Environmentally harmful subsidies

In my current work, I'm citing the existence and persistence of environmentally harmful subsidies - similar to perverse subsidies - as solid evidence that government is inefficient. Though anecdotes abound, it's difficult sometimes to get an idea of just how inefficient, on a global scale, government is. But a workshop given by the OECD attempted to quantify environmentally harmful subsidies. The sums are staggering:

Subsidies probably total over $1 trillion per year. Around two thirds of the subsidies occur in OECD countries. Those OECD subsidies are heavily concentrated in agriculture, mining, road transport and manufacturing. Non-OECD countries mainly subsidise energy, water, fisheries and some agriculture. Relative to GDP, subsidies are twice as large in non-OECD countries. As a percentage of world GDP, global subsidies account for a staggering 4 per cent. Perhaps most notable of all, agricultural subsidies in OECD countries account for over 30% of all subsidies.

The workshop was done in 2002, but the dollars referred to are in 1994-98. It's not just the financial sums that matter: these are environmentally harmful subsidies, most generally paid to increase production. In agriculture this means switching to intensive production techniques and expanding production onto marginal lands and environmentally valuable areas such as woodlands, ponds and hedgerows.

Apart from OECD work, another useful source is Earth Track.