Neil McCulloch gave a presentation of the main ideas in his new book "Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies: the politics of saving the planet"  on Wednesday 12 April from 2pm-3.30pm BST (GMT+1).  Dr. Mashekwa Maboshe, a researcher at the University of Zambia, provided some initial short comments, after which the floor was open for questions and discussion.  You can now listen to the recording.

This policy brief from TPP Director Dr Neil McCulloch is based on his book “Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies – the politics of saving the planet”, published by Practical Action Publishing. 

It summarises the problem with fossil fuel subsidies, how they inflict harm and what steps are being taken to reduce them.  It also shows why subsidies persist and why existing efforts have been so ineffective. Drawing lessons from countries which have tried to remove fossil fuel subsidies, it explains that the fundamental challenge to reform is not technical, but political. 

Laure-Hélène Piron and Alina Rocha Menocal contributed to this Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) guide on applied political economy analysis (PEA) which updates the UK Department for International Development's 2009 original guidance.

This guide provides an overview of PEA and explains how analytical work should be planned and completed. It also provides an introduction to techniques and concepts used by FCDO governance experts, when designing and implementing related UK aid programming. It aims to inform development professionals, and it summarises different approaches, from very light-touch to more in-depth.

In this episode of the IDS Between the Lines podcast, IDS Fellow Lars Otto Naess interviews Dr Neil McCulloch about his new book: Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies: The politics of saving the planet. 

The UK Independent Commission on Aid Impact (ICAI) has published its review of UK aid's approach to democracy and human rights. TPP Director, Laure-Hélène Piron, was the team leader.

The review found that the UK’s democracy and human rights work has delivered useful results, often in difficult political contexts, but has been significantly affected by budget reductions since 2020 and the lack of a strategic framework. While it awarded an overall green/amber score, it found that future results were in doubt and that the UK no longer has the ability to respond to new challenges and deliver on the UK government’s high policy ambitions in this area.

Hands up if you would like petrol prices to go up?  I’m guessing not too many hands.  The cripplingly high costs of energy (both fuel, whether petrol, diesel, gas or coal as well as electricity) have posed a huge challenge for households and firms all around the world.  Massive increases in these costs, driven by the weaponization of energy by Putin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have plunged some households into poverty – forcing them to choose between heating and eating.  Businesses have laid off workers and scaled back activities because of the crippling price rises. 

Read the full blog from Dr. Neil McCulloch on Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies: the politics of saving the planet

TPP Director, Neil McCulloch, has just launched a book on “Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies – the politics of saving the planet”, published by Practical Action Publishing.  The book explains what fossil fuel subsidies are, how they inflict harm and what steps are being taken to reduce them.  It also shows why subsidies persist and why existing efforts have been so ineffective. Drawing lessons from countries which have tried to remove fossil fuel subsidies, it explains that the fundamental challenge to reform is not technical, but political. The book lays out a new agenda for action on fossil fuel subsidies, showing how a better understanding of the underlying political incentives can lead to more effective approaches to tackling this major global problem.

See this link for a video of author Neil McCulloch introducing his book in a lecture at IDS.

In this second blog, Sam Bickersteth, climate change expert at The Policy Practice, reflects on what has been achieved at the 27th UN conference on climate change, and the political economy barriers to saving our planet by reducing emissions.  

The annual UN conference of the Parties to the Climate Convention has kicked off in Egypt and it is getting attention like never before. When the UN Secretary General tells us that we are close to irreversible tipping points and “climate hell” then we should be sitting up and listening. 

But what can we hear through the hubbub of statements from Heads of State, multiple side events, news reports and pre COP blogs? What will hold our attention and that of our leaders preoccupied with recession, food and energy price hikes, the war in Ukraine and the impending northern hemisphere winter?

Read the first blog by TPP Principal, Sam Bickersteth.