When the G-20 committed to rationalize and phase out inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that lead to wasteful consumption, they asked the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank to "provide an analysis of the scope of energy subsidies and suggestions for the implementation" of the initiative. Completed in time for the G-20 Energy Minister's meeting in March, but kept under wraps until after the recent Toronto Summit, it was recently made available on the OECD's website, alongside a range of other OECD work on fossil-fuel subsidies.

The report is split into four main areas: defining the scope of energy subsidies; identifying and quantifying subsidies, including a review of energy-subsidy estimates; reforming and phasing out energy subsidies, including economic, social and environmental impacts; and finally suggestions for the implementation of fossil-fuel subsidy reform. It also contains a number of background papers, including studies on biofuels, electricity, LPG and kerosene, as well as a number of country-specific case studies.

It concludes that essential steps towards reform may include:

• increasing the availability and transparency of energy subsidies data;
• providing financial support for economic restructuring and poverty alleviation, although this must be well-targeted, temporary and transparent, and may need to include the use of short-term measures while effective social safety nets are developed; and,
• developing a communication strategy, to build public trust that reform will be beneficial and vulnerable groups will be compensated.

The study is available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/55/5/45575666.pdf