Fossil Fuel Subsidies & Health

The international community reaffirmed commitments on Thursday 16th July 2015, within the Addis Ababa Action Agenda "to rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption ..."  and "phasing out those harmful subsidies". Fossil fuel subsidy removal remains on the agenda and is as important as ever when governments are squeezed for fiscal space and domestic resource mobilisation.

Turkey faces a problem that is common to many developing countries: a growing economy and a growing demand for energy.  By 2030, electricity consumption is expected to rise from 240 TWh to over 600 TWh. Turkey plans a huge increase in coal-fuelled power generation to fill the gap.

As part of its work on energy policy and sustainable development in Indonesia, the Global Subsidies Initiative publishes a regular briefing on issues related to energy subsidies.

In early-July 2014, the Egyptian Government announced sweeping measures to significantly increase most of the energy prices paid by businesses and households. ‘Big bang’ reform of this kind is a bold break from the past: energy prices in Egypt have changed little over several decades. According to the government, the reforms represent a decisive first step in reducing the burden of energy subsidies on Egypt’s public finances.

A new report by the GSI looks at gender relations and data with regard to fossil-fuel subsidy reform, and looks at the likely impact of reform across cooking, lighting, water pumping and transport fuels from a gender perspective. The report has four main observations. First, fossil-fuel subsidies (13.7% of India’s budget expenditure in 2012-2013) have historically provided little benefit for rural women.