Guterres calls fossil-fuel subsidies ‘subsidising suicide’

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged governments to end subsidies for fossil-fuel production, saying they amount to “subsidising suicide”. He made the appeal in Armenia ahead of a UN biodiversity summit due to begin the following week. [1]

Guterres said governments were “spending money on the wrong things”, criticising incentives for fossil fuels that he said heat the planet and harm biodiversity. He called on countries to redirect their support towards people and the planet. [1]

The UN estimates that for every dollar invested in protecting or restoring nature, about $30 goes to activities that damage it. It puts annual government subsidies with negative effects on nature and the climate at an estimated $2.6 trillion, or more than €2.3 trillion. [1]