Why fossil fuel subsidies are so hard to kill (2024)

NEWS FEATURE
20 October 2021

Behind the struggle to stop governments propping up the coal, oil and gas industries.

Jocelyn Timperley⁰

Jocelyn Timperley
1. Jocelyn Timperley is a freelance climate journalist in San José, Costa Rica.
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Fossil-fuel subsidies are one of the biggest financial barriers hampering the world’s shift to renewable energy sources. Each year, governments around the world pour around half a trillion dollars into artificially lowering the price of fossil fuels — more than triple what renewables receive. This is despite repeated pledges by politicians to end this kind of support, including statements from the G7 and G20 groups of nations.

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International Energy Agency. Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (IEA, 2021).
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