This legal opinion, commissioned by Oil Change International, for the first time lays out the international law obligations of Export credit agencies (ECAs) that are responsible for tens of billions of dollars per year in support for fossil fuels.
The main conclusion: ECAs – and the governments that oversee them – could be in violation of their international legal obligations if they do not take action to reduce their financing of fossil fuel-related activities imminently.
The legal opinion considers the international law framework that applies to ECAs which act on behalf of States or are regulated by them when operating as separate entities. Drawing primarily on customary international law, as well as on human rights, climate change agreements and OECD instruments, it concludes: