Export finance industry could boost governments’ sustainability goals

The export finance industry is being under-utilised when it comes to governments’ attempts to meet their Paris Agreement commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals. More closely integrating the activities of ECAs into governmental initiatives would boost efforts to address global commitments, such as the SDGs or maintaining global warming at well below 1.5°C.

This is one of the key conclusions reached in the new ICC White Paper on Sustainability in Export Finance, which both highlights the progress made to date but also lays bare the scale of the challenges ahead. It calls for a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to the official financing toolkit, incorporating everything from domestic financing schemes and bilateral DFIs to ECA financing. Such an approach would unlock greater possibilities for the government given the work ECAs are doing in the sustainable field - for example supporting the construction of affordable housing in low-income countries - and facilitate better collaboration between government arms which are already working with the same customers, countries, and sectors.

You can read more about the report’s conclusions here; and download the whole report here.