US Backs Poland Gas Hedging, Drawing Climate Activists’ Ire

  • $500 million guarantee backs Polish energy giant’s gas hedging
  • US has twice committed to halting foreign fossil fuel finance
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The US International Development Finance Corp. pledged up to $500 million to help increase Poland’s natural gas imports — appearing to contravene a Biden administration commitment to halt public finance for foreign fossil-fuel projects.

The bank’s Board of Directors approved a plan to guarantee the payment obligations of state-controlled energy company PKN Orlen SA to Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE for liquefied natural gas hedging activities, according to a notice online. The goal is to “facilitate higher volumes of US LNG imports” by the Eastern European nation, according to a Development Finance Corp. summary of the project.