Exportkreditnämnden (EKN), the Swedish National Export Credits Guarantee Board as the official export credit agency (ECA) of Sweden and AB Svensk Exportkredit (SEK) as the government-owned Swedish Export Credit Corporation were assessed with regards to their alignment with the Paris Agreement across five dimensions using the methodology developed by Perspectives Climate Research. Overall, EKN and SEK were rated ‘Paris aligned’ (assessment scores 2.22/3.00 and 2.30/3.00).
Most notably, both EKN and SEK have successfully phased out most fossil fuel energy financing in their portfolio over the past years, in line with Sweden’s commitment to the COP26 Statement on the Clean Energy Transition (CETP) which was implemented via a fossil fuel phase out policy under the Export Finance for Future (E3F) initiative. Moreover, both ECAs have reached virtually 100% of energy-related transactions flowing to renewable energy (RE) since 2021, making Sweden the 4th biggest financier of RE among E3F members between 2015-2022 (E3F, 2023a; EKN, 2024b; SEK, 2024a).
We also recognise Sweden’s key role to create a ‘level-playing field’ in the global export finance system, among others as chair of the European Council Working Party on Export Credits which successfully broadened the possibilities of using financing for green and climate-positive projects within the OECD, aided by Nordic cooperation. EKN and SEK were also both founding members of the Net-Zero Export Credit Agencies Alliance (NZECA), while EKN has been a member of the Berne Union’s Climate Working Group since its inception and leading it since 2023.
However, neither ECAs scored ‘Transformational’ due to the absence of granular reporting on project-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data, of financed (scope 3) emissions (EKN), a clear definition of climate finance as well as the lack of sectoral emissions reduction targets.