Ahead of the G20 Summit in Japan, research from think-tank ODI reveals that major economies are still maintaining subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.

In 2009 the G20 nations committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies in the medium term, but then years later ODI claims that billions of dollars are still being spent, with at least $63.9bn per annum on coal. Furthermore, there is a lack of transparency on these subsidies.

Support is via through $27.6bn in domestic and international public finance, $15.4bn in fiscal support, and $20.9bnin state-owned enterprise (SOE) investments per year across the G20. This includes support through a wide range of instruments to prop up coal production, coal-fired power production, and other consumption of coal and coal-fired power, as well as support which is justified as a means of facilitating the transition away from coal.

The analysis also finds that the governments of Canada, the UK and France have dramatically scaled back their support for coal over the last decade, both domestically and internationally.

Full report here.

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