Beijing—September 16—The first estimate of subsidies to coal producers in China, totaling CNY35.7 billion (US$5.6 billion) in 2013, has been revealed by the Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) at the Coal and Renewable Energy event held in Beijing on 16 September 2015.

It is ever clearer that fossil fuel subsidies are detrimental to sustainable development. However, in a time of historic low oil prices, the gap between international oil prices and consumer energy prices has narrowed dramatically, thus offering countries a huge window of opportunity to phase-out these subsidies. For this and many other reasons, the elimination of these subsidies continue to make global headlines.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has made a major contribution to Viet Nam’s impressive structural transformation and economic growth since the 1990s. As the country continues to pursue an ambitious development agenda, with FDI likely to play a central role in this process, it is important for policy-makers to better understand the needs and concerns of foreign businesses regarding energy supply and pricing. The satisfaction of businesses with domestic energy market conditions may be one factor in determining the ease with which Viet Nam can attract the high-quality FDI that can help deliver key developmental goals.

This study reviews deployment subsidies for solar PV in two European countries, Germany and Spain. Its primary goal is to better inform debates about cost-effectiveness by exploring the methods required to assess cost-effectiveness and by estimating the general magnitude and range of benefits in several key areas.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) presented its vision of renewable energy development to the Sustainable Development Working Group of the Arctic Council in Whitehorse on March 1, 2015.

In this paper the Global Subsidies Initiative presents a more complete examination of how fossil-fuel subsidies can impact the deployment of renewable energy. The paper discusses the effect of fossil-fuel subsidies on the cost competiveness of renewables, the incumbent advantage of fossil-fuel-powered generators and the distortion of investment decisions.

Rome—13-14 October—The Desertec Industial Initiative (Dii) held the 5th Dii Desert Energy Conference on October 13-14 in Rome, Italy.

The Chinese government has responded to the challenge of increasing energy consumption and environmental pollution with ambitious targets for renewable energy generation; 15 per cent of primary energy is to be generated from renewable sources by 2015. This report discusses the trends in renewable energy investment, the role of public finance in the renewable energy industry, the impact of renewable energy subsidies and the international experience of raising revenues from carbon pricing mechanisms to promote renewable energy.