"Support for coal, oil and gas remains high despite pledges to tackle climate crisis"

"The G20 countries have provided more than $3.3 trillion in subsidies for fossil fuels since the Paris climate agreement was sealed in 2015, a report shows, despite many committing to tackle the crisis.

This backing for coal, oil and gas is “​​reckless” in the face of the escalating climate emergency, according to the report’s authors, and urgent action is needed to phase out the support. The $3.3tn could have built solar plants equivalent to three times the US electricity grid, the report says.

The G20 countries account for nearly three-quarters of the global carbon emissions that drive global heating.

The report, by BloombergNEF and Bloomberg Philanthropies, focuses on three areas where immediate action is needed to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C: ending fossil fuel subsidies, putting a price on carbon emissions and making companies disclose the risks posed by climate change to their businesses."

Damian Carrington reports for the Guardian July 20, 2021. [2]