Reforming fossil fuel subsidies : drivers, barriers and the state of progress

• There is an increasingly strong international consensus that fossil fuel subsidies are detrimental in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Organizations including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency consider fossil fuel subsidy reform a critical measure for achieving any ambitious emissions mitigation target. The reason is that these subsidies not only incentivize overconsumption of carbon-intensive energy, but directly undermine any effort to impose a price on carbon (e.g. through carbon taxes). While subsidy reform is crucial from a climate change perspective, the wide range of externalities associated with fuel subsidies also underscores the fact that reform is a vital contribution to sustainable development objectives more generally. This article emphasizes that fossil fuel subsidy reform can make a substantial contribution to climate policy, but also discusses how strongly environmental objectives are intertwined with fiscal, macro-economic, political and social factors. Although the momentum for subsidy reform is building, reforms are often designed to deliver fiscal rather than environmental benefits.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Naturresursteknik -- Energisystem (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Environmental Engineering -- Energy Systems (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Environmental taxes

fiscal reform

fossil fuel subsidies

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)