Alternative Uses of Pre-tax Fossil-fuel Subsidies per Year

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Find an overview of the current status of fossil fuel subsidies as well as an analysis of how the US$423 billion spent on fossil fuel subsidies could be repurposed for social good, to eradicate extreme poverty, provide a temporary basic income, and vaccinate the world. 

Summary

This note performs a series of arithmetic comparisons of the estimated global amount of pre-tax fossil-fuel subsidies (FFSs) distributed per year to o er an understanding of what they cost across the developing world. These comparisons illustrate hypothetical alternative uses only, regardless of where the FFSs operate, and they do not suggest any speci c policy recommendation or address any political and distributive challenges caused by removing or repurposing FFSs in any country. A rst exercise focuses on what is often termed ‘poverty eradica- tion’, which consists of lifting the current incomes of the poor population up to at least the value of the corresponding poverty line. A second exercise looks at how much of basic economic security to protect the livelihoods of the less advantaged groups during the COVID-19 crisis FFSs could pay, for how many people and for how long. Finally, a third exercise compares the amount of FFSs with that required to inoculate the global population against COVID-19.

Read the publication online here or download the report below ⬇️ 

Read the one-page summary here.