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SOURCE: Climate Home News

DATE: June 24, 2019

SNIP: The UK, Ireland, Canada and France have all declared climate emergencies. But between them they give billions of dollars to support the fossil fuel industry at home and abroad.

Fossil fuel subsidies can come in the form of tax breaks, financial incentives and support for companies exporting abroad.

The UK, which was the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency following declarations by Scotland and Wales, spent an annual average of $11 billion in fossil fuel subsidies between 2015 and 2016, according to data from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

The same data shows that France, which enshrined the climate and ecological emergency as part of draft legislation that could see the country agree to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, spent an average $8.02 billion a year in fossil fuels subsidies during the same period.

For Canada, that figure was $7.73 billion. The government of Justin Trudeau has been accused of sending out mixed signals after approving a pipeline expansion on the day after declaring a national climate emergency.