Publication

This paper examines how the international community balances its goals for responding to climate change with increasing global access to energy services. To do this, the authors look at how the international community's aspirations manifest in the investment rules for various international finance institutions, focusing on the US government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). They argue that trade-offs between emissions reductions (or limiting emissions growth) and increasing energy access are inevitable, given the present state of energy systems. They conclude with what they see as “win-win” proposals that would exempt the poorest and least emitting countries from certain restrictions on public finance.