Fossil fuels received £20bn more UK support than renewables since 2015

The UK government has given £20bn more in support to fossil fuel producers than those of renewables since 2015, the Guardian can reveal.

The research, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, found that while renewable energy was given £60bn in support over that time, fossil fuel companies were given close to £80bn.

In 2020, renewable energy support was greater than fossil fuel support for the first time. However, fossil fuels have been receiving greater additional investment recently. From 2020 to 2021 they received an extra £1bn support from the government compared with 2020, a 10.7% increase. For renewable energy in the same year, total support for projects increased by just £1m, or 0.01%.

Analysis by the House of Commons library found that a fifth of the money given directly to the fossil fuel industry was to support new extraction and mining. In 2021, support for fossil fuel extraction rose by 20% to nearly £2bn.

Politicians have asked the government to put net zero at the heart of policy decisions instead of funding fossil fuel corporations.

Learn more: The Guardian