WHAT ARE FUEL SUBSIDIES AND HOW ARE THEY HARMFUL?

The document examines how fuel subsidies in the EU fishing fleet incentivise overfishing, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a competitive advantage to environmentally damaging, fuel-intensive fishing methods like trawling. It argues that removing these subsidies—estimated at €1 billion to €1.5 billion annually—would promote energy efficiency, support fish stock recovery, and benefit small-scale fishers, who currently receive less support than large-scale and distant-water fleets.

• Fuel subsidies in the fishing sector lead to increased fishing effort and exacerbated overfishing by lowering production costs, allowing fishers to operate beyond standard bio-economic constraints.
• The provision of fuel subsidies increases CO2 emissions because lower fuel prices incentivise higher fuel consumption, both through increased fishing effort and a lack of incentive for fuel-saving innovations.
• Fuel subsidies create a competitive advantage for fuel-intensive and environmentally harmful fishing methods, such as trawling, over passive gears.
• Annual EU fishing fuel subsidies are estimated to be between €1 billion and €1.5 billion, consisting entirely of indirect subsidies via tax exemptions or concessions.
• The distribution of fuel subsidies is unequal, disproportionately benefiting large-scale and distant-water fleets over small-scale fleets.
• Removing fuel subsidies is unlikely to lead to 'bunkering' (sourcing fuel from other jurisdictions) because the core activity of fishing is tied to specific regions and EU vessel activity is concentrated in EU waters.
• While removing subsidies may reduce short-term profitability for fuel-intensive methods, it is expected to improve long-term economic output, fish stock recovery, and energy efficiency.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). WHAT ARE FUEL SUBSIDIES AND HOW ARE THEY HARMFUL? https://www.clientearth.org/media/4x1nuucc/report-eliminating-fuel-subsidies_final.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. WHAT ARE FUEL SUBSIDIES AND HOW ARE THEY HARMFUL? n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/4x1nuucc/report-eliminating-fuel-subsidies_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=WHAT ARE FUEL SUBSIDIES AND HOW ARE THEY HARMFUL? |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/4x1nuucc/report-eliminating-fuel-subsidies_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearthndwhat, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{WHAT ARE FUEL SUBSIDIES AND HOW ARE THEY HARMFUL?}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/4x1nuucc/report-eliminating-fuel-subsidies_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }