IMF favours removing energy subsidies worth $485 billion to tackle climate change

WASHINGTON: Emphasising that climate change must be high on the priority list for all nations, the IMF has called for getting the pricing right and removing subsidies on energies that amounts to nearly $485 billion.

"Climate change transcends time... If we do not deal with it in the short term, it will come to haunt us, our children and our grandchildren. This is an issue that we have to address constantly," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said at a panel discussion here on climate change.

Asserting that the climate change should be very high on the priority list of finance ministers of the world, she said that climate change has an impact on economic stability, massive impact on the environment.

Ahead of the plenary meeting of the IMF and the WB, Lagarde said the finance ministers should focus on key issues related to climate change.

"One is get the pricing right. Getting the pricing right is the key. Second thing that they can do is to gradually phase out and remove the subsidies that apply to energies and particularly fossil energies. This amounts to approximately $485 billion today," she said.

"If addressed right, climate change can held in addressing the issue of environmental damage, lack of revenue that could actually reduce debt and restore fiscal situation and can certainly restore economic stability. If we do not tackle climate change, a single event can reverse decades of development," said WB President Jim Young Kim.

With modern and latest technologies, he said, countries now have choice to opt for greener technologies and adopt the path of sustainable development.

"With the advance of technology, there are things you can do is to ensure that the countries have the energy that they need, but clean energy," he said.

Kim said the WB is focusing three issues related to climate change - sustainable energy for all, helping countries to develop green cities, and climate smart agriculture.