Fossil fuel finance

The burning of fossil fuels is by far the largest contributor to climate change, accounting for 89 percent of global CO₂emissions in 2018. Coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels, and the single largest cause of the global temperature rise. 

Oil and gas also release large amounts of carbon when burned, and therefore have a significant impact on climate change. 

Data from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC), the World Energy Council, and oil industry databases show that the potential emissions from the oil, gas, and coal yet to be extracted from the world’s operational mines and fields would take us beyond 2 °C of global warming. If this happens, it will have a devastating impact on the livelihood for millions of people globally.

The UN IPCC has therefore made clear that all untouched fossils must stay in the ground and all state subsidies for extraction and export must be stopped if the Paris climate goals are to be achieved.

Despite this, several countries continue to subsidise fossil fuels through their national export credit agencies, overseas development institutions and state-owned companies. While several states and institutions have made partial commitments to suspending finance flowing into high carbon-emitting activities, there is still a way to go before all parties agree on a Paris-aligned decarbonisation pathway that will put a stop to fossil fuel finance. 

We work to ensure that states, multilateral development banks, export credit agencies and special development funds move towards adopting climate and energy policies that promote the transition of energy away from fossil fuel.