Energy Subsidies - International

Following announcements that fossil-fuel subsidies will be phased out, from the G-20, the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and a number of independent countries, including Iran, Nigeria and Bahrain, Subsidy Watchhas decided each month to highlight important news stories that touch on this theme.

The People's Republic of China has agreed to end dozens of controversial subsidies under its World Top Brand, Famous Export Brand and China Name Brand programs that the United States claimed were supporting Chinese exports of a variety of goods, ranging from electronic appliances to apparel and agricultural products.

The European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) has released a report criticizing the European Union's biofuels policy, Green Protectionism in the European Union: How Europe's Biofuels Policy and the Renewable Energy Directive Violate WTO Commitments.

On 3rd September, the Global Trade Alert (GTA) website was launched in Brussels – set up to monitor government spending in the economic downturn and how it may discriminate against foreign commerce. The site, coordinated by the Center for Economic Policy Research, not only monitors state interventions but also identifies which trading partners they are likely to harm.

Governments spend staggering sums of money subsidizing energy—in particular fossil fuels, but increasingly also other forms of energy such as renewables.  The latest global assessment, published last year by the International Energy Agency, puts the total energy subsidy at far more than US$300 billion annually.