Based in Geneva, Ivetta Gerasimchuk leads the sustainable energy supplies activities of IISD's Energy Program and its Global Subsidies Initiative. She is in charge of projects focusing on government policies with respect to energy taxation and pricing in Canada, China, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine. Ivetta's expertise lies with international economics and political strategies for implementing challenging energy reforms, mobilizing finance for renewable energy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable international investment flows. She also works on international energy governance, including commitments and peer reviews of fossil fuel subsidies within G20 and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
Before joining IISD, she was senior advisor and head of the Trade and Investment program at WWF-Russia and leading research fellow at the Institute for Natural Resource Economics and Environmental Policy of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Her publications span opinion editorials, media articles, monographs and peer-reviewed academic publications. Ivetta Gerasimchuk holds a BA degree in International Relations, an MA degree in International Business and Business Administration and a PhD in Economics from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO).
She is a fluent speaker of English and Russian and has a good command of French, German and Afrikaans.
All Publications
- Raising Ambition Through Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: Greenhouse gas emissions results modelling from 26 countries
Report - July 7, 2019
This working paper models 26 countries and finds national average emission reductions of 6 per cent from the removal of fossil fuel subsidies. For every tonne of CO2e removed through FFSR, governments save an average of USD 93. Global emission reductions from reforms are between 6.4 and 8.2 per cent by 2050. Countries can consider the carbon reduction co-benefits from FFSR and taxation within second-generation Nationally Determined Contributions. - Más allá de los combustibles fósiles: Transición fiscal en México
Report - July 3, 2019
Este reporte ayuda a entender el rol del sector de hidrocarburos en la transición energética en México - G20 Coal Subsidies: Russia
Briefing Note - June 28, 2019
This country study and accompanying data sheet compiles publicly available information on G20 subsidies to the production and consumption of coal (including coal-fired power) in Russia in 2016 and 2017. - G20 Coal Subsidies: Tracking government support to a fading industry
Report - June 25, 2019
This research tracks each G20 country’s progress in phasing out subsidies to the production and consumption of coal (including coal-fired power), looking at fiscal support, public finance and state-owned enterprise investment. - Beyond Fossil Fuels: Indonesia's fiscal transition
Report - January 21, 2019
This report explores how Indonesia taxes and subsidizes the production and consumption of oil, gas, coal and electricity now; and what lies ahead. - India's Energy Transition: Subsidies for Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy, 2018 Update
Report - December 19, 2018
How have India’s energy subsidy policies changed since 2016? Have they become more or less aligned with India’s desired energy future? How have India’s energy subsidy policies changed since 2016? Have they become more or less aligned with India’s desired energy future? - The French Lesson on Climate Change Action
Blog - December 14, 2018
President Emmanuel Macron's failure to engage with the public on fuel price increases can backfire unless France follows Just Transition principles. - G20 Countries Must Speed Up Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reforms
Blog - December 14, 2018
Like dancers doing the tango, G20 countries step forward and back when it comes to climate action. It's time to pick up the pace. - Real People, Real Change: Strategies for just energy transitions
Report - December 5, 2018
This report aims to support governments in their endeavour to make energy transitions just, building on research and case studies in Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Poland and Ukraine. - Stories from G20 Countries: Shifting public money out of fossil fuels
Report - November 21, 2018
This analysis has brought together examples illustrating how G20 countries can learn from each other and align the flows of public money with climate targets and the Sustainable Development Goals. - G7 Fossil Fuel Subsidy Scorecard: Tracking the phase-out of fiscal support and public finance for oil, gas and coal
Policy Brief - June 4, 2018
While progress is being made to transition away from fossil fuels, this analysis shows that G7 governments continue to provide at least USD 100 billion in subsidies to the production and use of coal, oil and gas that may hinder or delay these shifts. - Les subventions du gouvernement à la consommation et au développement d'hydrocarbures au Québec
Report - March 22, 2018
De 2011-12 à 2016-17, le gouvernement du Québec a ainsi versé en moyenne 300 millions de dollars par année en allègement à la taxe sur les carburants, des mesures qui vont à l’encontre d’une diminution de la consommation d’hydrocarbures. - Better Datasets Urgently Needed To Understand Full Scale of Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Blog - February 16, 2018
