To do this, Section 1.1 looks at the reasons why fossil-fuel subsidies are generally considered to be harmful for the economy and the environment. Section 1.2 then shows how this helps explain the recent emergence of a consensus for reforming fossil-fuel subsidies, and how this growing consensus has led to a number ofpolicy initiatives internationally and domestically. Section 1.3 then concludes by placing the OECD Inventory onto that broader stage, emphasising the important role it plays in ongoing discussions of energy policies and their reform. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.