Export-Import Bank Board Adopts Revised Environmental Guidelines to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
December 12, 2013
(Ex-Im Bank)
Washington, DC — The board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United
States (Ex-Im Bank) today adopted revisions to its environmental procedures and
guidelines governing high-carbon intensity projects, aligning the Bank with
President Obama’s goal of reducing carbon pollution, while maintaining the
Bank’s focus on continuing to help create and support American export-related
jobs.
“No one has been more supportive of U.S. exports and the American jobs they
produce and maintain than this Bank and this board. Since 2009, we have
supported nearly 1.2 million jobs.” said Fred P. Hochberg, Ex-Im chairman and
president. “We can’t do it, however, without considering the environmental costs
associated with transactions.”
The revised guidelines adopted today require carbon capture and storage in most
countries in order to secure Bank financing for coal-fired power plants, but
would provide flexibility for the Bank with respect to the important energy
needs of the poorest countries in the world.
The policy revisions were drafted by Ex-Im Bank staff and reviewed extensively
by exporters, the public, leading environmental groups, the Administration and
other federal agencies through an extensive and transparent vetting process.
“The Bank engages in an important balancing act — in supporting our exporters,
we have to weigh the potential impacts on the environment associated with our
financing,” Hochberg said. “This balancing act is a Congressional mandate, is a
directive in our Charter, is part of our mission and it is something we at the
Bank take seriously.
Hochberg noted that: “Our proposed guidelines would balance the Bank’s
obligations to its many different stakeholders and also its efforts to support
the growth of export-related U.S. jobs.”
“Without guidelines or limits, ever-increasing numbers of new coal plants
worldwide will just continue to emit more carbon pollution into the air we
breathe,” said Hochberg. “But America cannot do this alone. I strongly support
the Administration’s efforts to build an international consensus such that other
nations follow our lead in restricting financing of new coal-fired power
plants.”
Ex-Im has been a leader among the world’s export credit agencies (ECAs) in
adopting measures to protect the environment while financing exports.
In 1995 the Bank was the first ECA to adopt environmental procedures and
guidelines governing its export financing.
In 1999 the Bank began tracking and publicly reporting projected carbon
emissions produced by projects it financed. Even today Ex-Im is the only ECA
that tracks and reports carbon emissions.
In 2009 the Bank approved a formal carbon policy, and in 2010 it approved
supplemental guidelines for high-carbon intensity projects.
The guideline revisions approved today are not designed to impact mining
projects or coal exports produced by American coal miners. Ex-Im staff have
worked with other agencies to ensure that the flexibility of these guidelines
would be consistent with those of other federal agencies.
In addition to approving the revisions to its environmental guidelines, the
board today approved seven transactions that together will support more than
11,200 U.S. export-related jobs.
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