Voting for Green? U.S. Support for Environmental Projects in the Multilateral Development Banks

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-30-2018

Publication Title

Journal of Environment and Development

First page number:

1

Last page number:

26

Abstract

This article examines the drivers of American support for environmental projects in the multilateral development banks (MDBs). We first describe how U.S. Executive Directors are guided by Congressional directives regarding environmental aspects of MDB projects. The article then turns to statistical analysis of the strategic and normative drivers of U.S. positions on MDB projects. Our analysis finds mixed support for environmental factors driving U.S. votes. The United States is more inclined to vote against “dirty” projects (i.e., mining, coal, and oil) rather than specifically support “green” projects (i.e., projects related toward climate change or biodiversity). The overall environmental performance of a country had a minor influence on whether the United States would support proposals from that country, but the United States was much more likely to disapprove of a project if a project failed to undergo an environmental analysis or failed the analysis in anyway.

Keywords

Multilateral development banks; Environment; Development; U.S. foreign policy; U.S. Congress; Voting

Disciplines

Political Science

Language

English

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