Recently we wrote about calling on governments to end global fossil fuel subsidies.   Well, here’s yet another compelling reason why.  In the graphic below you can see that according to Oil Change International analysis, governments around the world are spending perhaps more than $1 trillion USD combined per year subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.  But what makes it even worse is that governments aren’t willing to own up to the fact that this is the case.  That’s a lot of money to be wasting and hiding, and it could be put to better use for education, hunger, poverty, renewable energy, and many many other far-more valid uses.  It’s time for governments to own up to the truth and come clean on the billions being thrown away to a dirty industry. Check out more below…1T subsidies infographicLearn more about fossil fuel subsidies our international fossil fuel subsidies page, and join us and a large number of partners on June 18th as we storm twitter to call for governments to #endfossilfuelsubsidies.

9 Comments

  • There is absolutely no reason to subsidize this mega-money industry. Have petroleum companies ever had a non-profitable fiscal year? So, why subsidize?

  • Hey David,
    Great graphic. Good to point out the “beneath the surface” subsidies. Also, I didn’t know quite how much of the overall pie was consumption subsidies in developing countries. Do you have any data on how these are split between different types of developing countries and different fuel types; e.g. is the bulk of it from OPEC countries keeping gasoline prices low, or how much is used for subsidizing heating oil for the desperately poor?
    I assume overall, the latter category is probably negligibly small, but would nonetheless be good to have information on this given the whole share of consumption subsidies in developing countries in the overall pie.
    Cheers,
    Christian

  • Hi Christian,
    Good questions, to be sure. Have a look at this factsheet on fossil fuel subsidies and the poor which a colleague at OCI put together with our friends at the Vasudha Foundation. It tries to answer a number of your questions. Long and short of it is that the vast vast majority of fossil fuel consumption subsidies do not in fact benefit the poorest communities.
    -David

  • I cannot understand the need nor the logic to subsidizing companies that are making record profits by artificially manipulating the price of fossil fuel.

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