We are all going to have to get rid of things which are frankly inefficient from the perspective of protecting the poor from the perspective of growing and from the perspective of decarbonizing. And the answer to all of that is fossil fuel subsidy reform.

To be clear, this is not about just telling people to change their light bulbs or to buy a hybrid car. This disaster has grown BEYOND the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries, and governments around the world taking decisive, large-scale action. (…) Now is our moment for action. We need to put a price tag on carbon emissions, and eliminate government subsidies for coal, gas, and oil companies. We need to end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free-market economy, they don’t deserve our tax dollars, they deserve our scrutiny. For the economy itself will die if our ecosystems collapse.

The only way we are going to do that (establishing a zero emissions economy by 2050) is by unpicking a whole range of subsidies on fossil fuels which, unfortunately, last year alone grew by thirty per cent.  The trouble with those subsidies is that they tend to boost emissions rather than encourage a reduction.