Energy

An Introduction to Energy Subsidies Presentation Slides, March 2023

An overview on the varied approaches used to subsidize industries and how the scale of support flowing to fossil fuels and other environmentally harmful activities undermines efforts to decarbonize the economy and protect global biodiversity. The slides highlight how at present subsidies to fossil fuel greatly exceed carbon revenues from taxes and permits, and environmentally harmful subsidies overall greatly exceed EHS reduction targets agreed to under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Release the Guidance: Backgrounder on U.S. International Energy Finance ahead of COP27 Deadline to Stop Funding Fossils

From 2010 to 2021, the United States’ major trade and development finance institutions, the U.S. Export Import Bank (EXIM) and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), provided almost five
times as much support to fossil fuels as to renewables – USD 51.6 billion compared to USD 10.9 billion.

The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2022

As with earlier reports, The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2022 (WNISR2022) provides a comprehensive overview of global nuclear power plant data, including information on age, operation, production, and construction of reactors. But due to the unprecedented situation in Ukraine, WNISR2022 includes a dedicated chapter that assesses the specific challenges and risks of Nuclear Power and War.

Protecting Nature by Reforming Environmentally Harmful Subsidies: The Role of Business

Industry-specific reviews of government subsidies have been much more common than analyses examining several natural resource sectors at once. Yet there is a great deal of overlap across sectors. Indeed, it is the combination of support provided by multiple levels of government and government programs, across numerous natural resource areas, that can accelerate resource depletion, pollution, or habitat loss in particular regions.

Fossil-Fuel Subsidies Must End: Despite claims to the contrary, eliminating them would have a significant effect in addressing the climate crisis

When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, ending $400 billion of annual subsidies to the fossil-fuel industry worldwide seems like a no-brainer. For the past decade, world leaders have been resolving and reaffirming the need to phase them out.

Adding Fuel to the Fire: Export Credit Agencies and Fossil Fuel Finance

Export credit agencies are little-known government-backed financial institutions that provide loans, guarantees, and insurance with the aim of supporting exports of goods or services from their country to outside markets. This report from Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth U.S. shows that since the Paris Agreement was made, G20 countries have used their export credit agencies to provide nearly 12 times more finance to fossil fuels than to clean energy. 

Why fossil fuel producer subsidies matter

This article in Nature explains how subsidies affect fossil fuel investment and why they deserve greater attention in global modelling analyses.

It responds to a 2018 study in Nature that used the results of integrated assessment models to infer that eliminating subsidies would yield “limited emission reductions…except in energy-exporting regions”, and described the emission reduction benefits as “small”.