Energy subsidy

Domestic energy-intensive industries pay up to twice as much as Germany's and three times as much as France's.

This worrying fact for the competitiveness of domestic industry emerges from a study commissioned by the Dutch government to compare the electricity prices of large industrial enterprises in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium.

As head of the organisation that advises countries on energy policy, Fatih Birol has a blunt message to governments ahead of a crucial climate summit: He wants "real global action", not just words.