Public Financial Support for Energy
Tracking the latest available data on public financial support for fossil fuels and clean energy.
Public financial flows—including financing schemes, investments, subsidies, and taxation—influence the global energy landscape, shaping investment decisions by producers and consumer choices. They are instrumental tools for governments to advance energy access, energy security, climate goals, and social objectives—such as improving standards of living and energy access. However, they also come with risks and can be costly, therefore, governments need to ensure interventions are carefully tailored and well-targeted to deliver the greatest social and environmental benefits. Within this landscape, IISD analyzes public financial support for both fossil fuels and clean energy as well as their socio-economic and climate effects.
Under the Paris Agreement Article 2.1(c), governments committed to “making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions.” Yet in 2024—the last year for which data is available—public financial support for fossil fuels exceeded USD 1.2 trillion. Public financial support for renewable energy in G20 has been stable in the past 5 years, averaging around USD 270 billion per annum, and trails support for fossil fuels.
What Is Public Support for Energy?
Public financial support for energy includes actions or measures by governments or other government-owned institutions that shape energy systems through the provision of public resources. Four key types of financial support for fossil fuels and clean energy (where data is available) are:
- fossil fuel subsidies, including direct budget transfers, tax breaks, and more;
- state-owned enterprises’ capital expenditures, including companies' spending on acquiring, constructing, or upgrading energy assets;
- international public finance, including loans and loan guarantees, grants, and equity stakes provided by development finance institutions, export credit agencies, and multilateral development banks (MDBs);
- renewable energy support, including all money that governments spend to facilitate the deployment of renewables.
Current Trends in Fossil Fuel and Clean Energy Support
Public Financial Support for Fossil Fuels
Subsidies are the largest contributor to public financial support for fossil fuels, amounting to more than USD 921 billion globally in 2024. Capital investments by energy state-owned enterprises make up the second largest component at USD 296 billion in 2024 in G20 countries alone.
When it comes to international public finance, G20 institutions and MDBs are beginning to shift course, with support for fossil fuels declining from USD 41 billion on average for 2022–2023 to around USD 37 billion in 2024. Members of the Clean Energy Transition Partnership are leading the way, with the 40 government signatories reducing international public finance by up to 78% compared with 2019–2021 levels.
Public Financial Support for Renewable Energy
Government public financial support for clean energy has been steady, with G20 governments spending annually around USD 190 billion on average between 2020 and 2024 to advance power generation and integration (including transmission and storage). G20 and MDBs international public finance for clean energy projects also grew to USD 47 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, state-owned enterprises increased support to USD 38 billion in 2024.
Public financial support for fossil fuels remains five times larger than support for clean energy.
Explore the Data
Fossil Fuel Subsidies Explained
What are fossil fuel subsidies? From tax breaks to budget transfers, these measures can take many forms, yet while they may differ in design the effect is the same: fossil fuels are often priced below their real costs.
International Public Finance Explained
Public finance institutions play an outsized role in shaping the energy system by providing government-backed, low-risk finance. This analysis explains how much international public finance is provided by G20 countries and how it has shifted over time.
G20 Government Financial Support for Renewable Energy Explained
G20 government financial support can reduce barriers to building and integrating renewable energy projects. In this analysis, experts explain what financial support for renewables includes, where funds go, and how this has changed over time.
Capital Expenditures From State-Owned Enterprises Explained
G20 energy state-owned enterprises are major players in the energy sector. Explore what these national companies are, where their capital expenditure flows, and how this impacts the energy landscape.
National Inventories
Mapping India’s Energy Policy 2026
India’s energy subsidies are shifting as demand grows, prices fluctuate, and support moves across electricity, liquefied petroleum gas, transport, and clean energy.
Indonesia’s Energy Support Measures
In 2024, Indonesia spent IDR 713.5 trillion on energy subsidies, with nearly 90% of that supporting fossil fuels.
The Energy Tab
Energy subsidies in South Africa, 2025.
Latest Research
The USD 1.2 Trillion Problem: Why every energy crisis strengthens the case for clean public finance
Public financial flows including subsidies, state-owned enterprise investments, and international public finance remain fundamentally misaligned with climate and energy security goals, and leaving households and businesses vulnerable to global fossil fuel markets, new analysis finds.
Leading the Transition Locally
Subnational states and regions are powerful drivers of both implementation and ambition in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. They are critical to achieving the transition away from fossil fuels. This report aims to explore and document the role of subnational governments in advancing a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuel production as a critical element of the overall transition away from fossil fuels.
Drawing the Line and Holding It: What existing moratoria, bans, and restrictions reveal about transitioning away from fossil fuels
Drawing on a global database of fossil fuel production restrictions, this article explores what policies look like in practice, where they are emerging, and what their strengths and limitations tell us about the politics of managing decline.
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