The United Kingdom must prove that it’s serious about phasing out fossil fuel use world-wide, not just on its own territory, by cutting off financing for fossil imports by developing countries, former United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon asserts in an opinion piece for The Guardian.
The country has made important progress decarbonizing its own economy, Ban acknowledges. And as a permanent member of the UN security council and one of the G20 countries, “it is well placed to further a progressive climate agenda and influence other states to fully implement commitments made under the Paris agreement”.
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But that has to include extending its policies to UK Export Finance (UKEF)’s backing for fossil fuel trade with developing countries.
“It is deeply concerning to note that over the period 2010-2014, UKEF provided more than 99.4% of its energy finance to fossil fuels, and less than 1% to renewable energy,” Ban notes. “Over the longer time frame of 2010-16, it is estimated that UKEF provided £4.8 billion of support for fossil fuel projects. The UK’s total spend on its International Climate Fund for a similar period, 2011-17, was £4.9 billion.”
He adds that “these figures and policies are hard to reconcile with the UK’s commitments under the Paris agreement, its membership of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, and its own pledge in 2013 to end support for public financing of new coal-fired power plants overseas. They are also at odds with the view of the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, who warned in 2014 of the stranded asset risk inherent in fossil fuel projects.”
But now, the UK has a “crucial opportunity” to “prove it is serious about phasing out the use of fossil fuels worldwide, and not only on its own territory,” with a parliamentary audit committee looking into UKEF’s fossil financing.
Last year, UK Prime Minister Theresa May declared that “we can be proud of our success in facing up to the reality of climate change, but we are not complacent about the action needed to sustain that success in the future.” Ban responds that “the best way for any country to avoid climate complacency is to develop robust, holistic, and people-centred policies across government, so short-term trade or financial priorities do not trump the wider imperative of cutting global emissions.” At a time of “growing consensus that fossil fuels should not be funded in any way by export finance organizations”, he encourages the UK to “recalibrate its export finance policy so it is fully consistent with international climate trends and obligations.”
