Ronald Steenblik lectures, writes and publishes frequently on issues relating to trade and the environment, and subsidies to primary industries.
Until he retired from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in November 2018, Ronald Steenblik was the Special Counsellor for Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform in the OECD’s Trade and Agriculture Directorate. He led the OECD’s fossil fuel subsidies reform effort, guiding staff working at the nexus of trade and the environment. He also served as Chair of the G20’s voluntary peer reviews of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
In 2006-07, Steenblik served as the first Director of Research for the Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI), a programme developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development to improve transparency on the size and effects of subsidies, especially those harming developing countries or the environment.
His over 40-year career includes private industry; municipal, state and federal governments; academic institutions; and inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations. Steenblik has made important contributions to the policy debate on subsidies to agriculture, biofuels, fishing, and energy production
All Publications
- The U.K.’s Global Tariff: A new broom sweeps green?
Blog - June 11, 2020
In liberalizing the trade of dozens of environmental goods, the U.K. signals its commitment to tackling climate change. But is this enough? - How Can a Six-Digit Trade Code Help the Environment?
Blog - May 12, 2020
Every single thing that gets shipped from one country to another has a special trade code assigned to it. How can this help the environment? - Code Shift: The environmental significance of the 2022 amendments to the Harmonized System
Report - May 5, 2020
This report explains how recent amendments to the harmonized coding system used to track international merchandise trade will help improve the monitoring of trade in both environmentally sensitive products and environmental goods. - Time to ACCTS? Five countries announce new initiative on trade and climate change
Blog - September 25, 2019
Costa Rica, Fiji, Iceland, New Zealand and Norway launched an initiative that firmly melds trade and climate change together. - Measuring Fossil Fuel Subsidies in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals
Report - May 23, 2019
This report provides methodological guidance for measuring fossil fuel subsidies in the context of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 12.c.1: “Amount of fossil fuel subsidies per unit of GDP (production and consumption)”. - Subsidy Estimation: A survey of current practice
Paper - June 28, 2010
One of the key challenges of subsidy reform is a lack of consistent, internationally-comparable data. Information and guidance on how to measure... - Biofuels - At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Canada
Paper - April 27, 2009
This report provides an in-depth analysis of government support to biofuels in Canada, including a comprehensive quantification of the amount of... - Biofuels at what cost – Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Australia
Paper - April 12, 2008
This report on government subsidies for biofuels in Australia by the Global Subsidies Initiative of the IISD finds the Australian government spent... - Biofuels - At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in the European Union
Paper - October 6, 2007
The GSI report, "Biofuels at What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the European Union", questions the rationale behind the... - Biofuels: At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Switzerland
Paper - September 27, 2007
Report on government support for biofuels in Switzerland by the Global Subsidies Initiative of IISD. - Biofuels - At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in selected OECD countries
Paper - September 27, 2007
A synthesis of reports addressing subsidies for biofuels in Australia, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland and the United States from the...