A meeting among some of the world’s wealthiest countries ended last week with no decision on whether to restrict public funding for international oil and gas projects.
The move delays action on a key commitment that green groups say could help shift billions of dollars away from support for fossil fuel development. And much of that delay, they say, owes to the lack of clear support from the United States.
“We haven’t yet seen the U.S. put forward an explicit proposal to limit export financing of all fossil fuels, not just coal … [but] oil and gas as well,” said Jake Schmidt, senior director for international climate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Activists say the U.S. position can make or break an agreement since other countries that are major financiers of fossil fuel projects, such as South Korea and Japan, tend to follow the U.S. lead in negotiations.