Nature magazine recently released a letter detailing how fossil fuel subsidies reform could deliver carbon emission reductions of between 1 and 4 per cent globally by 2030. This is what we think... - To Phase Out Coal, World Leaders Should Learn from Tobacco Action
Blog - December 11, 2017
A few countries are set to join the coal phase-out club at the One Planet Summit in Paris on Tuesday, but more levers will be needed to bring major coal users in line. - Paris to Paris: Raising climate finance without raising global temperature
Blog - December 9, 2017
What does climate (and broader sustainability) leadership mean today, as we close out a year of ever-increasing emissions and one of the top three hottest years on record? - India's Energy Transition: Mapping subsidies to fossil fuels and clean energy in India
Report - November 28, 2017
This report maps out the context, magnitude, trends and impacts of India’s energy subsidies. It aims to enhance transparency and dialogue on energy choices in India and to help track shifts in government support from fossil fuels to renewables. - Ending Coal: From diplomacy to implementation
Blog - November 25, 2017
We need to bring an end to coal—in a sustainable and economically inclusive way. Ivetta Gerasimchuk explains how. - A Guidebook to Reviews of Fossil Fuel Subsidies: From self-reports to peer learning
Guidebook - September 11, 2017
This guidebook provides a step-by-step approach to government reviews of fossil fuel subsidies. The guidebook covers the design of reviews, identification, measurement and evaluation of subsidies, via country case studies and practical tools, as a first step towards transparency and reform. - G20 must support good jobs in the low carbon transition
Blog - May 23, 2017
Donald Trump’s unrealistic promise to put coal miners back to work shows why we need a positive strategy to create green jobs. - Making the Switch: From fossil fuel subsidies to sustainable energy
Report - May 11, 2017
This report estimates fossil fuel subsidies to be around USD 425 billion. Such subsidies represent large lost opportunities for governments to invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable development. - UK is in no position to lecture Saudis on oil dependence
Blog - April 10, 2017
PM Theresa May has offered to help wean Saudi Arabia off oil, but her government’s subsidies to North Sea producers are a poor model for the Middle East petrostate. - A Low-Hanging Fruit for Financing and Implementing SDGs: End Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Blog - April 13, 2017
Phase-out and reallocation of fossil fuel subsidies (FFS) is a low-hanging fruit for financing and implementing SDGs. - Sticks and Toxic Carrots: Clearing the air in China and India
Blog - March 23, 2017
Both countries can do more to ensure that policies on air pollution and clean energy are aligned. - Stopping Payments to Polluters: Clearing the air with fossil fuel subsidy reform in China and India
Policy Brief - March 21, 2017
Improving urban air quality is a headline concern in both India and China. Fossil fuel subsidy reform is a potentially powerful tool in securing an improvement for both countries. - Webinar: Zombie Energy: Climate benefits of ending subsidies to fossil fuel production
Video - February 23, 2017
On Thursday February 16, 2017, IISD’s Global Subsidies Initiative presented a webinar which convened experts who have crunched the numbers on both fiscal and climate benefits of ending fossil fuel subsidies at the level of countries, markets, and the entire world. This is a recording of that webinar. - Zombie Energy: Climate benefits of ending subsidies to fossil fuel production
Paper - February 10, 2017
This working paper explains how different production subsidies currently unlock “zombie energy” from fossil fuel deposits that would not be commercially viable to produce without government support. It also presents new modelling of the global removal of certain subsidies to fossil fuel production. - Subsidies to Coal Power Generation in China
Report - November 14, 2016
This comprehensive inventory of subsidies to coal generators in China shows that the coal industry receives considerable levels of government support. - Stories of Coal Phase-Out: Lessons learned for China
Report - August 29, 2016
This report offers a summary of several countries’ experiences implementing energy policy shifts in an area of particular interest to China: the transition away from coal to cleaner fuels and a low-carbon economy. - Meeting Canada's Subsidy Phase-Out Goal: What it means in Saskatchewan
Commentary - August 29, 2016
This commentary takes a very preliminary look at consumer fossil fuel subsidies in Saskatchewan. Our initial research identifies roughly CAD 182 million in 2015 in the form of financial supports for the consumption of fossil fuels. - Meeting Canada's Subsidy Phase-Out Goal: What it means in Ontario
Commentary - June 8, 2016
IISD examines some of the fossil fuel subsidies in place in Ontario, how the government is responding to them and where more can be done. - Naked Budgets: A fiscal argument to save the climate
Blog - November 17, 2016
Two news stories this week, emerging from either side of the Atlantic, encapsulate the climate change conundrum. - Subsidies to Coal Production in China
Paper - December 31, 2015
This report presents the first detailed estimate of subsidies to coal production in China, identifying an estimated USD 5.8 billion in in government support in 2013. - G20 Support to Fossil Fuel Production: Who are the leaders and the laggards?
