Resources

This report brings to light the Government of India’s spending on fuel subsidies.

This report, produced by IISD-GSI provides input to the Nordic Council of Ministers by identifying options and opportunities for increased Nordic cooperation on the phasing out of fossil-fuel subsidies in developing countries. The research explores existing Nordic cooperation efforts in the fields of energy, climate change and extractives, outlines Nordic development trends and priorities, proposes partner countries, identifies potential areas of cooperation, and presents four recommendations for future action. Savings enable governments to manage deficits—they can be redirected at building sustainable energy networks or targeted at social spending.

This report from the Global Subsidies Initiative of IISD was launched in conjunction with the Asia Europe Foundation, at a conference exploring the financing of future Sustainable Development Goals (September 29–30, 2014).

The Chinese government has responded to the challenge of increasing energy consumption and environmental pollution with ambitious targets for renewable energy generation; 15 per cent of primary energy is to be generated from renewable sources by 2015. This report discusses the trends in renewable energy investment, the role of public finance in the renewable energy industry, the impact of renewable energy subsidies and the international experience of raising revenues from carbon pricing mechanisms to promote renewable energy.

On June 2, 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released proposed regulations for regulating greenhouse gas emissions from electric utility generating units in the country. In the wake of its announcement, the EPA has been emphasizing that its proposed electricity rules will reduce emissions from the country’s most significant source of emissions—power plants. Conversely, the messaging from the Government of Canada has been that Canada took similar action on coal-fired plants in 2012, and that the percentage drop in emissions from those plants is likely to be proportionately greater than those proposed by Washington.

Phase out subsidies for fossil-fuels and agricultural inputs, and incentives for urban sprawl, to drive more efficient use of resources and release public funds for other uses, including programmes to benefit those on low incomes.

This five minute video investigates the issues for civil society organizations from fossil-fuel subsidies and their reform.

This discussion paper looks at fossil-fuel pricing and subsidies in the political, social and economic context of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The most recent draft of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an outcome from Rio+20 and The Future We Want, now includes international cooperation and potentially financial support towards cleaner fossil-fuel technologies; however, the draft goals no longer recognise the need to phase-out inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies, which stood at $554 billion in 2012 (IEA, 2013). That is four times the level of aid from the OECD DAC in 2013 ($134 billion). This is a step backwards.

This paper explores the link between fossil-fuel subsidies and gender in India. It focuses on the likely gender impacts of reform across cooking, lighting, pumping and transport fuels. Research finds subsidies have provided little benefit to the rural population and to the poor, especially to two thirds of people who rely on biomass for cooking.