Guterres calls for oil profits tax to fund climate recovery
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on ThisDay
António Guterres calls on governments to tax windfall profits of oil companies to fund climate recovery in vulnerable countries. He notes that nine major companies made $95 billion in profits in the last quarter, compared with about $600 million for the Loss and Damage Fund, according to This Day.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday called on governments to tax windfall profits made by oil companies to fund climate recovery efforts in vulnerable countries. He specifically cited the nine largest oil companies, which made $95 billion in profits in the last quarter alone, compared with about $600 million received by the Loss and Damage Fund, according to ThisDay.
António Guterres said the companies had earned in about 14 hours the equivalent of the sums received by the fund. He called for companies benefiting from fossil fuels to contribute to financing climate damage, according to ThisDay.
The UN Secretary-General also said global emissions had reached a record in 2025 and that the last four years had been the hottest ever recorded. He said exceeding the 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement was now inevitable, while calling for global emissions to be reduced by about 6% a year.
Guterres also called for a new Climate Justice Compact to increase developing countries' access to the financing and technologies needed for the energy transition. He asked developed countries to provide at least $300 billion a year in climate finance by 2035 and to present plans to at least triple funding for adaptation over the same period, according to ThisDay.
The call comes after Guterres’s request on 7 November to tax windfall profits of fossil fuel companies. Guterres proposes tax on fossil fuel windfall profits was published on that date. On 11 November, leaders open COP31 negotiations in Turkey, where Guterres renewed his calls to strengthen climate finance.
