Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our time, yet most countries in the Middle East and North Africa continue to subsidize energy derived from fossil fuels. Seeking solutions, The Guardian launched a three part Global Public Leaders Series and sent us this recent lecture by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Deputy managing director Nemat Shafik warns that subsidies underpin both climate change and public debt.
Watch The Guardian’s recording of Nemat Shafik’s presentation in Washington D.C. for an illuminating look at how energy subsidies are linked to both climate change and public debt.
Shafik estimates that cutting subsidies could reduce global carbon emissions by as much as 4.5 billion tons or 13 percent of the current output.
In the Middle East, Iran has cut subsidies without any major consequences, which has eased its financial burden. But for most leaders in the Gulf region and North Africa, energy subsidies are a hot political topic best avoided.
Citizens of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere are so accustomed to receiving their energy for next to nothing, their leaders worry that cutting them could destabilize a fragile peace.
Yet subsidies distort the value of energy and few incentives exist to conserve it. This in turn leads to increased carbon emissions and forces governments to increase their fuel generation.
Jordan lifted subsidies last year but the Hashemite Kingdom’s residents did not respond well. More than 1,000 people descended upon Amman protesting increased fuel prices, according to Reuters.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said on state television that the Kingdom faces insolvency and that price hikes are unavoidable.
Speaking at a press conference in Jordan earlier this year, Shafik said that the government put in place a cash transfer scheme that helped to ease the transition for 70 percent of the population.
“So the only people who actually pay the full price are the top 30 percent in Jordan. I think that is a good strategy,” Shafik said.
:: The Guardian
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
People who thoughtlessly promote the elimination of energy subsidies better never complain about high electric bills or how much it costs to fill up your car. How do you think that getting rid of subsidies will actually lower CO2? By increasing the cost of the product to coerce people to use less. Just hitting the profits of companies in and of itself won’t do a thing for less pollution. The end result is to force people to use less energy by making it too expensive. Can YOU afford higher energy and fuel costs? I sure can’t.
check out out planned project to research and advocate for how Egypt could become more energy and food independent through going zero carbon:
http://izzykb.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/what-am-i-doing-here-in-egypt/
If people could agree to safely recycle 100% of all their waste materials, the co2 levels would return to normal, pollution would disappear and most of the unemployed would have jobs in a global recycling system.