每年，全世界都花费数十亿美元来补贴石油，煤炭和天然气的生产，勘探和使用。众所周知，这些补贴对经济或环境没有意义。他们对政府预算施加了巨大的负担，在许多情况下，在健康或教育上花费的要多，鼓励浪费利用稀缺资源，并倾向于使富人受益于穷人。例如，IMFanalysis已经表明，平均只有3％的汽油和7％的柴油补贴达到了最贫穷的20％的家庭。和最近的GSI研究found that removing fossil fuel subsidies in 20 countries between now and 2020 could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 11 percent.

However, reforming fossil fuel subsidies is very difficult without knowing how big the subsidies are. The International Energy Agency and other international organizations have been estimating the size of consumer fossil fuel subsidies in developing and emerging economies for a number of years. But until recently, the details of fossil fuel subsidies in industrialized countries have been a mystery, and we still only have a partial picture. If we want the public to understand whether these subsidies are the best use of their taxes, we need better, more transparent data on how much countries are spending on subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuel production.

Finding Out Who Pays and Who Benefits

More transparent reporting can make us aware of the extent of these subsidies, who pays for them and which companies benefit, and make it more likely that we all will call for a change.

In 2013 the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development published the first comprehensive accounting of fossil fuel subsidies in developed countries. This year, it has updated the numbers and made them accessible through an在线门户. According to the findings, the 34 OECD member countries spend about $65 billion on subsidies and tax breaks for consumption, exploration and production of fossil fuels each year.

仅在公共领域中拥有这些数字是一个实质性的改进。例如，美国政府已确定$5 billion2015年，通过化石燃料生产税规定在联邦一级的收入损失。但是，经合组织门户还列出了大量的州补贴，包括德克萨斯州12亿美元的消费者和生产税收减免，在阿拉斯加的10亿美元。

Last week, a新报告来自海外开发研究所和国际石油变革研究所从G20的主要经济体引入了有关补贴的更有用的新数据。它发现，二十国二十国政府政府每年在化石燃料生产补贴上花费4520亿美元（包括直接补贴和税收减免，国有企业的投资以及政府拥有的银行的公共财务）。

Because of such initiatives, transparency on fossil fuel subsidies has been increasing. A big driver of this change was theG20 Leaders’ commitment在2009年逐步淘汰效率低下的补贴。关于谁付款以及谁从补贴中受益的清晰度是建立对改革的理解和支持的绝对重要第一步。

More Transparency

But more transparency is needed. Some countries, like the United Kingdom, are beginning to release not just information on the amount of tax breaks and subsidies that go to fossil fuels, but also which companies benefit from them. Thus, we now know that between 2009 and 2014, the UK grantedtax breaks总价值为8.38亿美元（总部位于法国），挪威（挪威）的4.07亿美元，3.05亿美元向Premier Oil（英国），美国雪佛龙（美国）的7200万美元。这是英国纳税人收入的最佳用途吗？

为了对化石燃料公司获得的税收减免和补贴做出明智的判断，系统性重要。当政府不发布这些数字时，必须对主要石油公司的补贴进行粗略的估计。2012年studyestimated that in the U.S., oil tax breaks benefited Exxon Mobil by $600 million per year, Chevron by $700 million and Royal Dutch Shell by $200 million. Do these companies really need these government subsidies?

All countries providing subsidies and tax breaks to fossil fuel production and exploration should adopt the kind of advanced transparency the UK has. Their citizens deserve to know which fossil fuel companies profit from the taxes they pay.

About 30 countries have launched or accelerated fossil fuel subsidy reforms in the past 3 years, recognizing the significant economic and social benefits. This is an excellent start, but we need to build on the momentum, and on the lessons we have learned on what works and what doesn’t, as outlined in anew paperfrom the New Climate Economy released this week. It’s no coincidence that most of these recent reforms relate to consumption subsidies, as that’s where we have the most transparent information. We now need to tackle the next challenge: subsidies and tax breaks to fossil fuel production and exploration. The more we know about how big these kinds of subsidies are and who benefits, the more likely that momentum for reform can grow.