Fund

According to the 2019 International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on energy subsidies, “fossil fuels account for 85 percent of all global subsidies,” and reducing these subsidies “would have lowered global carbon emissions by 28 percent and fossil fuel air pollution deaths by 46 percent, and increased government revenue by 3.8 percent of GDP.”

– Global Fossil Fuel Subsidies Remain Large: An Update Based on Country-Level Estimates | International Monetary Fund (IMF): https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2019/05/02/Global-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-Remain-Large-An-Update-Based-on-Country-Level-Estimates-46509

We all pay fossil fuels twice. Not only people and companies pay a high levy when refuelling, but as taxpayers their money massively funds intermediaries, corruption, regime destabilizations and even oil wars.

– The oil wars: How America’s energy obsession wrecked the Middle East | Eugene Gholz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH9zjozwNF8&feature=youtu.be

– Basic guide to corruption and anti-corruption in oil, gas, and mining sectors: https://www.u4.no/topics/oil-gas-and-mining/basics

– If the world ran on sun, it wouldn’t fight over oil | Bill McKibben | The Guardian: https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/18/climate-crisis-oil-war-iraq-saudi-attack-green-energy

– FossilFuel big five ‘spent €251m lobbying EU’ since 2010 | Business | The Guardian : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/24/fossil-fuel-big-five-spent-251m-lobbying-european-union-2010-climate-crisis

António Guterres, attacked the use of subsidies in May 2024, declaring, “What we are doing is using taxpayers’ money – which means our money – to boost hurricanes, to spread droughts, to melt glaciers, to bleach corals. In one word – to destroy the world”. Taxes subsidize the destruction of the planet instead of saving it.

Climate activists Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot as well as many others, including the Gordon Moore institute, promote a three-point approach to solve the climate change emergency: protect, vote, fund.

Nature Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S14SjemfAg

Regarding the fund approach, diverting only 10% of the fossil fuel subsidies would finance the transition to renewable energies and make them economically more interesting for consumers.

– Just 10% of fossil fuel subsidy cash ‘could pay for green transition’| The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/01/fossil-fuel-subsidy-cash-pay-green-energy-transition

– 5 Reasons to Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ12ZKt_6PM&feature=youtu.be

– Energy storage could help put more wind and solar on the grid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9mfUT6ZboQ&feature=youtu.be

– Insight from Brussels: Taxing times for diesel in Europe – S&P Global: https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/articles/insight-from-brussels-taxing-times-for-diesel-in-europe

The same applies when governments subsidize industrial fishermen who pollute the most.

L’océan vu du coeur – TV5 Monde: https://:www.tv5mondeplus.com/fr/History_and_society/Investigations_and_reports/l-ocean-vu-du-coeur-1

With the crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine since 2022 and the war in Iran in 2026, oil has become much more expensive. Most western countries can no longer afford to subsidize it. There are also fossil fuel resources in Europe that remain untapped because companies make higher profits in countries where labor regulations are less strict: cheaper, less respectful of environmental and social standards. The industrial revolution of the 19th century took was made possible thanks to these fossil fuels in Europe. Today, renewable energy sources are not only significantly cheaper but they are also less risky (nuclear plant explosions, oil spills, etc.). They pollute less and are therefore better for your health. Furthermore, renewable energy sources are the energies of peace: they prevent wars over access to resources and makes it easier to resist geopolitical blackmail.

We need to be honest about Iran – and how our rampant greed for oil is causing mayhem – George Monbiot – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/19/iran-greed-oil-capitalism-regimes

What does the Iran war mean for clean energy transition? – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/26/iran-war-clean-energy-transition

Conference: Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels – Colombia – The Netherlands: https://transitionawayconference.com/

Ils détruisent, nous payons – Faisons payer les entreprises polluantes – pétition – Greenpeace: https://www.greenpeace.fr/faisons-payer-les-pollueurs/