Globally, governments provided more than USD$620 billion to subsidize fossil fuel energy in 2011 and just $88 billion went to subsidies for renewable energy.
According to the Earth Policy Institute (EPI), $131 billion in subsidies went to coal, gas and oil consumed specifically for electricity generation.
“Through these subsidies, governments cut the prices people paid for fossil energy by nearly a quarter - encouraging waste and hindering efforts to stabilize climate.”
Demonstrating the connection between subsidisation and carbon footprint; the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar each spent thousands per person on propping up fossil fuel consumption in 2011 and all three countries are among the world’s top carbon emitters per capita.
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