Public export credit agencies have directed twelve times more cumulative financial support toward fossil fuels than toward renewable energy projects by 2021, according to an analysis of global energy finance networks. The investigation found that public fossil fuel investments continue to dominate the global energy portfolios of these public financial institutions. Furthermore, five nations—Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States—account for 84 percent of all public export credit support allocated to fossil fuel initiatives worldwide.
In contrast to the extensive public support channelled into fossil fuel systems, international flows of clean-energy finance from high-income nations to low- and middle-income countries remain severely constrained. The researchers observed that the vast majority of renewable energy investments supported through these mechanisms occur primarily between high-income economies. This geographic imbalance leaves developing nations with limited access to public export credit financing for clean energy infrastructure.
To assess these patterns, researchers Sharon Friel and Nick Frank mapped the topology of global energy investment networks by examining specific lender–recipient ties across international financial transactions. By calculating structural metrics across these financial connections, the authors compared the degree of integration, fragmentation, and overall relational structure distinguishing fossil fuel finance networks from clean-energy investment networks.
Export credit agencies represent some of the most influential public financial institutions operating in global energy investment today. Despite their substantial financial footprint, the research highlights that public finance mechanisms have historically received minimal scrutiny from the global health community regarding their role in the energy transition. Much of the health and climate-related finance research has focused on health-care systems adaptation and emissions reduction, with little attention paid to the role of public finance in the energy transition more broadly.
The authors emphasize that existing energy systems dependent on fossil fuels inflict severe damage on human health, foster unequal resource distribution, and cause widespread environmental destruction as major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Because low- and middle-income nations are projected to account for the majority of global emissions growth over the coming decades, the financial mechanisms supporting energy deployment across these regions directly determine planetary health equity. The authors define planetary health equity as the ability of all populations to equitably enjoy good health within a stable, sustainable Earth system.
The continuation of current export credit practices threatens to deepen global inequities during the energy transition, escalate greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately drive increases in climate-related disease and mortality. To advance planetary health equity, the authors conclude that export credit agencies must immediately end all new financing for fossil fuel projects, expand institutional policies to promote clean energy exports to developing countries, simplify bureaucratic application processes for clean-energy enterprises, and increase their participation in blended finance arrangements. The study also urges public health actors to actively engage with public finance governance to prevent financial decision-making from exacerbating global health disparities.
Subject of Research: Public export credit agency financing patterns across global fossil fuel and renewable energy networks
Article Title: The energy transition and export-credit agencies: problems or solutions for planetary health equity?
Article References: Friel, S., & Frank, N. (2026). The energy transition and export-credit agencies: problems or solutions for planetary health equity?. Globalization and Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-026-01224-w
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1186/s12992-026-01224-w
Keywords: export credit agencies, energy transition, planetary health equity, fossil fuel finance, renewable energy, public finance, climate emissions, network analysis, energy, transition, export-credit, agencies