President Joe Biden is supporting an effort to restrict international funding for oil and natural gas projects — a move the incoming Trump administration could find difficult to unwind. It’s a notable shift for the president, whose term ends in little more than a month. And if successful, it could free up billions of dollars for clean energy projects and cement Biden’s climate legacy, writes Sara Schonhardt. Biden joined a group of wealthy nations in 2021 to restrict financing for foreign coal-fired power plants. But earlier this year, when the European Union proposed extending that prohibition to most oil and natural gas projects, the U.S. declined to voice its support. Now, Biden is hopping on board by proposing a slightly different plan to achieve a similar end. The United States, along with a handful of other rich countries, is expected to back a so-called emissions threshold that would prevent the U.S. Export-Import Bank, as well as other countries’ export credit agencies, from financing carbon-intensive projects. The countries planned to make the proposal at today’s virtual meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development — a group of 38 nations that collaborate on trade and finance issues — according to three people Sara spoke with who are familiar with the administration’s plans. To pass, the proposal would need consensus approval — and it might be challenging to get support from South Korea, which is in political turmoil after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed bid to establish martial law. If successful, however, the emissions threshold approach could prompt the Ex-Im Bank to stop offering billions of dollars of financing to fossil fuel projects. The independent federal agency has argued that, despite a Biden executive order to end such support, it can not discriminate against specific industries such as oil and gas. “It will have a huge impact and, I think, really leave a strong climate legacy for the Biden administration,” Kate DeAngelis, deputy director of international finance at Friends of the Earth, told Sara. Biden’s support comes amid pressure from climate activists to make good on his 2021 promise to end overseas financing of all heavy-polluting fossil fuel projects. And this is likely the president’s last chance. Preisdent-elect Donald Trump, who says climate science is a “hoax” and has called for increasing oil production, is unlikely to support the move when he takes office in January. But if an agreement is reached before the president-elect takes control, Trump may be forced to comply with the deal or leave the group altogether. The countries are likely to meet again next week to try to reach a final agreement.
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