US

In the USA, President BidenJoe Biden Democrats pressed the panic button after the collapse of Virginia ordered a temporary hiatus in re-leasing oil and gas on public land in January. A federal court ordered the summer hiatus to end and the Home Office resumed the lease sale despite the government appealing the decision.

The announcement differs from another agreement announced at COP26, in which 18 countries announced that they would no longer invest in coal projects at home or abroad. The contracting parties have undertaken to end coal-fired power generation by the 2030s in the case of large economies and by the 2040s in the case of developing countries.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/580016-us-19-other-nations-vow-to-block-flow-of-tax-funds-to-international