Merkley, Huffman Announce Legislation to End US International Investment in Fossil Fuels Ahead of COP30

Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA-02) today are reintroducing the Sustainable International Financial Institutions Act of 2025, which would tackle the climate crisis by making sure American taxpayer dollars don't help to finance fossil fuel projects through international financial institutions.

The lawmakers reinvigorated their effort as the global community kicks off the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil. The United States will not be attending this year's conference, the latest move by President Trump to reward the fossil fuel companies that financed his election and are causing our climate crisis.

"The Trump Administration's global climate efforts can be summed up in a phrase: a betrayal of our planet and future," said Merkley. "The world cannot afford new investments in fossil fuels if we want to avoid worsening the climate crisis, an obvious place to start is ending international financial institutions' financing of new fossil gas projects."

"The cost of fossil fuels is way too high - on our pocketbooks, our markets, and our planet. People are dying from accelerating climate catastrophes. Meanwhile, Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, cancelled billions in clean energy projects, and let Big Oil oligarchs run rampant. As we enter COP30, we have a chance to stand up and show the world what we truly stand for: a clean, affordable, secure energy future for everyone," said Huffman. "In order to establish American energy independence, we must invest in cheap, clean energy that people can depend on - not cede the global stage to Big Oil. That's exactly what Senator Merkley and I are proposing with our bill to end American taxpayer funding for dirty fossil infrastructure projects abroad and redirect those investments to local, sustainable development."

Senator Merkley has been a leader in calling for the United States to divest from fossil fuel infrastructure and accelerate the transition to clean energy at home and abroad, including:

• Introducing the Protecting American Households from Rising Energy Costs Act, which would ban the export of crude oil or LNG to our biggest adversaries: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, as well as bring attention to how exporting LNG is causing price instability and rising costs for American households and industries.
• Condemning the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) for its decision to approve a $4.7 billion loan for a liquified fossil gas (also known as LNG) project in Mozambique without properly notifying Congress. Additionally, denouncing EXIM's expansion of oil and gas drilling in Bahrain.
• Fighting back against the Trump Administration's reversal of President Biden's pause on LNG exports and approval of two new LNG export facilities that would harm our environment and exacerbate climate chaos.

Merkley and Huffman's Sustainable International Financial Institutions Act of 2025 would prioritize the shift to clean and renewable energy sources on the international stage by ensuring that the United States uses its voice and vote in international financial institutions to divest from fossil fuel investments.

Specifically, the bill would:

• Require the United States Executive Directors at international financial institutions to use the "voice and vote" of the United States to advance the cause of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including by seeking to channel assistance toward sustainable development; oppose any financial or technical assistance to any country or entity to create new capacity for fossil fuel activity; and support the phasing out of funding for internal combustion engines for passenger vehicles and buses by 2030 in a just and sustainable way.
• Direct the Secretary of the Treasury to reduce the contribution of the United States to an international financial institution in a fiscal year by the amount of any loans or extensions of financial or technical assistance provided by the institution to any country or entity to create new capacity for fossil fuel activity during that fiscal year; deposit in an escrow account the amount by which the contribution of the United States to each international financial institution is reduced in a fiscal year; and release to each international financial institution the amount in the escrow account attributable to contributions that were previously reduced at such time as the Secretary determines and certifies to Congress that the institution has ceased providing financial or technical assistance to any country or entity to create new capacity for fossil fuel activity.
• Require an annual report to Congress from the Secretary of the Treasury on the amount of financing each international financial institution provides in a fiscal year to create new capacity for fossil fuel activity.
• Prohibit United States foreign assistance in support of any fossil fuel activity or related infrastructure project, including through the United States International Development Finance Corporation; the Export-Import Bank of the United States; the United States Trade and Development Agency; the United States Agency for International Development; or the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

The legislation is endorsed by the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth US, and Oil Change International.

"Investments from major financial institutions are driving the climate crisis and environmental injustice worldwide. In order to tackle this crisis, we need to put a stop to business as usual and reinvest in a clean energy economy that works for all of us," said Mahyar Sorour, Director of Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy at the Sierra Club. "We applaud Senator Merkley and Representative Huffman for their leadership in working to cut off the flow of money to dirty and destructive fossil fuels."

"The Sustainable International Financial Institutions Act is a crucial step toward ensuring that U.S. influence in global financial institutions drives real progress on climate. By directing our investments and policies toward clean energy and away from fossil fuels, we can help accelerate the global transition to a sustainable economy while protecting vulnerable communities from the worst impacts of climate change," said Kayla Mohammed, International Policy Campaigner for Friends of the Earth US.

"International financial institutions have spent too long pouring fuel on the flames of the climate crisis. The Sustainable International Financial Institutions Act puts a much needed end to this deadly fossil finance. The International Development Finance Corporation and Export-Import Bank have poured billions of dollars into overseas fossil fuel projects on a yearly basis, threatening global climate goals and falling behind their peer institutions. It's crucial that politicians at all levels end public support for oil, gas, and coal infrastructure, and we thank Sen. Merkley and Rep. Huffman for their bold leadership to end the fossil fuel era," said Collin Rees, United States Campaigns Manager at Oil Change International.

The Sustainable International Financial Institutions Act of 2025 is cosponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Full text of the bill can be found by clicking HERE.

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