Africa: Unep Report Says Fuel Subsidies Benefit Rich
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The Nation (Nairobi)
27 August 2008
Posted to the web 28 August 2008
Peter Mwai
Nairobi
Governments have been urged to stop offering fuel subsidies in order to help reduce emission of greenhouse gases.
According to a United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) report released on Tuesday, scrapping of fossil fuel subsidies could play an important role in cutting greenhouse gases.
Challenges
The report -- Reforming Energy Subsidies: Opportunities to Contribute to the Climate Change Agenda -- was released at a meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Accra, Ghana.
The report challenges the widely held view that such subsidies assist the poor, arguing that many of these price support systems benefit the wealthier sections of society.
Globally around $300 billion is being spent on energy subsidies annually.
The report concludes that the real beneficiaries of such subsidies are neither the poor nor the environment but rich households, equipment manufacturers and fuel producers.
Achim Steiner, Unep executive director, in a statement said: "In the final analysis many fossil fuel subsidies are introduced for political reasons but are simply propping up and perpetuating inefficiencies in the global economy."
Mr Steiner said that Kenya should try and exploit alternative sources of energy such as geo-thermal, solar, bio-fuel and wind energy.
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