This study and its corresponding policy brief assess the alignment of United States Export-Import Bank (EXIM)—the official export credit agency (ECA) of the US—with the country’s climate and development policy objectives derived from relevant Executive Orders (EOs), acts, guidance, and strategic policy documents. ECAs are government- backed financial institutions that typically promote trade abroad and support the competitiveness of national companies overseas. As public finance institutions, they bear the political mandates and international commitments of their respective governments, including those under international treaties such as the Paris Agreement and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Agenda.

This study examines EXIM against the framework of policy coherence for sustainable development that promotes the principle of a whole-of-government coordination. The methodology for this study includes desk-based research and interviews to further corroborate key findings. Interviewees included representatives from EXIM, the US Treasury, and the US Congress, as well as civil society actors such as Friends of the Earth US and the Sierra Club. The report is further complemented by information collected during the US EXIM Bank 2022 Annual Conference.

The corresponding policy brief explores the role of EXIM for US climate and development policy and proposes recommendations for the reform of EXIM to ensure its alignment with these US policy objectives.

Previously, Perspectives Climate Research has developed a tailor-made methodology to assess and compare ECAs and their governments regarding alignment with the Paris Agreement and applied it to major G20 country ECAs including US EXIM.  The detailed assessment of US EXIM is available here.