AS per the OECD Report, Governments and taxpayers spent about half a
trillion US dollars last year supporting the production and consumption of
fossil fuels. Removing inefficient subsidies would raise national revenues and
reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, adds the OECD and IEA analyses.
The G20
leaders in 2009 agreed to phase out subsidies that “encourage wasteful
consumption, reduce our energy security, impede investment in clean energy
sources and undermine efforts to deal with the threat of climate change”. OECD
and IEA data and analysis are contributing to the follow-up on this commitment
by the G20.
The Secretary-General and IEA Executive Director Maria van
der Hoeven emphasised that subsidies to fossil-fuel consumers often fail to meet
their intended objectives: alleviating energy poverty or promoting economic
development, and instead create wasteful use of energy, contribute to price
volatility by blurring market signals, encourage fuel smuggling and lower
competitiveness of renewables and energy efficient technologies.
Phasing
out fossil-fuel subsidies will also provide an impetus for investment, growth
and jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Despite the many benefits of
phasing out fossil-fuel subsidies, reform efforts have been hampered by a lack
of information on the support measures in place, particularly in OECD
countries.
|
