Rich countries spend about five times as much subsidizing exports of fossil fuel technology as they do for renewable energy, according to data obtained from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
“Given that the European Union is home to many of these wealthy nations, but is also one of the main parties behind recent pushes to limit carbon emissions through regulation, and also to phase out domestic coal subsidies, the data is interesting,” James Ayre comments on Cleantechnica. “Not surprising. But definitely interesting.”
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A confidential document obtained by Reuters listed $36.8 billion in preferential loans and state-backed guarantees for exports of fossil fuel generation technology between 2003 and 2013, including $14 billion for coal. A second document revealed another $52.6 billion in export credits.
Equivalent support for renewable energy technologies totalled a paltry $16.7 billion.
“There would seem to be a pressing need to issue coherent, complete, and accurate figures on official export credit support that is relevant to climate change issues,” the earlier document stated.
