Total global government support for oil, gas and coal amounted to USD 7tn in 2022, which is equivalent to seven % of global GDP.

This is according to an analysis from the International Monetary Fund, IMF.

The analysis aims to provide an evaluation of state support for fossil fuels at national, regional and global levels.

Explicit government subsidies, which are underpayments for supply costs, have more than doubled since 2020.

However, it still only accounts for 18% of total subsidies, according to the analysis.

Implicit state aid, which represents the cost of damage caused by fossil fuels through climate change and air pollution, accounts for 80% of the total.

According to Ian Parry, Lead Expert on Environmental and Fiscal Policy at the IMF, changes need to be made in this area.

”Cutting government subsidies for fossil fuels must be the focal point of efforts over the next few years to get on the right track to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius,” Ian Parry, leading expert on environmental and fiscal policy at the IMF, told The Guardian news service.

He elaborates that this can ideally be done by imposing a carbon tax.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Simon Øst Vejbæk)