Washington (December 8, 2023) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, along with Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), sent a letter to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan urging the Biden administration to meet its Glasgow Statement pledge by publicly releasing concrete plans and more information on how the United States will end all public financing support of unabated fossil fuel projects overseas, a step Senator Markey and his colleagues initially called for last December. As the second week of COP28 begins, the Administration has not publicly released any plans for how it will achieve those climate targets, undermining transparency and limiting accountability of how taxpayer dollars are spent. 

In 2021, the United States became one of the 34 countries and five multilateral development banks to join the Glasgow Statement by pledging to end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector within a year of signing the Statement. However, this year alone, the United States has contributed more than $1.8 billion in direct financing for fossil fuel projects abroad, using public funding. Additionally, in the two years since the US joined the Glasgow Statement, the U.S. voted to support nearly $400 million in financing for gas-fired power plants at World Banks, which will annually produce more than six million tons of carbon emissions. In their letter, the senators argued that, because of the ongoing fossil fuel financing activities and the resulting disconnect with the nation’s public pledges, the Administration should provide an updated and more detailed explanation of how climate financial targets are being met.  

The senators wrote, “We appreciate the U.S. focus on equitable international climate assistance, and we hope to protect taxpayer funding from fueling the climate crisis or increasing global instability. In order to transparently meet our Glasgow Statement pledge, and particularly as the United States plays a significant role in multilateral development banks, we must ensure we are displaying clear leadership both within our public financing institutions and through our participation in international financial institutions.” 

Given the Administration’s longstanding commitment to climate finance, environmental justice, and transparency of public funding, the senators requested answers to questions by January 19, 2024, including: 

1. Before the close of COP28, will the Administration commit to publicly release its plan, or at least the interim guidance, developed to meet the pledges outlined in the Glasgow Statement? 
2. Which departments and agencies are included in the Administration’s commitment to end public international financing of unabated fossil fuel projects, as outlined in the Glasgow Statement? 
3. In your May 2023 response, you noted that interim guidance defined unabated fossil fuel investments as projects that would lead to additional greenhouse gas emissions above a threshold lifecycle emissions intensity of 250 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour.  
   1. How was the lifecycle emissions intensity value chosen? 
   2. What types of projects are permitted under this threshold?  

In December 2022, Senators Markey, Warren, Sanders, and Merkley sent a letter to President Joe Biden, requesting information about any exceptions the United States will recognize to its Glasgow Statement commitments, a list of U.S. agencies covered by the pledge, and how the Administration will work with other international financial institutions to end public financing of fossil fuel projects abroad. In May 2021, Senator Markey and Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)?led?their?colleagues in a bicameral?letter?to President Biden encouraging him to end U.S.?public financing support for fossil fuel projects overseas within 90 days.