'Polluters must pay': UN chief urges govt to tax oil giants’ profits to fund climate action
The world can no longer prevent global warming exceeding 1.5C, a key threshold staked out by the Paris Agreement, the UN warned last month.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged world leaders to take stronger action against global warming during the opening of a two-day summit in Antalya, Turkey. Guterres emphasized that science demands a fight, not surrender, as the world faces an imminent risk of exceeding the 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement. He pointed to recent devastating impacts of climate change, such as heat waves, wildfires, and a glacier collapse in Nepal.
Guterres highlighted the urgent need for governments to tax the enormous profits of large oil and gas companies - which reached around $95 billion in the last quarter - and use the funds to support vulnerable countries in adapting to climate change and dealing with its consequences. Currently, the UN's loss and damage fund has only received about $600 million, which is equivalent to the profits made by these companies in just 14 hours.
Guterres made this plea to a mixed assembly of dignitaries, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Finland's President Alexander Stubb, although the US and several major economies were notably absent.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times - World News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
