Jake Levine on the Biden Administration’s Global Climate Legacy

Jake, after 40 months and 40 trips to more than 30 countries, you've recently wrapped up your time as the Chief Climate Officer of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Remind and update our readers your work advancing the Biden administration's climate goals & agenda.

The work of the US Development Finance Corporation—or by the acronym, DFC—is to advance the US strategic interest in emerging markets and developing economies in partnership with the private sector on the theory of change. By de-risking private sector investment, by crowding in and mobilizing all kinds of investment—from financing to technical assistance to guarantees and insurance—we can advance American values, ranging from environmental, social, and labor standards to the kinds of projects and investment theses themselves, which are designed to address major shared challenges like climate change, healthcare, and digital infrastructure.

That's the work of a small federal agency comprised of roughly seven or 800 hardworking finance officers, attorneys, and environmental social experts who are active in over 100 countries, deploying on the order of about ten billion dollars a year to advance that mission.

In our VXNews interview with you following your federal appointment, you shared that the Biden administration's goal was to implement ‘the most ambitious climate agenda of any major development finance institution in the world.’ Please elaborate on your accomplishments.

I appreciate you reminding me of that because, over time, one has the benefit of contextualizing it and situating it within the broader sweep of what this administration has done.

When President Biden came into office, the United States was ranked around 10th or 11th among countries providing international financing for climate mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable landscapes in developing countries. Finance was a core piece of the Paris Agreement, which says that all countries determine their domestic pathways for climate mitigation. But as part of this social compact, countries in a position to do so would contribute significant financial resources, targeting about $100 billion for emerging markets and developing economies. These economies are both in need of and in support of diversifying their economies and clean energy transitions.

This year, we hit the President's target of $11 billion in bilateral financing for climate mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable landscapes. The United States has jumped to #1 on the list of countries providing climate finance. Of that $11 billion, one small, perhaps unlikely, federal agency stands out—the DFC.

This year, DFC alone has delivered almost $4 billion in lending and investment for climate projects. These range from a $1 million investment in a weather forecasting technology company helping smallholder farmers in East Africa optimize fertilizer and water use, to $500 million deals supporting clean energy supply chains, like solar in India or Turkey, and manufacturing capacity for other clean energy projects worldwide.

DFC has truly risen to the occasion. I feel particularly inspired–as our time in the administration winds down–by the sense that we've only set the foundation. There is so much more work to do to continue to scale and diversify these investments.

Quite an accomplishment. But let's turn to your current role as the Director for Climate and Energy for the National Security Council. Even though it's the waning days of the administration, talk about your responsibilities in that role at the White House.

My role falls into a few areas. One is in the space of climate finance. While we've discussed the Development Finance Corporation, there are other agencies with different tools at their disposal. The Export-Import Bank provides export credit to US companies, helping them create jobs while exporting clean energy technology worldwide. The Trade and Development Agency offers technical assistance and early project development, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation focuses on low-income countries, bringing a cohesive approach to project development and capacity building in government.

When you consider these tools collectively, there's enormous potential to achieve economies of scale within the US government and drive strategic priorities. These might involve supply chain diversification or regional focuses, such as recent efforts to develop a clean energy investment platform for Colombia. Colombia has significant ambitions to drive a clean energy economy and is a strategic partner for the US in managing issues like narcotics and immigration. Optimizing investments across these agencies is a significant part of my work.

Another major focus has been supporting the Ukrainian people and government in their energy security. A core part of Russia's strategy in Ukraine has been its outrageous, illegal targeting of civilian energy infrastructure, aiming to shut down electricity, heat, and the economy to force migration, reduce the tax base, and increase suffering. Over the past months, Russia has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at substations, transformers, and power stations, including critical grid infrastructure tied to nuclear assets.

The US has committed significant funding to Ukraine’s energy security–including everything from repairs—protecting critical assets and bringing in new power generation–to working with  the private sector to de-risk and guarantee investments, and ensuring Ukraine’s innovative private sector continues to bring solutions despite the crisis.

There are many other items we take on, and they arise in various contexts, such as our work in international negotiations. For example, last week, we supported Treasury negotiations at the OECD on fossil fuel financing limits overseas; in parallel, we equipped  the President at the G20 to articulate clean energy industrial partnerships with Brazil, Kenya, and India..

