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Producer Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Producer subsidies are put in place to cut costs for fossil fuel producers. Some examples include tax breaks, public finance allocated specifically for fossil fuel production, and subsidies to state-owned enterprises.

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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Reports: Government Support to Upstream Oil & Gas in Russia: How subsidies influence the Yamal LNG and Prirazlomnoe projects

The report identifies, quantifies and evaluates measures of government support to two upstream oil and gas developments in the Russian Arctic: Yamal LNG (gas) and Prirazlomnoe (oil). Using Sigra Group’s RusTax-model and information collected from publicly available sources, the analysis demonstrates how the measures of government support to the two projects have altered their economics.

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Blog: Rising costs: fossil-fuel subsidies and oil price volatility. An interview with the IEA's Amos Bromhead

With many governments around the world announcing the provision of generous subsidies to cope with rising commodity prices, the relationship between fossil-fuel subsidies and oil price volatility has once again become a major concern on the international agenda. To help explain the connections between these two issues, Subsidy Watch spoke with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Senior Energy Analyst Amos Bromhead. 

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Commentary: Some Concerns on the Fossil-Fuel Subsidies Debate in the G-20

Energy subsidies are a long-debated issue as regards their efficacy, efficiency and relationship with the problem of climate change. These questions have been recently included on the agenda of the G-20, after the Leaders’ Summit held in Pittsburgh in September 2009. Paragraphs 29 and 31 of the Leaders’ Statement set forth a course of action for member countries. In those paragraphs, fossil-fuel subsidies are questioned on the grounds that they can be inefficient and encourage wasteful consumption, and it is therefore proposed to phase them out over the medium-term, while recognizing the importance of providing those in need with essential energy services.

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Commentary: How big are your fossil-fuel subsidies? The International Budget Partnership on transparency and the right to access information

This October, the International Budget Partnership (IBP), part of the US non-profit organisation the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, published preliminary findings from the Ask Your Government! initiative, an ambitious research project to investigate what happens when citizens around the world ask their governments for specific budgetary information relating to key international development commitments – including the enquiry, “What was the total amount actually incurred during the past three fiscal years on subsidies for oil, gas and coal production and consumption?”

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