Letter from the Green Economy Coalition to G-20 Ministers of Finance
Fossil-fuel subsidies contribute directly to climate change, cost hundreds of billions of dollars each year and create artificial barriers to sustainable development. "These subsidies are a massive diversion of public funds that could be better spent in other ways," says Halle. "Subsidies create false impressions about the relative cost of lower-carbon energy alternatives and this is bringing us closer to irreversible climate change."
In September, G-20 leaders meeting in Pittsburgh agreed to phase out these subsidies over the medium term. The Green Economy Coalition welcomes that move but calls for greater urgency in implementing the phase-out and outlines ways to ensure that a reform of subsidies will protect the welfare of the poorest.
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