Via their export credit agencies (ECAs), governments support companies in their business activities by lowering the financial risk. ECAs offer a wide range of guarantees, insurances, loans and credits to private companies. This makes it easier for these companies to gain access to finance, especially from banks. At the international level, ECA guidelines are established at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)... Fossil fuel support from ECAs benefits corporations based in the Global North and impedes the necessary just energy transition in the Global South. Fossil fuel development is concentrated in the Global South, as are the associated harms to local people and their environment. New oil, gas and coal projects lock in fossil fuel dependence for these countries' economies, despite the fact that many of these countries have excellent potential for renewable energy and could therefore skip a fossil fuel based energy system... This is a major achievement...
Also known as: ECA