Renewable Energy Subsidies & Fossil Fuel Phase-Out

19 November 2013: An interactive session on 'Reaping Emissions Reductions from Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform: Learning from Success Stories' was organized by Friends of Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform and the IISD Global Subsidies Initiative, on the sidelines of the Warsaw Climate Change Conference.

A group of some of Europe’s largest electric power companies have lashed out at EU renewable energy subsidies, according to a report by Reuters on October 11th. The companies, which account for half of Europe's power-generating capacity, are concerned that renewables are compromising energy security.

Does government support to upstream oil and gas projects benefit local communities in the Arctic? That was the topic of a panel organized by the International Institute for Sustainable Development at the Arctic Energy Summit in Akureyri, Iceland, on October 9th. The panel discussion was led by six speakers: Stewart Wheeler, Canada’s Ambassador to Iceland; Mary Simon, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada; Mikael Anzén, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden & Head of Delegation, Sustainable Development Working Group of the Arctic Council (Mr. Anzén spoke in his personal capacity); Pauline Gerrard, Hudson Bay Inland Sea Initiative, IISD, Canada; Mikhail Babenko, WWF Global Arctic Programme, Russia; and Hjalti Jóhannesson, University of Akureyri Research Centre, Iceland.

China's economy continues to grow rapidly with corresponding increases in both energy consumption and environmental pollution.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) circulated its draft Fifth Assessment Report among peer reviewers last weekend. While the draft revises down the low-end of the range of this century’s projected temperature rise to 2.7°C, most scientists find that greater than 5°C is more likely, given the current trends that could double CO2 concentrations in the coming decades.

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) of the UK House of Commons is investigating the extent of energy subsidies in the UK for nuclear, fossil fuel and renewable energy, and what the Government should be doing to identify and eliminate those subsidies which are—using the UN’s terminology—“harmful”.

Geneva, Switzerland—29 April 2013—The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Energy Charter organized a workshop to discuss how WTO regulation and the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) apply to trade and investment in energy.

BRUSSELS – 4 December – An IISD-led seminar, A Global Perspective on Biofuel Subsidies Reform in the EU, gathered policy-makers and stakeholders from business and civil society at the European Parliament, with co-hosts GLOBE EU and Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, MEP.