11 February 2013: A new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), titled “Inventory of Estimated Budgetary Support and Tax Expenditures for Fossil Fuels 2013,” provides examples from over 550 measures that support fossil-fuel production or use in the 34 OECD member countries. The report indicates that, between 2005 and 2011, these measures cost taxpayers between US$55-90 billion annually.

The report seeks to increase understanding of environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS) as part of the efforts of the Group of Twenty (G20) to reform fossil-fuel subsidies. The report contains a list of direct budgetary transfers and reported tax expenditures supporting fossil-fuel production or use in OECD countries. The report defines measures broadly in order to capture polices that may have an influence on the relative price of fossil fuels.

The inventory is organised by chapter for each OECD country and divided into three sections: overview of energy economy of the country; measures supporting fossil-fuel production or consumption; and data provided from government resources. The report indicates that most of the measures relate to fossil fuel end-use or its extraction. Examples of successful reforms are also provided, with improving availability and transparency of support data noted to offer ways to enable future reform of EHS. [Publication: Inventory of Estimated Budgetary Support and Tax Expenditures for Fossil Fuels 2013]