This November, Oil Change International and Earth Track published the first independent evaluation of the G-20 commitment to phase out inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies, G-20 Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Phase Out: A review of current gaps and needed changes to achieve success.

The study analyses the G-20 reports and country submissions that were publically released in August 2010, in comparison with other available data sets on subsidies. It concludes that there are large gaps in the G-20’s reporting of subsidies, and that “no country has initiated a subsidy reform specifically in response to the G-20.”
 
“The G-20 is neither revealing nor removing fossil fuel subsidies,” said Steve Kretzmann of Oil Change International. “Each G-20 country has defined ‘inefficient fossil fuel subsidy’ as they like, reported on what they want, and then listed either no subsidies, or things that they had already said they were doing.”

The report can be downloaded from Oil Change International’s website: http://priceofoil.org/2010/11/08/g20-fossil-fuel-report/