Swap: Reforming support for butane gas to invest in solar in Morocco (French only)
An evaluation of the potential to reform butane subsidies in Morocco and use a portion of the savings to fund a transition to clean energy.
Key Messages
- Subsidies to butane in Morocco are expensive: around 3.9 per cent of the Morrocan government budget was spent on butane subsidies in 2017.
- Proposals to reform butane subsidies could have a significant impact on consumers. Mitigation measures are needed to reduce social impacts and improve targetting.
- A swap from fossil fuel subsidies to renewable energy could help to reduce subsidy costs and prompt a clean energy transition.
In Morocco's agricultural sector, subsidized butane gas is used for irrigation and household tasks.
A proposed reform of the system of butane subsidies could substantially increase energy costs for some consumers, potentially increasing energy poverty and pushing some rural consumers toward cooking on open fires.
A subsidy swap replacing subsidies to fossil fuels with renewable energy could allow the removal of fossil fuel subsidies and promote a transition to clean energy. Two technologies—solar irrigation pumps and solar thermal collectors—could potentially offset the use of butane and reduce the cost of butane subsidies. However, policies are needed to overcome high upfront costs. This report reviews how butane subsidies can be reformed, how the impacts on consumers can be managed and how some of the savings can be reallocated to promote a transition to clean energy.
ONLY AVAILABLE IN FRENCH
You might also be interested in
The Strait of Hormuz Crisis Emphasizes Why Canada Should Move Away From Oil and Gas—Not Expand It
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off roughly 25% of the world’s seaborne oil and 20% of LNG trade. In response, many countries are diversifying supply chains and increasingly ramping up domestic renewable capacity to improve energy security. Meanwhile, the Government of Canada has taken steps to expand oil and gas production.
Managing Energy Price Crises
This report outlines a strategic decision framework policy-makers can use when responding to fossil fuel price shocks.
Removing a Fossil Fuel Subsidy Is a Means, Not an End—The transition is the point
COFFIS is an international coalition working to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Kim Solberg, part of the team that founded COFFIS, sits down to explain what made it possible—and why, in her view, a subsidy can only be removed as part of the wider transition it's meant to serve.
IISD Submission to the Belém Mission to 1.5
This submission is made in response to the invitation from the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) 29, COP 30, and COP 31 Presidencies on the Belém Mission to 1.5.