Cindy Carr, cindy.carr@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the US Treasury Department issued new guidance for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to invest in clean energy and energy efficiency, to strongly oppose oil and coal projects, and to only support gas projects in extenuating circumstances and only if specific criteria are met. Today’s guidance is the next step from President Biden’s January Executive Order to center the climate crisis in U.S. foreign policy and national security for the first time. The MDBs affected by this guidance include the World Bank, the US Export-Import Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, and more.
In response to President Biden’s executive order requiring these agencies to end their support for “carbon-intensive” energy, nearly 450 groups from around the world, including the Sierra Club, sent a letter to the administration providing recommendations on the scope and timing of these agencies ending these investments.
In response, the Sierra Club’s International Climate and Policy Associate Director Neha Mathew-Shah issued the following statement:
“The Sierra Club thanks President Biden and Secretary Yellen for this long-overdue guidance that will largely prevent US taxpayer dollars from financing short-sighted and dangerous fossil fuel projects overseas. As we have heard and shared with the Treasury Department, communities around the world are paying the price for the continued investment in dirty, outdated fossil fuel projects that are still being financed by the world’s development banks. Enough is enough. Developing countries and communities everywhere deserve to have their voices heard and to have access to the cleanest, safest, and cheapest energy sources available, including wind, solar, and energy efficiency. Today’s guidance is an important step toward ensuring that these communities are no longer forced to pay the price with their health or their wallets for these polluting projects. We urge the US Administration to prioritize a just transition and the needs and asks of the most impacted grassroots communities around the globe as this guidance is implemented.
“As one of the biggest polluters in the world, the United States has a duty to lead in this space and continue to set an example for how every country must restore the right of all people and every community to clean air, clean water, and a sustainable, healthy climate.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.