Research

This factsheet shines a light on the millions in campaign contributions made to our elected officials over the past 10 years and the billions in fossil fuel subsidies the industry gets in return.

New analysis released today at the COP21 climate negotiations reveals that G7 countries along with Australia spend 40 times more on support for fossil fuel production than they do in contributions to the Green Climate Fund.

G20 country governments are providing $444 billion a year in subsidies for the production of fossil fuels. These governments are propping up the production of oil, gas and coal, most of which can never be used if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, and undermining national climate commitments.

OECD countries support coal-fired power plants abroad by providing preferential financing through institutions called Export Credit Agencies (ECAs). These coal-fired power plants have significant costs, in the form damages to the health of local populations from air pollution, and the cost of climate-change causing emissions. This report finds that support for coal-fired power plants from the ECAs of OECD countries is implicated in tens of billions of dollars in local health impacts and climate change pollution each year.

Market distorting subsidies to fossil fuels contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and impede the transition to sustainable, low-carbon development. In 2009, G-20 countries committed to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies in an effort to specifically address climate change and boost investment in clean energy sources. It has been five years since the G-20 commitment, yet very little progress has been made to end these subsidies.

Public support for fossil fuel exploration in rich countries is nearly triple the amount pledged to the Green Climate Fund.

G20 countries are estimated to be spending $88 billion every year subsidising exploration for fossil fuels. This new report documents, for the first time, the scale and structure of fossil fuel exploration subsidies in the G20 countries.

A new report by Oil Change International identifies billions of dollars in subsidies for fossil fuel exploration from the world’s wealthiest countries.

A new report by Oil Change International, Cashing in on All of the Above: U.S. Fossil Fuel Production Subsidies under Obama, demonstrates the huge and growing amount of subsidies going to the fossil fuel industry in the U.S. every year. In 2013, the U.S. federal and state governments gave away $21.6 billion in subsidies for oil, gas, and coal exploration and production.

A new report by Oil Change International and the Sierra Club, Polluting Our Democracy and Our Environment: Dirty Fuels Money in Politics, demonstrates the enormous amount of campaign finance contributions pouring into Congress by the fossil fuel industry, a problem that is only getting worse. With the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, super-wealthy donors can now funnel unlimited amounts of outside money into political campaigns and elections. As a result of this ruling, outside spending increased by an enormous11,761 percentbetween the 2008 and 2012 elections.