How Export Credit Agencies contribute to climate change and humanitarian disaster

This report, written by Friends of the Earth groups and Mozambican partners, looks into the economic model that enables corporations and governments to violate human rights and the climate with impunity.

It specifically looks into the financial support provided by Export Credit Agencies (ECA) which cover the financial risks of companies operating abroad by using public funds. It’s more than likely that the gas projects in Mozambique wouldn’t have materialised without this funding.

The grounds on which the ECAs in countries like the Netherlands, France, Italy, the UK and the US, have approved their support are incompatible with the Paris Agreement as well as national and international agreements on responsible governance.

Crisis in Mozambique, crisis worldwide

The report also underlines the urgent need for laws to hold companies accountable for human rights violations and environmental and climate harms. The EU’s recent draft proposal for a due diligence law needs to be strengthened to obligate companies to cease activities that are not in line with the Paris Agreement and to ensure that people whose rights are violated can take corporations to court in the EU.

Read the full report, including a detailed list with recommendations in three key areas:

  • Recommendations related to the LNG projects in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
  • Policy recommendations to prevent and end harmful fossil fuel projects worldwide
  • Recommendations for corporate accountability legislation.

This report was first published by: Friends of the Earth Europe and Justiça Ambiental (Friends of the Earth Mozambique). It was developed in collaboration with Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Friends of the Earth US, Les Amis de la Terre (Friends of the Earth France), Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) and ReCommon (Italy).