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KENYA / FOSSIL FUELS
STORY: KENYA / FOSSIL FUELS
TRT: 2:11
SOURCE: UNEP/UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 APRIL 2014, NAIROBI, KENYA /FILE
UNEP - 28 APRIL 2014, NAIROBI, KENYA
1. Wide shot, conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Detlef Schreiber, Head, Competence Centre Environment, Resource Efficiency and Waste Management, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Germany:
If $500-$600 billion are spent every year for subsidizing fossil fuel prices, then we could also think the other way around: phasing out fossil fuel subsidies would mobilize much money for the green economy transition.”
FILE – UNICEF – FEBRUARY 2008, CHELYABINSK, RUSSIA
3. Wide shot, train in front of industrial landscape
4. Close up, exhaust from the car
5. Wide shot, industrial pollution
UNEP - 28 APRIL 2014, NAIROBI, KENYA
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Laura Merill, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Global Subsidy Initiative:
“The reason they’re really pernicious, and difficult, is because they make the cost of carbon very cheap. And that means carbon is cheap to produce, to take out of the ground, and to extract, and very cheap to consume, to burn up and emit into the atmosphere.”
FILE – UNICEF – FEBRUARY 2008, CHELYABINSK, RUSSIA
7. Zoom in, power plant
UNEP - 28 APRIL 2014, NAIROBI, KENYA
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, United Nations:
“The better the information, the better we are able to share the information between different countries, the more we can articulate a rationale that is not simply determined by “we cannot afford to raise the price of fuel at the petrol pump”, but rather “can we really afford to waste public tax-payers’ money for years to come” in the system we are locked into? Are we able to achieve greater poverty reduction and energy-poverty-efficiency policies, by moving away from a relatively crude instrument – as we all know today – of fossil fuel subsidies?
FILE – UNICEF – FEBRUARY 2008, CHELYABINSK, RUSSIA
9. Close up, smoking chimneys
UNEP - 28 APRIL 2014, NAIROBI, KENYA
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Laura Merill, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Global Subsidy Initiative:
“Fossil fuel subsidies are huge, which means they’re a big opportunity for governments to switch and redirect their subsidies to do something else and also to save money from those subsidies and put them somewhere else. In society, what can be done immediately are cash transfers, targeted on women, on poor people, on specific groups, in order for them to get access to sustainable energy for all.”
11. Close up, conference
According to experts, fossil fuel subsidies are contributing to fiscal instability and undermining government efforts to combat serious economic and environmental challenges.
A two-day conference in Nairobi, Kenya will focus on how fiscal policies can address the perverse effects of fossil fuel subsidies and strengthen government spending for sustainable development.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Detlef Schreiber, Head, Competence Centre Environment, Resource Efficiency and Waste Management, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Germany:
If $500-$600 billion are spent every year for subsidizing fossil fuel prices, then we could also think the other way around: phasing out fossil fuel subsidies would mobilize much money for the green economy transition.”
Experts say reducing or eliminating harmful fossil fuel subsidies - and properly pricing energy to account for environmental impacts - evens the playing field for investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
SOUNDBITE (English) Laura Merill, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Global Subsidy Initiative:
“The reason they’re really pernicious, and difficult, is because they make the cost of carbon very cheap. And that means carbon is cheap to produce, to take out of the ground, and to extract, and very cheap to consume, to burn up and emit into the atmosphere.”
Experts are calling on governments to use government policies to leverage private investment in green sectors by redirecting public investments to clean technologies and providing direct public expenditure for research and development.
For example, tax incentives could make investments in clean technologies more attractive, while government funds could reduce the risk profile of capital intensive new technologies.
SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, United Nations:
“The better the information, the better we are able to share the information between different countries, the more we can articulate a rationale that is not simply determined by “we cannot afford to raise the price of fuel at the petrol pump”, but rather “can we really afford to waste public tax-payers’ money for years to come” in the system we are locked into? Are we able to achieve greater poverty reduction and energy-poverty-efficiency policies, by moving away from a relatively crude instrument – as we all know today – of fossil fuel subsidies?”
In addition, experts acknowledge that, in some cases, eliminating these subsidies could have ramifications on the poor or weaken the competitiveness of domestic industries. Therefore, they said, social protection measures are needed to ensure vulnerable groups are not overlooked and receive assistance during a transition period.
SOUNDBITE (English) Laura Merill, Senior Researcher, International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Global Subsidy Initiative:
“Fossil fuel subsidies are huge, which means they’re a big opportunity for governments to switch and redirect their subsidies to do something else and also to save money from those subsidies and put them somewhere else. In society, what can be done immediately are cash transfers, targeted on women, on poor people, on specific groups, in order for them to get access to sustainable energy for all.”
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