Despite ambitious pledges, global energy ministers could not agree on a target date to phase out billions in subsidies to dirty energy

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-1-2016

“The world is in a deep hole with climate change, and the first thing to do in a hole is stop digging,” said Stephen Kretzmann of Oil Change International. (Photo: ribarnica/flickr/cc)

The world’s richest nations have failed to agree on a deadline to phase out fossil fuels subsidies—a commitment energy ministers made in 2009—stirring new fears over the impact of the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars that go toward keeping dirty energy afloat every year.

Energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) met in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss bringing those subsidies to a close after the Group of 7 (G7), the world’s seven wealthiest economies, last month committed to eliminate “inefficient” fossil fuel handouts by 2025. A report published in 2015 by the climate group Oil Change International found that the combined G20 subsidies for oil, gas, and coal production amounts to roughly $444 billion a year. Continue reading →