Which Countries Fulfilled the Promise Made in Glasgow to Stop Financing Fossil Fuels – The Answer Will Surprise You

When developed countries signed the joint statement to stop financing fossil fuels by the end of 2022 and give priority to renewable energy sources at last year’s COP 26 conference in Glasgow, hardly anyone believed that they will truly do so. That they were right is shown by a new survey, which reveals that, of the 34 states that signed the statement, along with 5 finance institutions, only a few have truly done so.

In order to do what they promised, the countries needed to transfer USD 28 billion from the financing of fossil fuels to the budgets for clean energy. Of the countries that signed the agreement, 18 belong to rich countries whose budget for the public financing of fossil fuel projects amounts to an average of USD 28 billion a year, whereas the RES budget is USD 18 billion.

Only some of the signees, among which are the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Great Britain, have announced that they will exclude fossil fuels from their international financing, as shown by the joint report of the American organization Oil Change International and the Canadian International Institute for Sustainable Development and the British Tearfund.

They analyzed the publicly available data of the 18 developed countries that had signed the statement in Glasgow and the EIB. The analysis encompassed the data on the exporting credit agencies and development finance institutions.

Canada first on the bad list

The promise has been partially fulfilled by Denmark, France, Sweden and the Netherlands, in the domain of development finance institutions, but not exporting credit agencies.

The other countries did not meet the promise. First on the bad list is Canada, which secured the biggest public financing for fossil fuels, with USD 11 billion a year, mostly for oil and gas. The vice-champion on this infamous list is the biggest emitter among the developed nations, the USA, with USD 3.1 billion, followed by Italy and Germany, with USD 2.8 billion, and Spain, with USD 2.4 billion of public financing in the field of fossil fuels. Last month, G7 leaders, including the USA, Germany and Italy, stated that liquefied gas could be a temporary solution for the oil crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

The biggest Asian polluters, such as China, India and Japan, did not even formally join the agreement in Glasgow. The only Asian country to sign the statement is Sri Lanka, but that was before the energy crisis which affected the economy of this island country, leading to the resignation of the entire administration.

– In order to stop the international financing of fossil fuels, it is very important for countries such as China and Korea to sign the Glasgow statement – the report says.

These are the countries that are some of the biggest financiers of fossil fuels: Korea USD 10.6 billion and China USD 7.3 billion.

M. D.

European Investment Bank

Oil Change International

International Institute for Sustainable Development

Tearfund

Glasgow conference

COP 26

fossil fuels

renewable energy sources

exporting credit agencies

development financial institutions

energy crisis