Blog - November 12, 2015
When it comes to phasing out subsidies to the production of polluting oil, gas and coal—something G20 leaders have committed to every year since... - Fossil fuel subsidy reform in Canada: A post-partisan issue
Blog - September 4, 2015
Almost unnoticed in Canada’s federal election campaign is the fact that all national political parties have agreed on the need to reform fossil... - G20 subsidies to oil, gas and coal production: Russia
Paper - August 14, 2015
Jointly prepared by IISD, OCI and ODI, this country study and accompanying data sheet compiles publicly available information on fossil fuel... - The End of Coal: Ontario’s coal phase-out
Paper - June 30, 2015
Ontario has successfully implemented its policy to put an end to coal use in 2014. This energy transition has become “the single largest GHG... - G20 subsidies to oil, gas and coal production: China
Paper - May 14, 2015
Jointly prepared by IISD, OCI and ODI, this country study and accompanying data sheet compiles publicly available information on fossil fuel... - Extracting Oil, Gas and Public Money in the Arctic: Case studies from Russia and Canada
Speech - December 30, 2014
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) presented on “Extracting Oil, Gas and Public Money in the Arctic: Case studies from... - RE-ARCTIC: Promoting renewable energy, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies and benefitting communities in the North
Speech - December 30, 2014
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) presented its vision of renewable energy development to the Sustainable Development... - Arctic Economies: North America and Russia
Video - November 17, 2014
IISD Senior Researcher Ivetta Gerasimchuk spoke at the Arctic Futures Symposium, Oct. 15, 2014. The topic was "Arctic Economies:... - Arctic Initiative: Empowering bottom-up transformations to sustainability (brochure)
Brochure - November 4, 2014
IISD has identified the Arctic as an area of critical importance to our vision: equity and a healthy planet.We envision an Arctic that respects and... - A Crash Course on Subsidy Definition by Dante, Shakespeare and Russian Folklore
Blog - October 22, 2014
Do you know what a subsidy is and what is not? If your answer is a definite “yes”, you are either new to the field or recklessly optimistic. - The EU Biofuel Policy and Palm Oil: Cutting subsidies or cutting rainforest?
Paper - September 10, 2013
The report seeks to address one of the blind spots in biofuel policy making, namely the increased use of palm oil in biodiesel produced and... - Mapping Options for a Voluntary Peer Review of Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform within the G-20
Paper - July 9, 2013
This briefing presents options for a voluntary peer-review process within the G-20 and elsewhere for discussion at a roundtable event with members... - A Guidebook to Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform for Policy-Makers in Southeast Asia
Paper - May 30, 2013
There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for fossil-fuel subsidy reform—but there are a set of planning stages that are generic, along with many... - Biofuels—At What Cost? A review of costs and benefits of EU biofuel policies
Paper - April 16, 2013
Biofuels—At What Cost? A review of costs and benefits of EU biofuel policies analyzes a range of costs and benefits associated with European Union ... - Cultivating Governance: Cautionary tales for biofuel policy reformers
Paper - December 4, 2012
The policy brief analyzes the current developments around the emerging U-turns on government support to biofuels internationally.Based on desk... - State of Play on Biofuel Subsidies: Are policies ready to shift?
Video - June 23, 2012
June 19, 2012 - RIO DE JANEIRO - The GSI report State of Play on Biofuel Subsidies: Are policies ready to shift? was launched at a special... - Fossil Fuels - At What Cost? Government support for upstream oil and gas activities in Russia
Paper - February 28, 2012
The report represents the first inventory of subsidies to upstream oil and gas activities in Russia according to an international methodology... - Following the Money: Fossil fuel subsidy reform en route from Durban to Rio+20
Paper - February 27, 2012
The paper summarizes the key messages of the high-level discussion "The Missing Piece? Fossil fuel subsidy reform and climate change," an official...