Overseas oil and gas financing bans may herald sector crisis in emerging markets

Western governments are following the UK’s lead in ending ECA finance for fossil fuels overseas, leaving China as the main source of capital

The UK’s announcement in December that it would end export credit agency (ECA) finance for fossil fuel projects overseas has led to many other states following suit—leaving some of the poorest countries potentially unable to develop resources. The UK was the first government in the world to make such a commitment. But in January 2021 the Biden administration issued a series of executive orders focused on ending US public finance for “carbon intensive” fossil fuels,  including those provided by its ECA, US Exim Bank. During the same week, the EU foreign affairs council agreed to discourage all further investments into fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure projects in third countries and an