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OECD members failed to reach a deal to restrict export credit support for oil and gas in their latest round of talks, environmental campaigners say, making an agreement unlikely before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

Oil Change International says in a December 20 statement that countries in the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits have not agreed on an EU proposal to heavily restrict support for fossil fuels, following weeks of negotiations that began in November. Friends of the Earth US also told GTR that a deal is unlikely.

Instead, the NGOs suggest, the Arrangement participants are likely to now focus on measures that would boost transparency on their support for fossil fuels. Some export credit agencies (ECAs) have already ended financing for oil and gas, or are in the process of doing so, and a ban on unabated coal has been part of the OECD Arrangement since 2021.

Spokespeople for the European Commission and the OECD separately told GTR that negotiations are ongoing but declined to comment further.

Unnamed US officials cited by Bloomberg said the chances of a deal are now remote.

The talks over the last month were seen as a last-ditch attempt to strike a deal before Trump, who supports expanding fossil fuel production and has played down the potential impacts of climate change, takes office.

“Even at this late stage, countries shouldn’t give up – this is their last chance to get around the table and lock in a landmark deal to end export finance for fossil fuels before Trump takes office,” says Oil Change International campaign strategist Adam McGibbon.

“We cannot afford another penny for fossil fuel expansion if we want to preserve a liveable planet. Transparency measures are not good enough.”

The next round of formal Arrangement talks is scheduled for March, but it is unclear if fossil fuel restrictions will be on the agenda.

Earlier this year, the EU proposed a reform to the OECD rules so that “officially supported export credits and tied aid may not be granted for the fossil fuel energy sector except in limited and clearly defined circumstances” in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.

ECA support for fossil fuels is typically provided by financial guarantees or direct lending to help exporters secure supply contracts for large production projects, often in developing countries. Some ECAs have also provided general financing, not tied to specific export contracts, to large commodity traders that buy and sell hydrocarbons.

Official export credit support for hydrocarbons has slowed in recent years but remained much higher than ECA backing for renewable energy projects at least until 2022, according to Oil Change International data.

ECAs from South Korea, the US and Japan were the biggest G20 backers of hydrocarbons between 2020 and 2022, according to the data.

That trio, alongside the EU, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Canada and Australia make up the OECD Arrangement.