Subsidy WatchIssue 27, September 2008

  • Revealing the high cost of energy subsidies: an interview with Trevor Morgan

    Trevor Morgan is the principal author of the UNEP report released last month on energy subsidies and climate change, titled “Reforming Energy Subsidies: Opportunities to Contribute to the Climate Change Agenda”. He recently re-joined the International Energy Agency (IEA), having previously founded the independent energy-consulting firm, Menecon Consulting. The GSI reached Mr. Morgan at his office in Paris.

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Also in this issue:

Commentary

  • A case for paying the full cost of energy: an interview with Norman Myers

    Norman Myers, an environmental scientist, is the author of the book Perverse Subsidies: Tax $s Undercutting our Economies and Environments Alike. He is currently completing a new book called How Institutions Block Our Road to Sustainability. He also serves as a member of the High-Level Advisory Group of the Global Subsidies Initiative. The GSI reached Mr. Myers at his home in Oxford, England.

    GSI: You argue that certain government subsidies are making the problem of climate change worse. What is the connection?

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News

  • German government reacts to criticism over WTO subsidy notifications

    The German federal government has defended itself against the charge that it has not been fulfilling its WTO obligations to notify its trade-distorting subsidies.

    A German parliamentary committee posed a series of questions to the federal government after the FiFo Institute for Public Economics of the University of Cologne and the Global Subsidies Initiative released a report that accused Germany of vastly under reported its subsidies to the WTO. 

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  • European Commission freezes subsidies to Romania and Bulgaria over charges of corruption

    The European Commission has taken aggressive steps in its effort to reign in subsidy corruption in new Member States by cutting off millions of Euros worth of subsidies to Romania and Bulgaria. The decision came after scathing reports on both countries detailed high-level corruption and improper administration of European funds.

    In all, the Commission froze almost €500 million in farming and structural aid to Bulgaria and €28 million in agricultural aid to Romania.

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  • Mexico’s 2008 fuel subsidies higher than previously predicted

    Mexico’s president announced that the country’s fuel subsidies will reach US$ 25 billion in 2008, up from the US$ 19 billion forecasted earlier in the year. Fuel subsidies in Mexico have nearly quadrupled since last year. 

    Mexico, the world’s sixth largest oil producer, will pay for the subsidies using proceeds from oil exports, said President Calderon.

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Studies

  • United Nations warns against energy subsidies

    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has called on governments to reform subsidies to fossil fuels as a means to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

    The report, “Reforming Energy Subsidies: Opportunities to Contribute to the Climate Change Agenda”, provides an overview of the studies that have attempted to quantify the size of energy subsidies, before reviewing the economic, social and environmental impacts that have been linked to their use.

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  • US taxpayers provide 20 billion dollars in subsidies for executive salaries according to report

    Taxpayers in the United States are subsidizing the salaries of country's top business executives to the tune of US$ 20 billion a year, according to a report by the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).

    The report "Executive Excess 2008: How Average Taxpayers Subsidize Runaway Pay," presents the result of IPS' 15th Annual CEO Compensation Survey, which highlights five major tax and accounting loopholes it argued were directing taxpayer dollars to fund excessive executive pay.

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