700 billion dollars. This is the amount reached by global public subsidies for fossil fuels in 2021. This record figure was unveiled by a report by the OECD and the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday 29 august. The two organizations point to measures going once morest carbon neutrality.
Carried out in 51 countries representing 85% of the world’s energy supply, the study shows that this aid has doubled compared to 2020: it then amounted to 362 billion dollars.
This explosion of state support can be explained by the desire of governments to protect, at all costs, the purchasing power of their citizens. Faced with soaring energy prices triggered by the post-Covid recovery, they have multiplied aid to keep prices artificially low.
Subsidies in favor of consumers have thus tripled compared to 2020 according to the IEA: they alone represent 75% of total subsidies in 2021. The rest of the aid is mainly aimed at supporting oil and gas production.
A halt in the fight once morest climate change
The war in ukrainewho has “ caused sharp increases in energy and undermined energy security “, risks drastically worsening the figures for 2021. Faced with “ high and volatile fuel prices », the OECD and the IEA fear that governments will continue or even increase these subsidies in the coming period.
Bad news in the fight once morest global warmingthis support goes, in fact, once morest the announcements of the COP26 in Glasgow last fall, where many Western countries have undertaken to eliminate, from the end of 2022, public aid granted to fossil energy projects.
« We must adopt measures that protect consumers [et] help us stay on the path to carbon neutrality, while maintaining energy security and affordability “Warns Mathias Cormann, Secretary General of the OECD.
Call for more targeted grants
The two organizations thus call jointly to rethink these subsidies, by turning them more towards more ecological sources of energy. ” Increased investment in clean energy technologies and infrastructure is the only sustainable solution to the current global energy crisis and the best way to reduce consumer exposure to high fuel costs », stresses Fatih Birol, Director General of the AIE.
Finally, Mathias Cormann believes that the significant increases in subsidies “ encourage overconsumption, sans necessarily affect low-income households “. The two institutes thus call for the establishment of support systems “ more targeted in favor of households most affected by fuel poverty.
