The IMF calls the revelation “shocking” and says the figure is an “extremely robust” estimate of the true cost of fossil fuels. The $5.3tn subsidy estimated for 2015 is greater than the total health spending of all the world’s governments. This $5.3 trillion is also contributing to millions of deaths, heart attacks, asthma cases, and other health effects of local air pollution in the United States and countries around the world.

Nicholas Stern, an eminent climate economist at the London School of Economics, said: “This very important analysis shatters the myth that fossil fuels are cheap by showing just how huge their real costs are. There is no justification for these enormous subsidies for fossil fuels, which distort markets and damages economies, particularly in poorer countries.”

“These [fossil fuel subsidy] estimates are shocking,” said Vitor Gaspar, the IMF’s head of fiscal affairs and former finance minister of Portugal. “Energy prices remain woefully below levels that reflect their true costs.”

View May 21, 2015 The Guardian article
View May 21, 2015 The Nation article
View May 19, 2015 The Common Sense Canadian article
View May 19, 2015 CBC News article
View May 18, 2015 International Monetary Fund report
View May 18, 2015 Financial Times article