Supporting Environmentally Beneficial U.S. Exports
EXIM financing supports renewable and other environmentally beneficial U.S. exports as required by its Charter. EXIM's environmental export program empowers exporters to compete on a level playing field and realize sales opportunities around the world.
EXIM fills the financing gap to support competitive financing for U.S. exports while maintaining environmental responsibility. EXIM is committed to transparency throughout the process of assessing, monitoring, and reporting environmental impacts of pending applications and authorized transactions. EXIM works with its customers and stakeholders to balance its mission of supporting U.S. jobs through exports with environmental considerations.
Environmental and Social Due Diligence Procedures and Guidelines
As required by Congress in 1992, EXIM was the first export credit agency (ECA) to adopt environmental procedures and guidelines to assess the environmental impacts of projects seeking EXIM financing. In 2013, EXIM's Board of Directors approved the current version of the Bank's Environmental and Social Due Diligence Procedures and Guidelines.
OECD
After finalizing guidelines, EXIM entered into negotiations with other ECAs at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to develop common environmental guidelines. Referred to as the Common Approaches for Officially Supported Export Credits and Environmental and Social Due Diligence, these environmental guidelines have been adopted by all OECD ECAs. In accordance with the Common Approaches, EXIM reports on pending applications and approved Category A and Category B transactions.
Equator Principles
EXIM has adopted the Equator Principles (link is external), a globally recognized benchmark used by over 130 financial institutions and ECAs to determine, assess, and manage the social and environmental risks of international project financing. By complying with the Equator Principles, EXIM collaborates with commercial banks to streamline its environmental reviews.
Information Access
EXIM's Environmental and Social Project Information and Concerns web page provides customers and stakeholders the opportunity to request or submit information and feedback regarding the environmental and social impacts of a specific project. Dedicated EXIM staff carefully review all correspondence and ensure appropriate follow-up measures are taken. EXIM also maintains a registry of project-specific complaints.
Transparency and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Since 1999, EXIM has reported the expected annual level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to be produced by pending and approved projects. In 2009, EXIM adopted a carbon policy that committed it to work toward increasing renewable and energy efficiency exports and to explore transparency improvements in tracking and reporting greenhouse gases. EXIM also reports CO2 emission data for Category A and B projects in the Bank's annual reports, as applicable for projects where CO2 equivalent emissions are expected to exceed more than 25,000 tons per year.
Make More in America Initiative
Certain transactions approved under the Make More in America (MMIA) Initiative are subject to environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and possibly other statutes. A list of transactions approved under this initiative is here.
Interested parties may request a copy of publicly disclosable environmental and social documents for a transaction, or provide pertinent information to EXIM on environmental and social issues related to a project, through the Bank's Environmental and Social Project Information and Concerns page. EXIM maintains a Public Registry of received complaints and concerns.