United Kingdom (UK)

Country indicators

GDP per capita - gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. (Source: World Bank)

GDP per capita
(USD):

39,102.90

Fossil fuel subsidies (USD, billions) - All consumer and producer pre-tax subsidies. Pre-tax consumer subsidies exist when energy consumers pay prices that are below the costs incurred to supply them with this energy. (Source: IMF)

Fossil fuel subsidies (USD, billions):

0.01

Fossil Fuel Subsidies as % of GDP - All consumer and producer pre-tax subsidies as percent of a country’s GDP. (Source: IMF)

Fossil fuel subsidies
(% of GDP):

Fossil Fuel Subsidies with externalities as % of GDP - All consumer and producer post-tax subsidies. Post-tax consumer subsidies exist if consumer prices for energy are below supply costs plus the efficient levels of taxation. (Source: IMF)

Fossil fuel subsidies with externalities (% of GDP):

1.50---

Revenue from environmentally related taxes as % of GDP - All revenue from environmentally related taxes - defined as any compulsory, unrequited payment to general government levied on tax-bases deemed to be of particular environmental relevance – as percent of a country’s GDP. (Source: OECD)

Revenue from environmentally related taxes (% of GDP):

2.257

Carbon pricing gap - Measure of how much countries fall short of pricing carbon emissions in line with a EUR 60 benchmark value (midpoint estimate of the carbon costs in 2020 and a low-end estimate for 2030). The difference is presented as percentage: If the Effective Carbon Rate (ECR) on all emissions is at least as high as the benchmark, the gap is zero, and if the ECR is zero throughout, the gap is 100%. (Source: OECD)

Carbon Pricing Gap
(%):

News

‘Greta was right’: Trio of reports warns world at risk of squandering green recovery opportunity

2021-10-11

Greta Thunberg’s accusation that world leaders are guilty of ‘blah, blah, blah’ in the face of the escalating climate crisis is ‘spot on’, according to a trio of new reports released today, which warn the opportunity provided by the coronavirus crisis to introduce sweeping fossil fuel subsidy reform and ambitious green stimulus packages is being squandered.

Britain’s confused approach to carbon pricing

2021-10-06

A reluctance to raise the cost of natural gas is understandable, given that poorer households spend more of their income on heating their homes. But it only further underscores the importance of joined-up, coherent thinking about how Britain can hit its net zero emissions target by 2050.

We Pay to Treat Waste Water, Why Not Waste Carbon?

2021-09-20

The idea is simple. Companies that extract fossil fuels should be responsible for ensuring the same amount of CO₂ generated from using them is buried back deep underground.

Reports

A multi-billion-dollar opportunity – Repurposing agricultural support to transform food systems (UNEP, FAO, UNDP)

2021-09-15

Public support mechanisms for agriculture in many cases hinder the transformation towards healthier, more sustainable, equitable, and efficient food systems, thus actively steering us away from meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the Paris Agreement.

A clean COVID-19 pandemic recovery: the global opportunity (EY Parthenon)

2021-07-12

Ready-to-go renewable energy projects can provide emissions reduction, jobs and economic growth. With the right policy levers, areas in most need of jobs and growth can be winners in the green recovery.

U.K. Spending 32 Times More On Fossil Fuels Than Renewables: Wärtsilä Report

2020-11-03

The U.K. government is squandering an opportunity to move towards a zero carbon future by pumping billions of stimulus cash into fossil fuels and all but neglecting renewable energy, according

Policy Briefs

Financing low-carbon growth and innovation in the UK Industrial Strategy (Grantham Research Institute)

2017-04-28

This policy brief by the Grantham Research Institute outlines how the public sector can crowd in private finance to support low-carbon growth and innovation in the UK government’s Industrial Strategy.