World Bank: Trillions Spent On Subsidies Could Help Tackle Climate Change

Trillions of dollars are wasted on subsidies for agriculture, fishing and fossil fuels that could be used to help address climate change instead of harming people and the planet, a World Bank report has said.

The report, “Detox Development: Repurposing Environmentally Harmful Subsidies,” released yesterday, said global direct government expenditures in the three sectors are $1.25 trillion a year— around the size of a big economy such as Mexico, adding that to subsidise fossil fuel consumption, countries spent about six times what they pledged to mobilise annually under the Paris Agreement for renewable energies and low-carbon development.

“People say that there isn’t money for climate but there is – it’s just in the wrong places,” said Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director of the World Bank. “If we could repurpose the trillions of dollars being spent on wasteful subsidies and put these to better, greener uses, we could together address many of the planet’s most pressing challenges,” Axel added.