Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Climate Aid 40 to 1

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Fossil fuel subsidies totaling 80 billion a year from wealthy industrialized nations including Australia dwarf a 2 billion dollar pledge to a new Green Climate Fund.

According to research released by Oil Change International during negotiations between 195 nations in Paris, France over a new climate deal. Eight nations including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States spend a combined $80 billion a year on public support for fossil fuel production, but have pledged approximately $2 billion a year to the Green Climate Fund (A fund which hopes to help poor countries adapt to global warming)

Oil Change International’s senior campaigner Alex Doukas said “Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies could be a massive double win. It would stop a huge waste of public money that’s driving the climate crisis, while at the same time freeing up money that can help poor countries adapt to the impacts of climate change and make the shift to renewable energy.”

Developing nations in Paris have been calling for more support from wealthy countries so that they can produce clean energy, accelerate their economic growth and reduce poverty while keeping carbon emissions in check.

Australia lead by the Turnbull government has refused a push during the Paris talks led by New Zealand which would lead to reform of fossil fuel subsidies. These refusals were based on the grounds it opposed an International Monetary Fund definition that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull believed considered not having a carbon price to subsidy.

The rejection to the New Zealand reform followed pressure from Mr Turnbull’s backbench as it could have threatened Australia’s diesel subsidy for farmers and miners.

Negotiations continue in Paris, with a climate deal expected to lead to an agreement within the week. Here at SAE we believe that a 2 billion dollar pledge to a new Green Climate Fund should at the very least match fossil fuel subsidies totaling 80 billion a year.

In the meantime, the Australian Government still has a number of subsidies available in the form of STC’s (read more about them here) make sure you make the most of these current savings offered by the Government. Right now, the RET Scheme is safe until May 2017, although at the time of writing the value of the rebate is currently $38. By law, the STC price can have a value between $0 and $40, so $40 is the highest it can legally go. The higher the STC price, the more “solar rebate” you get.

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