Set up in June 2010, the “Friends” is an informal group of non- G20 countries aiming to build political consensus on the importance of fossil fuel subsidy reform. Current members of the Friends group are Costa Rica, Denmark, Ethiopia, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Uruguay.
There is a window of opportunity
- Fossil-fuel subsidy reform is the missing piece of the climate change jigsaw and governments must deliver global actions to decrease emissions as we head towards implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Why reform fossil fuel subsidies
Governments subsidize fossil fuels to lower the price of the production and consumption of fossil fuels, so the economy and population can receive cheaper fuels. However, fossil fuel subsidies (FFS) have a series of negative effects. FFS are socially regressive, encourage wasteful consumption, increase local pollution, contribute to climate change, disadvantage clean energy technologies and are a drain on scarce public resources.
Fossil-fuel subsidy reform is the missing piece of the climate change jigsaw and governments must deliver global actions to decrease emissions as we head towards implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The top 5 reasons for reform
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Economic: Globally governments spend US$400-600 billion a year to keep domestic prices for oil, gas and coal products artificially low. Removing these subsidies frees up resources to invest in sustainable development for society such as health, education, public welfare and low-carbon energy pathways.
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Environmental: Removing fossil-fuel subsidies leads to emissions reductions in a world dealing with the impacts of climate change and alleviates local air pollution.
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Social: Some countries spend more on fossil-fuel subsidies than health or education. Fossil-fuel subsidies are a poor social welfare policy and counter-intuitively tend to benefit wealthier consumers.
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Low-carbon future: Fossil-fuel subsidies hold us back from a low carbon future and lock us into a high carbon one. Reform levels the playing field for clean and renewable energy solutions.
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Energy security: Phasing out subsidies promotes more energy efficient consumption, thereby curbing the growth in global energy demand.
The Friends' Network
In 2018 the Friends of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform (FFFSR, or the Friends) created the Friends’ Network to build an international network of government officials to share lessons, knowledge and experiences, and to encourage innovative thinking on the successful implementation of FFSR. A series of five virtual interactive roundtables took place in 2018 with the participation of representatives from around 20 countries from around the world.
The Friends’ Network was officially launched at COP24 in Katowice. The video recording of the High-Level Media launch event can be accessed here.
Supporters are growing
The momentum for reform is growing led by Communiqué supporters from government, business and international organisations. Find out which governments and organisations support the Communiqué.
Recent supporters include
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Peru
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Viet Nam
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Monaco
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Canada
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Mozambique
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Ghana
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Cyprus
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Philippines
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Austria
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Uganda
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Malaysia
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Estonia
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Samoa
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Croatia
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United Kingdom
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Marshall Islands
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Colombia
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Gambia
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Moldova
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Czech Republic
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Mexico
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Uruguay
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Italy
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Netherlands
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Morocco
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Germany
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United States
Endorse the Communiqué
show your support for fossil-fuel subsidy reform
