Global spending on subsidies that harm environment rises to $2.6tn, report says | Analysis finds $800bn increase in direct support for activities including deforestation and fossil fuel use

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Global spending on subsidies that harm environment rises to $2.6tn, report says
Exclusive: analysis finds $800bn increase in direct support for activities including deforestation and fossil fuel use

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Patrick Greenfield
Tue 17 Sep 2024 19.01 EDT
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The world is spending at least $2.6tn (£2tn) a year on subsidies that drive global heating and destroy nature, according to new analysis.

Governments continue to provide billions of dollars in tax breaks, subsidies and other spending that directly work against the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement and the 2022 Kunming-Montreal agreement to halt biodiversity loss, the research from the organisation Earth Track found, with countries providing direct support for deforestation, water pollution and fossil fuel consumption.

Examples include state support for large fishing vessels that drive overfishing, and government policies that subsidise petrol, synthetic fertilisers and monoculture crop production.

The report found that the annual total of environmentally harmful subsidies has increased by more than $800bn – or $500bn when adjusted for inflation – since the authors last published an analysis in 2022. The increase was driven by the consequences of the war in Ukraine, which caused fossil fuel subsidies to increase sharply.