Energy crisis causes rising fossil fuel subsidies, risks climate aims

The energy crisis is resulting in record high fossil fuel subsidies across G20 states, putting urgent climate targets in danger of being sidelined.
Despite progress in renewable energies and energy efficiency, the intergovernmental group of major economies (G20) risks "[moving] in the wrong direction", the environmental and development non-profit Germanwatch warned on Thursday at the presentation of its annual Climate Transparency report.
While the G20 promised to reduce fossil fuel subsidies, Germanwatch said they had already risen by almost 30% from 2020 to 2021 to around $190 billion (about €194 billion).
Jan Burck of Germanwatch, one of the report's authors, said this year had seen yet another significant hike in fossil fuel investment.
Burck wrote that these developments mean that states threaten to move further away from 2030 climate targets, rather than closer.
The report follows statements from the G7 summit this summer, which assured the public that G7 leaders, many of whom also comprise the G20, would not compromise on climate targets in attempting to alleviate the burden of the energy crisis.