Export credit and investment insurance agencies (ECAs) play a critical role in international trade and finance in developing countries, and thus have a great impact on sustainable development. They hold the largest fraction of developing country debt, yet they are largely managed behind closed doors, and most documents and data regarding ECA-funded projects are not publicly available. Generally, ECAs do not abide by environmental and social standards even remotely close to internationally accepted minimum standards. Involved in a host of environmentally and socially harmful projects in the past, they will continue to pose a threat to sustainable development unless such minimal common binding environmental and social standards are adopted.
