Financing Development from Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: Lessons Learned from Country Experiences
Organised by
- Government of Finland
- International Institute for Sustainable Development, Global Subsidies Initiative
Summary
Fossil fuel subsidies globally are estimated by the IEA to stand at USD 550 billion in 2013. This is around four times the level governments spend on supporting renewables and four times the level that the OECD spend on development assistance. Including health and environmental externalities, fossil fuel subsidies are even more substantial and are projected at USD 5.3 trillion in 2015, according to the most recent estimates by the IMF.
In some countries fossil fuel subsidies represent a significant amount of government expenditure and lost revenues. Yet with reform in countries such as Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Ghana, and Iran, governments have worked to remove subsidies to fossil fuels and to redirect resources to education, to health, to sustainable infrastructure and towards cash transfers.
Many countries have achieved successful reforms through a three pillared approach: getting the prices right, building support and mitigating the impacts of reforms.
This session will cover these issues as well as opportunities for reform arising from the current low oil price, and from the subsequent efficient taxation of transport fuels to raise revenue for domestic financing in the long term.
Related Information
Contact
For inquiries regarding this side event, please contact
- Laura Merrill, lmerrill@iisd.org, +41 (0)79 818 9483
- Lasse Toft Christensen, ltchristensen@iisd.org, +41788738978