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WhiteTara

(29,725 posts)
Sun Dec 6, 2015, 02:34 PM Dec 2015

Beginning of the end for fossil fuel subsidies?

http://www.bendbulletin.com/nation/3778395-151/beginning-of-the-end-for-fossil-fuel-subsidies#

As representatives of nearly 200 countries gathered in Paris to discuss ways of reducing emissions from fossil fuels, many pointed to what they consider a simple and obvious way to change behavior: Stop widespread subsidies that encourage the use of fossil fuels.

Industrialized nations agreed to start phasing the subsidies out after an agreement at the Group of 20 summit meeting of the world’s largest economies in 2009, and some progress has been made. The International Energy Agency said its $490 billion estimate for worldwide fossil fuel subsidies in 2014 would have been $610 billion if not for changes since that agreement.

But calls for greater cuts continue. The energy agency issued a statement last month identifying the elimination of subsidies as one of the most effective strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The subsidies are “public enemy No. 1 in terms of sustainable development,” said Fatih Birol, executive director of the agency.

On Monday, the first day of the climate conference, representatives of 35 governments and hundreds of businesses and organizations issued a call for countries to take aggressive action to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said, “The huge sums involved globally could be better spent on schools, health care, renewable energies and building resilient societies.”

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Beginning of the end for fossil fuel subsidies? (Original Post) WhiteTara Dec 2015 OP
Pofessor Kevin Anderson Would Argue Otherwise Based On Past And Present COP Meetings cantbeserious Dec 2015 #1
k & r. Thanks for posting. nm rhett o rick Dec 2015 #2
It would be a step in the right direction WhiteTara Dec 2015 #3
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