Reposted from theenergycollective:
In case you missed it, the tectonic plates just shifted in the world of international financial institution (IFI) energy lending. Just weeks after President Obama announced an end to US taxpayer support for overseas coal plants, two of the world’s largest IFIs, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB), followed suit. Now the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering coal restrictions of its own. Once final, these restrictions will reinforce a message that is growing louder every day – coal has no place in the 21st century clean energy economy.
Before we get to what’s going on at the EBRD, let’s summarize the policies that have been put in place over the past month at the IFIs. They’ve helped set the tone for the EBRD and will likely be incorporated in whatever policy is ultimately adopted. Remember these institutions have collectively provided $37.5 billion to the coal industry since 1994 so they’re pretty important. Here goes.
First, as a part of his climate plan, President Obama has outlined a ban (with rare exceptions) on U.S. public financing of overseas coal plants. The president wasted no time implementing this policy with the US Export Import Bank (the most heavily impacted and fossil fuel friendly US agency) rejecting a new1,200 MW coal plant in Vietnam just weeks later. This was a huge decision given the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank funding has supported over $7 billion in coal finance over the past few years. Days later, the US Trade and Development Agency shelved plans for a controversial new coal plant in the Ukraine. Those two decisions reinforced the fact that the US is serious when it says it’s closed for overseas coal business.
Read more at thenergycollective
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