G20 countries have committed at least USD 382.29 billion to supporting various energy sources through new or amended policies since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a tracking platform launched in July 2020. 

While at least 35% of public money has been committed to clean energy, at least 52% of public money committed to the energy sector has been committed to fossil fuels. 

As of 26 August 2020, energypolicytracker.org reports that public money commitments for clean energy include at least USD 50.19 billion for unconditional clean energy through 72 policies, and at least USD 88.59 billion for conditional clean energy through 50 policies. However, public money has also been committed to fossil fuels: commitments include at least USD 177.73 billion for unconditional fossil fuels through 151 policies and at least USD 26.27 billion for conditional fossil fuels through 21 policies.

The Energy Policy Tracker database was developed by 14 expert organizations. It showcases publicly available information on public money commitments for different energy types, and policies supporting energy production and consumption. The platform is updated every Wednesday with research that collects data on individual policies at an individual country level and aggregates them. Updates can be received by signing up here.

Policies are classified according to: energy type; whether it has any environmental conditionality attached; the economic sector being targeted by the policy; and the mechanism for transfer. The tracker currently includes only G20 countries and EU policies (defined as European institutions by the tracker).

The organizations behind the research include the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Oil Change International (OCI), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Columbia University in New York City, Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (FÖS), Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN), Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos (INESC), Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE), Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Legambiente, REN21, and The Australia Institute (TAI).