G20 Scorecard of Fossil Fuel Funding

The United States continues to provide significant public finance and subsidies for fossil fuel production and consumption, with a total government support average of USD 7.6 billion between 2017 and 2019. While there was a temporary decrease in international public finance due to a lack of board quorum at the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the bank has since approved USD 4.7 billion for liquefied natural gas in Mozambique. The document highlights a lack of transparency, noting that many production subsidies are unaccounted for in OECD totals, with alternate estimates placing these at USD 20.5 billion per year. Additionally, the U.S. provided USD 72 billion in COVID-19 support for fossil fuels as of August 12, 2020, including USD 58 billion for airline companies via the CARES Act.

• The United States provides an average of USD 7.6 billion in total government support to fossil fuels from 2017 to 2019, consisting of USD 2.4 billion in direct transfers, USD 4.4 billion in tax expenditure, and USD 879 million in public finance.
• Many U.S. production subsidies are missing from OECD totals; alternate accounting estimates these unaccounted subsidies at USD 20.5 billion annually.
• A temporary drop in international public finance between 2017 and 2018 was caused by a lack of board quorum at the U.S. Export-Import Bank (U.S. EXIM), which has since resumed operations and approved USD 4.7 billion for liquefied natural gas projects in Mozambique.
• As of August 12, 2020, the U.S. provided USD 72 billion in COVID-19 support for fossil fuels, the largest portion of which was USD 58 billion in loans and guarantees for airline companies under the CARES Act.
• The U.S. government has used various methods to lower industry costs, such as limiting state ability to block interstate pipelines and threatening private banks with the loss of public subsidies if they stop financing oil and gas projects.

APA

Tucker, B. (2020). G20 Scorecard of Fossil Fuel Funding. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-11/g20-scorecard-united-states.pdf

Chicago

Tucker, Bronwen. G20 Scorecard of Fossil Fuel Funding. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2020. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-11/g20-scorecard-united-states.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tucker |first1=Bronwen |title=G20 Scorecard of Fossil Fuel Funding |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-11/g20-scorecard-united-states.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tucker2020g20, author = {Tucker, Bronwen}, title = {{G20 Scorecard of Fossil Fuel Funding}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-11/g20-scorecard-united-states.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }