The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is the U.S. government’s development finance institution, offering private capital and financing for a wide range of investments, including extractive industries, agriculture, manufacturing, and infrastructure, to assist business development in emerging markets. The Clark Group supported OPIC with updating their Environmental and Social Policy Statement (ESPS), which represents the agency’s commitment to environmental sustainability and social justice in evaluating projects seeking OPIC support and monitoring ongoing projects. 

OPIC has a diverse group of external stakeholders including international non-profits and businesses, who are extremely passionate about specific issues related to their ESPS, such as agency commitments to reducing GHGs, increasing public transparency around projects and providing more information on climate and energy impacts. Our team worked with OPIC to consider additions to their ESPS such as including sector-specific guidance and an assessment of natural gas projects’ environmental and social impacts. To assist in updating the policy, we also facilitated agency and stakeholder groups to gather input and supported OPIC with stakeholder comment synthesis and analysis which was used for agency decision making in regard to the future direction of the ESPS.