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End fossil fuel subsidies and reset the economy for a better world - IMF head
Jun 4, 2020
World Economic Forum launches the 'Great Reset' initiative for a better world after the pandemic. The IMF backs the transition to a green economy and calls for an end to fossil fuel subsidies.
Now is the time to end fossil fuel subsidies and create a greener, fairer economy for the future, argued Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, at a World Economic Forum virtual meeting.
Speaking at the launch of the "Great Reset", the Forum's global initiative to build a better world in the wake of COVID-19, she threw the weight of her institution behind the transition.
"We now have to step up, use all the strength we have, which in the case of the IMF is $1 trillion," to ensure that history looks back at "the great reset, not the great reversal," Georgieva said.
This means putting the right investments and incentives in place - and breaking with unsustainable ones.
"I’m particularly keen to take advantage of low oil prices to eliminate harmful subsidies," she said.
A working paper published by the IMF last year estimated annual fossil fuel subsidies at $5.2 trillion in 2017, or 6.5% of the global economy, illustrating the scale of the challenge.
But leaders on the call agreed that this moment of crisis was also a moment of opportunity to chart a different course. The head of the IMF drew a parallel with the way the Second World War prompted the foundation of the National Health Service in the UK.
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