Paul Dawson
4y ago
Thinking about climate change solutions
Climate change isn't just an environmental issue; it is also an economic issue that makes us all poorer.
The subsidization of fossil fuels distorts the energy market and slows down the roll-out of renewable energy.
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Governments subsidize fossil fuels by $11 million a minute.
Analysis by the IMF shows that governments subsidized fossil fuels by $5.9 trillion in 2020, this equivalent to 6.8% of global GDP.
The IMF expect this to rise to 7.4% of GDP by 2025.
8.7 million people a year die due to air pollution due to the burning of fossil fuels.
These are preventable deaths; the technology and know-how exist today to eliminate the use of fossil fuels.
Rolling out renewable energy would save lives and money.
Taxpayers will have to pay for the future damage the burning of fossil fuels does to the environment.
This year's ten most expensive weather disasters caused more than $170bn in damage and $20bn more than 2020.
They also killed at least 1,075 people and displaced 1.3 million.
Subsidies of fossil fuels distort the energy market.
The subsidies that fossil fuels receive are slowing down the development of cleaner alternatives, distorting the market.
Without government subsidies, demand for fossil fuels would decrease.
Fossil fuels should be taxed to pay for their pollution.
To make the energy market a level playing field, governments should eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels and charge a levy on them to pay for the environment and social damage they create.
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