UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has renewed his call for a special tax on oil companies to support the global energy transition. In a speech delivered for World Environment Day, Guterres referred to oil companies as “the godfathers of climate chaos,” following the European Union’s Copernicus weather service report indicating May was the 12th consecutive hottest month on record.
“Climate change is the mother of all stealth taxes paid by everyday people and vulnerable countries and communities,” Guterres stated. “Meanwhile, the godfathers of climate chaos—the fossil fuel industry—rake in record profits and feast off trillions in taxpayer-funded subsidies.”
Guterres also appealed to the advertising industry to sever ties with oil and gas producers. “I call on advertising and PR companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction by working for the fossil fuel industry,” he urged. “Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients and set out plans to drop your existing ones. They are poisoning our planet and they are toxic for your brand.”
Known for his strong advocacy for the energy transition, Guterres has warned that humanity is on a “highway to hell” unless a significant shift away from hydrocarbons is achieved.
This is not the first time Guterres has called for a windfall profit tax on oil and gas companies. In 2022, he urged wealthy nations to tax their oil and gas companies and use the revenue to assist poorer nations disproportionately affected by climate change.
“The fossil fuel industry is feasting on hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies and windfall profits while household budgets shrink and our planet burns,” Guterres said in September 2022. “Polluters must pay,” he emphasized.
Guterres suggested that the funds raised from such a tax should be allocated in two ways: to countries suffering loss and damage caused by the climate crisis, and to people struggling with rising food and energy prices.
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