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Fossil Fuel Subsidies & Health

On a global scale, the removal of consumer fossil fuel subsidies combined with effective taxation would have positive health impacts. Impacts and timing of subsidies allocated to coal are also important in terms of encouraging overuse with knock-on health effects. Broader externalities from fossil fuels have wide ramifications for human health.

Blog: Eliminating Fossil Fuel Subsidies Still on the Agenda – The International Community Must Now Walk the Talk

The international community reaffirmed commitments on Thursday 16th July 2015, within the Addis Ababa Action Agenda "to rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption ..."  and "phasing out those harmful subsidies". Fossil fuel subsidy removal remains on the agenda and is as important as ever when governments are squeezed for fiscal space and domestic resource mobilisation.

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Commentary: A Commentary on the SDGs, Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform and The Future We Want

The most recent draft of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an outcome from Rio+20 and The Future We Want, now includes international cooperation and potentially financial support towards cleaner fossil-fuel technologies; however, the draft goals no longer recognise the need to phase-out inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies, which stood at $554 billion in 2012 (IEA, 2013). That is four times the level of aid from the OECD DAC in 2013 ($134 billion). This is a step backwards.

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Blog: Country Update: Assessing Egypt's Energy Subsidy Reforms

In early-July 2014, the Egyptian Government announced sweeping measures to significantly increase most of the energy prices paid by businesses and households. ‘Big bang’ reform of this kind is a bold break from the past: energy prices in Egypt have changed little over several decades. According to the government, the reforms represent a decisive first step in reducing the burden of energy subsidies on Egypt’s public finances.

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Blog: New Report on Gender and Fossil-Fuel Subsidies in India

A new report by the GSI looks at gender relations and data with regard to fossil-fuel subsidy reform, and looks at the likely impact of reform across cooking, lighting, water pumping and transport fuels from a gender perspective. The report has four main observations. First, fossil-fuel subsidies (13.7% of India’s budget expenditure in 2012-2013) have historically provided little benefit for rural women.

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