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The Politics and Governance of Energy Subsidies

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The Palgrave Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy

Part of the book series: Palgrave Handbooks in IPE ((PHIPE))

Abstract

Energy subsidies are an important tool through which governments can support domestic energy production and protect energy consumers. However, the exact size of these subsidies in many countries remains unclear. More importantly, energy subsidies have a variety of positive and negative economic, environmental and social effects, and it remains unclear how and under which political conditions negative effects stemming from energy subsidies could be mitigated. This chapter addresses these issues by examining the reasons why countries choose to subsidise energy production and consumption, the scope and effects of energy subsidies, and options for reform. The chapter also highlights the roles played by various international institutions in governing energy subsidies. It concludes with outlining areas for further inquiry.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Since the VAT on energy or fuels may be reduced or non-existing.

  2. 2.

    Producer subsidies are notoriously hard to measure, although first analyses offer insights into their scale. For instance, Bast et al. (2014) estimate subsidies in support of exploring fossil fuels at $88 billion/year.

  3. 3.

    Further case studies can be found at: http://www.iisd.org/gsi/fossil-fuel-subsidies/case-studies-lessons-learned-attempts-reform-fossil-fuel-subsidies, date accessed 20 October 2010.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm Environment Institute, Oxford, Sweden

    Harro van Asselt

  2. Department of Political Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Jakob Skovgaard

Authors
  1. Harro van Asselt
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  2. Jakob Skovgaard
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ghent Institute for International Studies, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Thijs Van de Graaf

  2. University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

    Benjamin K. Sovacool

  3. Council on Energy, Environment and Water, New Delhi, India

    Arunabha Ghosh

  4. University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

    Florian Kern

  5. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

    Michael T. Klare

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van Asselt, H., Skovgaard, J. (2016). The Politics and Governance of Energy Subsidies. In: Van de Graaf, T., Sovacool, B., Ghosh, A., Kern, F., Klare, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy. Palgrave Handbooks in IPE. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55631-8_11

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