(Bloomberg) -- Italy has signed on to a deal at the COP26 climate summit to end overseas financing for fossil fuels, according to U.K. Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Hands, reversing its position ahead of a planned announcement.
Italy told the U.K., its co-host at the talks, on Wednesday night they were not signing the pledge, according to two people familiar with the matter. “Italy has signed the deal by the set deadline, and negotiators have been working to meet it,” a spokeswoman for Italy's ecological transition minister, Roberto Cingolani, said on Thursday.
A one-page statement will be unveiled on Thursday in Glasgow.
The pact isn't binding and would still allow limited support for foreign fossil fuel ventures. It excludes some of the biggest funders of fossil-fuel projects including China and Japan and allows for exemptions. But it does mark a further tightening of the flow of money from public development banks to oil, gas and coal.
The countries and four financial institutions signing the statement are set to include Canada, the U.S. and Denmark -- which announced a similar plan on its own on Wednesday. The European Investment Bank is also on board.
The pact applies to new, direct public support for unabated fossil fuel energy projects -- and sets a target date of the end of 2022. It has exceptions in “limited and clearly defined circumstances.”
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
