This September, the International Food and Agriculture Trade Policy Council (IPC) released a report about biofuel subsidies and international trade, Biofuel and Biomass Subsidies in the U.S., EU and Brazil: Towards a Transparent System of Notification.
In July, the Global Subsidies Initiative published the second policy brief in its series looking at how fossil-fuel subsidies can be defined, measured and evaluated: A How-to Guide: Measuring subsidies to fossil-fuel producers. The brief identifies how, once subsidies have been defined, different types of subsidy can be measured using different methodologies, referring readers to the relevant section of an in-depth technical manual for more information.
On 29 July, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a Bloomberg-owned consultancy, put out a press release summarizing the preliminary results of a study comparing subsidies to ‘clean’ and to ‘dirty’ energy sources, namely renewable energy and fossil energy.
Editor’s introduction: in late 2009 and early 2010, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) helped prepare a Joint Report, Analysis of the Scope of Energy Subsidies and Suggestions for the G-20 Initiative, in partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank. The purpose of the study was to analyse “the scope of energy subsidies” and provide suggestions for the G-20’s initiative to phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, and it was submitted to the G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Toronto, Canada, on 26-27 June 2010. In this article, the OPEC Secretariat explains its findings and perspective on the role of energy subsidies and their relationship with sustainable development.
On 1 May 2010, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced the nationalization of four power companies as part of a ceremony to mark International Workers' Day.
When the G-20 committed to rationalize and phase out inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that lead to wasteful consumption, they asked the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank to "provide an analysis of the scope of energy subsidies and suggestions for the implementation" of the initiative. Completed in time for the G-20 Energy Minister's meeting in March, but kept under wraps until after the recent Toronto Summit, it was recently made available on the OECD's website, alongside a range of other OECD work on fossil-fuel subsidies.
The Leaders' Declaration from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's (APEC) 17th Economic Leaders' Meeting, released on 15 November 2009, included a commitment to "rationalize and phase out over the medium term fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, while recognising the importance of providing those in need with essential energy services." This closely mirrors the language of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G-20), who announced their own commitment to phase out and rationalize fossil-fuel subsidies at their Pittsburgh Summit on 25 September 2009.
According to a recent note published in the World Bank's Economic Premise, agricultural spending in Indonesia should be directed at improving the provision of public services, rather than subsidizing private inputs.