The World Bank reported that trillions of dollars were wasted on subsidies to agriculture, fisheries and fossil fuels, which could be used to fight climate change.
The bank has published a report titled "Detox Development: Repurposing Environmentally Harmful Subsidies".
The report, which examines how subsidy reform can help protect the world's essential natural assets, stated that these assets, including clean air, land and oceans, are critical for human health and nourishment and form the basis of much of the global economy.
In the report; It was noted that subsidies for fossil fuels, agriculture and fisheries cause the deterioration of these assets, harming people, the planet and economies, and that these subsidies, directly and implicitly, exceed 7 trillion dollars a year, which corresponds to about 8 percent of the global gross domestic product.
$1.25 trillion per year in direct subsidies to agriculture, fisheries and fossil fuels
Global direct government spending on agriculture, fisheries and fossil fuels is $1.25 trillion per year, which is the size of the Mexican economy.
The report said trillions of dollars were wasted on subsidies to agriculture, fisheries and fossil fuels, which could be used to fight climate change.
In the bank's report, it was stated that countries spend about six times the annual amount they have committed to mobilize towards renewable energies and low-carbon development under the Paris Agreement to subsidize their fossil fuel consumption.
Subsidies to oil, gas and coal exacerbate climate change
In the report, which stated that countries actively provided approximately $577 billion in government support in 2021 to artificially lower the prices of fuels such as oil, gas and coal, it was noted that this exacerbated climate change, causing air pollution, inequality, inefficiency and increasing debt burden.
In the report, it was emphasized that direct government subsidies in agriculture exceeding 635 billion dollars per year lead to excessive use of fertilizers, which degrades soil and water and harms human health.
In the report, which pointed out that subsidies in the field of fishing, which exceed 35 billion dollars every year, are the driving force of decreasing fish stocks, excessively large fishing fleets and falling profitability, it was stated that it is important to restore the world's fish stocks to a healthy state.