Quite an impressive summary of your work in Washington. Could you now expand on the necessary nexus of US national security, climate mitigation and adaptation, and energy resilience?

I think one of the things this administration has done, if you take a step back and think about the foreign policy doctrine or the domestic economic policy of previous administrations, is to break down silos. Often, these areas have been treated separately, moving in parallel. President Biden has sought to recognize the many intersections between economic security and national security and articulate a foreign policy that highlights the relevance of "geo-economics."

We’re in a world today characterized by what my boss, the National Security Advisor, describes as transnational challenges—climate change being a key one—alongside intense geopolitical competition. The President’s domestic economic strategy, which is starting to bear fruit, identifies the clean energy transition as the most significant opportunity for investment, growth, job creation, and prosperity in a generation. This transition represents tens of trillions of dollars of investment opportunities–for the countries who are strategic enough to seize it. In the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and innovative public finance support for clean energy industries, other countries around the world are eager to replicate this playbook. They, too, seek pathways to sustainable growth while addressing challenges like unsustainable debt and economic vulnerability to external shocks, including climate impacts.

Consider the vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19 in US supply chains and resilience. Now imagine a country with interest rates at 18–19%, limited foreign exchange reserves, and debts rivaling their investments in education and healthcare. These countries have far less capacity to respond to crises, whether it’s a once-in-a-thousand-year cyclone or a once-in-a-century drought that wipes out an annual crop yield.

This is where the nexus of economic security, national security, and climate resilience becomes clear. It underscores the importance of reforms we’re driving domestically and internationally—through institutions like the World Bank and multilateral development banks, and in partnership with global governments—to embed climate security and resilience into their economic strategies.

An obvious question to ask at the end of your tenure in Washington: With the change of administration pending, what's at risk for all the policies and investments that you've just shared?

Let’s start with some of the things that I actually think are not at risk. In many areas, there’s much more agreement on these issues than people realize. Some of that is a branding issue because, on the other side of the aisle, you can elicit an allergic reaction just by saying the word "climate." But when you talk about food security, energy security, the resilience of supply chains, or diversifying economies so they’re not reliant on a single source of goods or products—like many countries are in their relationship with the People's Republic of China—you capture the imaginations of a much broader group.

 For example, all the work this administration has done on critical minerals to secure the supply of materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel needed to build out the clean energy economy of the future is a bipartisan effort. If anything, I’d expect it to ramp up in the next administration, given the dominance China exerts in that industry and their recent export controls on materials like gallium and germanium, which are crucial to various industries.

On energy security, the buildout of reliable, affordable, clean energy will continue, just as it did during the Trump administration in overseas markets. There will certainly be areas of continuity. 

However, we should also be clear-eyed about the areas of divergence. For example, the President-elect has mentioned withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, and we should expect that to happen despite encouragement from the private sector, including leaders like Darren Woods in the energy industry.

In response, we will need to rely on civil society, state and municipal levels, and other governments to keep things moving, much as we did before. Domestically, there are critical regulatory matters that will likely be at risk. I vividly recall working with industry coalitions and the private sector during the last Trump administration to maintain regulatory frameworks around fuel economy and emissions standards for power plants. These policies not only lead to better public health outcomes but they also provide the private sector with the certainty and predictability needed for long-term investments. All of this is on the table to be potentially dismantled, and time will illuminate what happens next.

In closing, how have these four years personally impacted you?

Well, first of all, it’s been the honor of a lifetime to represent the United States in this role. Coming back from so many places around the world, I can remember feeling exhausted, making my way through customs, but feeling at the same time overcome with gratitude for the privilege of getting to come home to the United States. It’s an incredible privilege to be an American citizen with the opportunities and benefits that confers, and to have the chance to make life better for so many people globally who don’t have the resources we take for granted daily. That has left a lasting impression on me.

I also see echoes of what we worked on in California—centered on social justice, economic growth, climate protection, and innovation. These themes continue to animate global discussions, whether in the UNFCCC or in coalitions balancing economic development with climate ambition. Often, those fighting for climate ambition, as noble as that mission is, can lose sight of the daily socioeconomic realities faced by others.

After traveling the world, I’m heartened by how many similar challenges we face and how much we can learn from each other. I leave this role feeling extremely hopeful, even amid uncertainty, knowing we’ve laid a groundwork for economic growth aligned with climate security. I hope I have the chance to keep working on these issues in the future.