英文摘要: | Reforming fossil fuel subsidies could free up enough funds to finance universal access to water, sanitation, and electricity in many countries, as well as helping to cut global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Fossil fuel subsidies are not only economically inefficient, but also harmful for the environment1, 2, 3. In 2011, fossil fuel consumption was subsidized by about US$550 billion per year, globally4 — oil subsidies alone account for economic inefficiencies (that is, annual deadweight losses) of about US$44 billion (ref. 5). Reducing fossil fuel subsidies would also help to protect the climate6. Estimates by the International Energy Agency7 indicate that a universal phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies would lower annual global CO2 emissions by 4.4%. From this perspective, reducing or even removing such subsidies seems to be a no-regret option8. However, substantial fossil fuel subsidies are granted in many countries, mostly targeted at oil and petroleum products or electricity consumption. A common explanation for the prevalence of these subsidies lies in political economy motives9. Even though low-income groups derive comparatively low benefits from fossil fuel subsidies10, there is nevertheless considerable opposition to subsidy removal11, as the resulting rise in energy prices may worsen the situation of the poorest part of the population12. For this reason, several policies to make subsidy reform 'pro-poor' have been proposed. These include direct cash transfers (Iran and Georgia) and strengthening social safety nets (Indonesia, Jordan and Moldova) to compensate affected parties for their increased spending on energy13, 14. Here, we examine what human development benefits could be achieved if these subsidies were redirected to spending on public infrastructure. We put into perspective the amount of fossil fuel subsidies currently deployed in relation to the financial means required to provide access to basic services — in particular, water, sanitation, electricity, telecommunication and paved roads. For these services, access gaps are most severe in Africa and South Asia, but also for some low-income countries in Latin America (see Table 1). For instance, more than two-thirds of the population lacks access to sanitation and electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Linking fossil fuel subsidy reform to infrastructure investments could not only promote environmental integrity, but also human development. In this way, it could successfully address one of the main obstacles to subsidy reform, namely the concern of adverse development outcomes.
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We thank S. Pachauri, N.D. Rao and J. Steckel for helpful comments and suggestions.
Affiliations
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Michael Jakob, Claudine Chen, Sabine Fuss, Annika Marxen and Ottmar Edenhofer are at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Torgauer Straße 12–15, 10829 Berlin, Germany
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A.M. and O.E. are also at Technical University Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 152, 10623 Berlin, Germany
- Annika Marxen &
- Ottmar Edenhofer
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M.J. and O.E are also at Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Impact Research, Telegrafenberg 31, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
- Michael Jakob &
- Ottmar Edenhofer
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