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The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform : Implications for climate change mitigation

Skovgaard, Jakob LU and van Asselt, Harro (2019) In Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 10(4). p.300-302
Abstract

The production and consumption of fossil fuels need to decrease significantly to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement's ambitious climate change goals. However, fossil fuels continue to receive significant amounts of government support. Although reforming fossil fuel subsidies can yield climate change mitigation benefits, the specific international and domestic political context and political economy of fossil fuel subsidies means that such reform is not straightforward and may not be aligned with traditional climate politics. Our objective in this review article is to examine the implications of the politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform for climate change mitigation. The first step of examining these implications is to review... (More)

The production and consumption of fossil fuels need to decrease significantly to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement's ambitious climate change goals. However, fossil fuels continue to receive significant amounts of government support. Although reforming fossil fuel subsidies can yield climate change mitigation benefits, the specific international and domestic political context and political economy of fossil fuel subsidies means that such reform is not straightforward and may not be aligned with traditional climate politics. Our objective in this review article is to examine the implications of the politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform for climate change mitigation. The first step of examining these implications is to review existing studies on the size and impacts of global fossil fuel subsidies. Subsequently, we discuss the international politics of fossil fuel subsidies, including the emerging norm of fossil fuel subsidy reform, and the respective roles played by the international climate regime and several international economic institutions. Finally, we examine why fossil fuel subsidies are introduced and maintained at the domestic level, how fossil fuel subsidy reform has functioned in practice, and whether and how such reform could be conceived as an instrument for climate policy. This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior Policy and Governance > Private Governance of Climate Change.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
carbon pricing, fossil fuel subsidies, norms, political economy
in
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
volume
10
issue
4
article number
e581
pages
3 pages
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85062335942
ISSN
1757-7780
DOI
10.1002/wcc.581
project
International Economic Institutions and Domestic Actors in the Climate Regime Complex - the Cases of Climate Financing and Fossil Fuel Subsidies
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8716d41b-0357-4996-828e-40de284279b1
date added to LUP
2019-03-14 11:54:41
date last changed
2022-04-25 21:47:42
@article{8716d41b-0357-4996-828e-40de284279b1,
  abstract     = {{<p>The production and consumption of fossil fuels need to decrease significantly to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement's ambitious climate change goals. However, fossil fuels continue to receive significant amounts of government support. Although reforming fossil fuel subsidies can yield climate change mitigation benefits, the specific international and domestic political context and political economy of fossil fuel subsidies means that such reform is not straightforward and may not be aligned with traditional climate politics. Our objective in this review article is to examine the implications of the politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform for climate change mitigation. The first step of examining these implications is to review existing studies on the size and impacts of global fossil fuel subsidies. Subsequently, we discuss the international politics of fossil fuel subsidies, including the emerging norm of fossil fuel subsidy reform, and the respective roles played by the international climate regime and several international economic institutions. Finally, we examine why fossil fuel subsidies are introduced and maintained at the domestic level, how fossil fuel subsidy reform has functioned in practice, and whether and how such reform could be conceived as an instrument for climate policy. This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation &gt; Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior Policy and Governance &gt; Private Governance of Climate Change.</p>}},
  author       = {{Skovgaard, Jakob and van Asselt, Harro}},
  issn         = {{1757-7780}},
  keywords     = {{carbon pricing; fossil fuel subsidies; norms; political economy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{300--302}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change}},
  title        = {{The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform : Implications for climate change mitigation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wcc.581}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/wcc.581}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}