U.K. Pushes for Deal to End Foreign Fossil-Fuel Finance

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. is trying to corral at least 18 countries to agree to stop funding of foreign fossil fuel projects by the end of next year, according to people familiar with the situation.

The details -- and any possible exemptions -- are still being thrashed out in talks on the sidelines of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland. A one-page joint statement could be unveiled Thursday, the people said.

The planned statement builds on similar promises this year from the U.K., European Union and the U.S. as well as earlier pledges to stop financing overseas coal projects. While not binding, it would mark a further tightening of the flow of money to fossil fuel projects from publicly backed development banks.

G-20 countries provided an average of $63 billion per year in international public finance for oil, gas and coal projects from 2018 to 2020 -- about 2.5 times more than they provided for renewable energy ventures during the same time frame, according to an analysis by Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth.

The U.K. government declined to comment.

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