Resources

This policy brief analyzes the current policy environment governing kerosene and off-grid solar use. It sets out a suite of detailed policy interventions that can be implemented to achieve a systemic transition from kerosene to solar for lighting in rural India.

The boom and eventual bust of resource-dependent regions has played out across the world many times over the last 50 years. As extractive industries go into decline due to resource exhaustion, competition from elsewhere or changing consumption of energy, demands are made for subsidies to revive the industry and maintain jobs. Concurrently, policy-makers, realizing that the decline of a resource extraction industry will cause social and economic hardship, begin the search for new industries to replace lost jobs and maintain economic development.

Electricity generation remains a key issue for Indonesian policy-makers. Millions of households are still without access to electricity, and large investments are needed to supply reliable power for households and industries across the country.

This policy brief analyzes Indonesia’s mechanisms for adjusting domestic fuel prices in response to fluctuating world prices, consistent with existing efforts to reform diesel and gasoline prices. It also offers some insights regarding the ongoing LPG pricing reform process.

This report reviews the decline of coal mining in South Wales in the United Kingdom.

On Thursday, 11 May 2017, the event, ‘Scaling Up Green Energy Finance: Swapping Fossil Fuel Subsidies for Sustainable Energy Solutions, was presented by the IISD Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI), the Government of Denmark, the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) and the Friends of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform (FFFSR) in Bonn.

Removal of consumer subsidies can lead to carbon emission reductions (6 to 8 per cent by 2050 globally), Reductions that can be improved further with a switch or a "SWAP" towards sustainable energy. This report describes the scale and impact of fossil fuel subsidies on sustainable development. It describes the SWAP concept to switch savings made from fossil fuel subsidy reform, towards sustainable energy, energy efficiency and safety nets. The report provides potential SWAP outlines for Bangladesh, Indonesia, Morocco and Zambia. "Making the Switch" was written for the Nordic Council Ministers by the Global Subsidies Initiative of IISD and Gaia Consulting.

The combined impact of fossil fuel subsidy reform (FFSR) and an increase in gasoline and diesel fuel taxation could do three things: save and raise money for governments; reduce emissions; and provide upfront and ongoing domestic resources to fund sustainable development and the sustainable energy transition.

This working paper explains how different production subsidies currently unlock “zombie energy” from fossil fuel deposits that would not be commercially viable to produce without government support.

This World Bank book, edited by by Gabriela Inchauste and David G. Victor, brings together detailed chapters on the political economy of subsidy reform in four countries—the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Indonesia and Jordan —and draws overall lessons from their experiences. IISD's Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) contributed Chapter 4, "Indonesia: Pricing Reforms, Social Assistance and the Importance of Perceptions," on Indonesia's experiences with overcoming political obstacles to gasoline and diesel subsidy reforms. The chapter begins by reviewing the economic, fiscal and political context surrounding these subsidies. It then places them in their historical context, outlining the history surrounding their creation as well as the six major reform attempts since the 1997—98 Asian Financial Crisis.