Despite repeated pledges to end inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, G20 governments’ support to fossil fuels has dropped by only 9% since 2014–2016, hitting USD 584 billion annually over the last three years, according to a report released today by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and Oil Change International (OCI).
Stop Funding Fossils
Doubling Back and Doubling Down: G20 Scorecard on Fossil Fuel Funding
In this new report we consider recovery commitments and pre-pandemic policies to rank G20 countries’ progress in phasing out support to fossil fuels. We find at least USD 584 billion per year between 2017 and 2019 in public support for fossil fuels from G20 governments.Â
European Development Finance Institutions fall short on climate ambition by allowing continued financing for fossil gas
European Development Finance Institutions fall short on climate ambition by allowing continued financing for fossil gasToday, one week ahead of the Finance in Common Summit, the Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) announced joint ambitions for climate action. The institutions commit to full Paris alignment by 2022 and to end coal and fuel oil financing. For gas finance, they commit to “generally exclude [such finance] by 2030 at the latest”, but leave the room open to gas financing beyond 2030 in certain cases.Â
Statement: France fails to show climate leadership with proposed export finance policy
Today, the French government outlined new measures aimed at greening the country’s export credit support policy. Under the proposed new policy, France will continue supporting fossil fuel projects worldwide until at least 2035. OCI urges the French government to reconsider this end date as it is grossly misaligned with the Paris Agreement.
Statement: UK’s overseas finance for fossil fuels should not leave any loopholes
For the UK to be credible as a COP26 host, it should end all overseas and domestic finance and subsidies for oil and gas production. Emissions from oil, gas and coal in already-operating fields and mines globally will push the world far beyond 1.5°C of warming.
Export Development Canada’s Role in Bailing Out the Oil and Gas Sector
Canada’s export bank, Export Development Canada (EDC), already provides on average nearly fourteen billion dollars in support to oil and gas companies each year. As a result, Canada ranks second highest among G20 countries in public finance for fossil fuels. Now the federal government is using EDC to channel even more support to the oil and gas sector, which has been intensely lobbying the government for a bailout package of up to $30 billion.
Distributed Funds for Distributed Renewable Energy: Ensuring African Energy Access Finance Reaches Local Actors
Communities in Africa have generally contributed the least to climate change, been undermined the most by international trade and finance policies, and have a right to better international support for distributed renewable energy. In order to reach universal energy access before the 2030 target set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, international public finance institutions have an urgent responsibility to provide more funding and better financial transparency and tracking for distributed renewable energy. Additionally, they have a responsibility to foster local participation in and ownership of distributed renewable energy initiatives. This briefing provides recommendations for how international public finance institutions can fulfill this responsibility, while revealing that from 2016 to 2018, fossil fuels received more than 3.5 times the support than all kinds of renewable energy did during this period.
Campaigners: G20 financial and political support for fossil fuels rises amidst COVID-19 crisis
Grassroots campaigners at a press briefing yesterday said political leaders are failing to ensure a just and sustainable recovery, as new data shows that the world’s 20 richest countries have committed more than USD 150 billion of public money to support fossil fuels since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.
G20 Recovery Packages Benefit Fossil Fuels More Than Clean Energy
Decisions taken in response to the COVID-19 crisis today will lock in the world’s development patterns for decades. With policy decisions made on a daily basis, information about how public money is being spent can be hard to follow. That is why a consortium of 14 expert organizations came together to track energy-specific responses by G20 governments.
G20 Governments Have Committed USD 151 Billion to Fossil Fuels in COVID-19 Recovery Packages
Data made public today on the Energy Policy Tracker, a new website tracking climate- and energy-related recovery policies, shows a total commitment of at least USD 151 billion from G20 governments in support of fossil fuels.