Reforming fossil-fuel subsidies to reduce waste and limit CO2 emissions while protecting the poor

In November 2009 APEC Leaders (2009) agreed to “rationalise and phase out over the medium term fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, while recognising the importance of providing those in need with essential energy services.” The APEC Secretariat commissioned the GSI to prepare this report as part of the Energy Working Group’s (EWG) program to implement the APEC Leaders’ commi [...] It is not the objective of this report to evaluate whether the support measures identified within the literature (outlined in Section 1) are “inefficient” or “encourage wasteful consumption.” This report does not distinguish between “good” and “bad” measures or those that are within the scope of the APEC commitment and those that are beyond, but instead provides an overview of all support measures [...] Governments should use a step-by-step, “define, measure and evaluate” process1 to identify the range of support provided for products or recipients, the total costs and what impacts the subsidies have in order to determine what reforms are necessary. [...] A communications strategy is needed to educate the general population about the impacts of energy subsidies and the government’s plans to reform them. [...] Publications such as the GSI’s series of Citizens’ Guides2 can raise awareness of the true costs and impacts of energy subsidies among civil society groups and provide them with the information needed to inform their own campaigns.