2023-03-23

IMES researchers Fredric Bauer and Max Åhman have contributed to a new paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Global Environmental Change. The paper maps  the public and private financial flows into large-scale petrochemical projects for the decade 2010–20 and discusses the role of public financial institutions for the development of the industry globally. The findings show how public finance for petrochemicals is highly globalized and to a large degree originates in developed countries. As petrochemical industrial infrastructures are designed to last decades, the public finance thus strongly contributes to the carbon lock-in of the sector and limits the possibilities for low-carbon investments needed to comply with the UN Paris Agreement.

Read the full paper “Finance for fossils – The role of public financing in expanding petrochemicals” here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102657