Reforming Egypt’s Fossil Fuel Subsidies in the Context of a Changing Social Contract

Asselt, Harro van

doi:10.1017/9781108241946.017

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Governments with a low governance capacity tend to subsidize fossil fuels since they lack the capacity to implement other, more complex welfare policy instruments such as cash transfers (Cheon et al, ; Commander, ; Lockwood, ; Victor, ). In such situations, fossil fuel subsidies can become an important part of the social contract between the government and the population (Moerenhout, ). Fossil fuel subsidies can also be understood as being embedded in structural power relations that support activities (i.e., fossil fuel production and consumption) that are defined as integral to the economy (Strambo et al, ).…”

Section: The Domestic Politics Of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, several fossil fuel (especially coal) producers and the communities in which the production takes place may be highly dependent on fossil fuel subsidies and their livelihoods may be threatened by subsidy reform, whereas carbon taxes will generally affect such producers and communities to a lesser degree and more indirectly. Second, and pulling in the opposite direction, increasing public awareness of the existence (and size) of fossil fuel subsidies can generate support for reform (Chelminski, ; Moerenhout, ; Scobie, ), yet increasing awareness of the fact that fossil fuel prices do not include their environmental costs rarely leads to calls for pricing these costs (Harrison, ; Rabe, , pp. 19–25).…”

Section: The Domestic Politics Of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The literature points to several principles for successful reform of consumption subsidies, with production subsidies receiving less attention (Rentschler & Bazilian, 2017a, 2017bWhitley & van der Burg, 2018). First, getting the timing right is key, not just in terms of exploiting low fossil fuel prices (Beaton et al, 2013), but also in terms of making using of political windows of opportunity created by economic crises (Chelminski, 2018), honeymoon periods following elections (Moerenhout, 2018) or wider reforms for instance of the energy sector (IEA, OPEC, OECD, & World Bank, 2010).…”

Section: Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, good communication to the public is important with a view to provide information on the extent to which fossil fuels are subsidized and on how the funds spent on these subsidies can be redirected for other social purposes. Often there is little awareness that fossil fuel subsidies exist, and drawing attention to such subsidies and their fiscal and macroeconomicrather than environmental-impact has been an important aspect of successful reform in countries including Egypt, Indonesia and Trinidad and Tobago (Chelminski, 2018;Moerenhout, 2018;Scobie, 2018).…”

Section: Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

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The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform: Implications for climate change mitigation

Skovgaard

Asselt

2019

WIREs Climate Change

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The production and consumption of fossil fuels need to decrease significantly to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement's ambitious climate change goals. However, fossil fuels continue to receive significant amounts of government support. Although reforming fossil fuel subsidies can yield climate change mitigation benefits, the specific international and domestic political context and political economy of fossil fuel subsidies means that such reform is not straightforward and may not be aligned with traditional climate politics. Our objective in this review article is to examine the implications of the politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform for climate change mitigation. The first step of examining these implications is to review existing studies on the size and impacts of global fossil fuel subsidies. Subsequently, we discuss the international politics of fossil fuel subsidies, including the emerging norm of fossil fuel subsidy reform, and the respective roles played by the international climate regime and several international economic institutions. Finally, we examine why fossil fuel subsidies are introduced and maintained at the domestic level, how fossil fuel subsidy reform has functioned in practice, and whether and how such reform could be conceived as an instrument for climate policy. This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior Policy and Governance > Private Governance of Climate Change

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Section: The Domestic Politics Of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Domestic Politics Of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform: Implications for climate change mitigation

Skovgaard

Asselt

2019

WIREs Climate Change

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“…• Subsidy reform in Egypt in 2014 was possible during the 'honeymoon period' of the new el-Sisi Government (Moerenhout, 2018).…”

Section: Information and Communication About The Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Emissions Gap Report 2014

2014

The Emissions Gap Report

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The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of United Nations Environment Programme concerning the legal status of any country, territory or city or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. For general guidance on matters relating to the use of maps in publications please go to http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm Disclaimers Mention of a commercial company or product in this document does not imply endorsement by UN Environment or the authors. The use of information from this document for publicity or advertising is not permitted. Trademark names and symbols are used in an editorial fashion with no intention on infringement of trademark or copyright laws. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the UN Environment. We regret any errors or omissions that may have been unwittingly made.

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Information campaigns and public perceptions of structural reforms: Evidence from a survey experiment on gasoline subsidy reform in Nigeria

Yang,

Moerenhout

2024

J Policy Anal Manage

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Governments often reform financial policies, such as industrial subsidies taxes and currency exchange rates, during times of fiscal distress. Existing studies suggest that information campaigns can improve popular support for policy reforms that promise longer term macroeconomic growth but come with short‐term financial costs to people's livelihoods. This article assesses the effects of information campaigns on the acceptance of fossil fuel subsidy reforms in Nigeria, a type of fiscal reform that many developing countries may adopt in the coming years. A randomized survey experiment imbedded in a nationally representative survey of Nigerian households investigates whether information interventions lead Nigerians to change their opinion on fossil fuel subsidy reforms. We find that merely providing factual information does not affect whether or not people support fossil fuel subsidy reforms. Moreover, we find that factual information helps supporters articulate their preferences and weakens the propensity of opponents to use wrongful information to justify their position.

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Reforming Egypt’s Fossil Fuel Subsidies in the Context of a Changing Social Contract

Cited by 10 publications

References 11 publications

The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform: Implications for climate change mitigation

The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform: Implications for climate change mitigation

The Emissions Gap Report 2014

Information campaigns and public perceptions of structural reforms: Evidence from a survey experiment on gasoline subsidy reform in Nigeria

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