Government Supporting Fossil Fuel Offenders Over Green Economy
According to new research by Tearfund, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Overseas Development Institute (source), governments around the world are talking more than acting when it comes to mitigating climate damage.
G7 governments - UK, US, Canada, Italy, France, Germany and Japan - spent $189bn to support oil, coal and gas between January 2020 and March 2021. They spent another $115bn to prop up struggling automobile and airline industries, during that time. Despite all the green economy rhetoric, 80% of this money was given with zero environmental conditions.
In contrast, G7 governments only spent $147bn on clean forms of energy. That's less than half the $304bn given to big CO2 offenders.
Governments around the world are promoting plans to 'build back better' in a post-pandemic world. Yet, looking at these numbers, I have to ask: 'better for whom?'