European countries spend billions a year on fossil fuel subsidies, survey shows
Survey of 11 European countries reveals huge government subsidies to the
transport sector and for fuels such as gas...
Green campaigners recommended that the EU should phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/28/european-countries-spend-billions-a-year-on-fossil-fuel-subsidies-survey-shows
Green campaigners recommended that the EU should phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020.
Governments of 11 European
nations are providing subsidies totalling more than £80bn a year to fossil fuel
industries, green campaigners have claimed.
Transport fuels
A substantial amount of the claimed subsidies are for fuels such as gas, which is viewed by many as a transition
Taxpayer support for electric vehicles, renewable electricity and other low-carbon efforts were not counted in the study by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
In the UK, diesel fuel is taxed by volume at the same rate as petrol. This taxation can favour the dirtier fuel because diesel cars travel further than petrol vehicles on the same volume of fuel.
Half of the support provided to fossil fuels was targeted at low-income households, the report acknowledged. Such measures by governments are intended to protect people on low incomes
Shelagh Whitley, head of climate and energy at the ODI, said: “The air pollution crisis in cities across
“This study shows how governments in Europe and the EU continue to subsidies and finance a reliance on oil, gas and coal, fuelling dangerous climate change and air pollution with taxpayers’ money.”
The EU has provided only about £3bn a year in assistance to fossil fuels through its own budget. Most of that goes towards building infrastructure for gas, which produces far less carbon dioxide than coal, on which much of eastern Europe has been heavily reliant for more than a century.
Wendel Trio, the director of Climate Action Network, said: “The €4bn spent by the EU on fossil fuels, most of which goes to gas infrastructure, locks Europe into fossil fuel dependency for the decades to come. This violates the Paris agreement’s requirement to make finances work for the climate. In addition, over £1.6bn a year is provided by EU member states to support coal-fired power, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. It is unacceptable.”
Much of the support for coal goes to
The green campaigners recommended that the EU should phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020, as well as increasing the transparency of such government support. They asked that mechanisms to support a transition away from fossil fuels should not support fossil fuel production and consumption, and that the subsidies should be used to support workers and their communities to move away from dependency on fossil fuels.
The countries included in the survey were the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Transport fuels
A substantial amount of the claimed subsidies are for fuels such as gas, which is viewed by many as a transition
Taxpayer support for electric vehicles, renewable electricity and other low-carbon efforts were not counted in the study by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
In the UK, diesel fuel is taxed by volume at the same rate as petrol. This taxation can favour the dirtier fuel because diesel cars travel further than petrol vehicles on the same volume of fuel.
Half of the support provided to fossil fuels was targeted at low-income households, the report acknowledged. Such measures by governments are intended to protect people on low incomes
Shelagh Whitley, head of climate and energy at the ODI, said: “The air pollution crisis in cities across
“This study shows how governments in Europe and the EU continue to subsidies and finance a reliance on oil, gas and coal, fuelling dangerous climate change and air pollution with taxpayers’ money.”
The EU has provided only about £3bn a year in assistance to fossil fuels through its own budget. Most of that goes towards building infrastructure for gas, which produces far less carbon dioxide than coal, on which much of eastern Europe has been heavily reliant for more than a century.
Wendel Trio, the director of Climate Action Network, said: “The €4bn spent by the EU on fossil fuels, most of which goes to gas infrastructure, locks Europe into fossil fuel dependency for the decades to come. This violates the Paris agreement’s requirement to make finances work for the climate. In addition, over £1.6bn a year is provided by EU member states to support coal-fired power, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. It is unacceptable.”
Much of the support for coal goes to
The green campaigners recommended that the EU should phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020, as well as increasing the transparency of such government support. They asked that mechanisms to support a transition away from fossil fuels should not support fossil fuel production and consumption, and that the subsidies should be used to support workers and their communities to move away from dependency on fossil fuels.
The countries included in the survey were the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
