To meet global climate goals, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced as rapidly as possible. To achieve this, governments need to phase-out fossil fuel subsidies and scale-up support for renewable energy and low-carbon solutions. This study aims to increase transparency on fossil fuel subsidies in Belgium.
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This study provides a comprehensive, up to date fossil fuel subsidy inventory for Belgium, including high-level recommendations for subsidy reform, and lessons learned from subsidy reform efforts elsewhere.
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Impact
This study finds that, despite high-level commitments to end fossil fuel subsidies, Belgium spent on average EUR ~4 billion a year on fossil fuel subsidies between 2014 and 2016. This rather conservative estimate focuses only on fiscal policies (favourable tax treatment) and budgetary expenses (direct expenses from the government) and does not cover public finance or investments. The biggest share of the support is provided by the federal government through tax exemptions targeting oil consumption for transport, heating, industries and business. The study has been broadly communicated to various political audiences.