Energy Subsidies and WTO Dispute Settlement: Why Only Renewable Energy Subsidies Are Challenged

asmelash, henok birhanu;

Over the past few years, renewable energy subsidies have become one of the main
sources of trade disputes at the WTO. A total of six cases have been initiated against renewable energy subsidy programmes since the first of such disputes was brought by Japan against Canada�s Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program in 2010. Yet not even a single case has so far been initiated against the much larger and environmentally harmful fossil fuel subsidies. The main objective of this article is to examine what makes renewable energy subsidies vulnerable to WTO dispute, as compared to fossil fuel subsidies.